RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 9 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: Punk’d, People, A2
Iraq vet plans to start medical marijuana business in Langley BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
LANGLEY — An Iraq War veteran and local community volunteer is making plans to start a medical marijuana business in Langley. Lucas Jushinski Lucas Jushinski met with city officials last week to out-
line his plan for a medical marijuana “access point,” which would be located in a low-key facility just outside the downtown area. Langley leaders have been cautiously supportive of the idea, and will hold a special meeting Feb. 15 to gauge public reaction to the idea. Jushinski, 35, said Monday the business would provide medical marijuana to patients who are legally authorized to use the drug. He said his business would be safe, legal and transparent. “It’s going to be a very
professional, discrete business,” Jushinski said. “I’m not going to have big bud leafs on the windows.” Jushinski’s time in the Navy set the stage for his medical marijuana venture. He was a hospital corpsman for nearly eight years, and spent four years as a combat medic with the Marines, including a combat tour in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004-2005. Jushinski said he came home with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, but the long list of medications that were prescribed by
Veterans Administration physicians didn’t help. “The VA and the military had me on a lot of different medications. And in my opinion, they were making me worse, not better,” he said. “I had to create my own treatment plan that I felt would work for me, and part of that was using medical marijuana,” Jushinski added. In talking with other war veterans, he found many who were taking the same
Ron Kasprisin
An artist’s rendition shows the proposed funicular next to Cascade Avenue above the Langley Marina.
SEE MARIJUANA, A3
City council agrees Whidbey CareNet hopes to help first responders to pursue funding for marina funicular BY BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
Last year was a difficult one for South Whidbey residents. Four people died in auto-related accidents within 44 days. And while people on the South End gathered to support the victims’ families, those who tried to save their lives were left to deal with the trauma. The grief and sorrow that can grip firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and others can take a long time to fade. That inspired Petra Martin, the communications coordinator at South Whidbey Commons in Langley, to create Whidbey CareNet, a network to help those who help others on South Whidbey with counseling and therapy, both physical and emotional. “When something like this happens, we all feel helpless,” Martin said. “Asking these caregivers — counselors, yoga instructors, massage therapists — they all thanked me for the opportunity to help them.” Martin was moved to organize the support group after the triple fatality car crash in November north of Clinton. Three young men died, and an 18-year-old volunteer with South Whidbey Fire/EMS was one of the first responders to the scene. Martin recalled seeing him the next day at the Commons. “He walked into the Commons white as a sheet after that and told us he had
BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Rob Harrison and Petra Martin have joined to promote Whidbey CareNet, a new effort to support first responders on Whidbey Island with therapy and counseling. been there,” Martin said. “There are things you just can’t unsee.” Martin sought the assistance of counselors and therapy professionals. Within two weeks Martin had their responses, all 25 of them, which surprised her because they all offered their services for free. “It was like taking the cork out of a champagne bottle. The response went viral,” Martin said. “Right now, we have lots and lots of providers, and they are eager to help
first responders.” One of those providers is Alina Frank, a body therapist with Tap Your Power in Langley. Frank specializes in emotional freedom techniques, which she said is “like emotional acupuncture without needles.” The physical therapy is also known as the tapping technique, in which the therapist taps along the body to unlock stress. “We get their nervous system to really calm down and regulate,” Frank SEE CARENET, A20
LANGLEY — Support for a funicular — a one-car, public people mover that would be built to connect Cascade Avenue to the Langley Marina area — is on the rise in Langley. The city council has signed off on a plan last week to shift money originally earmarked to widen Wharf Street to the new funicular project. And on Monday, Langley officials received a letter of support for the funicular from Island Transit. Langley Planning Director Jeff Arango said the city received a $242,243 county grant in rural economic development funds in 2005 to widen the upper portion of Wharf Street. With the council’s approval, Arango will now submit a new application to the Island County Council of Governments and give a presentation on the city’s funicular plan at its next meeting Feb. 25 in the
hope that the grant can be redirected to the funicular project. Support from Island Transit and the Port of South Whidbey is crucial, and is starting to firm up. In its letter of support for transferring the grant, Island Transit said the funicular project was “a much wiser use of those funds.” Executive Director Martha Rose said it would enhance access to the Langley Marina without adding more traffic to the constricted area at the bottom of Wharf Street. “Island Transit has been a supporter of a funicular in Langley to get pedestrians to and from the marina for years,” Rose wrote. “Over the past 24 years we’ve been requested to run a bus down the hill to the marina because it is a difficult hill to climb, especially for the elderly and disabled. However, our buses simply can’t navigate the hill or turn around because SEE FUNICULAR, A9