Vol. 125, No. 28
News-Times Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75 CENTS
Green Guide inside
Your hometown newspaper for 125 years
Suit claims county negligent in 2013 Ledgewood landslide By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter File photo 2013/Whidsbey News-Times
Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes surveys the scene of the Ledgewood landslide in 2013.
Residents of a Central Whidbey neighborhood struck by a massive landslide two years ago have filed lawsuits against Island County. The residents are claiming that the county was negligent and contributed to the land-
slide. They also say the county failed to properly maintain a public road. Seattle attorney Karen Willie filed two lawsuits against the county in connection with the March 27, 2013 landslide at Ledgewood, south of Coupeville. The two lawsuits were filed in both
By JANIS REID Staff reporter
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is conducting explosive demolition operations in Crescent Harbor this week. The operations are scheduled during daylight hours, today through Friday, April 10. The purpose of the exercise is to test small-scale charges, about the size of a shotgun shell, that are used
By JESSIE STENSLAND, Staff reporter
SEE PAPERLESS, A27
SEE SLIDE, A27
Explosives to be tested, detonated in Crescent Harbor
Push to do away with paper Oak Harbor’s “paperless councilman” has helped change the way information is shared and meetings are conducted in City Hall. Since entering office, Councilman Joel Servatius has pushed the city to embrace technology and has helped bring about an important milestone this week. The entire council went paperless — for the most part — and used their new iPads at the regular meeting Tuesday night. “I’m very excited,” he said. “Anytime you can use tech-
Snohomish County and Island County superior courts last month; Willie said she wants the case to be heard solely in Snohomish County while the Island County’s attorney said he will likely argue to have it here, though he hasn’t made a final determination.
for detonating larger explosives in combat, according to Mike Welding, public information officer for NAS Whidbey. Water plumes and ground vibration may result from these operations, according to a Navy news release, but safety precautions are being taken to ensure operations pose no threat to residents or their property. SEE NAVY, A5
Group sour on event regs for neighboring winery By JANIS REID
South Whidbey Record
Photo by Jessie Stensland/Whidsbey News-Times
Oak Harbor Councilman Joel Servatius teaches fellow council members how to use their new iPads during a recent workshop.
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A new group is aiming to put a cork on regulations that would allow large events at wineries, functions they say disrupt their quality of life. And members of the group say they’re not happy with the commissioner who championed it. Neighbors Interested in Common-
sense Economics, or NICE, say that Commissioner Helen Price Johnson tried to push through ordinance changes last month without proper public input because of a personal connection she has with the winery Comforts of Whidbey. WHILE CONCEDING that she’s known Comforts of Whidbey ownSEE REGS, A5
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