News-Times Whidbey
Winter sports preview
A9
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 97 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Judge won’t step down in case against hospital’s head nurse By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Island County District Court Judge Bill Hawkins refused to recuse himself from a criminal case involving his wife’s boss, even though the prosecutor asked him to
voluntarily step down. Hawkins explained that the prosecutor’s motion contained many factual errors about his wife’s employment. “I think a lot of this is much ado about nothing,” SEE GIPSON, A16
Photo by Jessie Stensland/Whidbey News-Times
Linda Gipson, a hospital administrator, appears in court Monday. Prosecutor Greg Banks watches from the gallery.
Robbery suspect doesn’t get far By JESSIE STENSLAND
Recount seals Hannold place on commission
Staff reporter
STUDENTS FILL BUSES WITH FOOD
By JANIS REID Staff reporter
North Whidbey resident and Republican Rick Hannold will take office later this week as Island County’s District 3 commissioner. The unofficial results, available Monday, were scheduled to be certified by the Election’s Board Tuesday afternoon, after press HANNOLD time. Hannold, who ran a grassroots campaign, is scheduled to be sworn in 2 p.m. Friday. SEE RECOUNT, A5
2 percent pay raise draws ire of elected reps By JANIS REID Staff reporter
Island County commissioners clashed with other elected officials who described the pay raises they received Monday as “a slap in the face.” Commissioners approved a 2 percent raise for elected officials starting SEE RAISES, A5
Photo by Michelle Beahm/Whidbey News-Times
Katie Swanson and Travis Westman, fourth-graders from Oak Harbor Elementary, carry donated food to a bus for the school district’s November food drive. Fill the Bus food drive donations were collected from the elementary and middle schools Tuesday, Nov. 25, with the goal of filling two buses. The total number of donated items was 17,084, all of which were delivered to the North Whidbey Help House. A third bus was dispatched to collect items from Olympic View Elementary, as the other buses were already completely full.
Oak Harbor police caught a suspected bank robber who wasn’t in a hurry to get away from the scene of the crime Friday. Officers arrested Joshua P. Freeman, a 32-year-old Oak Harbor resident, as he was allegedly rifling through a backpack full of stolen money across the highway from the Whidbey Island Bank, according to police reports. A judge found probable cause to hold Freeman on suspicion of firstdegree robbery that same day. His bail was set at $100,000. An employee at Whidbey Island Bank on Bayshore Drive called 911 at 10:30 a.m. to report that a masked man had walked into the bank with a bag and demanded money. The robber, later identified as Freeman, according to police, walked quickly in with a mask on and told two tellers to give him 100s, 50s and 20s; he SEE ROBBERY, A5
Pharmacy manager aims to enter medical marijuana biz By JUSTIN BURNETT Whidbey News Group
Adam Lind, a longtime front-end retail manager at a well-known Whidbey pharmacy, may be entering the medical marijuana business. Lind confirmed this week that he hopes to open a medicinal dispensary, or access point,
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on Scott Street in Freeland. While the details are still being hammered out, Lind said he and an unnamed business partner are extremely close to a deal and could open a store in as soon as two weeks. “We’re looking at a Dec. 15 opening,” Lind said.
“I’m 99 percent there,” he added. Lind declined to delve into specifics, saying he wanted to wait until the new store is a certainty. If the store becomes a reality, he said, it won’t be related to the family business. SEE VENTURE, A16
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