Coupeville schools will be starting a new program to help young people confined in the Island County Juvenile Detention Center.
The school district received a $190,000 state grant that will pay for three positions to implement a host of new programs at the detention center, located adjacent to the county jail in Coupeville. The district is responsible for educating the youth held there.
The Island County Auditor’s Office created 18 new election precincts and altered the boundaries of 31 others.
But the change will have very little impact on Island County voters, Auditor Sheilah Crider said after a meeting with county commissioners Monday afternoon. Precincts are largely a fossil of a mostly bygone era when people voted at polling places instead of through the mail.
At 9:13 p.m., a resident reported her husband was “going postal.” He pushed her in the leg.
An alleged drunk driver who drove in the wrong lane and went through red lights on North Whidbey last month crashed his car when trying to flee from police, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged 47-year-old James Baher in Island County Superior Court April 13 with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, driving under the influence, DUI — BAC refusal and driving without an ignition interlock device.
A 33-year-old Oak Harbor man who was a coach for a soccer club is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl from the team three years ago, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged Jeovanni Camacho, Jr., in Island County Court April 9 with three counts of rape of a child in the third degree.
A union representing more than 100 Island County employees has filed a grievance over budget-related news reported in the Whidbey News-Times, according to county Human Resource Director Larry Larson.
Larson said that representatives with Local 1845 were under the impression that county commissioners provided the newspaper with a press release about budget cuts and layoffs before informing the union.
A second boat for the Port Townsend-to-Keystone ferry route appears to be a reality.
The state Legislature included money for additional “Island Home” class ferries when it approved the $7.5 billion transportation budget Sunday for the 2009 to 2011 biennium.
Another ferry for Keystone isn’t the only thing coming out of the legislative session that will help businesses affected by the loss of the Steel Electrics in late 2007.
The Legislature is providing Whidbey Island with $10,000 that will go toward marketing efforts to help mitigate the limited ferry service plaguing the Keystone-to-Port Townsend ferry route.
In cases of vandalism, fights or tagging on Oak Harbor High School’s campus, an on-duty, off-campus officer is presently assigned to the call.
However, Lt. John Dyer of the Oak Harbor Police Department hopes a new $266,000 federal grant will allow for a “resource officer” to again be permanently planted on school grounds five days a week.
The shorelines of two small islands off the coast of Whidbey, as well as a large swath of state-owned tidelands on the west coast of Whidbey Island, may become the state’s newest aquatic reserve.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and People for Puget Sound, the proponent for the proposed Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve, will hold an open house-style public meeting in Oak Harbor on Wednesday, April 29 to provide information and gather ideas from the community regarding the proposal.
The winner for the Washington Award for Vocational Excellence was announced recently as Oak Harbor High School senior Lauren Lindberg.
The WAVE award, which was created in 1984 by the state Legislature, recognizes students who excel in career and technical education.
A deceased gray whale beached on Sandy Point private property near Langley at low tide Monday night, but Tuesday morning’s high tide washed the whale out to sea.
The 40-foot, male whale disappeared overnight, despite a large, orange buoy attached to the carcass, said Howard Garrett, co-founder of the Greenbank-based Orca Network.
The year’s national theme for Nurses Day Friday, May 8, is, “Nurses: Building A Healthy Community!”
“The nurses of Whidbey General Hospital and the greater Whidbey Island community do exactly that every day,” said Tessa Gavin, a RN at the hospital. “Through their caring and ongoing dedication to their profession they are continually improving the lives of those they meet and care for.”