Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 12

THE DAILY NEWS LONGVIEW WASH The Daily News online: www tdn com Prepaid tuition program good deal for some not all By Donna Gordon Blankinship THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEATTLE As prepaid tuition program opens its doors to new investors Friday parents may wonder if a good way to save for college The answer depends on the age of your children your financial situation and some unknown factors such as how much tuition will go up in the future in flation and the stock market For years Guaranteed Education Tuition program was a pretty good deal for most families saving for college But four years ago when in-state tuition and the pnce of each tuition credit under the GET program began skyrocketing many questioned whether the program still made financial sense Experts say if you invest now it would take at least six years and possibly longer for your invest -ment to essentially break even That the case before the recession that began in December 2007 when it only took three years to pay off That means a much bet -ter deal for parents of younger children and less so for parents of children who are 13 or older said Rachele Cawaring Bouchand director of financial planning at Clark Nuber PS in Bellevue because young children will see many more years of tuition increases before they enroll in college Of course investment returns are not the only or even the primary reason for putting money into the GET program Investors are guaranteed that no matter what happens to the stock market or state tuition they will be able to pay for an academic year of tuition and mandatory fees at the most expensive college or university with 100 GET units Tuition and fees at less expensive schools cost fewer units and housing is extra At price of $172 per tuition unit tuition at the University of Washington or Washington State University would have to reach $17200 for investors to break even The current tuition and mandatory fees is about $12000 B4 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1 2013 Camano artist returns from Russia with paintings Truck fire backs up EB 1-90 traffic out of Seattle SEATTLE Washington state Transportation Department officials say a commercial truck fire on eastbound Interstate 90 caused a Thursday evening Seattle-area commuter backup that extended for at least four miles Washington State Patrol Trooper George Englebright said the fire started as a blown tire and then spread to the trailer The driver was unhurt The State Patrol says the trailer carried rock salt A dump truck and loader were sent to the scene east of Seattle remove the salt Spokane jury convicts man in gang killing SPOKANE -A Spokane jury has convicted a man of first -degree murder in the shooting death of a rival gang member Prosecutors said 30-year-old Louis Hanson killed 27-year-old Aaron Cummings last December in order to rise through the ranks of his own gang The Spokesman-Review reports that with Thurs conviction Hanson faces life in prison under law Mark Mulligan The Herald Paintings wait on the sidewalk outside of the UPS Store after being picked up and unwrapped by Jack Gunter in Stanwood Wash Gunter traveled to the then Soviet Union with over a dozen paintings as part of an art show in 1989 The paintings had remained in Siberia since a customs dispute in 1939 It sounded great in there and she seemed When they parted Gunter gave her one of the Seahawks football team jerseys he had brought along to give as gifts asked her to put it on and raise her arms and yell he said She obliged but it sounded more like a common English-language swear word People will have to wait until the documentary comes out to find out which word Gunter said In addition Gunter gave the woman an Inuit amulet was a special moment for me to give back something to a native woman an ancestor of the people who traveled to Alaska thousands of years he said On the eight-hour ride back to civilization Gunter said the party had to bribe the police who stopped them on the highway The next day yet another TV station scheduled an interview during its morning news program was a 1950s retro set with bright colors and a 6-foot-l interviewer who looked like a Gunter said the help of a translator she asked me if Americans like Russians I answered that Americans and Russians share the simple goal of a warm secure place to live with their families I was glad to have achancetosay Gunter gave his last Seahawks jersey to the interviewer and asked her to cheer on the air She complied with a smile was so happy because I had just made a million Russians see and hear a Seahawks he said was paintings finally were returned to him just hours before the red-eye flight home was scheduled to depart He made arrangements with a shipping company to get the paintings to Stanwood and asked friends at home to make sure his banker in Stanwood would cover the credit card charge But it over yet At the airport not a single English speaker was around to allow Gunter and his