Easter arrives early for many

Many islanders will welcome Easter by rising and attending an outdoor sunrise service tomorrow morning.

Outdoor services are planned in several locations:

l Sunnyside Cemetery, Coupeville, at 6:30 a.m., sponsored by the Coupeville Methodist Church.

l City Beach Park, Oak Harbor, 7 a.m., sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. Meet at the windmill or, if it rains, at the First Methodist Church on SE Ireland St.

l Deception Pass State Park Amphitheater, 7 a.m., sponsored by Christ the King Community Church.

Other Easter services, as well as Easter egg hunts scheduled for today and tomorrow, can be found on pages 7 and 8 of today’s Whidbey News-Times. Click on Community News on this site for a list.

Governor signs rural county bill

It’s official: Island County is now by legal definition a rural county, which means about $400,000 in additional public-facilities funding each year from the state.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gary Locke enacted a bill, sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, that grants rural designation to any county smaller than 225 square miles. Rural counties receive a chunk of sales and use tax funding to be applied to building up economic infrastructures.

Formerly, Island County was excluded from rural county designation because its population per square mile far exceeded that required by law. Haugen’s bill was aimed directly at bringing in additional funding for Island County, as no other jurisdiction is affected by the new definition.

Sno-Isle picks new director

Last time the Sno-Isle Library Board of Directors picked a new library director, they went all the way to New York to find their person. This time, they looked just down the hall.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory is Sno-Isle’s new director. She replaces Art Weeks, from New York state, who served for over two years before suddenly deciding to leave early this month.

Woolf-Ivory certainly knows the territory. She has been with Sno-Isle since 1985, the last 15 years as deputy director of the two-county library system. Woolf-Ivory is a graduate of Washington State University and earned her Master’s at the University of Washington. Her new salary is still under negotiation. Weeks was making $106,000 annually.

Ferry ticket hikes set soon

The Washington State Transporation Commission is expected to approve ferry fare increases at its April 4 meeting in Olympia.

A general far increase of 12.5 percent is proposed, with certain exceptions. Keystone-Port Townsend, for example, will see no increase, while tickets on the San Juan routes would go up 17.5 percent.

Other changes will also reap more revenue for State Ferries. Passenger coupon book discounts would be cut to 25 percent from the current 30 percent, although a new monthly pass would offset the increase. The bicycle surcharge would go up 10 cents on most routes, and registered vanpools would pay a $20 annual registration fee instead of $10.

If approved, the changes will take effect May 12. Details of the complex fare increase proposals can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

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