News-Times Whidbey
INSIDE: Couple wins Whidbey wedding
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 91 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Chamber wins big in bid for tourism funds
Mayor seeks do-over for ’15 Whidbey Marathon By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley asked a volunteer board to meet again and reconsider its decision to not award lodging tax dollars to the 2015 Whidbey Island Marathon. At the same time, the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce was the big winner in this year’s recommendations. The city’s Lodging
Tax Advisory Committee recommended $100,000 for operations and another $67,500 for marketing. Last year, the council awarded the chamber $80,000 in lodging tax funds for operations and $1,000 for marketing. Chamber Executive Director Christine Cribb said the committee’s decision was unanimous and unprecedented, showing SEE FUNDING, A13
Photo by Michelle Beahm/Whidbey News-Times
Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christine Cribb, at left, said that $167,500 in 2 percent hotel-motel tax funds awarded to the chamber is unprecedented and was approved unanimously by a city advisory committee.
Commissioners award lodging tax funds to chambers, marathon County awards lodging tax funds By JANIS REID Staff reporter
Whidbey’s chambers of commerce top the list of recipients for Island County’s $220,000 allotment of lodging tax funds for 2015.
The Island County Board of Commissioners approved the recommendations of its Lodging Tax Advisory Committee during Monday’s regular meeting. Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce received the largest amount, totaling $30,000. The Coupeville chamber received $26,750, and the Langley, Camano Island and Freeland
Price Johnson to chair commission
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Staff reporter
SEE CHAIRWOMAN, A18
Last year, only $186,000 in funding was available and all island chambers of commerce received $23,000. The Coupeville Chamber uses the funds both for event promotion and running its well-used visitor’s center. Lynda Eccles, the Coupeville chamber’s SEE COUNTY, A13
Man facing prison time for burglary
By JANIS REID
Commissioner Helen Price Johnson was unanimously selected Monday to serve as chairwoman of the Island County Board of Commissioners during 2015. The move was intended to restore an annual
chambers each received $25,000. Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christine Cribb said the lodging tax, which is a 2 percent tax on hotel rooms, goes primarily toward promoting local activities and events off-island. “The goal is definitely to put heads in beds,” Cribb said.
PRICE JOHNSON:
Named chairwoman for the board of commissioners.
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JOHNSON:
Wanted to restore the traditional rotation of chair responsibilities.
A man who attacked and choked a woman after she gave him a ride to Whidbey Island is likely headed to prison. Larry Byars, 22, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court last Friday to two counts of residential burglary, according to Deputy
Prosecutor David Carman. Byars is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 24. Carman is recommending a top-of-therange sentence of two years and five months imprisonment. Byars’ mailing address is listed in Baton Rouge, La. He has a “significant criminal history” in several states, including a sexual assault in
Texas, according to the prosecuting attorney. A 27-year-old Whidbey Island woman agreed to give Byars, an acquaintance, a ride from her workplace in Everett to the Oak Harbor area on Sept. 21, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office. SEE CONVICTED, A13
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