Local
Film Festival: 25 films, three days, four venues page11
Island Scene
Unforseen consequences: Mysterious tale of the ‘Great Cactus War’ page 9
Editorial
National Parks shuttered in wake of government shutdown; leadership in the modern era? page 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, October 9, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 41
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
CAO Fun at the Farm Parade clash XXXXXXXX heads to court
Four groups launch challenge of ruling by Hearings Board Journal reporter
See CAO, Page 3
By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
By Steve Wehrly
If you think that the Critical Areas Ordinances took too long (seven or 10 years, depending on whose calendar you look at), more opportunity for outrage loom in the future. On Oct. 1, the Common Sense Alliance filed a petition for review in San Juan County Superior Court, contesting the ruling by the Growth Management Hearings Board in the CAO update case. Over the next few days, Friends of the San Juans, P.J. Taggares Co. and William H. Wright took the opportunity to file their own appeals. Only the San Juan Builder’s Association has not appealed; the association has until Oct. 7 to do so. Kyle Loring, attorney for Friends, believes this latest iteration of disdain for the results of the ordinances passed in 2012 by the County Council will take at least six months, “possibly a year,” before Judge Don Eaton reaches a decision. The CSA also asked for a court order postponing the effective date of the ordinances until the courts have ruled on the appeals, and asked that the case be sent back to the Hearings Board for
Second board member resigns
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Warm temps and sunny afternoon drew smiles, waves and a crowd to Saturday’s annual Farm Parade.
‘Honor & Sacrifice’
Film reveals epic family journey By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
He was all of eight years old when Roy Matsumoto and his brother boarded a steamer bound for the family’s ancestral home in Japan. Nine years later, in 1930, Roy would cross the Pacific Ocean once again, at the age of 17, this time headed back to his birthplace near Los Angeles, Calif., to high school and a job in a grocery store, where, in what would prove a most fateful episode, he would come to recognize and to understand the numerous dialects spoken by the many Japanese people along his delivery route. That was just the beginning. Each of the 25 documentaries to be aired at the Friday Harbor Film Festival, many of which, like “Honor & Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story”, are award-winning films, has its own story to tell about life around the Pacific Ocean. The festival is, in fact, entitled “Stories of the Pacific Rim.”
But it’s safe to say that none can rival “Honor & Sacrifice” for the breadth, depth, and for the cultural and historical weight, and the distance, both in mileage and time, that it brings to the silver screen. Matsumoto, who this year celebrated his 100th birthday, was inducted into the U.S. Army “Ranger Hall of Fame” in 1993 and into the “Military Intelligence Hall of Fame” in 1997, and is a 2011 recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. But what had originally been a 17-minute See Journey, Page 4
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Disagreement over strategies for deployment of broadband has prompted another resignation from the local power and light cooperative’s board of directors. When George Mulligan resigned from the Orcas Power and Light Cooperative’s board in May, his resignation letter cited “very different perspectives on matters of governance, and management resources.” It did not specifically reference broadband deployment strategy. John Bogert’s resignation letter See resigns, Page 4