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SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 34 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
State kills ghost shrimp biz off Langley
Clouds part for Freeland Sunny View project with water OK By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley city leaders got their wish this week when the Washington State Department of Natural Resources announced an end to ghost shrimp harvesting in Saratoga Passage. Citing a lack of information about the impact of removing the crustaceans, also known as sand shrimp, from gray whale feeding grounds, the DNR informed five commercial harvesters their permits to access sites around Whidbey and Camano islands would be terminated May 23. Some were notified last Friday, others — seemingly coincidentally — on Earth Day, April 22. “The whole thing feels like it was meant to be,” said Langley Mayor Fred McCarthy, who led the city’s charge for a two-year moratorium on ghost shrimp harvesting. “This has tremendous implications for tourism in the future. … That’s a significant draw for our city.” Local shrimpers, however, are not so excited as McCarthy’s vision of a more prosperous future for Langley will come at the expense of their pocketbooks. “I guess Langley thinks they’ll fill up the whalewatching boats if we’re not here,” said Randy Linard, a Freeland-based ghost shrimp harvester. “We’re just out of business.” Since November 2013, McCarthy and a city-organized sand shrimp advocacy committee pushed the state SEE SHRIMP, A20
Jessie Stensland / The Record
Detective Carl Seim with the Oak Harbor Police Department holds more than 74 grams of black-tar heroin he seized from a drug dealer. He said it’s worth about $5,000.
HEROIN
It’s cheap, available, lethal and on the rise By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Langley Police Chief Dave Marks tore his Achilles tendon while chasing a heroin addict through the woods last year. For the veteran officer, the man is hard to forget — he’s had to chase him down more times than he can remember. Last week, the chief noticed the all-too-familiar face standing on Cascade Avenue and tackled him behind The South
Whidbey Commons; he found four syringes in his pockets. “He needed to get a hit so bad, he stopped while I was chasing him,” Marks said. “I can’t prove that, but I’m 90 percent sure that’s what happened.” Such is the power of heroin. Once considered a drug for rock stars and hardcore users, heroin has gained a troubling prominence on SEE HEROIN, A12
Banks looks for four more years as prosecutor By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Greg Banks isn’t ready to give up his day job. The Island County prosecutor decided in 2013 that his fourth term, which ends this year, would be his last. But this week he
changed course, announcing that he will seek another four years in office. “It really is a great job,” he said. “We work in pursuit of justice, not in pursuit of profit. I get to wear the white hat and I get to go home at the end of the day and I sleep well at
night.” Island County Sheriff Mark Brown is also running again and said he is glad that Banks wants to stay. In fact, he encouraged him to run again. “I think we have a very SEE BANKS, A13
Banks
A 26-unit affordable housing development proposed in Freeland cleared a major hurdle this week. The Freeland Water and Sewer District issued a water availability letter for Sunny View Village, a $6.3 million project planned for a nearly nine-acre lot off Fish Road, between Highway 525 and Scenic Avenue. “I’m ecstatic,” said Teri Anania, executive director of the Island County Housing Authority, the organization building Sunny View Village. “I’m thrilled. It’s been a long time coming.” “We still have a public comment period, but this was the last big hurdle for us to get going,” she added. Up until Monday, the project was stalled due to funding headaches connected with a water district policy. It requires developers to pay for water availability letters upfront. The problem is that many lending agencies and state grant holders won’t deliver funds until after they are officially assured there is sufficient water to service the proposed development. Housing Authority officials and project leaders attended a water district meeting in March and pleaded for an exemption. The commissioners refused to do so outright, though they did grant an exemption for another customer with the same probSEE SUNNY VIEW, A20