News-Times Whidbey
ISLAND LIVING
Potter’s career takes shape
A11
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 | Vol. 114, No. 69 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Increasing demand a strain on Ault Field, says Navy By JANIS REID Staff reporter
North Whidbey residents are hearing the impact of the suspension of operations at Outlying Field Coupeville. The Navy shifted all of it’s aircraft training to Ault Field. Whidbey Island Navy Air Station Public Affairs Officer Mike Welding said Outlying Field Coupeville is not closed, but, in June, the Navy decided to temporarily suspend field carrier landing practices there until the end of this year. The decision created operational impacts, Navy officials said, and is not considered to be sustainable for the long term. Suspension of field carrier landing practices at OLF has forced the Navy to do all training events at Ault Field, Welding said. That, he said, is interfering with other necessary operations, causing delays and operational conflicts. “It’s been louder and more frequent, but I don’t care,” said Debbie Brundage, owner of Rings and Things on Ault Field Road. “If they weren’t here we wouldn’t be here,” she said. “We knew they were here when we bought our house. Yeah, you get mad, but I knew it was here.” North Whidbey resident Garrett Newkirk has complained frequently about the jet noise over his family’s 500-acre farm near Dugualla Bay. Newkirk contends that the noise and pollution reduced the value of the property his family has owned since before the Navy arrived on Whidbey Island. “We’ve noticed a considerable increase in jet noise,” Newkirk said. “They were flying until at least 11 p.m. … We have to wear earplugs.” See AULT FIELD, A22
Photo by Jessie Stensland/Whidbey News-Times
Becky Spraitzar, a member of Concerned Island Citizens, says she worries vandalism to her sign about jet noise will result in greater crimes.
Anti-noise group says debate is devolving into vandalism By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Members of a North Whidbey citizens’ group say they’re worried that vandalism of signs protesting the noise from Navy jets portends greater crimes in the future. They also say they’re concerned about what they perceive as a lack of response from law enforcement. Becky Spraitzar, a member of Concerned Island Citizens, said she was alarmed over the weekend when vandals wrote graffiti on a sign on her property and damaged it, apparently with an axe.
“I felt violated. It’s scary,” she said, adding that she wonders what would have happened if she had confronted the axe-wielding vandals. The sign stands in Spraitzer’s front yard along State Highway 20, near the intersection of Jones Road. Spraitzar said she is one of the few members of Concerned Island Citizens willing to go on the record about their thoughts on the controversy over the noise associated with aircraft at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, particularly the new EA-18G Growler. One woman said she fears losing a government job if she or her husband speak openly.
See SIGN VANDALISM, A22
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On the other side, people at a recent proNavy rally also expressed concerns about possible retribution for speaking their minds. Joe Kunzler, an outspoken supporter of the Navy and flight operations at Outlying Field Coupeville, said he’s warned “his people” not to vandalize signs, which he called “tacky.” Kunzler recently started selling pro-Navy signs and other items on a website. “I would rather see people put their own signs up than turn to vandalism,” he said. Spraitzar said the community discussion is getting out of hand. Her group has put up five
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