SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, May 20, 2015 VOL. 48, NO. 20 75¢ islandssounder.com
Elementary kids given ukuleles – page 7
New ferry bound for service
Principal Page says goodbye
Staff report
Elementary Principal Kathy Page is leaving her position. “For me to say I have enjoyed my time at Orcas Island Elementary School would be a huge understatement,” said Page in a recent letter to the parents of elementary students. Page is saying goodbye to the island to attend graduate school. She looks back at her time here as full of accomplishments. Her “Beat the Bell” program reduced lateness by 40 percent. Other highlights of her time include monthly assembles and spirit days. She credits the staff with improving the school by designing curriculum maps for writing and implementing reading intervention schedules and strategies. “These efforts will go a long way increasing student achievement,” said Page, who was appointed principal of elementary and middle schoolers in 2013. Page has worked in education for more than 25 years, and 13 of those years she spent working in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. She received her bachelor of arts from Central Washington
Amy Masters photo
by CALI BAGBY Assistant editor
Veterans to be honored on Memorial Day For local events, see page three.
SEE RESIGNS, PAGE 5
SJ man cleared of dumping tires on shore by SCOTT RASMUSSEN Journal editor
A San Juan Island man accused of dumping 66 automobile tires over an embankment and onto the shoreline of a publicly owned nature preserve is off the hook. In a decision handed down March 11, San Juan County Hearings Examiner Phil Olbrechts ruled the county lacked sufficient evidence to tie 34-year-old Richard Morgan Foley to the pile of tires discarded on the waterfront of Deadman Bay a year ago in midMarch and dismissed one of two notices of violation leveled against him. Foley, who filed an appeal to contest allegations of illegal dumping, faced a bill of $4,600
for reimbursement of cleanup costs, a $1,000 fine and possible criminal prosecution if he failed to comply with “corrective actions” as spelled out in the notice. “It’s unfortunate,” county Code Enforcement Officer Christopher Laws said of the outcome of the case. “If you read the decision you get the sense the hearing examiner felt that all indications are Mr. Foley was responsible. But lacking a fingerprint on any of the tires or a witness we had to go with what we had.” Meanwhile, Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann said the waterfront preserve, a coveted picnic spot and favored by kayakers, weathered the incident without a great deal of damage.
“The main thing was having them there and having to remove all those tires,” he said. “We did worry about them getting into the marine environment or getting wedged into the mud of the tidal area.” The laws of probability and photographs of tires and their make and model, were at the center of the county’s case. Photographs were taken of tires as part of an earlier investigation into a un-permitted salvage and wrecking that Foley reportedly operated at one time at his Roche Harbor Road home, a property, which according to county records, is owned by his mother, a Montana resident.
SEE TIRES, PAGE 5
It’s brand new. It can carry 144 automobiles. And it’s poised to take not only its place as the newest boat among the ferry system fleet, but to sail as one of the primary ferries in the San Juans as well. Washington State Ferries took possession of the $126 million Samish from boat builder and contractor Portland, Oregonbased Vigor Industrial in early April. Following two months of sea trials and crew training, the Olympic Class ferry will begin service on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route Sunday, June 14, on the eve of the summer sailing season. “I’m delighted to take delivery of the Samish,” Ferries Assistant Secretary Lynne Griffith said in a recent press release. “More than 23 million passengers rely on our ferry system every year. Adding another Olympic Class vessel represents the state’s continued commitment to replace older vessels and plan for the future.” Along with more space for taller vehicles, the Samish offers an
SEE SAMISH, PAGE 5
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