News-Times Whidbey
BUSINESS
Local man becomes Home Depot model A4
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 49 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
State rep. candidate: Obama parody video required putting on blackface Oak Harbor resident and state representative candidate David Sponheim wears blackface and impersonates President Barack Obama in a video on his “America’s Third Party” online program. He said this week the video was satire and not meant to be offensive.
Island County Democrats say they won’t support Sponheim By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
The head of the Island County Democrats is denouncing a candidate for a state representative seat who put on “blackface” to imperson-
ate President Obama in an internet video. Oak Harbor resident David Sponheim, 54, is one of three candidates running against state Rep. Dave Hayes, R-Camano Island. Sponheim filed as “prefers Democratic party” even though he and his partner, Sarah Hart, have worked for years to start a new centrist political party they’ve dubbed “America’s Third Party.” Sponheim has run for president twice as a
write-in candidate for America’s Third Party and said he plans to run again in 2016. Sponheim and Hart discuss their political ideas in a three-hour “video chat” program they broadcast online six days a week. It was during one of these programs that Sponheim, a white man, painted his face black in a caricature of “Broke Obombus.” SEE VIDEO, A15
Rape suspect arrested Saturday Search leads deputies to N. Whidbey woman’s yard
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
The officer with the dog went into her apple orchard and dragged out the man who had
State-required electrical upgrades at the Island County Fairgrounds will be paid for by Island County. The $8,789 reimbursement was seen as a victory for the Island County Fair Association, the nonprofit organization that produces the annual Whidbey Island Area Fair in exchange for the use and management of the 12.8 acres. However, the bulk of the fair association’s request — $18,841 to expose the ceiling of the Pole Building’s dining room — was not funded. “We were glad to get what we got, but it is an illustration that it’s an uphill battle,” said Diane Divelbess, president of the fair association, during a phone interview after the county work
SEE ARREST, A15
SEE FAIR, A15
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
North Whidbey resident Darcy Zook got the scare of a lifetime when police caught a suspect in a brutal rape and kidnapping case hiding in an orchard just outside her door Saturday. Zook said her neighborhood on Moran Beach Lane was swarming with law enforcement officers from five different agencies as they searched for a suspect. Things started getting a little terrifying when a K-9 officer from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office came to her door; he said he had seen a man in a hoodie run across the road and go to her house. Zook said the officer and his dog walked around the house and the officer kept asking her where the man was.
County to cover fair’s electrical upgrades
Photo courtesy of Darcy Zook
North Whidbey resident Darcy Zook took this photo of deputies arresting rape suspect Douglas Blackburn. He was found hiding in her year not far from her house. “It was really, really scary,” she said, explaining that the officer thought she and her neighbor, who was at her home, were being
held captive under threat. Finally, a group of law enforcement officers converged on her property.
AUSTIN JENCKES June 28th 7:00pm • at the Roller Barn $20.00 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets • $25.00 at the door
{ BENEFITTING THE OAK HARBOR MUSIC FESTIVAL }