NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
Ornament tradition unites friends A10
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2011 | Vol. 112, No. 103 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Merry Christmas Christmas services WHIDBEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH will conduct two candlelight services Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24. The family service will be held at 5:30 p.m. and the traditional service at 9 p.m. The church is located at 1148 SE 8th Ave., Oak Harbor. Call 679-3579. CONCORDIA LUTHERAN CHURCH will have two services Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. At 7 p.m. is the candlelight service and carol sing with choir and at 10:30 p.m., the late worship service. Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25, the worship celebration service with choir is at 10 a.m. The church is located at 590 N. Oak Harbor St., Oak Harbor. Call 675-2548. OAK HARBOR LUTHERAN CHURCH will host Christmas worship services on Dec. 24, with family worship at 4 p.m. featuring the Sunday school Christmas program. Traditional Christmas Eve services are at 7 and 10 p.m. with music from the Senior Choir. Dec. 25 service is at 10:30 a.m. Nursery care is provided at the Christmas Eve services. The church is located at 1253 NW 2nd Ave., across the street from the football stadium. Call 679-1561. FAMILY BIBLE CHURCH will hold their Christmas Cantata, “Searching for the King,” Dec. 24 at 7 p.m. The church is located at 2760 Heller Road, Oak Harbor. Call 679-1585. ST. STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH plans a Christmas Eve service Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., featuring a Christmas pageant and Holy Eucharist SEE CHURCH, A4
Mayor-elect offers kidney to stranger By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Oak Harbor Mayor-elect Scott Dudley may be out of the office for a few weeks this summer because he’ll be busy donating one of his kidneys. And not to a needy family member, but a man from a small suburb of Vancouver, B.C., who he’s never even met. Admittedly, his first six months in office is not the most opportune time for a major surgery, but Dudley said the opportunity came up and he just couldn’t say no. “It’s something that’s been in the back of my mind for a while,” said Dudley, during a phone interview from Vancouver General Hospital. Contacted for a separate issue, Dudley only revealed where he was when specifically asked by a Whidbey News-Times reporter. Dudley has been undergoing testing to insure he’s a qualified candidate for months but decided to
“I just think he’s one of a kind. I wish there were more people like him. In my eyes, he’s a hero.” -- Philip Rosario, possible kidney recipient
keep it under wraps while on the campaign trail. Dudley, a city councilman, won a hard-fought battle for the mayor’s seat with incumbent Jim Slowik this past November. He said he just didn’t feel the need to announce the procedure, which is still not guaranteed to happen, while running for Oak Harbor’s top seat. “It’s not a situation where I’m doing it for votes,” Dudley said. Rather, his family has a history of polycystic kidney disease. The
British Columbia residents Philip and Keesha Rosario, above, pose for a picture. Philip has polycystic kidney disease and may receive one of Oak Harbor Mayor-elect Scott Dudley’s kidneys. At left is a picture of Dudley.
SEE KIDNEY, A7
County parks plan goes nontraditional By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
A bundle of paper known as the Island County parks plan could have a wide impact on how Whidbey Islanders recreate in the future. Among the highlights of the plan is a policy to phase out the county’s investment in traditional recreation facilities, such as ball parks, and encourage hiking, bicycling and other low-impact activities. The policy guide suggests that hunting should be allowed in three large parks, but the areas should be closed to non-hunters during
the season. The Parks and Recreation Element on the county’s comprehensive plan was adopted by the county commissioners this week in a 2-1 vote. It allows the county to once again apply for park-related grant opportunities and replaces an older documents that long ago expired. The county hired a consulting firm, MIG, Inc. of Portland, to help write the plan; it cost nearly $90,000. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust pledged to pay $30,000 of the fee in order to help the county manage its
resources. Joantha Guthrie, project manager in public works, said work started on the plan three years ago, when it was first placed on the annual review docket. One of the first steps in creating the plan, she said, was to inventory and classify all the property that the county owns. It turned out that the county has a lot more parkland than anyone realized. “I was quite amazed that we have over 3,000 acres of park and habitat property,” Guthrie said. She said a great deal of emphasis was placed in public outreach.
There were stakeholder interviews, online surveys, focus groups and community intercept interviews; over 950 people participated. The participants identified “providing recreational activities” and SEE PARKS, A7