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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013
VOL. 19, NO. 02
Navy releases OLF flight schedules By Justin Burnett Staff Reporter
In the wake of widespread community grumbling and a recent meeting with local and federal elected officials, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island leaders reinitiated a longabandoned practice this week by releasing a flight schedule for the Navy’s small airstrip on Central Whidbey. A news release Monday announced that field-carrier landing practice, commonly knowns as touch-and-go operations, would restart Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Outlying Field just south of Coupeville following the holiday season. Flights are planned for the afternoon to early evening hours through Thursday and during the afternoon only on Friday. The release advised that weather and operational or training requirements could result in unexpected changes to the announced schedule. According to base spokesman Mike Welding, the Navy plans to publicize a similar flight schedule in local newspapers and on NAS Whidbey’s Facebook page on a regular basis. “Our plan is to be consistent and get it out every week,” Welding said. “It’s an outreach program to let people know what’s going on with the training operations at OLF Coupeville,” he said. See FLIGHTS, page 7
Coupeville sees record rainfall By George Haglund For Whidbey Examiner
If you thought it rained almost every day in December, you are right. Rain fell on 28 days in December and carried Coupeville into record rainfall for the year with a total of 29.78 inches. The previous rainfall record was 29.18 inches in 1971, followed by 26.67 inches in 1999. The record yearly total was reached over many months of above normal rainfall. The first half of the year, and spring-time in particular, gave Coupeville above normal rainfall with a total of 19.87 inches by July 24, which See WEATHER, page 7
Justin Burnett photo
Cathie Espes, a recipient of Central Whidbey Hearts and Hammers, proudly shows off the organization’s sticker on the back of her wheelchair. The non-profit group is now seeking applications for 2013. The deadline is Jan. 31.
Hearts and Hammers seeks projects By Justin Burnett Staff Reporter
Cathie Espes lives alone. She’s 68-yearsold, legally blind and in a wheel chair. Life isn’t easy for her. Everyday things, from getting a midnight snack to simply reading mail, are real challenges. More difficult chores, like cleaning her home’s gutters? Impossible. Yet, Espes likely has some of the cleanest gutters on the block. Her house has a fresh coat of paint, she has a new toilet and the thick carpet that once made getting around in her wheelchair a regular nightmare has been replaced by smooth floors. Even the pesky closet door that refused to stay on its track has been fixed. But, perhaps most impressive of all, everything was done for free, or rather, for nothing more than the cost of friendship. “It brings tears to my eyes and gets me all choked up just thinking about it,” Espes said. Espes is one of about 80 residents whose lives have been made a little bit easier by Central Whidbey Hearts and Hammers, an all-volunteer organization made up solely of people within the community – friends, colleagues and neighbors.
It was established five years ago as an off-shoot of its sister organization in South Whidbey, which was founded in 1994. It was the very first Hearts and Hammers in the United States. Today, the non-profit and its service model has spread to four other states across the country, including Dallas, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pa.; the Twin Cities in Minn.; and Willowick, Ohio. The idea behind the non-profit, with it’s motto of “Neighbors helping Neighbors,” is to help people in the community who are unable, for one reason or another, to complete small home projects, said Bill Skubi, a member of Central Whidbey’s board of directors and the organization’s informal spokesman. “People say, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have Christmas all year long,” Skubi said. “Well, this is kind of Christmas in May.” The model shouldn’t be mistaken as being focused solely on assisting the very poor.
Hearts and Hammers consider’s helping anyone who is struggling, whether it be with finances, physical handicaps, old age or all of the above. People may simply be having a rough year and need a little help getting things done, Skubi said. “We have had people who were volunteers one year and recipients another,” he said. Last year, more than 100 volunteers assisted 22 homeowners, repairing roofs and decks, building wheel chair ramps, painting, doing yard work and pitching in where ever they could. “It has a real barn-raising feel to it,” Skubi said. “We really see this as community activism rather than a charity.” In fact, the whole idea is for the Hearts and Hammers spirit to strengthen neighbors See PROJECTS, page 3