Island Transit needs a cash infusion or the free bus system will be forced to cut its service up to 34 percent next year.
The shortage is partly a result of a puny 2 percent increase to the Island Transit $8,686,724 budget this year, said Martha Rose, executive director of Island Transit. Insurance, maintenance and other costs are rising at a larger rate, she said.
The rate of joblessness for Island County mirrored the state’s unemployment rate and remained unchanged last month, according to the state Employment Security Department.
The unemployment rate in the county, not seasonally adjusted, was 9.1 percent in April, which was the same as March. The state’s seasonally adjusted rate was also 9.1 percent, the same as the revised rate for March.
A 24-year-old Oak Harbor woman is accused of speeding away after running over a woman’s leg in an SUV last December, court documents say.
Prosecutors charged Christine Love in Island County Superior Court May 18 with hit and run with an injury.
About 30 Oak Harbor residents will lose their homes next to a cemetery to make room for the city’s third funeral home and first pet crematorium.
M&M Mobile Home Park, located next to Maple Leaf Cemetery, is the latest in a series of trailer parks in the city that have been, or will be, demolished. It comes at a time when city and county officials are concerned about the lack of affordable housing on North Whidbey.
Oak Harbor police released a sketch Tuesday of a man who allegedly jumped out of bushes near Whidbey Island Bank and tried to drag a 12-year-old girl into his car May 5.
Sgt. Mike Beech with the Island County Sheriff’s Office composed the drawing after interviewing the girl. Beech is trained as a forensic sketch artist.
Earlier this month, a jury acquitted a 23-year-old Oak Harbor woman accused of going into a neighbor’s apartment and assaulting four people.
The jurors found Jade Dent not guilty of one count of second-degree assault and three counts of fourth-degree assault.
Mike Horrobin of Oak Harbor Motors will be able to celebrate 30 years in business this September. More importantly, 25 people will get to keep their jobs.
While 800 Chrysler dealerships got franchise cancelation notices Thursday, Horrobin received a letter officially notifying him that he will be able to keep selling Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles.
This year’s election has the potential to bring big changes to the politics of the Oak Harbor City Council, the Coupeville Town Council, school boards and the hospital board.
At least a couple of the seats will be up for grabs as incumbents leave the political arena.
A 26-year-old Coupeville man is accused of having sex with an underaged girl, pointing a gun at her, threatening to kill her and providing her and her friend with marijuana, all of which allegedly occurred three years ago, court documents indicate.
The world-famous, rough-and-tumble crew of the Northwestern will be dropping anchor in Oak Harbor Friday, May 29.
Oak Harbor resident Vinton Waldron, who fishes for salmon in Alaska, and his wife Charisse are hosting a special event at his family’s seafood market, Seabolt’s Smokehouse, to celebrate the ancient profession.
A suicidal man had climbed over the railing of Deception Pass Bridge and was on his way to near-certain death when a quick-thinking deputy reached out and pulled him back from the brink.
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.
