South Whidbey Record, June 01, 2013

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INSIDE: Runner up ... Sports, A7

RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 44 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢

Domo arigato, Mr. Underwater Roboto Young engineers earn trip to international robotics competition By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter When the robots rise against humanity, blame a handful of South Whidbey teens. Five Whidbey Island kids bested some of the Northwest’s top teen minds at an underwater robotics competition. Atlantis Inc. ROV (remotely operated vehicle) won first place at the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) Pacific Northwest regional event, beating 14 teams from Seattle, Mount Vernon and Gig Harbor in the Ranger class for older students. Whidbey’s own robotics engineers advance to the international competition hosted in their own waters, so to speak, June 20-22 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. “I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Chris Wilson, the ROV’s pilot. “It was a big step from where we were last year.” Back in 2012, the promising Atlantis team from Whidbey suffered a major setback. A fuse blew on their bot’s control board, rendering it almost completely ineffective in the water trials. A hard lesson was learned that day. The new control board is kept in an old hardbody luggage bag and it’s rife with light fuses that illuminate when they malfunction, making it easier for the engineer to find and replace it. Also the fuses are visible on the control board, rather than underneath other hardware. SEE ROBOT, A6

Ben Watanabe / The Record

Austin Drake, Hannah McConnaughey and Haley McConnaughey work on the propulsion of their underwater bot and its trial objects. Behind them are Chris Wilson and Derrick Riley.

Star Store burns out in Bayview By CELESTE ERICKSON Staff reporter

Celeste Erickson / The Record

Scott Alexander, a customer at the Bayview Star Store, was surprised when he learned this week that the location will close in September.

Bayview Corner will become a little less bustling in September. The Star Store location at the Bayview Cash Store will close Monday, Sept. 2, owners Gene and Tamar Felton announced this week. The news dimmed the twinkle of previously happy employees and customers alike. Their mood was somber Wednesday, with employees reluctant to say anything. “Our little outlet here at Bayview just couldn’t with-

“We are going to miss the Star Store, the food, people.” Debbie Torget, Goosefoot director

stand the weakening economy and shifting food shopping patterns. We tried to hang in here for as long we could,” Gene Felton said in a press release. Felton also cited declining store sales and the resulting difficulty in providing liv-

ing wages and benefits for employees as reasons for the Bayview location’s closure. “I’m bummed, seriously bummed,” said Peggy Juve, a customer at the Bayview location. “I just love shopping here, it’s so convenient and never crowded.” Juve said she goes out of her way bypassing the popular Langley Star Store main location to shop at the little Bayview store because it is less crowded. Scott Alexander, a customer at the Bayview location, had just learned of SEE STAR STORE, A6


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