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Fastpitch can’t catch a break See...A8
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 35 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Langley green lights Volunteers fix, first food repair more truck than 30 homes
Hearts & Hammers
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley will soon have its first permitted food truck, and the food abides. Joe Wierzbowski, a chef at Cafe Langley, received enthusiastic approval from the Langley City Council at its regular meeting Monday for the city’s first food truck license. Operating as the Big W and using references to the film “The Big Lebowski,” the former Rochester, N.Y. resident hopes to bring a modern take on classic dishes to residents and visitors. “A new twist on old favorites,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday morning after attending the council meeting. Naming his truck and signature dish after the dark comedy is fitting, given that his idea of owning a food truck and pursuing it as his full-time job started as a joke between his wife and himself. The Big W will be the first permitted food truck in Langley, though the city has had its applications available since February. Langley set up its first rules for licensing food trucks earlier this year and sent out a request for proposals. After no proposals and no applications were submitted, the city opened the process to first-come, first-served for one of two public parking spots. “I was delighted to see their proposal,” said Langley Director of Community Planning Michael Davolio. SEE TRUCK, A12
By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record
on work day
David Ott, Murphy’s business partner, said Monday that he has pieced together a basic understanding of what happened by following other climbers’ online accounts. Murphy’s “day job” is working as a senior guide for Alpine Ascents, Ott said, and primarily guides people up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania a few times a year. During his recent Everest attempt, the earthquake disrupted the ice below the climbers between Camp I and Camp II, Ott said, essentially trapping them on the mountain. An avalanche also occurred at Base Camp, causing additional obstacles and fatalities.
Island County is tackling the complex subject of transitioning a rural commercial district into a city — namely Freeland. Currently categorized as a Non Municipal Urban Growth Area, or NMUGA, some Freeland residents have long hoped to incorporate but their efforts have faced obstacles due to a lack of resources and infrastructure. Many have blamed the county for not facilitating the process. “I’d like to compliment the planning department but I certainly can’t do that yet,” said Freeland property owner Al Peyser at a public hearing last month on the Comprehensive Plan update due in 2016. “I have worked on committees for 20 years trying to plan things for Freeland and I can say that every single hour I put in was a total waste of time. We have planned over and over, and Freeland doesn’t have a single sidewalk. Freeland is simply an orphan. It doesn’t have any speech, it doesn’t have comments. It’s ignored.” Peyser also said the county’s planning department has been “cold” to Freeland, Clinton and Bayview, commercial areas that he says “seem to be left out of this discussion.” “It seems very complex, but Freeland is very active I would like to see a lot more friendliness in this whole operation,” Peyser said. As one of the first steps in a periodic update of the Comprehensive Plan, the county approved an updated
SEE EARTHQUAKE, A28
SEE FREELAND, A28
By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record The garden is weeded, the grass cut, the rotten deck boards replaced, the roof is blessedly free of moss and Langley resident Laura Fitzgerald couldn’t be happier. Juggling several jobs and struggling to take care of a loved one with health problems, the chores piled up over the past year and became a bit overwhelming. Seeing it all done is a huge sigh of relief, she said. “I love it, I’m happy, it’s like a dream come true,” Fitzgerald said. She was one of 32 property owners across South Whidbey who got some needed assistance Saturday during the 22nd annual Hearts & Hammers work day. More than 400 volunteers turned out for event, accomplishing an impressive array of light to heavy projects. “Everything from repairing floors, installing cabinets, rebuilding decks and steps, gardening and clean-up, new and repaired roofs and lots and lots of trash hauling,” said Lorinda Kay, a long-time member of the Hearts & Hammer’s board.
Freeland continues fight for growth in Comp Plan
Justin Burnett / The Record
Clinton residents Don Johnston and Cindy Weeks, background, were two of over 400 volunteers who turned out for Hearts & Hammers 2015 work day. “Volunteers also worked at the recycling center hosted at Island Asphalt, in the kitchen preparing breakfast and dinner and at Woodchucks cutting, splitting, and delivering wood.”
The Woodchucks crews delivered approximately 40 truck loads of wood SEE HAMMERS, A17
Whidbey man survives Nepal earthquake By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record A Whidbey vintner got more than he bargained for when he survived the recent earthquake in Nepal during a Mount Everest ascent. Eric Murphy, co-owner of Ott and Murphy Wines in Langley, was climbing Everest when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal around noon April 25, causing more than 150 people to be airlifted off the mountain. While Murphy has been largely unreachable, even to family and friends, someone posted on the Ott and Murphy Facebook page that day that he is “alright (sic) after the earthquake in Nepal. His team is at Camp I.”