Local
Competitors on the field, champions in the class PAGE 8
Island Scene
Shop to skies; local pilots join forces to build a plane PAGE 9
Guest Column
Exponential increase in shipping creates big risks; what we’re doing about it, and how you can help PAGE 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 45
Sexual assault, it can happen here
Officials warn about danger of drugs, date rape By Colleen Smith Armstrong Islands’ Sounder editor/publisher
Friday Harbor Film Festival
Three days, 33 films, and that’s just the beginning. Buckle in and enjoy the ride, the second annual local film festival will entertain, enlighten, and inspire film-goers until the end. Stories from the Pacific come to life through the lens Nov. 7-9.
Film Fest: The Sequel 2nd annual FH Film Fest to pay tribute to island arts’ champion By Emily Greenberg Journal Reporter
Just over 100 miles away from San Juan Island, trout and salmon are returning to the Elwha River in the wake of demolition of two dams. For nearly one hundred years, those two dams blocked salmon and trout from venturing back to their primordial spawning waters. Closer to home in Friday Harbor, Lynn Danaher and Karen Palmer are zipping around town, testing equipment and putting together final preparations for the second annual Friday Harbor Film Festival, Nov. 7-9, the aim of which is to inspire change by creating awareness. “The film festival is a non-confrontational way to inform people about things they need to consider,” Danaher said. “The hope is that people chose something to be engaged in.” One of the festival’s showcase films is “Return of
the River,” a documentary chronicling the many forces that lead to the first-ever dismantling of dams in the U.S. With the Salish Sea’s Chinook salmon in decline, and orcas doing the same, the film offers a ray of hope, that restoration efforts do succeed. Stitched carefully into the FHFF hats and vests Contributed photo is a school of salmon Andrew V. McLaglen and an Orca whale, suggesting that the two are intertwined. “Fragile Waters,” a film set to premiere at the film festival, tells the tale of the individuals and organizations at work to change the current fate of salmon and orcas in the Salish Sea. In the forum Danaher and Palmer have created, issues are brought to light through the lens. The effects of mental illness and addiction, survival See SEQUEL, Page 4
Law enforcement and victim support groups are aware of a series of alleged date rapes in the San Juans. While the cases are currently at a stand still because of victims’ reluctance to testify, the need to educate the public has become apparent. “As an agency, prevention is a big piece of what we do,” said Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services of the San Juans Director Kim Bryan. “We are active with prevention programs in the schools. And we’re realizing there is a whole population we need to educate: adults. A lot of women don’t know the safe party rules.” Undersheriff Bruce Distler says the victims on Orcas and Lopez were possibly slipped drugs in their drinks prior to the sexual assault. Nationally, 55 percent of date rape cases for women and 75 percent for men involve alcohol or drugs. The most commonly used “date rape drugs” are Rohypnol (known as a roofie) and GHB, which are central nervous system depressants and are seven to 10 times more potent than Valium. Ketamine, used as a large animal anesthetic, is also easy to slip into beverages. “All of these come in powder or liquid form and can be laced in just about anything – and the drugs are entirely clear,” Distler said. “They all have the same general action: it takes away your ability to remember and makes you drunk.” Predators groom their victims to create a sense of trust and use drugs that completely inca-
Winner of six 1st place awards in Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2014 BNC, 17 in all
pacitate them. Men and women who have been given these drugs say they felt paralyzed and had blurred vision and memory loss. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, approximately two thirds of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim and one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. “Date rapes are happening with people that these women know,” Bryan said. “They are excited about going out on a date or know the man through an acquaintance. Women often don’t report the rape because they feel it is their fault for drinking. If you cannot give consent, it is rape. That is the See HERE, Page 3
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date election results are online, at www.sanjuanjournal. com