Whidbey News-Times, February 13, 2013

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News-Times Whidbey

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013 | Vol. 114, No. 13 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢

INSIDE:

11 wrestlers head to state. A9

County targets gun-ban law By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter

Following suit with city of Oak Harbor, Island County is setting its sights on doing away with its own decadesold section of code banning the public possession of firearms in parks by citizens. That was one of a series of proposed revisions to the park’s code reviewed by the commissioners last week. Most are “housekeeping items,” but a section that bans all but authorized law enforcement personnel from

having guns in parks is being tagged for removal strictly for legal reasons. “The action is meant to align with state law, which says no one can exclude folks from having weapons in parks,” said Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, chairwoman of the board. The changes were discussed just one day after a widely publicized and controversial meeting in Oak Harbor, in which the City Council agreed to do away See guns, A8

TV’s Dateline focuses on Whidbey murder By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter

See murder, A8

Levy supporters celebrate victory By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter

Teachers, administrators, students and parents were celebrating last night. Voters in North Whidbey appear to have approved a replacement levy that will bring $7.35 million a year in local tax dollars to the Oak Harbor School District. Those levy dollars will fund teaching positions, instructional assistant positions, restore athletics to the middle schools, fund technology upgrades, textbook purchases and more. An initial count shows that 4,533 voters, or 53.68 percent, approved the levy while 3,912 voters, or 46.32 percent, rejected it, according to information released by the Island County

Auditor’s Office shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday. “We just saw the results and we’re cracking open champagne,” Oak Harbor School District Superintendent Rick Schulte said. “It’s a terrific victory and we’re really happy with the results.” The levy results won’t become final until the county auditor certifies the election Feb. 26. Once approved, the levy will cost a homeowner $1.98 per $1,000 assessed property value. The owner of a $250,000 home will pay $495 a year. The new levy will be nearly double the current rate of approximately $1. School officials asked for a

larger levy to restore some lost positions and services due to cutbacks from the state and federal government. Schulte said the items promised in the Oak Harbor levy will be protected and can’t be interfered with in the event of further reductions in state and federal funding. Lynn Goebel, co-chair for Citizen’s for Better Schools, said volunteers will be saying thank you to residents by waving signs at the corner of Highway 20 and Barrington Drive in Oak Harbor 3:30-5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Oak Harbor School Board will discuss the levy results and how to implement the funding during a

workshop 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19 at the Oak Harbor School District administration building located at 350 S. Oak Harbor St. Two levies for the South Whidbey School District are passing at a higher margin than Oak Harbor. A replacement operations levy is passing with 67.18 percent of the vote and a capital and technology levy is passing with 62.15 percent of the vote. The Island County Auditor’s Office will release a new count at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14.

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Peggy Sue Thomas will be sentenced Friday morning for her role in a 2003 murder on South Whidbey. On Friday night, Thomas and her ex-boyfriend, convicted murderer James Huden, will be featured on a two-hour episode of Dateline reporting on the slaying of Russel Douglas. The NBC news magazine show begins at 8 p.m. Familiar Whidbey Island faces will also appear on the show, including Detective Mark Plumberg with the Island County Sheriff’s Office and Prosecutor Greg Banks. NBC describes the episode as “a love triangle involving a beauty queen, a devoted wife and a guitar hero leads

to murder, and an investigation that stretches across the country and takes years to unfold.” Thomas, 47, was scheduled to go to trial last month for first-degree murder. Instead, she pleaded guilty under a plea bargain to a lesser charge of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree. Under the definition of the crime, Thomas was admitting to helping Huden after the murder. Thomas then went on TV news and proclaimed that she was innocent. Thomas was originally accused of helping her James Huden kill Douglas on a lonely road in rural Freeland two days after Christmas in 2003. Investigators suspected

Nathan Whalen/Whidbey News-Times

Kenyon and Katie Blaine wave signs Sunday in support of a levy that will bring millions of taxpayer dollars to the Oak Harbor School District. Ballots for the mail-in election had to be postmarked by Feb. 12 to be counted.


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