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Wednesday, January 29, 2014 • Whidbey News-Times
COER goes after Growlers By JANIS REID Staff reporter
The Coupeville-based group that filed a federal lawsuit against the Navy over jet noise in July is now demanding the EA-18G Growlers be completely removed from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. “Growler jets, with their low-level training operations, have no business on Whidbey Island or in any other populated and environmentally sensitive area,” according to COER President, Michael Monson. “It is now our position that the Growlers must go, and we are making that case to our state and national elected officials and communities throughout the region.” The Navy has started transitioning its electronic attack squadrons comprising the EA-6B Prowlers to the EA-18G Growlers. The Navy is also considering bringing in two additional Growler squadrons in 2016. The group had previously called for a closure of Outlying Field Coupeville, which shares a border with Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and where the Navy conducts touch-and-go Growler operations. The Navy also conducts Growler operations at Ault Field, where some nearby residents have also complained about jet noise. “We now know that people in other places are affected and at risk,” said Ken Pickard of COER. “If the Navy could mitigate the problem, they would have done so. We can’t ask that the noise we endure be shifted to their communities.“ Complaints about the noise have also surfaced in surrounding communities such as La Conner, Mount Vernon, Port Townsend and the San Juan Islands. COER members said last year that the
Growlers would be tolerable if Navy kept the number of operations at OLF to 6,120 annually, the number estimated in a 2005 environmental assessment. The Navy has conceded that operations did exceed this number by roughly 3,000 in 2011 and 2012, and have agreed to keep to the 6,120 projection. For this reason and others, the group maintains that the Navy “can’t be trusted” to keep their word and that the alleged difference in noise level from the Prowler to the Growler has caused them to change their stance on the issue. “Many citizens tolerated jet noise for years, but bringing in the Growlers was the tipping point,” said COER member, Paula Spina. “The Navy and its Growler expansion has been destructive and divisive for people in Puget Sound, pitting Island communities against each other,” said Maryon Attwood of COER. “If the Growler expansion is writing on the wall, Whidbey Island and the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve will be a less attractive place to live and visit.” NAS Whidbey is the only air station to base the new Growler squadrons. Its predecessor, the Prowler, has had squadrons based and trained primarily out of NAS Whidbey since 1971. Four Marine Corps Prowler squadrons are currently stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, and a reserve squadron moved to NAS Whidbey last year from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. During a recent interview, Congressman Rick Larsen said he doesn’t think basing the Growlers elsewhere, or closure of OLF, is likely in the foreseeable future.
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Justin Burnett/South Whidbey Record
A scraped-up door is believed to be the entry point of burglars who stole computers from Senior Services of Island County’s South Whidbey Center last week.
Burglars hit Senior Services By JUSTIN BURNETT Record editor
Burglars struck another blow on South Whidbey, this time to a nonprofit group. Senior Services of Island County’s South Whidbey Center in Bayview was broken into and the thieves got away with several computers, some cash and other miscellaneous items. Organization leaders said Senior Services was burglarized before, but it’s been some time and the experience left them rattled. “We haven’t had a burglary in nearly 10 years,” said Cheryn Weiser, executive director of Senior Services. “It was a little bit of a shock to say the least.” “You feel like you’ve just been violated,” she said. “The trust you have with the community we serve has been shaken a bit.” The break-in occurred between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15. The thieves are believed to have entered through a back door, using a flat, sharp object to pry it open.
From there, the burglars made their way through the building prying open doors to locked offices. They made off with three laptops: a grey Dell Latitude, a newer model Dell with a docking station and a 15-inch screen Toshiba. Some cash and a yellow Motorola walkie-talkie with a charger was also taken. The information contained on the computers includes non-detailed mailing and membership lists. The level of information that may have been compromised is equivalent to that which is commonly found in a phone book, organization officials said. Senior Services of Island County will be following this announcement with notifications to those whose information was involved. Calls to the Island County Sheriff’s Office for comment were not returned by press time, but Weiser said the burglary was reported and that an investigation is underway. In the meantime, South Whidbey Center employees are doing their best to make do as replacement computers have not yet arrived.
“It’s certainly a disruption in our service,” Weiser said. Lynae Slinden, director of South Whidbey Center, has been using her personal computer to conduct business. It’s not the best situation, but the work has to be done, she said. Slinden added that three replacement computers are expected to arrive Wednesday. Burglaries on South Whidbey are on the rise. Between June 1 and Dec. 11 of 2013, there were 87 residential burglary reports on the South End, from Houston Road south. That’s a rise of 27 percent from the 63 reported burglaries during the same time period in 2012, and an increase of 39 percent from the 53 burglaries that occurred during the same six months in 2011. Weiser was aware of the rash of burglaries and wasn’t too excited about joining the ranks of victims. Weiser is asking anyone with any information about the burglary to call her at 360-331-5703, or contact the Island County Sheriff’s Office.
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