All eyes will be on the Oak Police Department next week as a vote Monday by members of its employee union will determine whether they are the only city employees to get raises in 2011.
Island County Commissioner John Dean has thrown in the towel, conceding defeat to Camano Island Republican Kelly Emerson, but the Tea Party member says she has no plans to drop her lawsuit against Dean and two other county employees over an October political mailer.
The once familiar whine of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s first permanently assigned jet bomber may once again be heard roaring its way over Oak Harbor skies.
Beginning next week, for the first time in about three years, Central Whidbey will once again be served by its very own vessel.
Indeed, the celebration planned for Sunday, Nov. 14, will not only mark the arrival of the Chetzemoka — the first new ferry the state has built in more than a decade — to the Coupeville-to-Port Townsend ferry route, but it also marks the end of years of Band-Aid service on the run.
The amount Whidbey General Hospital collects for two levies will increase by the maximum allowed 1 percent beginning in 2011.
You may not know it, but Oak Harbor is home to a tattoo artist whose skills have begun to draw international attention.
But you can forget any stereotypes that may come to mind right now. This veteran of the business has never tattooed a motorcycle biker or drunken sailor sitting down for their first anchor or naked mermaid tattoo.
Despite the wave of anti-tax sentiment expressed in the general election, Oak Harbor will move forward with its state-allowed 1 percent property tax hike in 2011.
The feathers of one of Oak Harbor’s most beloved birds were significantly brightened this week.
“Gerral’s Girl,” the affectionately named PBY-5A Catalina flying boat that returned to the Sea Plane base this summer after a 67-year absence to serve as an educational display, has been sitting with her wings clipped since her arrival.
While dreams almost never come true over night, in the world of Habitat for Humanity they are sometimes built in just 20 construction days.
At the end of the day, Oak Harbor residents may end up footing a $486,000 tab to help downtown businesses cope with the effects of the SE Pioneer Way improvement project as well as recruit new businesses to the sparse commercial district.
In a strange twist, two women were injured in a rollover accident near the corner of Highway 20 and Arnold Road Tuesday morning but only one was involved in the wreck.
Traffic on Highway 20 north of Oak Harbor was backed up for miles Friday afternoon when a rollover accident forced the closure of the northbound lane for nearly an hour.
According to Washington State Patrol Trooper Jason Nichols, at about 4 p.m. a 19-year-old Oak Harbor woman was driving southbound in a 2002 Ford Focus in front of Dugualla Bay Farms when she lost control of her vehicle.
From the ashes of Oak Harbor’s new car dealership industry, two local businessmen are hoping a little reshaping of the wheel will serve to fill a niche in the collapsing market and put people back to work as well.
