RecoRd
SOUTH WHIDBEY Vol. 94, No. 53
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 • WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM • $1.00
Island Life
Cool summer recipes.
page A7
Leaders list legislative longings Ferry between Langley, Everett? By LAURA GUIDO
lguido@whidbeynewsgroup.com
Photos by Jessie Stensland / South Whidbey Record
A welder does work on a high-speed passenger ferry that Nichols Brothers is building for Kitsap Transit.
Don’t miss the boat Nichols Bros. looking for workers
By JESSIE STENSLAND
jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com
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 on South Whidbey. A visitor may not even realize Nichols Brothers Boat Builders is located on Holmes Harbor unless he or she drives down the right road in Freeland and catches a glimpse of the busy boatyard with huge cranes hovering overhead. 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 the island, and it’s not uncommon for generations of families to work in the yard.
Mental and behavioral health are at the top of Island County elected officials’ priorities for the coming year. At a Council of Governments meeting last week, mayors, port commissioners and county commissioners discussed the subjects they want state legislators to address in the upcoming session. County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson recognized the historical investment made in behavioral health spending in last year’s state budget but said there’s more that can be done to better support local govern-
SEE PRIORITIES, A3
AG discusses opioids, Trump By LAURA GUIDO
lguido@whidbeynewsgroup.com
Joe Hilton, a welding instructor for the apprenticeship program, shows the machine that combines virtual reality with reality to teach welding skills. Nichols Brothers has been sucThe boat builder’s apprenticeship program will be an important part cessful in obtaining grants to expand of filling jobs, according to Kevin its apprenticeship program to Corrigan, human resources director. include seven trades, namely marine He said apprentices earn a “living tester, marine pipe welder, shipfitter, wage” as they get on-the-job training, marine pipefitter, machinist, marine which is supplemented by off-the- painter and marine welder. The company invested in virtual clock classes. If everything works out, they became certified as jour- reality training, including a weldneymen — and earn a very nice ing apparatus that incorporates real living — in three years. SEE NICHOLS, A5
ments. She also wants to focus on the reduction of solid waste and climate change. She would like to see more investment in education about how to limit waste. “So much of what people think is being recycled is not,” Price Johnson said. Langley Mayor Tim Callison also wanted to focus on mental health and chemical dependency. He said he’d like to see more substance abuse prevention. Callison mentioned that there should be more resources to build supportive housing, which is affordable housing that also offers social services. Recent leg-
The state’s top lawyer discussed opioids and his actions against the Trump Administration during his visit with the Rotary Club of Oak Harbor last week. Bob Ferguson’s appearance Friday at the Oak Harbor Yacht Club marked his 155th Rotary meeting on his mission to visit every one in the state, he told Oak Harbor members. His office is in the midst of ongoing litigation against opioid manufacturers, which he said is something most people want to hear about. What happens to the money will depend on how the case plays out. His lawsuit against Purdue Pharma has a “good chance”
of going to trial, he said in an interview. If money is won in that case, a judge will decide where it should go. If a settlement is reached, then he will decide where it will go. He’ll make sure it goes toward treatment and prevention, he said. “I don’t want it just to go to the state general fund,” he said. “The goal is to have money invested in communities all across the state,” he later added. His office is also involved in a number of lawsuits against the current presidential administration, many of which are related to protecting the environment. In June, Ferguson chalSEE FERGUSON A5