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Times
Patriotic poster: Display the flag ... A8-9
Vol. 127, No. 53
WHIDBEY
ews
Saturday, July 3, 2019
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Summer refreshers
Recipes to cool, satisfy ... A11
One killed, five injured in crash By JESSIE STENSLAND
jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com
An Oak Harbor man is dead, five people were injured and a woman is in jail following a Saturday afternoon collision on North Whidbey, according to the Washington State Patrol. The State Patrol reports that Oak Harbor
resident Cindy L. Wilson, 57, was driving a 2009 Jeep Wrangler SUV west on Frostad Road and failed to yield at the stop sign at the intersection with the highway. Wilson’s Jeep collided with a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV driven by Reed Hall, 53, of Oak Harbor, that was headed south on the highway.
Steven M. Parson, 50, of Oak Harbor was a back-seat passenger in Wilson’s Jeep Wrangler and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a State Patrol spokesperson. Wilson was injured and transported to Island Hospital in Anacortes. She was SEE CRASH, A2
Retiring teacher earns top honor
Nichols Bros. looking for more workers
By JESSIE STENSLAND
jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com
By LAURA GUIDO
L
lguido@whidbeynewsgroup.com
ynn Goebel has been an educator for more than three decades, but that doesn’t mean she’s ever stopped being a student. “She’s truly a lifelong learner,” said Superintendent Lance Gibbon. “I think that’s what makes her such a great teacher.” Goebel retired in June after 18 years teaching in the Oak
Photo by Jessie Stensland / Whidbey News-Times
A welder does work on a high-speed passenger ferry that Nichols Brothers is building for Kitsap Transit.
Oak Harbor Public Schools recently named Lynn Goebel Teacher of the Year. Harbor School District, and before the final bell rang on her last day, the district awarded her Teacher of the Year. “There are so many incred-
ible teachers,” Goebel said. “You’re just like, ‘How did this happen?’” She has spent the last six years as a Title 1 learning
Photo by Laura Guido/Whidbey News-Times
assistance program teacher at Broadview Elementary School. In the federal Title 1 program, she focused on helping kinder-
The largest civilian employer on Whidbey Island builds and fixes giant vessels of steel or aluminum, but the company somehow manages to keep a relatively low profile. Yet officials at the boat-building company are hoping to garner more attention, especially from local job seekers, as a rising tide of work is about to converge on the boatyard. The company currently has about 220 employees and an additional 10 people work there through a labor contractor. Officials are planning on hiring as many as 80 more people as projects gear up. The company has contracts that will keep it busy through 2021. About 85 percent of the company’s employees live on island, and it’s not uncommon
SEE AWARD, A2
SEE HIRING, A2
County to disperse human biosolids on its own property By JESSIE STENSLAND
jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com
For decades, Island County has been treating the watery brown stuff that’s pumped out of thousands of septic systems in incorporated areas and then partnering with farmers to spray it onto fields.
But the stigma attached to fertilizing with human-made biosolids has caused the county to look at other options for disposal. One option is for the county to use its own property. As a result, the county is in the process of purchasing a field on • • • • • • • • • •
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Zylstra Road where biosolids can be spread, according to county officials. In addition, officials are hoping to work with a farmer who will accept the rest of the treated material. Class B biosolids contain levels of human pathogens that
have been reduced to 95-99 percent. Plants with edible parts that do not make contact with the soil when harvested, such as wheat, barley, and alfalfa, can be harvested 30 days after the last biosolids application, according to the state. A Central Whidbey farmer
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had been working with the county but decided a couple of years ago that the negative attitude people have about biosolids could hurt business. As a result, the county trucked the biosolids to a facility in Whatcom County, which was SEE BIOSOLIDS A3
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