Ode to County Fair
Journal columnist reminds us of why the Fair is a one-of-a-kind PAGE 10
Island Scene
Music Fest award-winner pays tribute to wreck of Anna J, and crew PAGE 11
Letters
Opposing responses reveal that the meaning of political cartoons is in the eye of the beholder PAGE 6
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, August 13, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 33
Shaw hit by postal blues
Larsen nets big win in primary
Islanders rally to fight pending cuts in Shaw postal service By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
The U.S. Postal Service expects to save more than $500,000,000 a year by shutting down or cutting hours at about 13,000 post offices across the nation, mostly in rural locations. Like on Shaw Island, where residents are not happy to find out they’re part of the plan. And, perhaps even less so to realize their input on options about service-reductions, requested by the Postal Service, proved to be a meaningless exercise. Less than 24 hours after a pair of postal service employees attended a community meeting July 31 on Shaw, presumably to discuss results of the servicereduction survey, a notice appeared on a post office wall informing islanders that daily office hours would be reduced from eight to four. “All they really had to say or could tell us was ‘We don’t know,’ and that really ticked people off,” Shaw Islanders, Inc. President Diana Wisen said of the two Postal emissaries sent to the meeting. “We knew they weren’t ‘decision-makers’ and sensed that a decision had already been made. See BLUES, Page 4
By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
Above, contributed photo, Leslie Coleman / Below, Journal photo
Above, military veterans of Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride travel False Bay Drive, en route to Fourth of July Beach, Saturday, Aug. 9. Below, WWP’s Chase Nilsen reads the green at San Juan Golf & Country Club.
On course of comradery Bond between injured vets fortified by programs, activities
When push came to shove, it wasn’t even close. Incumbent Rick Larsen, D-Everett, grabbed a commanding lead in Washington state’s District 2 congressional primary, collecting 56.5 percent of 79,118 ballots cast in the three-way race. Independent candidate Mike Lapointe, challenging the six-term congressman for the second-consecutive election, came in a distant third, garnering 11 percent of votes cast, 8,946. See PRIMARY, Page 5
By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
Born in St. Louis, raised in Little Rock, Andrew Miller has seen a good deal of what the world has to offer, after 10-plus years of military service and three deployments over seas in Afghanistan, and most of the U.S.A., too. With its mountains, evergreens and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it doesn’t get much better than Washington state, says Miller, assigned to mortuary affairs at Joint Base Fort Lewis-McChord. Still, Miller wasn’t about to follow the lead of his comrades and plunge into the waters near Deception Pass for a kayak or paddle-board outing. He found a shady spot instead where he could leisurely watch his fellow Wounded Warrior compatriots, and that was just fine. “Uh, well, me and the water don’t quite get along,” the 27-year-old father of three admits. “But it was fun sitting out in the shade watching other people jump in.” Miller, who, like many military veterans, strug-
gles with post-traumatic stress disorder, was among nearly 50 participants who took part in three days of programs and activities on Whidbey and San Juan islands, Aug. 7-9, as part of a “Soldier Ride” sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project. They were accompanied by a half-dozen WWP caregivers. The group barbecued and engaged in water sports (or watched others do it) at Deception Pass, rode 17 miles in and around Oak Harbor, many outfitted with specialized bicycle equipment, and covered about the same amount of ground Saturday on San See COMRADERY, Page 3
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
2014 Map
Hours and Adm Egg Roll Revi ission val Daily sche dule Wenatchee Youth Circu s
pg 2 The Ag Corn er pg 4 The powe r of preservati pg 5 on 4-h schedule pg 7 Master knitt er pg 9 Entertain ment
Fair time
pg 11 pg 13 pg 14 pg 16 pg 18
Our annual county fair guide includes schedules, events, hours, admission prices, fair features, list of entertainment, and more. Find it inside.