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Thursday, April 4, 2013
VOL. 18, NO. 35
Benefit show Saturday
Justin Burnett photo
Above: Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes surveys the landslide area in the Ledgewood community south of Coupeville Monday. County crews are working on building road access to an area of homes left inaccessible after the slide. Below: Several homes are still yellowtagged, which means residents cannot stay in the home, but may enter to retrieve belongings.
Access still key in landslide aid efforts
By Justin Burnett Staff Reporter
Driftwood Way homes marooned by a massive landslide in Ledgewood last week became accessible by vehicle for the first time in nearly a week late Monday. Island County Public Works road crews began building an emergency, one-lane gravel road Friday. Working through the Easter weekend, they were able to wrap up work at about 3:30 p.m. Monday. The new road was not only a relief for full-time residents — marking an end of the necessity of slogging up and down a muddy trail to get to their homes — but it also gave vacationers who were caught up in the natural disaster the first chance to return overdue rental cars. “They’ve been great,” Driftwood Way resident Greg Cosgrove said, referring to public works employees. “We were really cut off for a while,” he said.
In the early morning hours March 27, more than a 1,000 feet of bluff collapsed, taking out a large section of Driftwood Way. The road served as the only vehicular access to 17 homes in the small waterfront community. No one was hurt but the devastation claimed one home and has left four others uninhabitable. Two are on Driftwood Way and two are on Fircrest Avenue, the parallel street that runs along the top of the bluff. The newly constructed road connects the southern end of Fircrest to Forgette Lane, a small side street off Driftwood Way. Following what had essentially been a footpath, the public works crew hacked it out of the bluff side with small bulldozers. Approximately 600 feet in length, the road was something of a Herculean effort as it was built over a period of just four days. Under normal circumstances, construction See Ledgewood, page 7
A fundraiser is scheduled this weekend to help the people affected by the landslide that took place March 27 in Ledgewood on Central Whidbey Island. The fundraiser is scheduled for 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6 at the Greenbank Farm. Some of Whidbey Island’s most notable restaurants and food producers will descend upon the picturesque farm to participate in the Great Whidbey Slide Relief Cook-Off that begins at 2 p.m, according to a news release. Sponsored by Ciao, Flyers Brewery, Three Sisters Cattle Company, Columbia Distributing, Spoiled Dog Winery, Whidbey Island Wines, Useless Bay Coffee Company, Windermere Realty, Fraser’s Gourmet Hideaway, and Sysco Food Service will prepare some of the best barbecue, tacos, and grilling for the hungry throngs of charitable people who are sure to attend the fundraiser. Mojo Filter kicks off an afternoon full of music starting at 2 p.m. Local funk sensation The Still Bill Band takes the stage at 4 p.m. and Johnny Bulldog Tristao, lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revisited, will headline the fundraiser and starts performing at 5 p.m. A massive landslide early in the morning March 27 prompted the evacuation of residents in 17 homes. Currently, county officials have “yellow tagged” four homes near the landslide, which means the homes aren’t habitable, but residents can enter them. County officials have “red tagged” an additional home, which means the structure is unsafe to enter. Laska said Windermere, food vendors and Central Whidbey residents have chipped in to help organize the fundraiser. Tickets for the event cost $20 and they are available at the Greenbank Farm the day of the event. An account has also been set up to help benefit the people affected by the landslide. People can donate to the “Whidbey Slide Relief Fund” account that was set up at Wells Fargo Bank. For information call 360- 678-0800.