Volunteers and Mill Creek staff planted the new sustainable landscaping on Saturday, June 22nd. According to Linda Knox, Mill Creek Town Center Business Association past-president, "It looks great!"

Once the new sustainable landscaping is established it will need much less water and upkeep than the conventional landscaping it replaced. However, Jesse Blum, Mill Creek Design Review Board member, cautions that it will take up to three full years for the new plants to be established. It will be important to keep the new plants well watered during this period.

Fireworks go on sale for the Fourth of July festivities in Washington State on Friday, June 28, 2013. Washington State law allows sales of consumer fireworks to begin on June 28, 2013, at noon and end on July 5, 2013, at 11:00 pm.

A number of cities and counties have restricted or banned the sale and discharge of fireworks.  Be sure to check with your local jurisdiction before using fireworks.

State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy announced that the number of retail fireworks stand licenses issued in 2013 is down 2.5%, or 23 licenses, from 2012.  A state license is required before a city or county can issue a permit to operate a fireworks stand in Washington.

The fireworks regulations for North Puget Sound Cities and unincorporated Snohomish County are as follows:

Polygon Northwest has already begun grading the site of their multi-use development in Mill Creek’s East Gateway Urban Village. As well, their informal meetings with Mill Creek’s Design Review Board over the past months have resulted in design improvements in building elevations, materials and landscaping design, which should result in quick final approvals.

The next step in the process will occur at the June 26, 2013 public hearing when the Mill Creek Hearing Examiner will receive public input on the project’s binding site plan. The binding site plan being considered only includes the residential portion of the complex. The commercial development will be considered at at later date.

If you hear voices from the sky along Mill Creek Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon, don't be alarmed. It is just the Snohomish County Sheriff's office testing a new gadget.

Sometime between 4 and 6 pm on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s helicopter, SnoHawk 10, will fly over the Sheriff’s Office South Precinct in Mill Creek and other locations to test a long-range acoustic device called the LRAD 500XTM.