Journal of the San Juans, November 27, 2013

Page 1

Business

Eight honored for ‘True Grit’ at annual Chamber of Commerce awards PAGE 8

Island Scene

Theatre offers triple threat of holiday fare… plus one PAGE 9

Guest Column

Broadband is key to the island’s economic future; best for it be under local control PAGE 7

Journal

The 75¢ Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 48

of the San Juan Islands

Foiled heist nets 15 months

www.sanjuanjournal.com

Done deal? Lease draws dissent By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

Would-be robbers repelled in failed home invasion By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

Two San Juan Island men who forced their way into a Friday Harbor apartment in pursuit of prescription drugs and ended up in an altercation with the couple living there will each spend 15 months in prison for felony burglary. On Nov. 19, Travis James Webster, 26, also known as Travis White, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in mid-October in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of firstdegree burglary, a Class B felony. He was ordered to pay $1,345 in fines and fees, which includes $495 in restitution to the couple who fought off the two would-be robbers. Webster’s accomplice, Taiya Autumn Speed, 24, was also sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,345 in fines, fees and restitution. He pleaded guilty in superior court to one count of first-degree burglary in mid-October as well. According to court documents, the two men barged their way into the Linder Street apartment of a man whom they See HEIST, Page 3

Journal photo /Scott Rasmussen

Foreground; Susan Williamson, left, and Deb Langhorns sort concerns written on sticky notes and match similar topics at a community meeting about U.S. Customs pending relocation, Nov. 21, at Brickworks.

‘Landing’ settlement still elusive

See DISSENT, Page 4 Former Spring Street Landing tenant Brian Goodremont of San Juan Safaris, right, talks20with H USolidRep. ay13GRick uide Larsen about the company’s future in aftermath of the fire that ravaged the port-owned building.

By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter

Don’t expect to see a new building rising out of the ashes of Spring Street Landing anytime soon. Port of Friday Harbor Director Marilyn O’Connor said on Nov. 20 that “the target date to begin building construction is September 2014,” which would probably mean completion for a “new” Spring Street Landing Building in early 2015. Three months after the fire that

A potential hardening of Friday Harbor’s coveted small town charm topped the list of concerns raised by islanders that met on Nov. 20 to ask questions, gather facts and seek an alternative to the pending relocation of the local U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters into the heart of the town’s commercial core. The civic-minded get together, billed as an “All Community Meeting,” drew roughly 70 mostly like-minded residents to the Brickworks Building, nearly all of whom question why the federal security agency would need 4,500 square feet of office space for a new headquarters in the heart of town—almost seven times the size of its current location at the Port of Friday Harbor. And many of whom also believe that the agency’s move to intersection of First and Spring streets, in Friday Harbor Center, slated for sometime in the coming year, could well undermine Friday Harbor’s reputation as a friendly, laid-back tourist town. “Inappropriate,” Friday Harbor business owner Robyn Zenek labeled the pending relo-

Journal file photo

burned the Spring Street Landing Building, the Port and its insurer, Enduris Washington, are wrangling over the amount that will be paid for damages. “We are very close in number but not close enough,” port

Commissioner Mike Ahrenius said. But neither Ahrenius nor O’Connor would confirm whether the amount of money was the only problem. Port attorney Frank See ELUSIVE, Page 4

2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

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Weekly

Season Greetings Ring in the holidays with our 24-page special section; filled with gift ideas, holiday events and entertainment listings.


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