Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 29 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
INSIDE: SONGSTRESS, Island Life, A12
Hospital board’s ‘Dr. Z’ resigns
IT CAME FROM BENEATH DEER LAKE
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
23 percent of his commissioned officers in the last three years and described his office — currently with 33 commissioned officers — as the lowest-staffed in the state based on population. “I’m certainly sensing that everyone is feeling stretched very thin,” he said. “At some point, this has to end. Something has to change.” Solutions are nebulous. Brown said he was told by a county commissioner that he’s unlikely to get much extra from the bare-bones
Dr. Paul Zaveruha resigned his elected position Monday as a commissioner for the hospital district that operates Whidbey General Hospital in order to devote his time to surgery. “The most satisfying work for me has always Dr. Paul Zaveruha been providing care to patients,” he said. “I’m getting back to my roots.” Zaveruha, commonly known as Dr. Z, is himself an institution at the hospital and has probably operated on a sizable percentage of Whidbey Island residents over the last 30 years. A long line of his biggest fans — both patients and fellow physicians — detailed his qualities and his importance to the hospital during the commissioners’ meeting Monday night. He’s served as a general surgeon, emergency department director, trauma director, EMS director and chief of staff. Dr. Byron Skubi described how Zaveruha runs around with four pagers that are constantly going off, but seems to have infinite stamina. It’s been Zaveruha’s role as a hospital commissioner, however, that’s made him a target of criticism from a couple of vocal detractors over the past year. Ironically, he said it was the accusations that kept him from resigning last year, as he had originally planned. “In July of 2011, charges were
See crime, A24
See ‘dr. z’, A10
Jim Larsen / The Record
Divers Ryan Berg, right, and Jeff Johnson bring half bags filled with trash from the bottom of Deer Lake’s public access area. In back is a diver named Bruce who carries in a “Limited Sight Distance” sign. By Jim Larsen Record editor
It came from beneath the sea — or more exactly, the mucky depths of Deer Lake, Clinton’s only freshwater swimming and fishing hole. “It” was specifically a road sign, still bright yellow, warning drivers of “Limited Sight Distance.” Wherever the sign was originally posted, the sight distance had to be much better than where it was found, deep under water at the public boat launch and swimming area. Its warning couldn’t have been more true, as Deer Lake doesn’t provide much visibility, even for those diving on a sunny day like Saturday.
The sign, likely tossed into the lake by some juvenile prankster, was one of the most interesting finds by the Salish Divers, a group of seven scuba enthusiasts who set out to give Deer Lake a good cleaning. The environmentally-oriented dive was organized by Ryan Berg, 40, who lives in Granite Falls but grew up on Deer Lake and still owns a lot there. “This is the lake that gave me my love of being under water,” Berg said after the dive. “I loved holding my breath and diving for crawdads.” Berg was happy to see that the bottom of Deer Lake is still crawling with crawdads and the day’s discoveries included a crawdad
trap and assorted fishing lures, which they gave to an appreciative area resident watching from a wheelchair. The divers worked in water as deep as 45 feet in spots, filling bags with 50-year-old tin cans, assorted paddles and debris, plus another street sign, this an old white one with black letters saying “Road Closed.” Those familiar with the price of worms might get some idea of the age of the discoveries by another sign saying, “Worms, 5 cents.” Presumably, worms cost considerably more today. The sign was found off the dock owned by Curt Gordon, a Port of South Whidbey commissioner who lives on the lake.
The divers worked from approximately 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and it wasn’t easy pickings on the bottom of Deer Lake. “You could reach your arm up to the shoulder in the muck and it probably didn’t stop there,” Berg said. Apparently, that’s what happens when you haven’t cleaned for centuries. Berg said the crew pulled a giant pickup load of material out of the lake, but all but one bagful was recyclable. Gordon said he’d take care of the disposal so they left it at his place and went home happy. “I felt overwhelmed that we’d done something really great,” Berg said.
Crime rise concerns Island County Sheriff’s Office By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
In one week in March, deputies with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to 411 calls for service. Among the long list of incidents they had to deal with were 19 car accidents, 12 burglaries, 11 thefts, nine assaults and three sex offenses. Amidst the calls, on-duty deputies rushed to find a man who had kidnapped a woman and a 4-yearold boy from a home on South Whidbey. While several deputies ran down leads, others scoured the
roads for the suspect’s truck. They ultimately found the vehicle near Coupeville, arrested the man and saved the woman and child. While it was a noteworthy week, Sheriff Mark Brown said it’s not completely out of the ordinary. His deputies and detectives have been dealing with an increasing number of calls from citizens and, even more troubling, an increase in the number of serious crimes. Last October, they handled a double murder and then a case in which a man allegedly stabbed both of his parents.
Yet recently compiled crime statistics show that the most glaring trend in Island County is the skyrocketing number of burglaries. Many burglary suspects have been caught and sent to jail, but the problem persists. So far this year, burglaries reported in the county have more than doubled since last year. In response, Brown is once again waging a public relations campaign aimed at convincing the county commissioners, and the public, that he absolutely needs more money for more deputies. He lost