NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011 | Vol. 120, No. 94 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Holiday Guide: Find gifts on Whidbey.
Beach Watchers clean up Tsunami debris is on its way By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
A family enjoys last year’s free Thanksgiving dinner in Oak Harbor.
Turkey time on Whidbey North and Central Whidbey volunteers are busy putting the finishing touches on community Thanksgiving dinners to be held tomorrow, Nov. 24. The dinners are free but donations are always welcome as supplies need to be purchased for next year’s dinner. Here’s where to bring the family -- or just yourself -- to enjoy Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors. Oak Harbor On Thanksgiving Day, North Whidbey Community Harvest is proud and happy to offer a free turkey and ham dinner with all the fixins’ that will be served from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Oak Harbor. People unable to get out or who are working may have a meal delivered upon request. Call 675-9909 in advance and leave a message or, on Thanksgiving, call the Elks Lodge at 675-1321 and speak with the delivery coordinator or his staff. To help pay for the community cause, drop off a donation with Jack Stiltz at Bay Printing on Barrington Avenue. Donations may be mailed to North Whidbey Community Harvest, c/o Bay Printing, 1131 SE Ely St., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. Checks should be made out to “Community Harvest.” Coupeville Friends, neighbors, families and visitors are welcome to join the 13th annual community Thanksgiving potluck Nov. 24, at the Coupeville Recreation Hall on the corner of Alexander and Coveland. A traditional spread will be served buffet-style from noon until 2:30 p.m. or until the food runs out. Turkey and ham are provided by the organizers, while the rest of the menu is up to those who attend. The gathering is loosely organized by locals, and help is always welcome. To get involved, call Sue Winker at 678-1224, or just stop by tomorrow and join the crowd.
Not even the gusting wind and rain could keep a group of stalwart volunteers from getting their hands on the trash at Keystone Spit. Five Beach Watchers from WSU Extension of Island County pulled on extra coats and gloves and grabbed garbage bags to fill with bits of plastic, flip-flops and remnants of beer bottles Wednesday. WSU Extension often holds beach clean-up sessions and invites volunteers to join in. The clean-up groups will become especially vital when debris from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last March begins to arrive on Washington coasts in the next year or two. A mass of debris measuring 2,000 miles long and weighing up to 20-million tons is expected to hit the Washington coast in late 2013, with some items arriving sooner. A Russian ship spotted debris near Midway Island last month and the debris is expected to hit Hawaii next year, said Scott Chase, Shore Stewards coordinator and community beach litter coordinator for WSU Extension. “I hope the Department of Ecology will have the funding to care for it,” Chase said. Expected Japanese tsunami
debris includes refrigerators, wood, boats, TV sets, plastic bottles and parts and more, all of which would be detrimental to marine life. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of other debris hitting Whidbey’s shores on a daily basis. “Most of what is picked up is plastic, and plastic is a huge threat to marine animals, fish and birds,” Chase said, adding that the media often reports about animals eating plastics they think are a food source and dying as a result. “That is one of the prime motivators of the volunteers on the beach: removing the plastics before they are eaten by the marine life,” Chase said. The program has been going on locally for 13 years and Chase stepped into the leadership position last summer after Cheryl May, the longtime leader, left. The beach clean-up program is funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology, which receives tax money from bottle and can manufacturers to make up for Washington’s lack of deposit fees on bottles and cans, Chase said. Last year, the tax generated $6 to $7 million, which local groups can apply for, Chase said. Groups of up to 10 volunteers generally attend each beach clean-up session and show up regardless of the weather, Chase said as the wind whipped around him, adding that the weather usually isn’t so bad. SEE BEACH, A2
Rebecca Olson/Whidbey News-Times
Beach Watcher Kes Tautvydas gathered a bag of trash in less than an hour at Keystone Spit, including these mussel discs from Penn Cove Mussel Farm.
Golf carts could scoot through Coupeville By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
An ordinance being considered by the Coupeville Town Council could spark the addition of unusual vehicles on the historic town’s roads. The five-member body is considering an ordinance that would allow golf carts and similarly sized electric vehicles to travel on most town roads. Coupeville Town Planner Larry Kwarsick said the state passed
recent legislation encouraging municipalities to support the use of alternative transportation methods and renewable energy sources. One piece of legislation includes allowing golf carts to travel on city roads. Kwarsick said the ordinance will allow slow-moving electric vehicles to travel on town roads with the exception of the state highway. The ordinance also includes language establishing sign requirements that would inform motorists of golf carts trav-
eling through town. Two cities in Washington, Orting in Pierce County and Liberty Lake in Eastern Washington, already have regulations allowing golf carts to be driven on city streets during the daytime. Kwarsick said the new ordinance is part of the green initiatives that the town is creating. Recent measures include a tree ordinance and ongoing studies of ways to clean the town’s stormwater runoff, which may involve using the water for irrigation at surrounding farms.
The Coupeville Town Council has scheduled a public hearing to allow for comment on the proposed ordinance on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room inside the Annex building.