friends to get to their gate A misunderstanding about a connecting flight through Beijing finally was cleared up and they were on their way Gunter didn't release a sigh of relief however until the paintings arrived at The UPS Store in Stanwood was pretty thrilling By Gale Fiege THE DAILY HERALD STANWOOD Wash Artist Jack long-lost paintings returned home Oct 11 after decades gathering dust in the basement of an art museum in Siberia The paintings were part of an art show that traveled to Russia in 1989 and the artist was forced to leave them there because of a customs dispute Gunter 65 and two friends his film crew flew to Russia in late September to these paintings and make a documentary about the journey With studios in Stanwood and on Camano Island Gunter is well-known in the region for his colorful artworks on large canvases that take satirical jabs at government and cultural convention The paintings that languished in Siberia were made to poke fun at a proposal in the 1980s that would have established a commercial airline runway in north Snohomish County The return to Siberia was an adventure that legion of fun-loving fans relished and followed on Facebook wanted an adventure and you got an wrote his friend Kate Kypuros vicariously so did we Thank you for When Gunter left home he had no assurance about what the trip would entail or even if he would be able to get the paintings back After landing in Siberia Gunter and his filmmaker friends Ken Rowe and Jesse Collver were driven to the town of Akademgorodok a Russian academic center of science and culture recognize much the area was so Gunter said had a shopping area bigger than the Everett Mall where you could buy anything you needed a change from the last time I host Valerian Ivanchenko immediately took them to the state art museum in the adjacent big city to see the paintings It was decided that another showing of the paintings would be arranged days later at the opening a Russian TV sta- reacted faster and more aggressively to citizen complaints when they first arose months ago he said not OK It have gone on longer than a Moon said Barrera a drug-abuse counselor and former Highlands Neighborhood Association president said she hopes to bring fresh ideas to the council for attracting businesses to town and dealing with water quality problems She believes the city should return to the Cowlitz River for its water supply even though out of office "The switch to the wells in Longview has lowered the water quality for all of us stuck with the new Decius wrote in a Daily News candidate questionnaire "The current commissioners for Beacon Hill and the city of Longview refuse to admit there is a Branch supported the change of water plants because volcanic silt kept causing costly repairs to the system at the old Lane water treatment plant There also were concerns about pharmaceuticals and it tion crew came to interview Gunter said next day we waited at our hotel to watch the show First there was a story about drunk bus drivers running over people then one about stray crippled dogs and another about the wonders of making cheese Then our story We filmed it right off the The next week was taken up primarily with paying off experts who were needed to appraise art filling out paperwork with government officials and worrying was a lot of Gunter said friend Valerian was sweat -ing I had been thinking about painting my fingernails in solidarity with gay Russians but I was told not to risk Over a weekend the Americans and their guides headed out for two days in the Altai Mountains near the Mongolian border "We made a copy of one of the paintings and pretended that I found it in an outhouse in the Taiga Gunter said also met a 50-year-old shaman woman who invited us into her yurt It was marvelous She sang a song and then asked me to sing I chanted the Sub would require $50 million worth of upgrades to the already dismantled Lane water treatment plant and obtaining the necessary environmental permits would be extremely difficult now that smelt are listed as an endangered species "Yes we can think about the Cowlitz River yes we can no reason why we she told the City Council at its Oct 24 meeting Kelso she pointed out gets its drinking water from the river "so there is a she said Thursday Kelso uses a Ranney other contaminants in the river And he said stricter state regulations made it unclear if they could continue to get permits to use river water even if wanted to stay with the old system That said Branch anticipate the water becoming harder with the switch and said the problem needs to be addressed like to find an economical way to treat the water and deal with the hardness" he said noting Longview officials already are studying the problem Branch a commissioner to see them back in their he said Now the process of editing the footage for the documentary begins Gunter said If ah goes well it could be ready for a showing be -fore the end of the year and Ken have 20 hours of great footage These guys are talented filmmakers and editors