SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, December 31, 2014 VOL. 47, NO. 52 75¢ islandssounder.com
PEOPLE | Find out what your island neighbors have been up to [2] NEWS | State supreme court rules on three Orcas cases [6] FOOD | Recipes perfect for the socializing season [7] GRATITUDE | Kiwanis Club gives thanks [16]
Contributed photos
Far left: A newspaper found with the body of Mehmet Tokgozoglu, whose death still remains a mystery. Left: New Sheriff Ron Krebs won in a landslide victory. Below: Some islanders have complained of increased Navy jet training noise from the Whidbey base.
A Year in Review At the end of the year, the Islands’ Sounder takes a look at the biggest headlines of the past 12 months. We choose the top 10 from our most read online stories as well as events we feel impacted our communities.
was able to locate Tokgozoglu’s green Camry or determine his whereabouts for the last year. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions,” said County Coroner Randy Gaylord.
found in Moran
Deputy Ron Krebs, a first-time candidate for public office, ousted incumbent Rob Nou in a race for San Juan County sheriff in November. Krebs, an eight-year veteran of the force and former deputy guild president, collected 3,372 votes of 5211 ballots tallied on election night, earning 64.71 percent of the Nov. 4 early election returns. For first-term incumbent Rob Nou, the election night results signal a decided turnaround from the same race four years ago. He drew 66 percent of the vote in 2010 to become the county’s first new sheriff in more than two decades,
#1 Human remains #2 New sheriff In September a fisherman found decomposed human remains in a collapsed tent located off-trail in a secluded area of Moran State Park near the bridge over the Cascade Lake lagoon on Sept. 6. Although the body was severely decomposed and partially skeletonized, one hand was in good enough condition to pull fingerprints to identify the man as Mehmet Tokgozoglu, a 51-year-old design engineer born in Kansas. Police and the coroner were unable to find a cause of death. To make the case even more mysterious: no one
Four years later, Krebs made leadership and communication, or the lack of it, the centerpiece of his campaign. He vowed to mend and to restore lines of communication within the department and with other agencies that regularly deal with the sheriff ’s office. He pledged to create a stronger bond between the department and the public it serves as well.
#3 Reservations for
the ferry a reality
After years of poking, prodding and planning, Washington State Ferries unveiled its much-anticipated reservation system that promises to revolutionize ferry travel in the San Juans, for better or for worse, far into the future. Starting Dec. 2 islanders have had the option to reserve a spot in the ferry line on all westbound sailings leaving Anacortes starting
Jan. 5, 2015. Eastbound service is available from Friday Harbor and Orcas. WSF received $5.8 million from the state legislature in early 2010 to implement a reservation system, and it remains a key goal in the agency’s long-range plan. Ferry officials say that reservations will make traveling easier. Islanders skeptical of the new system say that it will hurt their ability to get off-island with short notice to run errands, that reservations should only be used on a seasonal basis and that islanders are being forced to accept the new system. Have you made your reservation yet?
#4 Nunez gets a one-year reprieve
After much community support and letters from Congress to the Secretary of Homeland
SEE REVIEW, PAGE 3
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