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Thursday, JULY 17, 2014
VOL. 19, NO. 49
Greenbank solar project losing leasee By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
A leasee with the Greenbank Farm’s community solar project is terminating its lease at the end of the year. Newport Partners, which is operating under NEF-Greenbank Farm LLC, sent notice of termination June 26 after Port of Coupeville commissioners declined to sign a power purchase agreement. In March, Newport Partners, a California-based group, presented the board with the agreement, which would change the project to a net metering system. After reviewing the agreement and consulting with an attorney, the board declined to change to a net metering system because there was a possibility at times it could end up costing the port money. “The port did not want to take on the risk of potentially losing money,” said Tim McDonald, executive director for the Port of Coupeville. “Power prices are unpre-
See SOLAR page 12
Family flees with disabled adult siblings By Jessie Stensland Co-Editor
Two men are facing felony charges for allegedly fleeing a courtroom in Coupeville with their developmentally disabled brothers after a judge granted custody of the vulnerable adults to their niece, court documents state. Prosecutors charged 63-year-old Allen R. Shipman and 74-year-old Jerry G. Shipman in Island County Superior Court June 30 with two counts each of first-degree custodial interference. Both men are West Richland residents. An Island County Superior Court judge pro tem ordered during a hearing last fall that the men’s niece would be the legal guardian and have sole custody of the two brothers, who were diagnosed with
See FLEE page 12
Photos by Ron Newberry
Jon Crimmins, a 1993 graduate of Coupeville High School, manages Fort Casey and four other state parks on Whidbey Island. He and his family, which includes wife Jodi, daughter Maggie and son Aiden, live on the same Fort Casey grounds where Jon spent much of his youth.
Fort like home for park ranger By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
It can be little unsettling when Jon Crimmins looks back to his teenage years spent at Fort Casey State Park. Crimmins, the park manager who runs Fort Casey and four other state parks on Whidbey Island, grew up just down the road from the former U.S. military installation and spent much of his childhood making it his own personal playground. He laughs as he shares tales of teenage mischief, including the embarrassing moment when he ran into a beam and got a concussion during a game of “Capture the Flag,” then bites his lip as he remembers his place as parent and role model. Crimmins and his wife Jodi are raising two teenagers at their home that rests on the same Fort Casey grounds that serve as the backdrop for so many childhood stories. “Some of the stories I don’t tell them,” Crimmins said, breaking into a smile. Crimmins, a 1993 graduate of Coupeville High School, is in his 15th year serving as a ranger with the Washington Parks Service and second at Fort Casey. As an area manager, he covers larger territory, also watching over Joseph Whidbey,
Fort Ebey, South Whidbey and Possession Point state parks. But Fort Casey, the place he knows intimately, is his home base. Although the terrain he covers is familiar, his position as area manager of Central Whidbey State Parks is new. Cutbacks within the state parks system led to the creation of one area manager overseeing five state parks. Crimmins was finishing his third year across Admiralty Inlet at a different fort site, Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island, when he applied for the position and got the job. He had previously worked eight years at South Whidbey State Park. “I was either really naive or I really liked the challenge, or maybe both,” Crimmins said. “Nobody had ever done this.”
See RANGER page 12