Record South Whidbey
INSIDE
Magic at Mike Martin...A8
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 83 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Langley planning director resigns
Are you afraid of the
dark?
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley Community Planning Director Jeff Arango is stepping down. After three-and-a-half years at the helm, Arango confirmed he has accepted a position at Seattle-based BERK Consulting, a private planning company, and submitted a letter of resignation to city officials. Arango said he enjoyed his time as Langley’s planning chief, but that he was ready for a new
By MICHELLE BEAHM Whidbey News Group
SEE ARANGO, A13
Cascade bluff funicular Legion haunted house holds ghouls, ghosts, gore revived
Kate Daniel / The Record
Kevin McDonald, American Legion Post 141 2nd Vice Commander, sits at a gruesome table in the American Legion hall’s haunted house in Bayview.
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record The funicular is back. Maybe. Criticism over the view impacts of a bridge and elevator tower to shuttle people from Cascade Avenue down to South Whidbey Harbor in Langley has city officials reconsidering the original proposal, according to Langley Mayor Fred McCarthy. The funny-sounding transportation module is a tram-like cart that would move along the Cascade SEE FUNICULAR, A20
Whidbey General Hospital prepares for Ebola
By KATE DANIEL South Whidbey Record
South Whidbey is conjuring up some delightfully frightful Halloween festivities. Langley in particular is aflutter with Halloween activity, from the wooden ravens standing guard around the city to the numerous spooky celebrations to come. On All Hallow’s Eve, residents and visitors may participate in a Trick or Treat Downtown Langley event from 2:30 to 5 p.m.; merchants will be donning costumes and serving up goodies. For those who prefer not to gut their gourds, Sweet Mona’s will be offering pumpkin coloring and Callahan’s Firehouse has a chance to blow your own glass pumpkin. The American Legion Post
141 in Bayview will be hosting a haunted house operated by the South Whidbey High School senior class of 2015. More than 20 South Whidbey High School students concocted the concepts for the house and are responsible for the setup and operation. Each of the rooms has its own ghoulish and ghastly surprises in store, from a dining room fit for Hannibal Lecter to a blood-soaked morgue. According to 2nd Vice Commander Kevin McDonald, nothing in the house will be quite as it seems. The house will be open from 6-11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, Sun. Oct. 19, Sat. Oct. 25, Sunday Oct. 26 and Halloween night. Haunted House pumpkin hour is from 5-6 p.m. for kids 5-10 years old, Witching Hour is from 6-10 p.m. Treats will also
be available each day. Admission is $8 per person ($1 off with a can of food or an ASB card) or $25 for a family of 4-6 people. Whidbey Island Center for the Arts will host a Wicked Weekend at WICA. This includes a familyfriendly Fractured Fairytales Haunted House from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, and Thursday, Oct. 30, as well as from 5-10 p.m. Halloween night at Zech Hall; cost is $5. Once upon an evening dreary, Gwen Jones will read from the works of Victorian era master of macabre Edgar Allen Poe at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30. Cost is $10. Chris Harshman and the South Whidbey High School wind ensemble will close out the weekend with a bevy of songs from the 1922 horror SEE HALLOWEEN, A10
With cases of Ebola now reported in the United States, Whidbey General Hospital is joining hospitals across the country in preparing to receive patients afflicted with the disease. “Whidbey General Hospital is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as other infection control experts in Washington state, to be ready in case the Ebola virus appears on Whidbey Island,” said Tom Tomasino, chief executive officer of the hospital, in a written statement.
“Every hospital is working as quickly as possible to create their response plan and train and educate their staff.” Teresa Fulton Whidbey General Hospital chief qualify officer
The CDC issued a four-page checklist to follow in order to prepare, which “covers everything from trash disposal in an affected area to how to safely pack potentially infected blood samples for testing,” according to Tomasino. It also explains how to identify people who may have been exposed, how to properly prevent the spreading of the virus should the hospital have an SEE EBOLA, A20