Record South Whidbey
INSIDE
Whidbey Adventure Swim See...A8
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 59 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Four to face off in primary for state office
Prominent South Whidbey businesses
BURGLARIZED
By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Two candidates who have the support of their respective parties are being challenged by party outsiders in the race for state representative, position 2 in the state’s 10th Legislative District. Dave Hayes, R-Camano, is running for a second term. He is facing three challengers in the primary election, including one candidate from his own party. Island County residents should have received their ballots in the mail. They must be returned by primary election day, which is Aug. 5. Oak Harbor resident Brien Lillquist, who admits to being unconventionally honest in his views, is running as a Republican. He previously sat on the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District board and ran unsuccessfully for the school board. His reason for running is straight to the point. “I don’t like any of the people down there,” he said. “My main concern is that nothing seems to change.” Mount Vernon resident Nick Petrish, a Democrat, earned the endorsement of the Island County Democratic Party. He has many of the conventional views of Democrats, but a unique background. He grew up hunting and fishing in Anacortes and was an interrogator in the U.S. Army before becoming a union electrician; the Second Amendment and labor rights are both important to him. “I’m all about guns, gun SEE PRIMARY, A9
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Lani Bryant inspects an employee locker at Freeland Cafe which was pried open when a burglar broke in and stole a change bag.
Raider “signature” clear, but lack of evidence hampers arrest By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Police are on the hunt for a commercial burglar on South Whidbey, and though they have a suspect in mind, the thief remains at large. Solid evidence: a fingerprint, video footage or any other clues have proved as elusive as the burglar, leading police to suspicions and theories but no arrests. “I think it’s probably one person,” said Island County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Laura Price. “We have a suspect in mind, someone we think might be attached to this. We just need the ‘smoking gun.’ ” Burglaries hit businesses from Clinton to Freeland hard in the past few weeks, and they all seem to be done in a similar way.
Owners of Cozy’s Roadhouse in Clinton and the Freeland Cafe said they found their restaurants broken into over the past couple of weeks. Each was reportedly done the same way: a snipped telephone connection to disarm the alarm, and forced entry. Lani Bryant opened the Freeland Cafe on July 13 and found the place amiss. The alarm was beeping and the front door was open. She saw desk items tossed on the floor and a staff locker pried open in the upstairs office. The cafe’s owners were vague on exactly what was taken, but estimated it to be far less than the cost of missing a busy business day on Sunday. For Bryant, whose sister is a co-owner of the cafe, the loss was more than dollars. She was insulted that the perpetrator was likely a customer
or patron. “Whoever wrecked this place, I’ve probably made them lunch or they’ve been in this establishment,” Bryant said. At Cozy’s in Clinton, the Cook family had to fix the century-old front door and repair the phone cable. Stephanie Cook said the burglary lasted less than 3 minutes because the phone cord was not connected to the alarm, so when the thief set foot on the floor, the alarm was triggered. A few years ago, the Cooks upgraded their security system after being burglarized and losing money, alcohol and pull tabs — paper gambling cards. But the new alarm sent the would-be pilferer into SEE BURGLARY, A14