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WeDNeSDAY, SePteMBeR 15, 2010 VoL. 43, No. 36 75¢
Island Cup champions
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Sheriff candidates: where they stand JOURNAL OF THE SAN JUANS Staff report
Colleen Smith Armstrong/staff photo
After six years, the Orcas Vikings brought home an Island Cup trophy. They beat the Friday Harbor Wolverines, 21 to 6. For coverage of Friday’s game, see page 9.
Orcas infant battling cancer Mexico. Prior to Orcas, they lived in North Carolina. Alonso says the Orcas community has rallied around Isabella Morillon-Garcia is just eight weeks old, their family since his daughter’s diagnosis. “We feel much better because we are talking a lot and she is already a fighter. Born with neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor that with the doctors and the people from church, and develops from nerve tissue, Morillon-Garcia has been they are praying for us and the baby,” he said. “We are undergoing chemotherapy in Seattle for the past three feeling much better than on the first day.” Erin O’Dell of Orcas Family Connections arranged weeks. Her parents, Jose Morillon Alonso and Lizbeth for OPAL to pay the family’s rent for the month of Garcia Guzman, have lived on September. She has also been workOrcas for a year. Alonso says ing with Pastor Grant Myles-Era his daughter has been respond- “We feel much better at the Orcas Community Church, ing “very well” to the treatwho arranged for churches in ment, and her medical team is because we are talking a Seattle to provide meals. hopeful the tumor on her spine lot with the doctors and “If anyone wants to donate, gift will shrink. Neuroblastoma is certificates to Fred Meyer, Target, the most common extracranial the people from church.” — Jose Morillon Alonso QFC, Safeway, Chevron, and 76 are solid cancer in childhood and welcome,” O’Dell said. “They are the most common cancer in going to need support for the next infancy. six months. ” “The doctors think we’ll be in Seattle for six Orcas Angels is helping pay their utility bills and months,” Alonso said. The family, which also includes Clever, seven, Country Corner is providing a storage unit for their and Alejandro, five, has been staying at the Ronald belongings. Lisa Trifiro is organizing a garage sale at Children’s McDonald house, an organization that provides a “home away from home” for seriously ill children. It House on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is located two blocks from Seattle Children’s Hospital, Donations can be dropped off at Children’s House where Morillon-Garcia is being treated. Alonso is a on North Beach Road. For larger items, call Trifiro at handyman, and he has taken time off work to be with 376-1489 to arrange for pick-up, or bring them by the morning of the sale before 10 a.m. his family in Seattle. The couple moved to the U.S. nine years ago from SEE BELLa, PAgE 6 by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG Editor
San Juan County sheriff candidates Brent Johnson and Rob Nou have similar backgrounds, although Johnson’s is more urban and Nou’s is more rural. Both are involved in the communities in which they live. Both have similar ideas on how to improve efficiencies and training in the department. Both believe that an investment of resources and time in children now is the best way to stop crime in the future. Where they differ is how they would get the job done. Nou told this story during an interview at the San Juan County Fair: He was a rookie cop and was sent to arrest a man wanted on a felony warrant; the man was found working at a construction site. Nou went to the site and found himself confronting a 6-foot-10 construction worker. Without backup. Nou talked to the suspect and found him cooperative and willing to go in. However, the suspect wanted to know if he had to be handcuffed; with his height, it would be difficult to get into the back of the car. Nou put him in the backseat without handcuffs, and gave him the newspaper to read on the way. “It’s not all about wielding the big stick. It’s about getting compliance,” Nou said. “You want to use the least necessary force to accomplish what you need to do.” Johnson told of being a police officer in Albuquerque, N.M., in neighborhoods that were trying to keep rising gang activity in Bernalillo County from infiltrating. He said he’d park his car in front of a home where there had been suspicious activity, and conduct department business while he sat in the car. It was a way to let suspects know, he said, that they were being watched. It could be a close race. Nou outpolled Johnson by 881 votes in the Aug. 17 primary — an accomplishment, considering he moved here two years ago and lives on less-populated Lopez Island; Johnson moved here eight years
ago and lives on more-populated San Juan Island. But it’s still a wide open race; both are competing for the 3,205 votes cast for the other three candidates. Here are the candidates’ responses to questions at the Journal booth at the county fair. What is the job of the San Juan County Sheriff? Nou: The sheriff is the face and voice of the Sheriff ’s Office. He articulates the philosophy of the office, the vision of that office, sets the tone for what that service looks like. The sheriff deals with the political aspects, interfaces with the County Council, Town Council, builds and develops relationships with agencies in the region, and provides overall guidance of the office. Johnson: The sheriff gives the department direction, is a good role model, writes the budget, interacts with elected officials. He’s got to be a leader. The sheriff oversees emergency management, 911, must know how to handle 911 issues. The office is a soapbox, from which the sheriff can help different activities that affect island life. The sheriff can lobby for public support for programs
SEE SHERIFF, PAgE 6
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