Record South Whidbey
INSIDE
Black heads to Olympics as reserve See...A8
SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2016 | Vol. 92, No. 53 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
First Choochokam in 40 years scrubbed By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
Choochokam Music & Arts Festival organizers confirmed Thursday what many have suspected for more than a month — there will be no show this year. The 2016 event was cancelled late last week, according to Celia Black, president of the Choochokam Arts Foundation. Blaming “logistical” problems associated with the move to Community Park, she said the challenges
hampered planning efforts over the past few months. By the time they were finally hammered out it was too late to responsibly move forward, she said. “So, we made the decision on Friday to go dark this year,” said Black in a Thursday morning interview with the South Whidbey Record. The cancellation wasn’t announced publicly until musicians, vendors and other partners were notified, Black said. Reaction in Langley to the news ranged from
disappointment to mild concern from business leaders. Michaleen McGarry, executive director of the Langley Chamber of Commerce, said its impact on commerce is tough to gauge but will likely be felt hardest in the food and lodging industries — restaurants that would have been otherwise feeding hungry festival goers, and overnight accommodations businesses that will lose reservations. “This year there’s going to be an issue of people who were vendors and will now be
cancelling,” she said. Gary Piper, a longtime Langley business owner who helped start the event in 1975, said this will be first time in its 40-year history that a Choochokam won’t be held. “I’m kinda sad that it won’t be going on this year, and break the string,” he said. “But, if it’s meant to be it will come back.”
SEE CHOOCHOKAM, A9
Where are Whidbey’s orcas?
No-shows have whale experts wondering By KYLE JENSEN South Whidbey Record This hasn’t been a good year for orca sightings in Puget Sound, and experts are concerned. SEE ORCAS, A16
David Ellifrit photo
A transient orca peeks its head out of the water at Dungeness Spit on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Orca researchers are alarmed over the absence of two of the three South Resident orca pods.
Rules update not enough, WEAN says By CASSANDRA CALDERON Whidbey News Group Last week, Island County commissioners responded to a state board’s order to improve regulations meant to protect fish and wildlife, but the environmental group that originally objected to the county’s rules says the proposed fix still isn’t enough. Under the Growth Management Act, known as GMA, counties are required to protect “critical areas,” such as fish and wildlife habitat con-
servation areas, through a consistent comprehensive plan and conservation regulations. GMA also requires counties to periodically review and update these regulations. The ordinance adopted on June 23 by the commissioners is meant to complete a review of Island County’s Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Area regulations that is 11 years overdue. It also served to remedy issues identified by a hearings board following the county’s previous attempt to complete the
same review of the conservation regulations two years ago. “The effort to update our fish and wildlife critical areas was something that we all wanted to do in an appropriate and timely manner,” Commissioner Helen Price Johnson said following the board’s vote. The state’s Growth Management Hearings Board remanded several issues to the county for further consideration in June 2015 after SEE RULES, A2
Low open-house turnout thwarts port’s ballot eduction hopes By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record The first of two open houses on the Port of South Whidbey’s fairgrounds proposal took place this week, but public sentiment on the August ballot measure remains SEE PORT, A5