The roundup
Page A4
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Saturday, March 22, 2014 • The South Whidbey Record
NEWSLINE | Rain forecast for Saturday followed by a bright Sunday and Monday. Rain expected on Tuesday.
COUNTY Bovines on county beaches a problem Dead cows floating around South Whidbey and Camano Island are raising a stink with property owners. Keith Higman, director of Island County Public Health, said his office received a call about a bloated bovine on a South Whidbey beach about a week and a half ago. On Monday, another cow cadaver was reported on a beach just south of Camano Island State Park. In both cases, Higman said his office was powerless to do anything about the nuisance because the carcasses weren’t spreading disease to humans —
assuming no one gnaws on them. It is the property owners’ responsibility to deal with the giant masses of rotting hamburger, he said. Under state law, unwanted dead animals can be rendered, incinerated, buried or hauled to a landfill. In the case of the dead cow on South Whidbey, a high tide did the job and floated that cow’s body out to sea. “People were taking photos of it floating around the ferry,” he said. “Pretty exciting stuff.” That carcass later landed on another South Whidbey beach.
County to study, revise speed limits Island County Public Works officials plan to
CLASSES ON WHIDBEY TAI CHI INTRODUCTION Exploring “Stillness in Movement”. An introduction to Cheng Man-Ch’ing style Taichi. This is a 5-week series running on Tuesdays, 12 Noon to 1:00 PM from April 1st through April 29th at Island Dance, 714 Camano Ave, Langley. The cost is $50 for the 5-week series and pre-registration is required. Contact Simon Leon at 360-661-7298, or email dosho56@hotmail.com.
ADVERTISE YOUR CLASS HERE - 50 WORDS FOR $15 Please call us at 877-316-7276 to schedule your classes ad. Deadlines:
WED paper: Friday by Noon SAT paper: Wednesday by Noon
conduct speed studies this spring when annual traffic counts on county roads are also collected. The studies are in response to petitions from citizens requesting reduced speed limits on various road segments throughout the county. Once the data is collected, department staff will make speed limit recommendations to the Island County commissioners, likely in the summer, according to public works documents. If the board agrees to move forward with the recommendations, a public hearing will be scheduled. Roads slated for evaluation include: Mutiny Bay Road, Highway 525 to Bush Point Road; Bush Point Road, Highway 525 to one half mile west; Becker Road, Bayview Road to the end of county road; Coles Road, Strider Road to Highway 525; Langley Road, near Waterman’s Mill; and French Road, Maxwelton Road to Cultus Bay Road; Hunt Road, between
Crescent Harbor Road and Fakkema Road; Engle Road, Coupeville town limits to Fort Casey Road; Terry Road, Coupeville town limits to one half mile east. Engineers are also considering two segments for a speed increase: Smugglers Cove Road, Highway 525 to Lagoon Point Road; and Bayview Road, Highway 525 to Ewing Road.
LANGLEY Public meeting set for fairgrounds A public meeting concerning a $10 million plan to renovate the Island County Fairgrounds will be held in Langley next week. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, and will be held in the Coffman building on the fairgrounds. The Whidbey Island Area Fair is struggling to make ends meet and the strategic plan proposes to
FREE GIANT
PUMPKIN SEEDS from the
WHIDBEY ISLAND GIANT PUMPKIN CONTEST
Join the fun & grow a big one Compete in the contest this fall at Coupeville’s HarvestFest Call 675-5687 or Email whidbeypumpkins@gmail.com to get your free seeds. Supported by Coupeville Festival Association
Clarification In the story “Black Sea bound” on page A1 of the Wednesday, March 19 issue of The Record, Atlantis Inc. ROV from South Whidbey placed 11th out of more than 20 teams at the MATE International ROV Competition and more than 620 teams registered around the world.
Correction In the story “Monstrous day planned in Langley” on page A5 of the Wednesday, March 19 issue of The Record, the time children can climb on the large construction rigs was incorrect. It will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22 on Second Street in Langley. make the fairground more flexible by turning it into an Island Event Center over a period of 10 years. More than half of the existing buildings would be razed or renovated. Under the plan, management would be taken over by a public development authority and the project paid for with revenue bonds. The plan was developed by a steering committee composed of representatives from various island governments, the fair’s Association of Executive Officers and a paid consultant.
Police working on social outreach Now that the police department size is set at three officers and a chief, Acting Chief David Marks has made plans to better connect with residents. At the city council meeting March 17, Marks said he was working on a department Facebook page. He envisioned it being a site to update residents with public safety information, such as a wanted persons list, as well as a video questionand-answer session. Officer photos were also
Carol Hanson
part of the plan as a way to personally connect the city to its law enforcement, but Marks joked that they all vanish when he pulls out his camera. Councilwoman Rene Neff commended Marks and the department for leaving door hangers to inform businesses of security checks — making sure doors are locked and windows closed. The “courtesy checks” drew the appreciation of the other council members as well. “We need to be looking for those things we do right and acknowledge them,” said Councilwoman Margot Jerome.
FREELAND Freeland dock slated for repairs The Island County commissioners agreed to move forward on a $5,652 repair of the Freeland dock, at Wednesday’s work session. Parts of its floatation are missing and need replacement to maintain the safety of the dock, according to public works staff. Nine new floatation tubs will replace the existing Styrofoam-filled tires.
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