NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
Sports: Wildcats win big. A9
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 | Vol. 120, No. 72 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Skin doctor $2.16 million grant funds Oak Harbor reading program now wanted for assault By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
Nearly 150 Oak Harbor teachers filled their brains with strategies for teaching students lifelong reading skills at classes funded by a $2.16-million grant from the Department of Defense. Almost 100 percent of the district preschool through fifth grade teachers became students last week at the Reading Academy. They were immersed in five days of viewing brain diagrams showing how students receive and retain information, charts to assess student reading accuracy and strategies to improve students’ vocabulary. Principals, staff, Superintendent Rick Schulte and Assistant Superintendent Lance Gibbon also attended. “It’s a district effort and it will make a huge difference for all the kids,” said Paula Seaman, Department of Defense grants program manager and past Crescent Harbor Elementary School teacher. All students will benefit, especially those struggling with reading, Seaman said. “One of the things we know from research is that students who are successful readers will be successful in all areas,” Gibbon said. To be successful at math, students need to be able to read story problems and to understand science they need to be able to accurately SEE SCHOOL GRANT, A4
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Rebecca Olson/Whidbey News-Times
Consortium on Reading Excellence trainer Amy Vanravenswaay supplies kindergarten through second grade teachers with strategies to improve students’ reading skills at the Reading Academy funded by a $2.16-million grant.
Investigators with the Island County Sheriff’s Office are asking the public for help locating a dermatologist who allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and may be suicidal. Detective Ed Wallace said deputies have probable cause to arrest Dr. Donald “Russell” Johnson, 51, on suspicion of second-degree assault, a felony domestic violence charge. The alleged incident occurred at the couple’s Cornet Bay home Tuesday morning. Wallace said the 44-yearold woman called 911 after being assaulted. Johnson fled in his white 2003 Lexus LS40 SUV, Washington license number 973-TRI. The woman indicated that Johnson may be suicidal. Anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Island County Sheriff’s Office via the ICOM dispatch center at 360-679-9567 or by calling 911.
Rescuers free man stuck in hot tub By JIM LARSEN News-Times editor
Longtime Oak Harbor resident Bob Barber thinks residents are taking things too seriously these days what with the economy, local politics and the Pioneer Way construction delays. So Barber called the paper with a humorous story that the main character might find embarrassing -- except that the main character is himself. “I got in the hot tub and couldn’t get out,” he said with a laugh.
He entered his hot tub located in his yard at 589 SE Fifth Street on the morning of Aug. 25. He’d done it many times before, the only difference being that this time, he couldn’t get out. His wife, Mary Jane, tried to help, but together they couldn’t budge the frame of the gregarious, 230-pound octogenarian, who boasts that he’s lost 30 pounds over the last year. “She started laughing too,” Barber said, recounting the scene. “I’ve got a bad leg; I got it up but I couldn’t
get the other leg over. The guy across the street was watching.” The decision was made to call 911, which dispatched “two folks in an ambulance,” as Barber describes it. “No way,” he added, when asked if the man and woman who responded were able to get him out of the hot tub. Next, an Oak Harbor fire truck arrived and out stepped “three pretty goodsized lads.” With everyone pulling together, they managed to drag Barber back onto dry ground.
“I was getting kind of worried but everybody got a laugh out of it,” he said. Paramedics checked him out and his health he was fine, with a good blood pressure reading of 130 over 60. Barber, who owned B&B Automotive repair service for many years before retiring in 1996, just thought the town needed a good laugh. “It took five guys and a girl and I don’t weigh that much,” he said. “It was hilarious.” And for those who can’t help but wonder: yes, he was wearing a bathing suit.
Jim Larsen / Whidbey News-Times
Bob Barber laughs at the trouble he had exiting his hot tub. It required the help of five emergency service personnel.
Dr. Donald “Russell” Johnson Trouble has been piling on Dr. Johnson lately. He abruptly closed his dermatology clinics and medical spas in Coupeville and Anacortes this summer, leaving his patients without a doctor or access to their medical records. He is under investigation by the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission for patient abandonment, is being sued by his former landlord and owes large amounts of back taxes, SEE DOCTOR, PAGE A4