A look back at 2005
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Here’s a look back at 2005 from the pages of the Whidbey News-Times.
January
Three cars crashed on Highway 20 at Arnold Road when a DOT de-icing machine left a slippery residue in its wake.
Republicans demonstrated in Oak Harbor, calling for a new vote for governor after Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared the winner.
The VAQ-131 Lancers from NAS Whidbey, stationed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, helped with tsunami relief efforts around the Indian Ocean. On Whidbey, schools, organizations and individuals donated to tsunami victims.
Walls were erected for the new Home Depot store in Oak Harbor.
The county commissioners gave the go-ahead to build the new Juvenile Detention Facility in Coupeville.
The body of 15-year-old Elaine Sepulveda was found in a shallow grave in Oak Harbor. She had been missing for two months. Police arrested James Sanders, 18, on charges of second-degree murder.
Consultant Roger Brooks unveiled his $48 million downtown redevelopment plan for Oak Harbor.
A deal was struck with WAIF to take over Oak Harbor substandard animal shelter.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Walters, 23, died in an auto accident on Oak Harbor Road.
February
Joe Mosolino became president of the Oak Harbor Navy League, taking over from Beth Munns.
Popular Coupeville Deputy Marshal William “Billy Ray†Hibbs died of a sudden heart attack while jogging in Oak Harbor.
Coupeville resident William Dayton, 22, died in an accident that occurred on the job at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland.
A kidney dialysis center opened in Oak Harbor, saving about 15 people the time of expense of going to the mainland for treatment.
The sixth false bomb threat of the month forced evacuation of classes at Oak Harbor High School.
Removal of poisonous creosote logs started at Fort Casey State Park.
March
A 14-year-old girl was expelled from Oak Harbor High School for making bomb threats.
Oak Harbor School District voters gave 68 percent approval to a maintenance and operation levy that preserved the elementary art and PE programs.
Oak Harbor considered expanding its growth boundary by 415 acres, including some property owned by the mayor.
A 6-foot octopus washed up dead at Oak Harbor’s City Beach.
Whidbey General Hospital’s North Whidbey Community Clinic opened its doors on Goldie Road.
About 30 people against the Iraq war demonstrated in Coupeville.
Coupeville unveiled a drawing of its new high school.
Oak Harbor adopted a $32 million long-range tourism plan including a special events center, amphitheater and boardwalk.
Applebee’s and AutoZone announced plans to build in Oak Harbor.
The Nature Conservancy transferred 325 wooded acres in Ebey’s Reserve to the National Park Service.
April
Oak Harbor Catholics mourned the death of Pope John Paul II with a special Mass at St. Augustine’s.
The Navy opened its new $7.8 million “hot pit†jet refueling center.
A fiery plane crash claimed the lives of Oak Harbor residents Karen and Ted Mathews, whose 1942 Stinson caught fire after crashing south of Oak Harbor. She was a teacher at Broad View Elementary, and he was a firefighter in Marysville.
Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a law making the orca the official state marine mammal. The effort culminated a project by Crescent Harbor Elementary School second graders.
The state proposed roundabouts for several busy Highway 20 intersections in Oak Harbor.
The county warned farmers and gardeners that a court decision threatened their activities in rural areas.
NAS Whidbey sailors Petty Oficer 1st Class Chad Munroe and Petty Officer 1st Class Heath Nettleton, received the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in Iraq.
Home Depot opened in Oak Harbor with Stephanie Arbogast as general manager.
James Sanders pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Elaine Supelveda and received a sentence of eight and one-half years in prison.
May
Jennifer Fuentes was hired as Oak Harbor’s new youth services coordinator.
Oak Harbor heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Base Closure and Realignment list was released and it did not include NAS Whidbey.
Whidbey Island’s two highways, 20 and 525, should jointly be called the Whidbey Scenic Isle Way, according to a corridor management plan.
Judge Alan Hancock threw out a recall effort against Assessor Tom Baenen, saying it lacked legal and factual sufficiency.
The major Mainstreet makeover in Couepeville began, setting off a summer of detours.
An estimated 600 concerned residents turned out for a public hearing on the county’s critical areas ordinance, which some feared would rule out farming and gardening in certain areas.
A spate of half-cat findings began in Oak Harbor. Some thought the cats were mutilated by coyotes, others favored the alien theory.
June
The Navy announced Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ2) was relocating from Rota, Spain, to Whidbey Island with 1,000 military and civilian personnel.
The school board approved the phase-out of junk food in the Oak Harbor School District.
The old Cornet Bay dock was replaced by new floats, assuring it would stay under county ownership.
Island County Jail inmate Calvin Lee Kaestner walked away from a work detail and disappeared. Later he was found and arrested in Las Vegas.
Dennis “Cat†Avener, the famous “catman†featured on Ripley’s Believe it or Not, moved to Whidbey Island.