We still have to decide what form the film will Gunter said "Will it be serious like a Ken Bums documentary or will it be narrated by a Russian woman or like an animated Monty Python thing with talking pigs I hope we have something At the Alive festival in La Conner on Friday through Sunday people have the chance to see examples of art including the paintings now home from Siberia Gunter is the featured artist this year at the popular event The Alive opening is 5 to 9 pm Friday at Maple Hall 104 Commercial St on the south end of La downtown main street Gunter plans to be there On Sunday afternoon at the Cassera art gallery 106 First St people can see the paintings now home again safe and sound the majority of the council decided to hold a public advisory vote Citizens shot down the measure Barrera said she voted no in the advisory vote Barrera is opposed to tax hikes and said citizens already are stretched too thin She have any ideas for generating new revenue other than to brainstorm with other council members and "leave no stone she said Other cities are good at finding revenue streams and Longview should find out what doing Barrera said elected to a six-year term on the commission Beacon Hill is a special-purpose utility district that provides water and sewer service to about 4000 customers in the Lexington Beacon Hill Columbia heights areas as well as Ostrander Williams Finney and Cowlitz Gardens areas in Kelso In addition to partnering on the Mint Farm Regional Water Treatment Plant the district also is a partner with Longview Kelso and Cowlitz County in the Three Rivers Regional Sewer Treatment Plant Sand pile collapses kills 7-year-old boy ELLENSBURG Wash -Authorities say a 7-year-old boy who was digging alone in a sand pile near his Central Washington home died after the pile collapsed burying his head arms and shoulders Kittitas County Sheriff Gene Dana says the parents of Clayton Everley found him half-buried Wednes -day afternoon about 100 feet from their house in Roslyn in an area of their backyard that is covered in sand They started CPR and fire department medics continued life-saving measures The boy was taken to an Ellensburg hospital and then flown to Hospital in Seattle where he died that evening Dana calls the death a Roslyn is a picturesque mountain town known as the place where part of the 1990s television series "Northern was filmed The Associated Press Council FROM B1 attended council meetings for years stay informed I stay connected to the Moon believes the city needs to invest more in its water mains and other infrastructure to prevent problems such as this water quality troubles which are a result of corroded 90-year-old pipes shedding iron and manganese into the water system The city should have Water FROM 131 an economical fix to the hard water which can leave watermarks on cars and dishes and cause itchy skin and frizzy hair (I le said not heard any complaints of discolored or foul -tasting water as has been re -ported in parts of Longview where the flow of water was changed in pipes) Challenger Bonnie Dedus says its high time for change saying all three commissioners should be thrown well collection system that would require an number of perforated horizontal pipes beneath the riverbed to meet water demands Public Works Director Jeff Cameron said Barrera said she would propose to pay for a new water system with additional tax revenue from eventual job growth that would result if the city became more attractive to businesses She also would be open to holding an advisory vote about a water rate hike and she would explore the availability of since 1997 is running on his experience and knowledge of the sewer district He notes the district has undertaken several major proj -ects during his tenure including the treatment plant upgrade and taking over the PUD water system along with the staff and the other commissioners have worked hard to provide a quality and reliable water and sewer Branch wrote will continue to work with the board and the staff to keep costs in line and maintain a reliable and safe federal grants to fund the project (Federal grants covered $1 million of the city's new $33 million water plant at the Mint Farm The remainder was funded with low-interest loans Cameron said) Moon said he wants to out of the habit of continuously raising taxes and although he admits he have an answer for how to generate revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements and services He did vote in favor of an additional $20 car tab fee to pay for street maintenance but Decius though questions recertrate increases driven in part by costs to develop the new water supply and upgrade the regional sewer plant and said commissioners have grown too complacent current board of commissioners is out of touch with the people they she wrote in a Daily News questionnaire "There should be no rate increase if the commissioners cannot demonstrate need" She said her work on several community boards and organizations will give her valuable experience if.