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PENINSULA DAILY NEWS May 24, 2016 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
Turnout high in primary voting
Changes on the way
Initial numbers expected today BY PAUL GOTTLIEB PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
CHARLIE BERMANT/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Carpenter Jon Sylstead cuts wood molding for use on the exterior of Fort Worden’s Building 202, which is scheduled to open as a Peninsula College campus for the fall semester.
PT working toward contracts for stormwater system design Facilities to serve proposed Howard Street expansion BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — The city of Port Townsend is expected to finalize design and construction contracts soon for a stormwater system that will serve the businesses expected to occupy the planned Howard Street commercial corridor. Howard Street currently ends about
800 feet north of Sims Way and 400 feet south of Discovery Road. The extension project will connect the two major thoroughfares by extending Howard Street and is expected to turn 82 acres of vacant and under-utilized land into shovel-ready industrial property. It entails constructing a regional stormwater facility to benefit a mostly undeveloped commercial area, located north of the Howard Street roundabout and Sims Way (state Route 20), and a light manufacturing property, totaling approximately 33 acres south of the Howard Street roundabout and Sims Way, according to city documents. The stormwater facility would be for
both the private commercial development properties as well as being sized to handle the runoff from the city rights-ofway located within the benefit area, according to documents. This benefit area includes private properties as well as public rights-ofway. The project also includes stormwater piping, trail improvements and connection to an existing stormwater pond to the south of Sims Way. After the City Council voted to authorize the stormwater project’s contract process at its May 15 meeting, the city plans to start advertising for contractors around June 1, according to Assistant City Engineer Samantha Trone. TURN
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Presidential primary election balloting ends in the state today with Jefferson County generating turnouts among the highest in the state. Ballots mailed to voters in Clallam and Jefferson counties must be postmarked today or deposited by 8 p.m. today in voter drop boxes or returned to county courthouses in both counties. Results will be announced by Auditor’s Offices in both counties shortly after 8 p.m. today and posted online at www.peninsula dailynews.com. As of Monday, 10,301 Jefferson County voters through Saturday had returned or mailed back their ballots, voter registration coordinator Sandi Eldridge said. That’s out of 23,868 mailed for a 43.2 percent return rate that sits at or near the top of return rates for the state’s 39 counties. Jefferson County had the highest return rate in Washington as of Thursday with 9,606 ballots returned, a 40.3 percent return rate, next to tiny Columbia County, with 979 ballots returned out of 2,611 mailed, or 37.5 percent. “We always have very active, very high voter participation,” Jefferson County Elections Supervisor Betty Johnson said Monday. Johnson said Jefferson County is usually near the top for participation, but not No. 1.
Clallam returns Clallam’s return rate for 49,941 ballots mailed was 16,789 through Saturday, a 34.3 percent return rate and the 19th highest turnout among 39 counties as of Thursday. County-by-county totals for ballots received statewide from Friday and Monday were not available late Monday afternoon.
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Missing man, truck found near bridge Recovery to depend on canal tides KOMO NEWS
POULSBO — The body of a missing state Department of Transportation worker and his truck have been found submerged in deep water below the Hood Canal Bridge, DOT officials said Monday. The discovery was made early Monday or late Sunday in 344 feet of water about 150 feet north of the floating span. The family of the worker has been made aware, and they have asked that his name not be released until positive identification and formal family notification can take place, said acting
Your Peninsula
state Transportation Secretary Roger Millar. Experts from Global Diving and Salvage, a Seattle-based company, will guide the recovery of the worker’s body, he said.
Timing depends “The timing of the actual recovery will depend on what equipment needs to be mobilized to the site and marine conditions,” Millar said. “We of course must still work around the tides and currents, which can make the process frustratingly slow.” The current in the area can get to about 5 knots.
Searchers began looking for the man last Tuesday when he went missing after a work shift Monday. Evidence at the scene indicated that he drove through a pedestrian barrier and off the bridge’s lower deck. No one saw him go in. The missing section of barrier wasn’t discovered until last Tuesday morning when the man’s wife called to ask where he was. The Coast Guard, the Washington State Patrol and other local marine units took part in the search. An unmanned submersible was later brought in to aid in searching the bottom of the canal. The State Patrol is continuing KOMO NEWS to investigate the incident. KOMO is a news partner of the A boat from East Kitsap Fire-Rescue stands alongside the Hood Canal Bridge during search operations. Peninsula Daily News.
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