Whidbey Examiner, February 27, 2014

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

VOL. 19, NO. 30

New marshal starting March 1 By Janis Reid Staff Reporter

Justin Burnett photo

Rick Norrie is the new Coupeville marshal.

Snohomish Co. takes over Gowdey investigation

There’s a new sheriff in town. The Island County commissioners approved a contract Monday that empowers the sheriff’s office to run the Coupeville Marshal’s Office. Sgt. Rick Norrie will step in and function as the new Coupeville Marshal March 1, but

under the guidance and budget of the Island County Sheriff’s Department. Norrie replaces Lance Davenport, who chose to leave the position because union rules would prevent him from keeping the marshal’s position with the sheriff’s department. The marshal’s office has struggled with the ability to staff patrols with an office that has repeatedly turned over. Under the approved three-year contract,

the town will pay roughly $440,000 to the sheriff’s office in 2015 for law enforcement services. The town currently pays $450,000. “I think the contract speaks for itself,” said Sheriff Mark Brown. “It’s been vetted by both the county commissioners and the city. It’s a workable plan and is something we’ll massage along the way.”

See CONTRACT page 3

Science Olympiads

By Jessie Stensland Staff Reporter

An investigation into a Coupeville deputy marshal has been turned over to a detective with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, according to Oak Harbor Police Chief Ed Green. Hodges Gowdey, a 13-year veteran of the Coupeville Town Marshal’s Office, was charged in Island County Superior Court on Feb. 11 with unlawful imprisonment and witness tampering. The instances are charged as domestic-violence-related crimes. Police allege that Gowdey, 44, got into a fight in 2007 with his then-girlfriend and handcuffed her on the side of a road; he allegedly later coached her to not to tell investigators about the handcuffing incident, according to the police report. Gowdey was released from jail on the charges after posting a $30,000 bond. Gowdey’s attorney, Chris Skinner of Oak Harbor, said his client will plead not guilty at his March 3 arraignment. “We will be aggressively defending the case,” Skinner said. Green said the case was handed over to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Detective Brad Pince, who is taking over the case, said he’s looking into new allegations against Gowdey, but he doesn’t know if they will lead to additional charges. The recent allegations against Gowdey came to light while the Town of Coupeville

See CASE page 3

Nathan Whalen photo

Coupeville High School ninth-grader Nick Dion fine-tunes his mag-lev project that will be entered in the regional Science Olympiad competition. The regional competition takes place this weekend.

Science students prepare projects for regional competition By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter

A small group of students are spending their afternoons rebuilding and tweaking science projects in preparation for competition. The regional Science Olympiad competition takes place this weekend at Seattle Central Community College. Fourteen students

at Coupeville High School are competing in this year’s series of events. Students participated in an invitational tournament earlier in the month to see how their projects stack up. After the invitational, the Olympiads have been scrambling to rebuild and improve their machines. Sophomores Sam Wynn and Shane Squire

are participating in Mission Possible, in which they have to build a Rube Goldberg-like contraption that completes an activity in as many steps as possible. “You just have as many different kinds of energy transfer,” Wynn said. “It was a cool

See OLYMPIAD page 3


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