By Bill Engle

Have we lost track of justice in our country? In case one has not noticed, Keystone has been robbed twice. First by the Town of Coupeville’s mayor, the town council and the chamber of commerce, for stealing the name of the Keystone Ferry Terminal. This was a gross act of stolen identity.

Secondly, it has been robbed by the great leaders of the state of Washington, for not placing a second ferry boat on the route which has been promised for three years. Everyone involved in these actions should be ashamed of themselves. It just goes to prove that when it comes to greed and money, you cannot trust anyone involved in politics. One can change a name, but you cannot change the facts, and the fact of the matter is, that there is NOT a Washington state ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville. There never has been and there never will be.

Coupeville is located on the opposite end of the island from Keystone, on a different body of water, with no ferry terminal. To get to Coupeville by road, one must drive anywhere from four to eight miles depending on the route one takes.

When the ferry departs from Port Townsend and arrives at Central Whidbey Island, it docks at Keystone, in Keystone Harbor, not Coupeville. When it leaves to return to Port Townsend it departs from Keystone, not Coupeville. This is the way it has been off and on for well over 100 years.

It has docked in the Keystone Harbor since the 1950s and in early years it docked down the Keystone spit near the end of Keystone Avenue. This is next to the site of the old Keystone sand and gravel operation. This has worked very well for all these years, so why change it? The answer is greed. The town of Coupeville and chamber of commerce want more business and money, all at the expense of taxpayers who are going to pay for the thousands of dollars it costs for printing up all new ferry schedules and installing new highway signs, etc., etc., etc.

Maybe those who gain from their new found wealth can reimburse the state. It needs the money. The next time some of the people that wanted this change want to change something else, I have a suggestion for you: Change your address. Only when you leave, you may wish to take the Keystone-to-Port Townsend ferry, on the ONE and ONLY ferry there is from Keystone, NOT Coupeville. Read your highway map. In closing, beware Clinton, Langley may be watching, and waiting to steal your name.

Bill Engle lives on Ebey’s Prairie (not Coupeville)