Construction started on the new espresso stand building in front of Coupeville’s Big Rock.
July
Two 11-year-old girls, Lauren Leahi and Marielle Face, observed a fire in a house on West Beach and called 911 and helped save the structure.
Greenbank Farm held a grand opening for its new $1.5 million “barn†that houses small businesses.
Construction started on the Madrona Way project near Coupeville which disrupted traffic for months.
Whidbey Island was left with only one baby doctor as Kenton Sizemore announced he was leaving.
Two high-risk sex offenders prompted a meeting in Oak Harbor that drew some 60 angry people.
The Navy officially announced it has chosen NAS Whidbey as the home of the EA-18G “Growler†which will eventually replace the EA-68 Prowler.
August
Auditor Suzanne Sinclair announced the September primary election would be mail-in ballots only, a first for Island County.
Oak Harbor schools prepared to begin a hot breakfast program in the fall.
The Whidbey Camano Land Trust moved its offices from Langley to Greenbank.
The Prosecutor’s Office was handling four murder cases, the most in memory. Some were retrials ordered by the state Supreme Court.
A proposal to bring striptease dancers to downtown Oak Harbor was pulled after public outrage was expressed.
Brandon Bonson, a 2000 OHHS graduate, was killed in a traffic accident near his college in Ellensburg.
In two separate incidents, North Whidbey horses came under attack from an unknown assailant.
September
Island Transit started its new “County Connector†route, with links to Whatcom and Skagit counties and beyond.
Oak Harbor City Administrator Thom Myers contract was not renewed by Mayor Patty Cohen.
A big leak in a pipe at Oak Harbor’s sewer plant polluted the bay and forced closure of beaches all the way to Coupeville.
Oak Harbor voters by a 62 percent margin approved a levy to keep the swimming pool open for another six years.
Whidbey General Hospital decided to become a “critical access†facility, which will limit beds to 25 but increase Medicare reimbursements.
The Port of Coupeville set off a brouhaha by pulling posters promoting a peace group’s event from its downtown kiosk, saying they were too political.
Mayor Patty Cohen announced her opposition to a planned shopping pavilion un the Navy’s Accident Potential Zone.
A head-on collision north of Oak Harbor killed Roger D. Carr, 36, of Freeland.
Airlift Northwest pilot Steve Smith, a Whidbey Island resident, was killed when his helicopter crashed into Puget Sound.
October
The City Council created Oak Harbor’s first Arts Commission.
NAS Whidbey officially welcomed VQ-2 to the base.
Applebee’s opened its Oak Harbor restaurant.
Oak Harbor Police Sgt. Tim Sterkel was instrumental in a drug bust that netted 41 kilos of cocaine and 25,000 Ecstacy pills, worth an estimated $1.6 million.
Work crews began tearing up City Beach Street in an effort to save the historic Garry oak at the post office.
County commissioners agreed hunting is OK at the controversial Kettles Trail and Deer Lagoon areas, if regulations could be adopted.
The Navy tested its new Knighthawk MH-60 helicopter with a practice landing at Whidbey General Hospital.
At a public hearing, many farmers objected to new rules governing agriculture in critical areas.
November
Petty Officer 1st Class John Coluter was awarded the Purple Heart in a ceremony at NAS Whidbey. He was wounded in Iraq.
Oak Harbor bar smokers worried that an initiative on the ballot could force them out of doors.
American Eagle announced plans to build 360 new single-family homes to modernize NAS Whidbey housing.
Voters approved a $6.5 million bond issue to build a new Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor and related athletic facilities.
Oak Harbor High School started its TV programming on Channel 21.
The city banned such exotic animals as tarantulas and panda bears.
James Praefke, a former NAS Whidbey sailor, escaped from the Navy brig in Bremerton where he was serving time for smuggling a grenade home from Afghanistan. He is still at large.
Christopher Kadrlik, 21, a Navy man, died when the vehicle in which he was riding went off Dugualla Road north of Oak Harbor.
The Wildcat football team reached the quarterfinals of the state football playoffs for the first time in history.
In his state-of-the-base speech, NAS Whidbey’s Capt. Syd Abernethy said the Navy now pumps $499.9 million annually into the local economy.
December
The City Council imposed a moratorium within the Navy’s Accident Potential Zone, scuttling a planned shopping pavilion.
Hard times in Island County government ended as the commissioners OK’d a budget increase of 7 percent.
In two weeks, two women, ages 31 and 21, jumped to their deaths off the Deception Pass Bridge.
Kenmore Air announced plans to begin serving Wes Lupien Airport on Monroe Landing Road next spring. Planes will fly to Boeing Field in Seattle.
Lynden-based Peoples Bank opened a branch in downtown Oak Harbor, filling space once used by InterWest, which was absorbed by Wells Fargo.
Tom Baenen, three-term Island County assessor, announced he will not run for re-election next fall.
