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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 17 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Apple map error includes Whidbey Island, county to lobby for fix By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record Hat Island is getting more crowded by the second, according to Apple Inc. Along with Langley, Whidbey Island is also inaccurately listed on the tech giant’s map program for mobile devices. They are currently
listed as being on the tiny isle 1.5-mile-long by half-mile-wide isle, also known as Gedney. Privately owned, Hat is in Possession Sound between Everett and the South End. Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson confirmed Thursday that she was already planning to petition the board to draft a formal letter to Apple seeking redress of
the Langley error when she learned that Whidbey’s location is also misrepresented. “It needs to be corrected,” Price Johnson said. The larger error was pointed out by an eagled-eyed online commenter who was responding to a story published by the South Whidbey Record on Wednesday concerning
Langley’s incorrect listing. The error is on the app “Maps” which comes preloaded into Apple mobile devices, such as iPhones, iPads and the company’s laptop computers. It’s unclear how long either SEE APPLE, A7
WGH CEO will earn $279,000 plus bonus By MICHELLE BEAHM Whidbey News Group
Sue Ellen White / The Record
Kayakers rest on a Whidbey Beach. Island County will spend $175,000 this year to identify public beach accesses on Whidbey and Camano islands.
County prioritizes beach access By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record Beach access advocates have something to celebrate. Island County has earmarked $175,000 to identify the county’s many beach access points and prioritize them for maintenance and signage. The lack of county-sanctioned beach access, along with clearly marked kayak access points have been an ongoing concern for groups supporting public access to the seashore. “I think this is a good thing,” said Sue Ellen
White with Whidbey Island Sea Kayakers Thursday. “We’ve been talking to them for years and it was kind of like they turned a deaf ear to this.” Doubling the funding will allow the county to take a comprehensive look at its many beach access points, determine ownership of uplands and tidelands and prioritize them for future improvements. Beach access advocates pressed county staff at transportation-related open houses last spring on both the North and South ends of the island.
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Whidbey General Hospital’s new CEO will earn a base salary of $279,000 per year with a potential annual bonus of nearly $70,000, according to a contract to be finalized March 9. That’s about $100,000 more than the state average for lead executives for critical access hospitals, and about $60,000 more than in neighboring counties, according to state statistics. “Forbes may receive a bonus of up to 25 percent of her salary if she achieves goals mutually agreed upon by the board and CEO,” said the hospital’s board President Anne Tarrant in an emailed statement to the Whidbey News Group. “These goals have not yet been determined.” Geri Forbes, current CEO of Doctors Memorial Hospital, located in Perry, Fla., is slated to step into the job of Whidbey General CEO on April 20. The hospital’s board of directors is expected to finalize Forbes contract on March 9 after a background check is completed, Tarrant said in her email. Forbes was named as the replacement for outgoing CEO Tom Tomasino, who announced this past summer he would not seek renewal of his contract after it ended in October 2015.
“He was willing to stay on the job until October, or resign earlier if the board found a replacement sooner,” Tarrant said in her emailed statement. When the board was close to making a hiring decision, Tarrant said Tomasino submitted a letter of resignation giving a new departure date of April 30, or sooner, at the board’s discretion. Tomasino will be leaving Whidbey General before Forbes starts. Tomasino will not receive a severance payout, but he will be compensated for accrued leave that he didn’t take, Tarrant said. There is no separation agreement between Tomasino and the hospital district, Tarrant wrote. The hospital district does plans to offer Tomasino a consulting contract to assist the transition to a new CEO, Tarrant said, but no specifics have been worked out to date. Aside from earning potentially $348,750 per year, Tarrant wrote, “Forbes will also receive compensation to assist with moving expenses from Florida and to defray the cost of health insurance coverage while waiting to become eligible for health insurance through the district.” Tarrant wrote that this is compensation offered physicians reloSEE CEO, A12
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