A total of 16 full-time and part-time Island County employees will be laid off June 1. An additional seven positions will be eliminated through attrition and 19 employees will have reduced work hours.
The Island County commissioners officially and unanimously adopted a resolution amending the 2009 budget Monday morning. Just over $1 million in cuts were made, plus $1 million in reserve will be used to fill the $2 million budget hole.
One of the largest kelp beds in Washington state nearly surrounds two tiny islands off the west coast of Whidbey Island.
The underwater forest of seaweed is an ideal nursery for baby fish, according to Cyrilla Cook of People for Puget Sound. The surrounding waters support a diverse ecosystem of sea creatures, including orcas, harbor seals, salmon, halibut, lingcod, tufted puffins and black oystercatchers.
It’s such an important habitat for the species that People for Puget Sound, a nonprofit conservation group, is trying to get 30,000 acres of state-owned bedlands and tidelands turned into a state aquatic reserve.
The Island County prosecutor was forced to dismiss felony charges against four people because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The ruling will likely affect many misdemeanor cases, as well as the caseloads for police and prosecutors in the future.
“The reality is that a lot of guns and drugs won’t be found,” Prosecutor Greg Banks said.
A 23-year-old Coupeville man accused of attempting to rape a woman who police reports allege he purchased in Mexico appeared at a chaotic court hearing in Coupeville Monday afternoon.
In the end, Miguel De Jesus’ attorney entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of attempted rape in the second degree. Prosecutors charged him April 20 in Island County Superior Court.
Island County commissioners will begin the process of choosing a new planning director from among more than 40 applicants Monday.
The commissioners are scheduled to meet in a closed-door session Monday to evaluate the qualifications of those who applied.
A 12-year-old Oak Harbor girl said a man tried to grab her and drag her to a car while she was jogging on the city’s waterfront trail Tuesday evening, the Oak Harbor Police reported.
The girl’s father, Oak Harbor dentist Gordon Keyes, said his family is very alarmed and wants to warn the community about the danger.
While the health and environmental dangers posed by methamphetamine labs are well known, health experts are just starting to realize the mounting problems with heavy meth use contaminating homes and cars, possibly putting unsuspecting people at risk.
On North Whidbey, a few business people are learning the high cost of cleaning up after methamphetamine smoke.
Elected officials from Island County were among hundreds of visitors last month on a special tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln, a storied aircraft carrier that transports aircrews from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and many others to hot spots around the globe.
Island County Commissioner Angie Homola brought along sophomore Jami Zuber, a member of JROTC at Oak Harbor High School. Her father had served on the boat, which gave the visit extra meaning.
Island County prosecutors are handling a difficult and disturbing case involving an allegation of attempted rape, a rare indigenous language, and what a deputy prosecutor called “slavery.”
An 18-year-old Coupeville woman who is the mother of two small children reported to police April 10 that her husband, 23-year-old Miguel De Jesus, had assaulted her, court documents state.
A gray whale that was dissected on a Whidbey Island Naval Air Station beach Wednesday afternoon likely died from being struck by a ship in Puget Sound.
Jessie Huggins, a stranding coordinator with Cascadia Research, led the colossal necropsy, with help from a team of helpers from Fish and Wildlife, the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and the Orca Network. She found bruising in the animal’s blubber and internal organs, as well as a great deal of bloody fluid inside the whale. The whale also had a stomach full of undigested food, which helps rule out illness.
The Island County Auditor’s Office created 18 new election precincts and altered the boundaries of 31 others.
But the change will have very little impact on Island County voters, Auditor Sheilah Crider said after a meeting with county commissioners Monday afternoon. Precincts are largely a fossil of a mostly bygone era when people voted at polling places instead of through the mail.
An alleged drunk driver who drove in the wrong lane and went through red lights on North Whidbey last month crashed his car when trying to flee from police, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged 47-year-old James Baher in Island County Superior Court April 13 with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, driving under the influence, DUI — BAC refusal and driving without an ignition interlock device.
A 33-year-old Oak Harbor man who was a coach for a soccer club is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl from the team three years ago, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged Jeovanni Camacho, Jr., in Island County Court April 9 with three counts of rape of a child in the third degree.
