Unlike most organizations and agencies struggling with budgets, Sno-Isle Libraries’ cash crunch has little to do with the downturn in the economy.
Hundreds of motorcycles will rumble through Whidbey Island this weekend on their way to Anacortes for the Oyster Run, the largest motorcycle run in the Pacific Northwest.
Police say they seized a large amount of high-quality methamphetamine in two drug busts involving the same suspect in Oak Harbor.
Detective Carl Seim, drug enforcement officer with the Oak Harbor Police, said the investigation started in January after investigators received a tip that someone nicknamed “Cup” or “Cupcake” was selling a lot of meth on North Whidbey.
A 49-year-old Coupeville woman with a history of drug-related crimes was recently sent to prison for methamphetamine possession.
A jury found Teresa Johnson guilty in Island County Superior Court Aug. 25 of possession of methamphetamine.
Public defense in Island County received a big boost Monday morning as county commissioners approved an amendment that increases funding going to the contracted law firm by nearly 50 percent.
The amendment passed by a 2-1 vote, which is unusual for the three Democratic commissioners who typically can reach a consensus on major issues.
An overflowing crowd of septic tank owners told the Island County Board of Health that the On-Site Sewer Operations and Maintenance Program stinks.
A former coach of the North Whidbey Aquatic Club who was investigated nine years ago for molesting a young swimmer in Oak Harbor more recently pleaded no contest to 20 felony child molestation charges in California, the Mercury News reported.
Undigested sewage may hit the baffle, metaphorically speaking, at a special Island County Board of Health meeting Monday night to discuss the county’s septic system inspection requirements.
An Oak Harbor man filed a lawsuit against Island County’s emergency dispatch center, claiming that a dispatcher’s bad advice two years ago led to a serious injury.
Coupeville Public Works Director Malcolm Bishop unintentionally solved the mystery of the missing horse when he went out for his morning run Thursday.
As he was about to enter the Kettles Trail, the horse was coming out and heading for Highway 20. Rebel, an 8-year-old gelding, had been missing in the extensive trail system near Coupeville for 13 days after being spooked and running off into the bushes. Bishop didn’t even know there was a horse at large, but he realized the confused animal needed help.
The crew from Marine Services, a salvage company out of Cornet Bay, towed a fully submerged power boat into the Oak Harbor marina Monday afternoon. The 38-foot boat sat on the silty bottom of the marina overnight, with only a chair protruding above the water at high tide.
“It was a wreck removal, not really a salvage,” said Capt. John Aydelotte of Marine Services. He explained that the sunken Bayliner had to be towed out because it was a hazard to other boats.
A serial rapist who preyed on women and girls in Oak Harbor during the early 1990s was scheduled to be released from prison Sept. 1 after serving 16 years.
The state Attorney General’s Office, however, stepped in and had 37-year-old Paul Harell transported to the Island County jail. The office is attempting to have Harell deemed a “sexually violent predator” and civilly committed to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
A 68-year-old Oak Harbor man pleaded guilty to a sex offense, but he won’t be spending any time in jail.
Under a plea bargain, Melvin Ross pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court Aug. 31 to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
