by KEN ROBINSON, PUBLISHER

The Monroe Monitor and the Sky Valley lost a friend this week. Steve Higgins, who wrote about local politics, government corruption and illegal and destructive land-use issues, took his own life this week.

Steve suffered some physical setbacks in the last two years that greatly affected his ability to work as a general building contractor. Medication he took for pain control also adversely affected his ability to function normally.

While contributing to the opinion page of the Monitor, Higgins won first-place writing awards.

His death leaves a big hole in our hearts.

Guilty: Jury finds two guilty of first degree murder in Sultan killing

A Sultan woman and a Gold Bar man each face as much as life in prison following a jury verdict declaring them both guilty of first degree murder Thursday.

Debra Canady, 46, and Brent Starr, 31, had spent weeks plotting the murder of her ex-boyfriend, David Grimm, 49, before Starr finally bludgeoned the man to death early in the morning of June 26 of last year, the prosecution argued.
Read story

Then and Now: Skykomish turns 100

One hundred years ago, Skykomish had been a town for a less than a year, but already it was about 10 times bigger than it is now. The rest of the country was in a deep recession and unemployment was high. But the Great Northern Railroad was building a new rail line along Stevens Pass, and workers were pouring in by the hundreds to find the high paying new jobs. Read story

Fire destroys Dan’s Restaurant

A fire that appears to have started in the kitchen of Dan's Restaurant was noticed by a passing state trooper at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Fire crews arrived quickly and found the seating area filled with thick black smoke, with flames visible along part of the roof and side.

Fire crews, led by Jim Fulcher — as Sultan Fire Chief Merlin Halverson was in Oklahoma attending his daughter's graduation from law school — opened a side door to the kitchen and found much of it engulfed in flames. Read story

BACK TO MAIN PAGE

MONITOR RATE CARD • SAMPLE SIZES • CONTACT US

© 2009 The Monroe Monitor & Valley News, PO BOX 399, Monroe, Washington 98272 • 360-794-7116, Fax 360-794-6202