Sports
Scene
Smooth Satin nets big win for Wolverines
Ballroom dancing lessons teaches you more than how to move your feet
PAGE 11
PAGE 13
Editorial Record speaks volumes: teens and alcohol are a poor mix — a topic that needs to be talked about PAGE 6
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Vol. 104 Issue 38
of the San Juan Islands
Mulcahy at helm of Public Works
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Have name, will travel Benefit boost?
Town to consider health care coverage for elected posts in 2012 budget talks
20-year Navy veteran takes top post at county’s largest dept. San Juan County’s new public works director ought to know a thing or two about what it takes to operate in territory surrounded by water. That what 20 years of heading up construction projects for the Navy will do. On Sept. 13, the County Council confirmed the appointment of Navy veteran Frank Mulcahy as director of the county’s Department of Public Works. A resident of Frank Mulcahy Groton, Conn., Mulcahy’s most recent assignment with the Navy was as public works director of its submarine base in New London, Conn. He was recommended for the top post at county public works by Administrator Pete Rose, who said he was “impressed” by the breadth of experience Mulcahy amassed with the Navy. In addition to the public works’ director post in New London, Mulcahy’s resume with the Navy includes: ■ Crisis response operations engineering team leader, Joint
By Scott Rasmussen
If you live in Friday Harbor, or own or operate a town-based business, chances are you’ll see an uptick in your utility rates sometime beginning next year. The town council last week gave a collective, though preliminary, nod toward ratcheting up base rates of its sewer, water and stormwater utilities to keep pace with future repair and replacement costs. And while incremental rate Contributed photo / Courtesy of the Whale Museum
After several weeks of public voting with more than 6,500 votes counted, four Southern resident orca calves have new names The newly named babies are shown clockwise, from top to bottom, Saturna (K-43), Notch (J-47), Mystic (L-115) and Finn (L-116).
Record return on Orcas Despite losing fish in power outage, hatchery salmon spawn in record numbers By COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG Editor/Associate publisher
The salmon are coming home. And this year, it’s in record numbers. A good spawning season for the Glenwood Springs Hatchery is around 700. In recent years, that total has gone down to as low as zero, but this season, the numbers have already reached 1,300. “(In 2005) we began a new program that raised
the chinook for a year and then released them, but they weren’t surviving that well, so we switched to releasing them at a much younger age,” said Hatchery Manager Mike O’Connell. “After three years, we saw the first results of that switch last year.” OPALCO and Bonneville Power Administration’s planned outage last week caused a slight hiccup for Glenwood Springs. “We were unaware of the Bonneville Power Administration’s scheduled outage for maintenance that included all of the San Juan Islands,” O’Connell said. “Our aerator lost power, causing the loss of fish. Fortunately, many survived and there are so many more fish waiting in the hatchery bay to come up the ladder, that it poses no See SALMON, Page 4
See MULCAHY, Page 4
The Journal: Serving the islands since 1906. SanJuanJournal.com: Serving the islands since 1998
See COVERAGE, Page 5
Journal Deadlines Display advertising: Friday at 11 a.m. Classified advertising: Monday at Noon Legal advertising: Thursday at noon Press releases, Letters: Friday at 4 p.m.
How to reach us Office: 378-5696 Fax: 378-5128 Advertising: advertising@ sanjuanjournal.com Classified: 1-800-388-2527 Editor: editor@sanjuanjournal.com