Around Town
Path to love & marriage begins with... shipwreck? PAGE 10
Island Scene
Heavenly touch to Shaw Island artisan cheese PAGE 9
As I See It
Cat’s in the cradle? Nope, outdoors, out back wrecking havoc with fellow wildlife... by the billions PAGE 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, July 23, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 30
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Pond On guard over greenhouse rules plunge proves fatal By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
A San Juan Island man died July 14 after the vehicle that he and two others were traveling in plunged into a pond in the backyard of his westside San Juan Island in mid-afternoon. Emergency responders tried without success to resuscitate the 88-year-old after they were able to locate the vehicle in about 10 feet of murky, muddy water. Several responders dove below the surface, freed the man from vehicle by slicing through his safety belt and then carried his body to the bank of the pond, where efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful. The victim, Lester Gunther, a longtime island resident and avid boatsman was pronounced dead at the scene (see obituary, pg. 5). Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord, whose office doubles as San Juan County Coroner, said the cause of is drowning. Gaylord said that Gunther was behind the wheel when the vehicle careened from a gravel driveway near the back of the home, knocking over patio furniture in its path as it sped across the lawn and then hurtled into the pond. The two other occupants, Gunther’s wife and daughter, escaped from the vehicle on their own. Although efforts to resuscitate the victim were unsuccessful, Sheriff Rob Nou praised See FATAL, Page 4
Contributed photo / Justice.gov
Faced with a possible proliferation of industrial-sized marijuana grows, the San Juan County Council agreed to consider placing new limits on the construction, scope, size and operation of greenhouses, an accessory use for agricultural production that can be constructed, in many instances, without a permit. In a divided decision, a 2-1 vote, the County Council instructed its staff July 15 to put the questions of siting, permitting, operation and impacts of greenhouses before the planning commission as first in a series of steps which could lead to a series of restrictions. Council Chairman Rick Hughes, adamantly opposed to the earlier suggestion of a six-month moratorium, cautioned that restrictions targeted to appease concerns over marijuana could undermine cultivation of other, less controversial crops. “If it involves a moratorium I don’t support it at all,” Hughes said of regulatory tools the council could wield. “I think we need to be really careful about the road we’re going down.” Hughes noted San Juan County voters overwhelming supported I-502 (68 percent), the
Lamps aglow, buds are bursting in an indoor marijuana growing operation. The San Juan County Council, faced with a proliferation of greenhouses, will consider new limits on the agricultural “accessory use”.
Dry-clean biz goes up in smoke
See RULES, Page 4
Firefighters stand by bringing an early morning blaze under control at Sunshine Cleaners, July 15, on Web Street, in Friday Harbor.
By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
If you were making plans to pick up your dry cleaning, well, there’s no rush. Business came to a screeching halt at Friday Harbor’s only commercial dry cleaner and laundry service after fire broke out inside the building that is home to Sunshine Cleaners July 15, at about 2:30 a.m. The blaze either destroyed or significantly damaged numerous
Contributed photo / SJ Fire & Rescue
items of equipment, several areas of the Web Street building itself, left a large stockpile of laundry with smoke damage and, according to business owner Robert Kolowitz, could not have come at a worse time of the year.
“We have a lot of volume in this month and in August, and a lot of people depend on us, hotels, bedn-breakfasts, convenience stores” Kolowitz said. “I was halfway done with an order for Camp Orkila. See SMOKE, Page 4
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Sales deadline
2014 Fair guide publishes the week of Aug. 12 in the Journal, Sounder & Weekly. Sales Deadline: Fri., July 25, 2014. For more information call the Journal 378-5696.