News-Times Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 20 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
LIVING: Greenbank author makes waves. A11
EMS levy set for ballot may bring in less By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Rebecca Olson/Whidbey News-Times
Zombies make mayhem on Pioneer Way Saturday for the filming of “Thrill the Island,” a music video by Oak Harbor High School students.
Zombies assault Pioneer Way By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
Mayhem reigned on Pioneer Way Saturday morning as innocent citizens ran screaming from a horde of zombies. Though once they started dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” they didn’t seem so scary anymore. The foggy, drizzly day added a creepy touch to the already ghoulish cast of zombie dancers. Community members turned up in torn, bloody clothing and deathly pale make-up for Oak Harbor High School Choir Club’s and Media Arts Club’s filming of “Thrill the Island,” a student-led music video.
Pioneer Way was shut down until noon Saturday to allow the students to film the video with the public participating. Students will continue to film parts at the high school and Deception Pass. Community members of all ages showed up to dance to “Thriller” and create chaotic scenes of zombies chasing bystanders and raiding downtown shops. Asya Pressley, 8, and Sheyenne Pressley, 7, showed up in their Oak Harbor Youth Cheerleaders uniforms — plus some black eye makeup and a ghastly pale cast to their cheeks. See Zombie, A4
Rebecca Olson/Whidbey News-Times
Zombies take over Pioneer Way, including Oak Harbor High School student Tyler O’Dell.
A proposition to continue a levy that funds ambulances and other emergency medical services on Whidbey Island will go before the voters on the Aug. 7 election ballot, but due to declining property values it may bring in less than the old levy. Whidbey General Hospital commissioners approved a resolution Monday that places the levy on the ballot. If passed, it would continue the current levy of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for another six years. That equates to $150 a year for the owner of a home worth $300,000. Six years ago, voters on Whidbey Island approved the levy by the requisite 60 percent supermajority, but this year it may be easier to pass the measure. State lawmakers approved a bill, which now sits on the governor’s desk, that would require only a simply majority — 50 percent of voters — for continuations of emergency medical services levies. Roger Meyers has managed the Emergency Medical Services, a department of Whidbey General Hospital,
since 1990. He explained that the levy funds 65 percent of the department’s budget, while the rest comes from charges for service. The levy is currently at the statutory maximum of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, so the department can’t ask for an increase. Since the levy is tied to property values, the amount it brings in has declined in recent years as the housing market plummeted. Meyers estimates that the levy will collect about $4.6 million this year, while it brought in $5.1 million a couple of years ago. Meyers said the decrease in funding has not affected day-to-day operations, but it’s prevented the department from accomplishing infrastructure projects that would increase the efficiency of the system. He hopes, for example, to build a new facility in Coupeville someday that could house more than one ambulance. Yet Meyers said the department runs a “dynamic system” that’s known for its effectiveness throughout the state. “We have nine ambulances running 24/7 to ensure that most people can get a really See EMS, A4
Nickel an acre fee starts now on Whidbey Justin Burnett / Whidbey News-Times
Karen Bishop, right, manager for the Whidbey Island Conservation District, addresses the Island County commissioners Monday in a special meeting concerning a new 5-cent per acre assessment.
By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Island County property owners will be required to pay a 5-cent per acre assessment to help fund conservation programs on Whidbey and Camano islands. The new fee was approved in a 2-1 vote Monday at a special meeting of the Island
County commissioners. It will be charged on top of an existing flat $5 per parcel fee and in the wake of a February state Supreme Court ruling concerning the legality of such special assessments. “I’m really pleased we’re moving forward,” said Karen Bishop, manager for the Whidbey Island Conservation District.
Had the board rejected the measure, Bishop said the $5 fee would also have been scrubbed due to the recent court ruling. The district would have lost that dedicated funding source, approximately $175,000 for Whidbey alone, and would have to spend the next year working on a new special assessment proposal.
That would have been time organization officials could have spent serving land owners, she said. See Nickel, A4