Record South Whidbey
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Falcons soar closer to state See...A8
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 36 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Gill, Callison to vie for Langley mayor By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
The 2015 election races are starting to take shape days ahead of the official Island County filing week, May 11-15. Two men plan to seek votes to become the next mayor of Langley, and a possible
third challenger is undecided. Thomas Gill, a Langley city councilman, and Tim Callison, a Langley resident, both confirmed they will seek the seat in the November general election. Mayor Fred McCarthy announced in April that he would not run for re-election after filling out a term vacated by Larry
Kwarsick, who resigned amid scandal in January 2013. Callison applied to be appointed to a vacated city council position previously held by Margot Jerome. He and wife Robin Black both applied for the position before the council ultimately voted in Black. “I won’t equivocate, I’m running for
mayor,” Callison said in a phone interview Thursday. “Barring any unforeseen thing I can’t think of, I’m going to run,” he added. There was a third challenger in that SEE ELECTION, A24
State to close SW state park campgrounds
nursing contract negotiations with the Washington State Nursing Association. It also comes on the heels of a divisive criminal case against Linda Gipson, the hospital’s chief nursing officer. In the complaint, acquired from PERC by The Record, the nurses’ association claims the hospital failed to produce documents it
The campgrounds at South Whidbey State Park will be closed this year for safety reasons, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission announced Friday. The action addresses concerns posed by failing and diseased oldgrowth trees in the campground portion of the 347-acre park, according to a new release. “We are very sorry for any inconvenience to our customers who have camping reservations at the park, but we are concerned about their safety,” said Don Hoch, state parks director. “Being out in old forests always carries a degree of risk for outdoor users, but camping means people are spending extended periods under the trees, which potentially exposes them to greater danger. Our first priority is to keep our visitors safe.” The problem was discovered as park staff began preparing for the summer season. They came across several large Douglas fir trees in the campground that had snapped and fallen across campsites, the news release said. A tree assessment by a state forest pathologist found “advanced levels of heart rot in the stems of large old-growth trees.” “Many of the remaining old trees in the campground also were found to exhibit characteristics, suggesting that they also are infected with advanced levels of heart rot, a condition that can
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Kate Daniel / The Record
South Whidbey School District staff, students and parents gathered at Castle Park Wednesday afternoon for a rally in protest of the state’s lack of funding for public education.
Teachers, students protest Crowd cries for smaller classes, halt to ‘ridiculous’ testing
By KATE DANIEL South Whidbey Record South Whidbey School District educators protested the state’s lack of funding for public schools with a walk-out on Wednesday.
Teachers, parents, students, administrators, retired educators and one school board director, Rocco Gianni, rallied at 1 p.m. at Castle Park before heading to the corners of Maxwelton to picket. Vice President of Washington Education
Association (WEA) Steven Miller and a second WEA Fourth Corner representative were also present at the rally. SEE PROTEST, A14
Hospital withheld information, nurses say By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record A complaint filed by the state nurses’ association last month includes a claim that Whidbey General Hospital withheld requested information several times in recent months. The action filed with the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission, or PERC, comes during the hospital’s regular three-year