First, in honor of Veterans Day, I would like to humbly thank all those who have served in our armed forces as well as all those who are currently serving. I know many of you have served our country and I thank you. Thank you for your sacrifices, sacrifices that so often we take for granted, yet they are what have made our country the great place that it is. A place where we can have dreams and visions for our communities, and a place where we can freely take part in activities and groups to bring those visions to fruition, to mold and shape our neighborhoods, cities, and country, to make them a better place.

What an exciting time we find ourselves in. Many creative people are working on plans all throughout the city that will continue to transform our community in positive and spirit building ways. At last week's Downtown Update luncheon we heard the latest on the County Campus Redevelopment Initiative projects which will bring a beautiful plaza, cafe, parking garage, and more to the city, next door to the new Everett Events Center. We also learned the latest visions of the Committee to Establish Downtown Public Spaces, which has been developing plans for several downtown parks and many linked open spaces that would create a new "Jewel Box" of open spaces to enhance our downtown. Please see our feature article for a recap of the meeting.

Our downtown business improvement area is currently being studied, and could eventually bring changes as well. Please see related story in our downtown news section for more details. The new coffee shop in our downtown library is now under construction, bringing another gathering place to our downtown.

This week, there are artist openings, a volleyball tournament and more for you to enjoy, please see our events section.