“A brain freeze and then you melt it,” is how Shelli Chan describes her new business in the Mill Creek Town Center.  Chan’s patrons can get frozen yogurt, specialty coffee, juice, and specialty snacks such as Macaron Pastries in a clean, high-tech environment.

The World's Tastiest Frozen Yogurt and The ABS Coffee Company opened across the street from Boston’s Pizza in March.

The brightly-lit high-tech interior is very inviting. There are six flat-screen TVs mounted on the walls. Two of the booths allow patrons to connect their iPods, iPhones, or other music players to sound dome speakers for individualized entertainment.

You may have been wondering about those little blue lights at the back of traffic lights at six major intersections in Mill Creek. Tom Gathmann, Mill Creek's acting City Manager and full-time Public Works Director, reported that the rumor they were cameras "went viral on Facebook" in the May 22nd Mill Creek City Council meeting. Rest assured they are not cameras spying on your every move.

The first annual Relay for Life of Mill Creek will begin at McCollum Park at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 2nd. The relay starts with the opening ceremony and opening lap that honors cancer survivors and their caregivers.  After the first lap, all teams join in to keep the relay going until 9:00 AM Sunday morning. Pizza, hot dogs, burgers, and more will be available with all proceeds going to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Another Relay highlight is the Luminaria Ceremony that takes place at 10:00 p.m., honoring the community’s cancer survivors and remembering those lost to the disease. The track will be surrounded with glowing luminaria that bear the name of someone who has battled cancer. Luminaria may be purchased for $5.00 at the event, or by visiting the event website www.RelayForLife.org/millcreekwa .

On May 9, 2012, over 100 Mill Creek Garden Club members and guests were thoroughly entertained by the "oh la la" gardening guru, Ciscoe Morris. 

Speaking with humor about many topics, growing tomatoes, aphids, black spot on roses, etc., Ciscoe was both entertaining and informative.  There were many questions following his presentation and he was able to answer them all.  Laughing and learning were the order of the day. 

Opening day for the Farmer's Market will be Friday June 1st from 3-7pm at Willis Tucker Park, 6705 Puget Park Drive, Snohomish, WA 98296.

The mission of Farmers Market at Willis Tucker is to create a gathering place where members of the local community can support and learn from local farmers, food vendors, and artisans. In order to provide customers with a full and varied market experience, the market managers are carefully selecting vendors based on quality, customer service, quantity, and uniqueness.

This year's market season will run from June 1st to September 14th.

The park is a forested 84-acre site immediately adjacent to Silver Firs, The Highlands, and Snohomish Cascade; three miles east of Mill Creek. The park is home to the Park Department's administration offices, a very popular water spray park, an off-leash dog area, and movies in the park each summer.

For the last four years, U.S.News Education has ranked the nation’s high schools, using state test scores and statistical predictions of 1) how well students at each school “should” be doing, based upon their socioeconomic student populations, 2) how well black and Hispanic students are doing and 3) how well-prepared students are for college.

Two of Everett Public Schools high schools were among U.S.News Education medal winners for the first time this year. This year’s awards are based upon the most recently available national data – that from school year 2009-10.

Jackson High School met the first two criteria, has a 26.5 AP ranking (well above the 16.3 requirement) AND was among the nation’s top 500 AP ranking schools. Thus, JHS is considered number 1,285 in the nation, according to U.S.News and stands in spot number 34 in Washington state.

The Mill Creek City Council voted 5-0 with two abstentions to accept a 2.2 acre land parcel, a 40-foot wide access easement, and a 15-foot wide utility easement from Pacific Topsoils at the April 24^th City Council meeting.

Accepting the warranty deed and easements for this property located east of 35^th Avenue SE near Thomas Lake was a required step in a June, 2010 Framework Agreement between the City and Pacific Topsoils that settled a land use dispute.

After more than a year’s work by consultants, Mill Creek City staff, and Mill Creek City councilmembers the Mill Creek City Council voted four to three to approve the strategic plan at the April 10th City Council meeting.

Mill Creek’s strategic planning process kicked off in April of 2011. The strategic planning process included three separate city council retreats, approximately 600 resident telephone surveys, a series of community outreach events, and a number of public meetings inviting public comments.

At the final public meeting held on April 3rd, a number of Mill Creek residents applauded the strategic planning effort. Larry Mayer expressed his thanks to City staff and said he could see that his input got into the final plan.

Some Mill Creek residents believe that the strategic plan is an excuse to increase taxes. At the April 3rd public meeting, Dennis Teschlog said, “I think this is a strategic tax plan.” He went on to say that he was concerned about the City’s growing deficit.

Mark Harmsworth announced his intention to run for the State House of Representatives on Thursday. Hans Dunshee currently holds the 44th Legislative District seat that Harmsworth is seeking.

Harmsworth has been a member of the Mill Creek City Council since 2008. He was unopposed when elected to his second Mill Creek City Council term last year.

In his announcement Harmsworth said, "Our State is facing some of the toughest challenges in its history. Every day we hear stories of friends and neighbors struggling to make ends meet."

The City of Mill Creek will host three free sustainable gardening courses in April. The classes are free to Mill Creek residents, however pre-registration is required. After March 23rd, spaces will be open to residents from outside the City.