Examiner The Whidbey
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Thursday, June 16, 2016
VOL. 21, NO. 45
Greenbank Farm to be electric car charging site By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
Pretty soon electric cars will have a free charging station in Central Whidbey. Port of Coupeville commissioners gave the OK last week to begin installation of an electric vehicle charging station at the Greenbank Farm. The installation is part of the Greebank Community Solar project and is being done at no cost to the port. While electricity to the charging station doesn’t directly come from the field of solar panels generating power at the farm, the station will be a part of the overall system.
See STATION, Page 12 Kevin Griggs photo
A family of deer, including a white fawn, blend in perfectly with the surroundings after wandering into Kevin Griggs’ sculpture garden in Coupeville in late May. The white fawn, shown below in early June, is garnering plenty of attention in town. ‘She kind of glows,’ Debora Kulas said.
Fawning over white deer By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
The sight of a fawn in and of itself is enough to warm one’s heart. Around Coupeville this time of year, it’s not uncommon to spot fawns tagging closely next to their mothers. Spotting a white fawn, on the other hand, is an entirely different experience. One that’s only a few weeks old has been seen wandering into neighborhoods and winning over hearts in Coupeville this month. “It’s such a bright white,” said Debora Kulas, who sees the white fawn regularly near her home with its normal, tan-colored twin and their mother. “It really is stunning. It really catches your eye. You think, ‘Did I really see what I thought I saw?’ ” Deer with white coloring in its fur or white spots are referred to as piebald deer, said Ruth Milner, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The white coloration isn’t a sign of a health condition. It’s caused by a genetic recessive trait, Milner said. “If they’re clearly all white, then they’re a true albino, then it’s albinism,” said Milner. “That’s probably not the case. True albinos usually don’t survive.” Milner confirmed after examining a pho-
Debora Kulas photo
tograph that the Coupeville fawn is piebald, which really is a fancy term for “spotted,” she said. “If you look at this guy closely, he’s got a lot of brown mixed in,” she said. “He’s got brown eyes and a brown nose. If he was albino, he wouldn’t have any dark pigmentation.” White deer are no strangers to deer-friendly Coupeville, but a white fawn gets the town talking. Kevin Griggs said it’s only the second white fawn he’s seen in 22 years living in the town. And he’s experienced a couple upclose encounters. “We get a lot of deer coming through our yard all the time,” Griggs said. “That mom
and her two babies have come through a couple times. They seem to be a new family to the area. “It was interesting to see that it had a twin that was not all white like its sibling — a normal-colored one and a white one I thought was pretty rare.” Kulas, a longtime wildlife photographer, said there’s a stag in Coupeville that is half white that carries the recessive gene. When paired together with a mate that has a similar recessive trait, the result can be the little white fawn that is drawing attention in Coupeville, Milner said. “He’s a cute little bugger,” Kulas said. “I don’t know if it’s a male or female.” The mother and her fawns just waltz into yards in the neighborhood and graze. “He’s real bouncy and real active,” Kulas said of the white deer. “She’s having a hard time keeping the two of them together.”
Traffic snarls expected with summer road construction By Jessie Stensland Co-Editor
Beware Whidbey Island drivers. It’s going to be a busy year for roadwork and next year won’t be any better. A $4.7-million state project to make safety improvements on State Highway 20 at the Island County transfer station near Coupeville started this week. Workers are focusing on Parker Road for now, but work on the highway may start as soon as next week, according to Dave Crisman, the project engineer for the state Department of Transportation. The highway will be down to one lane in the area as the contractor starts saw-cutting to widen the highway. Drivers should
See ROADS, Page 12