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Andy Russell, left, Tess Hightower and Katie McClimans participate in a rehearsal for the comedy “37 Postcards” Thursday, April 6, 2017 at the Whidbey Playhouse. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 14. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

Life

Comedy helps actress cope with loss of her own

It should come as no surprise that Tess Hightower is drawn to comedy.

Coupeville Elementary School children wait to depart school grounds on March 31, 2017. The Coupeville School District is exploring options as it looks at long-range planning for the aging elementary school. One option is to build a new school away from the busy highway. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

News

Coupeville eyes possibility of a new elementary school

Long before Dave Ebersole walked the grounds as principal of Coupeville Elementary School, he ran around the same…

Teenage emcees Hailey Winch, left, Keelie Partridge and Harrison Keating study a script Thursday, April 6, 2017 at the Whidbey Playhouse in preparation for the second Whidbey Has Talent competition at Oak Harbor High School Sunday. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

Life

Kids tune up for Whidbey Has Talent

Even emcees need to rehearse their lines.

Jessica Larson, a land steward with the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, stands before a split-rail fence Thursday, Aprl 6, 2018 that was installed in March to keep duck hunters and others from parking on the property near Crockett Lake in Central Whidbey. The land trust purchased the 85-acre property from a private landowner in December on the lake’s northeast corner to protect it and its abundant species of birds as part of the 423-acre Crockett Lake Wetland Preserve. The newly acquired property had been a widely used access point and place to park for waterfowl hunters for years. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

News

Duck hunters get the squeeze at Crockett Lake

For decades, residents near Crockett Lake on Central Whidbey have awakened to the sound of shot gun blasts…

Brett Ginther prepares to embark on a gray whale watching tour aboard his boat with Deception Pass Tours in April, 2016. Ginther is the business owner along with his wife Terica. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

Life

Former pipefitter gives family, public a boatload of adventures

He couldn’t shake the image.

McKenna Somes, left, Jake Jarrell and Morgan Stevens enjoy a game after classes let out on the grounds of Coupeville Middle/High School Friday. The school district is reorganizing its leadership and making other changes to give the middle school its identity back and allow middle school students more time to be kids. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

News

Coupeville schools going back to model that lets middle schoolers be kids

During her career as an educator, Glenda Merwine got the opportunity to interact with students of all ages.

Coupeville Superintendent Jim Shank was one of three finalists for the Twin Falls (Idaho) School District’s superintendent post. The school district announced Monday that it decided to hire one of its own longtime administrators for the position. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

News

Twin Falls picks one of its own for superintendent post

Members of the Coupeville School Board breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday after the Twin Falls School…

Seattle’s Ashley Ream is the author of “The 100-year Miracle,” the featured book of Sno-Isle Libraries’ Whidbey Reads program in 2017. Photo provided by Sno-Isle Libraries                                Seattle’s Ashley Ream is the author of “The 100-year Miracle,” the featured book of Sno-Isle Libraries’ Whidbey Reads program in 2017. She will make two presentations on Whidbey Island in June. Photo provided by Sno-Isle Libraries

Life

Whidbey Reads book is set on remote island

The storyline and setting grabbed Jane Lopez-Santillana’s attention.

Coupeville School District Superintendent Jim Shank looks over plans at a school board meeting. Shank is a finalist for the superintendent post in Twin Falls, Idaho. Photo by Ron Newberry

News

Coupeville superintendent eyes Idaho post

The idea of Jim Shank leaving as superintendent in the Coupeville School District for another job became a…

News

A sign of spring: Farmers market starting Saturday

The arrival of spring came and went rather unceremoniously this month.

File photo/Whidbey News-Times                                 Gary Wallin, a longtime businessman who was devoted to community service, died unexpectedly Tuesday at the age of 68.

News

Oak Harbor loses devoted community leader

When Lance Gibbon thinks about Gary Wallin, he remembers a man with an enormous heart.

Kendall Campbell, archaeologist and cultural resource program manager at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, points out features at two of the historic farmhouses near Ault Field that are slated for demolition unless they are moved from the property. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

News

Want a free historic farmhouse? Relocation costs not included

When Lorraine Weatherby was a young girl in the 1930s, she and three siblings lived in a tall…

The 44th Oak Harbor St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 2017. Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times

Life

Participants let nothing rain on their parade

Maybe the luckiest group at Oak Harbor’s 44th St. Patrick’s Day Parade was the high school drumline.