Here’s what was happening in the news this week:
100 years ago
Due to the increased ferry traffic from the mainland, Island County citizens began recognizing a need for more road signs. The county commissioners and commercial clubs had promised that more signs would soon appear, but nothing had been done thus far. A number of visitors from Seattle, Bellingham and Everett had visited the past Sunday and complained about the lack of guideposts.
The News staff took a trip on the Oak Harbor-Utsaladdy ferry and visited Stanwood. It was editorialized that the town was the “liveliest and most enterprising little city on Puget Sound of equal population.” The writer added that much of the city’s success was due to its productive farmland and the establishment of a modern milk condensing plant by the Carnation company. The writer also noted that, “A stranger’s first impression of this bustling little city is that there are no dead fish inside of the corporate limits,” referring to the determination of its citizens.
75 years ago
Whidbey Island and Snohomish County pitched in funds for the purchase of an iron lung. Whidbey and Snohomish County planned to share the device. The announcement came from L.C. Haag, who had been recently elected to the executive board of the Snohomish-Island chapter of the Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The foundation had recently voted to put $1,000 toward the purchase. A fundraising effort was underway to gather the remainder of the funds necessary.
At least 12 canoes were expected to compete for the Black Ball international trophy during the annual races at the Coupeville Water Festival. In addition to the war canoe race category, other categories included one-man canoe racing, canoe hurdle racing, tipover canoe racing, two-man canoe racing and pushover canoe racing.
Over 2,000 Washington state residents had signed their names in the guestbooks at the New York World’s Fair and 8,152 had signed their names in the book at the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. Of the names listed at the San Francisco fair, Mr. and Mrs. Victor Robart of San de Fuca were included.
50 years ago
The Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce heard plans for a Senior Citizen Village. The proposed village would house families with limited incomes ($3,600 or less a year). At least one member of the family had to be 62 years old or older. The village could hold up to 50 homes. Whidbey Island residents would be given priority. A committee was formed to investigate the proposal from the Chamber’s standpoint.
Two crews of local youths were employed at Fort Casey and South Whidbey parks to expand the facilities and improve the parks’ general appearance. The crews were composed of members of the Neighborhood Youth Corps. Previously, these duties had been the responsibility of one ranger and one aide at each of the parks. The ranger and aide did not generally have time to take on extra projects. The Neighborhood Youth Corps was a federally funded program to provide employment to underprivileged youths between the ages of 16 and 21.
25 years ago
The Washington state Board of Education decided to make environmental education a requirement in grades K-12 in public schools. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Judith Billings, called the act a “landmark” and a “historically significant” event. Billings noted that it was the first time, to her knowledge, that virtually all agencies dealing with environmental protection and natural resources issues had banded together to approach the state board and office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, asking for action.
The cost of defending indigents in Island County had soared, prompting county commissioners to seek putting a cap on costs. In a letter dated July 23, Dwain Colby, chairman of the board of commissioners, notified attorney David Walker the county would terminate its contract with the Island County Public Defenders Association as of Dec. 31. The association was composed of a group of attorneys who had, in the past, agreed to defend those who were unable to afford an attorney. The association was compensated for services on a fixed-cost-per-case basis.
