The following short items have been culled from archives of The Leader. Text and style appear verbatim from original printing, including any errors.

Nov. 28, 1979

District Court Caseload Increases - Offenders Keep System Hopping

The caseload in Jefferson County District Court is rapidly increasing , multiplying to the extent $22,656.75 worth of arrest warrants have yet to be served to offenders.

More than 2,400 citations have been issued for the first 10 months of 1979, while 2068 were issued for all of last year. A total of $94,377.32 in fines was collected last year, while      $79,822.60 was collected during the first six months of 1979. ”The volume is increasing, but proportionately I don’t think the number of outstanding warrants is increasing,” said District Court Judge A. C. Grady. We’re doing a better job, the sheriff’s office is doing a better job -far better than it used to be.

Prepared Childbirth Teachers Involved - Home Birthing Issue Surfaces Again

This community’s simmering conflict between its medical establishment and women who support home birthing has embraced Peninsula College and two Port Townsend women who teach birthing classes. Danielle Carlson and Marnie Herickson have taught prepared childbirth classes under the college’s sponsorship for more than six years, but they learned shortly before this fall’s scheduled class that the Port Angeles institution was retrracting the sponsorship.

Dec. 1, 1999

County Considers Tax Hikes

Barring a radical re-write of state law or a successful court challenge, Jefferson County tax and fee hike hearings scheduled next week will be the last of their kind.

That’s because Initiative 695, the license tab initiative, requires all such future requests be put to a vote of the people.

But until I-695 takes effect Jan. 1, the Board of County Commissioners still has the opportunity to raise taxes and fees without a vote, and it is proposing doing just that to help balance a budget bit hard by I-695 reductions.

Water Rates Soaring in Tri-Area - City rates are unchanged

Tri-Area water rates will increase 10 percent in 2000 and at least 2.5 percent in the years 2001-2004, the Port Townsend City Council decided Monday, but city water rates will rise more slowly,

The decisions came after an extended battle among the seven councilors Monday evening. In a split vote, the council decided in-city water and sewer rates will not rise in 2000, which differs from the 4 percent increase proposed for each utility in the city’s draft budget prepared by City Manager David Timmons.

Dec. 3, 2014

PTHS students stage ‘Ferguson’ protest

A handful of students staged a protest at Port Townsend High School Monday morning that that included a “die-in,” lying on the cement in attitudes of death.  Written in chalk on the sidewalk was: “Call to Action: Start a Conversation: End Instututional Racism and Police Brutality.”

Organized by Tanner Matthew, the protest was a response to the Nov. 24 announcement that a federal grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri, brought no criminal charges against Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed an unarmed man, Michael Brown, on Aug. 9, 2014. The grand jury determined that evidence supported Wilson’s claim that he had been assaulted by Brown.

November exits in snow

The National Weather Service’s first prediction for snow in lowland Jefferson County this winter came true. Snow fell in the hours of darkness, from a dusting in downtown Port Townsend to 2.5 inches at higher elevations in town, and a bit more at some locations in the county.

It was a dry, crispy snowfall and not conducive to the making of snowmen. Gusty winds mixed with snow-laden branches may be to blame for portions of port Ludlow being without electric service for about an hour Saturday morning, Nov. 29.

­ ­— Compiled by Deborah Hayes