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Making the most out of your biggest investment INSIDE: 8-PAGE PULL-OUT
Island Scene
Guest Column
Big bunnies & brightly colored eggs; must be Easter time
Fiber and frontier economics: Why I support the OPALCO board and its broadband initiative PAGE 7
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Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, April 16, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 16
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Tug-of-war over jets aired in D.C. ‘It was a better reception than we expected’ — Mike Monson, Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Brenda Schmidt, winner of the 10th annual Frank Wilson Memorial Blackmouth Fishing Derby, and the derby’s firstever female champion, is flanked by Don Wilson, left, third place, and derby runner-up Chuck Payne.
One for the record books Glass ceiling shattered; Schmidt snags Wilson Fishing Derby title By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
If Uncle Pete takes the time to pull off a prank at your expense, well, that’s when you know that you really are one of the boys. Even if you are a girl. “It feels like I’m a real fisher-man now, with Uncle Pete teasing me,” said San Jan Island’s Brenda Schmidt, winner of the 10th Annual Frank Wilson Memorial Blackmouth Derby. “That really is the biggest compliment of all.” Though a veteran angler in her own right, Schmidt reeled her way into the annals of local fishing lore by becoming the first-ever woman to win the Wilson Derby. She landed what proved to be the derby’s biggest fish, a 21.33-pounder, in Week 3 of the 10-week competition, pocketed the weekly prize, a $75 gift certificate from Kings Marine, and had been on pins and needles ever since. Second-place finisher Chuck Payne, who netted
Contributed photo
Brenda Schmidt gets a hand with her Wilson Derby winning salmon from fellow fisherwoman Vicki Telfor.
a 20.87 pounder one week ago, nearly knocked her from the lead in Week 9. “I had seven weeks to sweat it out,” Schimdt said. “I’d have a panic attack every time a boat sped by me, and there’d be one of the guys yelling over at me, ‘I got a really big one in the boat with me here, Brenda.’ It’d been going on for weeks.” See BOOKS, Page 4
As the Navy moves toward preparing an environmental impact statement to justify its continued training and testing of a growing fleet of jet aircraft at two airfields on Whidbey Island, San Juan and Lopez islanders living within easy earshot of NAS Whidbey are raising their voices to express concerns about their quality of life. Two weeks after a Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve group returned from a visit to Washington D.C., which included talking with midlevel Pentagon bureaucrats about noise from FA-18 “Growlers,” a contingent of Lopezians and San Juan County officials will travel to Whidbey Island to receive a “command briefing” from the base commander and see the noisemakers themselves lined up at Ault Field. “It’s tragic that the noise has gotten to this level,” said musician Stanley Greenthal from his home on Lopez, where he has lived since 1971. “The intense noise from the EA-18G Growlers is truly an assault upon the senses. Individual flyovers combined with ground shaking multiple engine run-ups at the N.A.S. often go on for many hours, from morning into the evening.” Greenthal’s wife, Kip, noted that the couple has quietly endured the noise for many years. But the disruptions have intensified in the last eight months. She said that they are now smelling exhaust or jet fuel while walking in their yard. “The recent escalation has prompted us the take an active stance,” Stanley added. “We realize
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
their job is important, but there must be a balance with our lives.” Lopez islanders led by Cynthia Dilling and County Councilmen Jamie Stephens of Lopez and Bob Jarman of San Juan are heading for NAS Whidbey to tour the facility April 14 and talk with Captain Mike Nortier, who took command at the naval air station about a year ago. Stephens, who said that the visit is billed as a learning and listening tour, expects people to also speak up about their problems with the noise. On Whidbey, the Ebey Landing group, in addition to wanting the closure of Outlying Landing Field Coupeville, is now calling for the See JETS, Page 5
Real Esta te Sa
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Contributed
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Published the Journal of the San Juanthird Wednesday of each mon Islands, th by the Islands’ Sounder and Islan ds’ Weekly
Real Estate in the San Juan Islands
See inside for March’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.