Record
INSIDE
South Whidbey
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015 | Vol. 90, No. 48 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
She followed a holy man, exposing pains and finding peace...A10
Negligence a role in inmate’s death, investigation concludes By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record “Catastrophic systemic failures” at the Island County Jail led to a 25-year-old man’s death from dehydration April 8, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said. An exhaustive investigation by Detective Ed Wallace offers an unblinking look at how negligence and errors by both corrections deputies and jail administration contributed
to Keaton Farris’ tragic death. The report was released Thursday. Two corrections deputies who falsified logs were placed on administrative leave and have since resigned. Lt. Pam McCarthy was placed on paid administrative leave pending a disciplinary review. Chief De Dennis, the jail administrator, was suspended for 30 days without pay and his continued employment is uncertain, Brown said.
Grief, anger, disbelief Farris’ father, Coupeville postman Fred Farris, said he is struggling to understand how this could have happened. He is filled with grief, anger and disbelief. “It’s not OK,” he said. “What happened is unconscionable.” Fred Farris and his family entrusted the jail employees to care for his son. He is agonizing over his decision not to bail out his son; people
convinced him that the young man would be safer in jail since he was dealing with a mentalhealth issue. The family has organized a peaceful protest to be held on Father’s Day — this Sunday — as a way of sending a message to the jail and sheriff’s office. The goal, Fred Farris said, is to ensure SEE INMATE, A20
Ferry stop favorite
Shirley’s Kitchen claimed by fire
By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record Shirley’s Kitchen, a longtime food stand located next to the Clinton Ferry Terminal, was destroyed by an unexplained fire late Thursday. Authorities confirmed the business was empty at the time, and that no one was injured. The business was uninsured, however, and the building and all of its contents were a total loss. “Nothing, it’s all gone,” said owner Shirley Wilson. “30 years… .” Speaking to The Record in front of the shell of her business,
Wilson struggled to keep from breaking down. It’s a devastating financial loss, as winter is typically slow and she was just readying for the busy summer season. She was expecting this Sunday, Father’s Day, to be her best day of the year and had just purchased $1,200 of supplies — $500 alone in ice cream — this week. Instead, she spent Friday morning loading up the charred remains of her livelihood on a trailer to take to the county dump. Wilson is unsure whether she’ll be able to reopen. “I don’t know, I have no idea,” she said. “There’s no money to do anything at this point.”
Justin Burnett / The Record
South Whidbey Fire/EMS firefighters work to extinguish a fire that claim Shirley’s Kitchen in Clinton. The blaze began about 8 p.m. after the place was locked up for the evening. The blaze appears to have started in the back of the building and was reported by multiple sources, according to South
Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Jon Beck. Two engines and 14 firefighters responded to the blaze. Grease buildup in a roof kitchen vent proved a bit stubborn, but the
whole thing was over in about 15 minutes, he said. A cause was undetermined, due to the extent of the damage SEE SHIRLEY’S, A12
Clinton dog kills neighbor’s pet, leads to community meeting By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record A Clinton woman is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge following a grizzly pit bull attack last weekend that left a neighbor’s dog dead and a community in uproar. Gina Cooley is scheduled for arraignment in Island
County District Court on Wednesday, June 24 in Oak Harbor. She was cited with one count of failing to abide by the county’s leash law, and faces up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine or both, according to Carol Barnes, Island County’s animal control officer. “That would be the maximum penalty,” Barnes told
The Record, in a Thursday interview. “It’s our goal to prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law,” she added. Also, the animal was predetermined a “dangerous dog,” a designation outlined in state law that can be assigned for a variety of offenses, one of which is killing another domestic animal. The desig-
nation carries several conditions, such as a requirement to be muzzled, the posting of warning signs and insurance to name a few, but it does not mandate euthanasia. However, Cooley voluntarily had the animal destroyed this week. Barnes confirmed the death Friday morning. In an interview with The Record that same morning,
Cooley expressed her “sincerest apologies” to the family whose dog was killed, saying she was “devastated” over the pain her animal, Bubby, inflicted. She said she loved her dog as well, and despite community pressure, it took time to admit he’d become a danger. “When you’re really emotional, it’s hard to see what
the right thing to do is,” she said. “… I’m very sorry about what happened, and am just trying to move forward at this point.” The action came just days after Diane Chin, the owner of the dog that was killed by the pit bull, and a host of SEE DOG, A12