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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 75 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Squabble over gun rights hits Langley By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
Ben Watanabe / The Record
David Bagley, left, hoists his first-place silver salmon with the help of his “second mate” Arthur Ruteck outside the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club on Sept. 13. The Greenbank man won the derby title, which came with a trophy and $500, with an 11-pound, 13-ounce coho that he caught off Lagoon Point.
The Coho King
Returning champ claims fourth first-place win Salmon derby draws hundreds for chance at cash By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record David Bagley was thrilled he had the winning silver salmon at the Sebo’s Whidbey Island Coho Derby. More than the $500 cash and trophy he walked out of the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club with on Saturday, the Greenbank man was relieved to not be booed out of the building. An experienced fishing derby contestant and champion, Bagley has won four of the past six Whidbey coho competitions. “The last three times I won I got booed out of here,” he said after showing The Record his prize fish in the parking lot.
He was, however, heckled by a few jealous friends and fellow anglers. But Bagley gave as good as he got, jokingly asking his second mate Arthur Ruteck to hold his fish for a while because it was “too heavy.” Bagley was joined by at least 100 other anglers for the latest installment of the long-running and oft-changed Whidbey Island coho derby. Money brought in from derby ticket and raffle sales goes to scholarships for South Whidbey High School graduates from Sons of the American Legion Post 141 and the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club. “This is a great success,” said John Lutch, an officer with the club and the Sons of the American Legion who helped organize the derby. The first-prize fish, an 11.13-pound coho — un-gutted — was caught off Lagoon Point early in the morning. Bagley said he trolled cut-plug herring with a 2-ounce weight just off the back
of the boat, and the fish gave him a 15-minute fight. “Weight and bait, they used to call it,” Bagley said. “Fifty years ago they did this when they didn’t have trolling.” Within two hours, he and the other anglers on his boat, Ruteck and Jason Stratemeyer, had hit their two-salmon limit and headed back for the weigh-in. Bagley’s winning coho was the fourth fish weighed. Lloyd Carter landed the secondplace salmon, 9.3 pounds, to raucous applause. The elderly gentleman joked that he has competed in the Whidbey coho derbies for decades and finally had a prize-winning fish. “I waited 75 years for this,” he said. Frank Parra, owner of the derby’s title sponsor Sebo’s Do-It Center in Bayview, joked that Carter caught a fish “bigger than himself.” SEE DERBY, A13
America’s fight over gun rights and the state’s proposed initiative for firearm sales regulations came to Langley City Hall on Monday. What was a civil discussion inside city hall — with no outbursts or interruptions over a charged issue — turned into a small kerfuffle outside council chambers. People opposed to and in favor of Initiative 594 exchanged heated words, gaining the notice of Langley Police Chief Dave Marks though no intervention was necessary. More than 30 people filed into city hall in response to Mayor Fred McCarthy’s proposed city resolution in support of state Initiative 594. The proposed regulation calls to “close loopholes” in firearm sale and transfer on the November ballot. But opponents of the measure called it unnec-
essary, burdensome on law enforcement and the state’s Department of Licensing, and infringes on individuals’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms. “It’s already illegal to sell guns to criminals and people not authorized to have them,” said Mike McInerney, who opposed I-594 and is a firearms safety instructor at the Holme’s Harbor Rod & Gun Club. Enough people showed up specifically about the city’s I-594 resolution that Councilman Thomas Gill requested the council open the floor to hear their comments. He also successfully motioned to remove the resolution from new business and downgrade it to a discussion, calling it “dubious” and inappropriate for the city, whose elected officials were sworn to uphold both the state and United States constituSEE INITIATIVE, A11
Clinton picnic builds community, destroys butternut squash By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Dan Porter Memorial Park buzzed with busyness and activity Saturday afternoon, a rare yet welcome sight in the struggling Clinton business area. The first-ever Clinton Town Picnic, a free gathering of food, music, games and a vegetable-launching slingshot, was a busy day. Jack Lynch, president of the Clinton Community Council, estimated 300 people cruised through the park. There was free food, music from the Heggenes Valley Boys about “dancing the squash” and a giant slingshot to hurl zucchini and butternut squash onto the ballfield. SEE PICNIC, A13