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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012
VOL. 18, NO. 10
Bailey aims to dislodge Haugen By Dick Clever For the Examiner
For the first time in two decades, state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen faces an uphill battle against an election opponent who can match her both in campaign dollars and name recognition. The 10th Legislative District Democrat was bested by 5 percentage points in the August primary election by Republican state Rep. Barbara Bailey. They were the only candidates on the primary ballot. The race is one of three Senate contests statewide that could tilt control of that body to Republicans. Bailey, 68, has made that prospect a centerpiece of her campaign. What Bailey has not highlighted in her campaign is Haugen’s crucial 25th vote in the state Senate for a bill legalizing samesex marriage. Haugen announced early in the 2012 legislative session that she, after much soul-searching, had decided to cast the deciding vote for the measure. The decision was difficult for Haugen, who said that her hesitation was as much generational as it was religious. She was under pressure at the time from her party caucus, religious conservatives and gay-rights activists. “I have very strong Christian beliefs, and personally I have always said when I accepted the Lord, I became more tolerant of others,” Haugen said in a statement issue on Jan. 23. “I stopped judging people and try to live by the Golden Rule.” Haugen’s vote in favor of the bill set the stage for Referendum 74, a ballot measure that, if passed, would rescind the bill allowing same-sex marriage. Haugen, 71, is seeking her sixth term in the Senate. If she succeeds she will likely continue her chairmanship of the powerful Senate Transportation Committee, which generates the $9 billion biennial budget that funds highways and the state ferry system. Haugen’s hold on the 10th District has been unshakable for five terms. She says she wins elections by paying close attention to the needs of her district. Despite a late start in her campaign, Haugen says she expects to do much better in the general election than her primary results might indicate. “Democrats tend not to turn out for uncontested primaries,” Haugen said, pointing to her ramped up campaign effort postSee SENATE, page 14
Bring on the weather! Whidbey Island’s weather recordkeepers are ever at the ready. Clark Bishop of Ebey Road Farm relies on the Washington State University Ag Weather Net automated weather station located at his grandparents’ property on Engle Road. For evening and nighttime hay baling, it’s important to wait for the correct amount of dew – and instead of heading out to the fields in middle of the night, he can check the data online from his home computer. Elisabeth Murray photo
Whidbey weather watchers keep their eyes on the skies By Elisabeth Murray Staff Reporter
E
very morning at 8 a.m., come rain or shine, Jack Marian dutifully records the precipitation from the past 24 hours and the current temperature at his home on West Beach Road. And he has done so for at least the past 15 years. Marian is one of 11 volunteers who track the weather for Washington State University’s Island County Extension, and he is consistent in his observations. “If you do it every day, you don’t forget,” Marian said. “There is not much to it.” Marian calls in his data once a week to the extension office, which sends it on to The Whidbey Examiner, which gathers local weather data for publication each week. Every now and then, when
the weather data is left out of the paper to make room for something else, the newspaper office gets lots of phone calls from people asking why it was left out. Islanders seem to count on it. “I hate to turn it in and think that it is not being used,” Marian said, adding that he always enjoys seeing it in print. As a WSU Master Gardener, Carolyn Mercer of Greenbank knows why some people rely on this kind of data. She has been tracking the weather for
the past six years, and weather records help her make decisions when it comes to her plantings – and avoid deadly frosts. Her data also gets printed in the Examiner. Mercer said the weather makes an interesting conversation piece – especially when people’s recollections of what the weather was like differ from what actually occurred. Some weather keepers have been at it for a lot longer than either Mercer or Marian. See WEATHER, page 8