RECORD D SOUTH WHIDBEY
INSIDE
Falcons get blocked at state See...A8
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 92 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
BUILDING SUCCESS, ONE WELD AT A TIME
Justin Burnett / The Record
Journeyman fitter Troy Hawkins works on a jig at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland. The shipyard has landed three contracts.
Three new contracts will add 30 jobs to Nichols Brothers’ roster By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record Three new projects will keep Freeland’s Nichols Brothers Boat Builders busy through 2014, company officials have announced. According to CEO Matt Nichols, the South Whidbey ship
construction firm recently began work on another tractor tug, and has been awarded contracts for a large landing craft that will operate in Alaska and a 23-car ferry that will service Washington and Oregon. He declined to say how much the projects are worth financially but volunteered that, collectively, they are on par with the company’s 2013 earnings. Next year’s budget is pretty
much set, said Nichols, and that’s a big deal for an industry so dependent on the next job. “It’s feast or famine,” Nichols said. Yard workers are in full agreement. Troy Hawkins, SEE NICHOLS, A20
County pot moratorium passes 2-0 By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record
Janis Reid / The Record
Citizens listen during a recent meeting concerning a six-month moratorium on marijuana businesses. The Commissioners adopted the temporary ban Wednesday.
A moratorium on new recreational marijuana businesses was passed Wednesday despite residents’ concerns that the action would put them strategically behind other counties. Commissioners Helen Price Johnson and Jill Johnson voted 2-0 to approve the six-month moratorium while they take additional public comment and
review potential policies and ordinances. Commissioner Kelly Emerson was absent. The moratorium is in response to the passage of the state law created last year by I-502 which legalized recreational marijuana and comes with many restrictions. The production and distribution of medical marijuana is already legal. Several local medical marijuana
growers and prospective business people told the board during a recent public hearing they were upset about the proposed moratorium. Jon Youngblood, who spoke against the moratorium at the public hearing, said Thursday that he still believes the move will force businesses to set up shop in other counties. Youngblood SEE MORATORIUM, A20