If the image of mutilated and bloody baby dolls hanging from a tree gives you the creeps, that means two things. One, you’re normal. Two, Frightville volunteers are doing their jobs.
Frightville, the haunted house constructed each year in Oak Harbor’s Roller Barn, is in its tenth year. A core group of volunteers has been working to set up the house since March and planned to have all the decorations up by Sunday.
New rules that shift the balance of Puget Sound’s annual crab take toward recreational fisherman have many in the commercial industry scratching their heads and wondering if by this time next year the only thing they will be fishing for is a new job.
The race for Island County treasurer is a contest between pragmatism and ideology.
In the pragmatic corner is Oak Harbor resident Ana Maria Nunez, a Democrat and the current chief deputy treasurer. She’s a feisty certified public accountant and a former scientist who’s earned the endorsement of current Treasurer Linda Riffe.
Central Whidbey resident Paula Spina will be able to host up to 40 large events a year, and parties can last until 11 p.m. on weekends, at her newly established rural event center.
During a hearing Monday, Island County commissioners largely sided with Spina and overruled part of a hearing examiner’s decision and the planning staff’s recommendation to put restrictions on the use of her property.
The Oak Harbor school board received a first glimpse on Monday, Oct. 11, at what their budget may look like as Gov. Christine Gregoire prepares to make education cuts statewide.
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Islanders were plagued with lousy ferry service Saturday and Sunday on both routes serving Whidbey.
If there is one thing I’ve learned this year is the dirty tricks people use to advance their own political agendas. John Dean’s underhanded mailing of his opponent’s private information and his escalation of a stop order on the building of a patio is about as low as one can get.
I was a real estate appraiser in Kitsap and Island counties for 16 years. In 2009 and 2010, I had the opportunity to serve on the Island County Board of Equalization. The board provides owners the chance to challenge the values placed on their property by the Assessor’s Office.
In the race for Position 1 in the state Legislature’s 10th District, incumbent Norma Smith, R-Clinton, very nearly won another two years in Olympia simply by default.
Oak Harbor’s biennial 2011-2012 budget is beginning to take shape and although city officials have already slashed millions of “wish list” dollars, they still have a long way to go before balancing the budget with real numbers.
After lobbying the state to change name of a ferry terminal, Coupeville leaders want to change signs to show tourists a faster way to drive to town.
Two Oak Harbor women with large families and reputations for being very nice, friendly people are competing in the November election to become the next Island County clerk.
But that’s about where the similarities end.