RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2011 | Vol. 87, No.102 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: Little learners, Island Life, A14
Suspect in stabbing has long history of drug use
ORCAS
BY BRIAN KELLY
ON THE AIR
South Whidbey Record
Student voices enliven podcast Ellen Wallace talks to fourth-graders Talin Vallat Phillips and Kaylie McRea as they prepare for their next podcast. BY BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
LANGLEY – Good morning Orcas! Every day at South Whidbey Elementary School, two students greet their teachers and classmates with those three words. The words don’t echo through the halls, but the voices of the young broadcasters can be heard around the world. Teachers and parents can access the daily announcements through the school’s podcast — basically radio on demand — on the SWES website. “Anybody can do this,” said Ellen Wallace, a student support staff member at the school. “It doesn’t have to be the more academically inclined kids.” Even so, school work matters. The
rotating hosts need to be caught up with their assignments and get their teacher’s permission to take a 20- to 30-minute break from class. When fourth-graders Talin Vallat Phillips and Kaylie McRea arrived for their time before the microphone, they did a reading of the script with Wallace and divided the segments. “You want to sound peppy,” Wallace told the student hosts. First, they say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then they introduce themselves and welcome their listeners. Announcements are next, which are provided by teachers and staff. Last week, Talin and Kaylie reminded teachers about Whidbey Island Nourishes, updated students on the Good Cheer food drive and celebrated having almost five
barrels of food. Then came the shout out. In unison, all three said, “Awesome job, Orcas!” It was then time for more news. There would be no double dutch in the gym during the last recess, or Junior Waste Warriors. The young hosts then prepared for the whales’ tails spinner awards. Kaylie read the winners. “Today’s winners aarrrrre,” Kaylie said, dragging out the consonant and building suspense like a seasoned pro of the airwaves. Next, Talin and Kaylie turned to the weather and the hot lunch menu. Reporting the weather takes a local twist for this podcast, however.
COUPEVILLE — A Freeland man who allegedly stabbed his parents in a late night rage is mentally fit to stand trial and help his lawyer craft his defense, according to a state psychologist who reviewed the man’s mental health. Sean Paul DeMerchant has been held in the Island County Jail since his arrest on Oct. 9, when sheriff’s deputies found him in his parents’ bedroom at their Bush Point Terrace home, hovering over their injured bodies and giving first aid. Authorities later charged DeMerchant with S. DeMerchant two counts of first-degree assault, and DeMerchant entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment. A court-ordered examination of DeMerchant’s mental health conducted earlier this month has revealed disturbing facts about the accused assailant. According to court documents, DeMerchant has been a drug user for most of his life and had used drugs the same day he allegedly stabbed his parents as an argument escalated
SEE ORCAS, A23
SEE SUSPECT, A24
County prevails in lawsuit from former sheriff candidate BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
Jay Wallace won’t be getting his badge back. A federal court judge has ruled against the former deputy sheriff and said Island County was justified in firing Wallace after he shirked his duty in responding to 911 calls in Freeland where a woman was being held hostage and assaulted in early 2006. Wallace, a one-time candidate for Island County sheriff, filed a lawsuit against Island County in May 2009 and claimed he had been targeted by former Sheriff Mike Hawley,
Jay Wallace
Lt. Mike Hawley
who opposed his candidacy. The lawsuit, which also named Hawley personally, accused county officials of fraud, misconduct and corruption and claimed that county officials had withheld information
that would have helped Wallace in his fight to keep his deputy’s job. It also claimed that the county had violated Wallace’s civil rights and had wrongfully terminated his employment after he announced
his campaign bid for sheriff. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, in a decision announced last week, rejected all of Wallace’s claims and praised county officials for investigating Wallace’s response to the 911 calls that lay at the center of the case and his eventual termination. “Such internal accountability, far from being outrageous, should be lauded,” Lasnik wrote in his decision. Hawley, who did not run for reelection as sheriff and now works as a lieutenant in the sheriff’s department, said he was grateful for the decision, calling it “a clear,
concise and complete ruling in my and the county’s favor.” “I believe I’d done everything the proper way,” Hawley said of the Wallace investigation and subsequent dismissal of the longtime police veteran. “I bent over backwards to make sure everything was right.” Hawley said he was glad that the legal ordeal — which included a union challenge to Wallace’s termination, formal criminal charges against the deputy that were ultimately dismissed, an administrative hearing where Wallace’s peace SEE LAWSUIT, A23