About 50 people — EMTs, fire fighters, paramedics, and residents — attended a solemn but brief commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, today at the base of Spring Street.
A 15-year-old Lopez Island boy accused of causing a high-speed collision in which a Canadian man was killed while jogging on Lopez Sound Road — and two others were seriously injured — in late July, pleaded innocent today to six separate criminal offenses, including vehicular homicide. The boy was released on a $10,000 bail/bond pending trial and under court orders to attend school, have law-abiding behavior, not get behind the wheel of any motorized vehicle, and to abide by daily curfew of 4 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department has released a photo of one of the suspects in the Sept. 7 burglary of Island Market in Eastsound. Undersheriff Jon Zerby said anyone with information about this suspect should call the Sheriff’s Department at 378-4151. Zerby said an enhanced photograph will be distributed as soon as it is available. Colleen Smith Armstrong reports on IslandsSounder.com that several business and ATM machines have been burglarized on Orcas Island since Sept. 1. “We feel the recent break-ins are all connected,” Sheriff Bill Cumming said. “Each and every incident stands by itself, and we have to connect them all. But there are similarities that suggest these may be the work of the same person or persons.”
When two of three members of the former County Commission have been female, and four of five Friday Harbor Town Council members have been female, gender would seem to be irrelevant in local politics. But there’s one more glass ceiling to shatter: In the Town of Friday Harbor’s 100 years, 24 individuals have served as mayor — all of them men. Come November, Carrie Lacher hopes to be elected the town’s first female mayor.
To hear local authorities tell it, John Weida is lucky to be alive. The 64-year-old Marysville man escaped with minor injuries when an explosion blew out the cabin windows and cracked the hull of his 25-foot Bayliner during an apparent fueling mishap early Wednesday at the Roche Harbor Marina. Moored alongside the fuel dock, Weida had just finished fueling the Bayliner with gasoline when, as he switched on the ignition, the boat was pummeled by a powerful blast that split open its stern, shattered the windows in the forward cabin and left deep cracks running up and down its fiberglass hull. The blast could be heard throughout the resort and surrounding areas, according to Brian Gettman, a marina employee.
The San Juan Island Community Foundation has provided funding for a limited number of tickets for Back to the Farm, the San Juan Historical Museum’s barn dance, dinner and fund-raiser. The event is Sept. 19, 3:30-8:30 p.m., on the museum grounds at 405 Price St., next to St. Francis Church. “This is a family event and times are tough for many families,” Museum President Mary Jean Cahail said. “We are grateful for the contribution of the community foundation, which will make it easier for more parents and their children to attend.”
This Friday is the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. To commemorate the event and honor all who lost their lives that day, there will be a simple remembrance ceremony at the base of Spring Street near Memorial Park.
Charles Chevalier is still at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, recovering from near drowning when his purse seiner sank off the southwest side of San Juan Island Aug. 28. “Yesterday, Charlie was able to get up and walk around a little, but he’s still very weak,” crew member Ken Edwards told the La Conner Weekly News today. “He’s back on the ventilator to give his lungs a rest.”
A Lopez Island teen will be arraigned Thursday in Superior Court on charges related to the death of a jogger struck by the teen’s car on Lopez Sound Road July 26. Attorney Mark Kaiman of Lustick Law Firm in Bellingham said the boy will plead “not guilty.” He said his client is “remorseful.”
With the outcome in doubt and the Island Cup trophy still up for grabs, the Friday Harbor Wolverines and the Orcas Vikings took to the field to slug it out in overtime with the score knotted at 14-14, Saturday at Dahl Field on Orcas Island. Trailing by seven points almost the entire game, Orcas put another seven points on the board as sophomore quarterback Robby Padbury and senior wide-out Tyler Diepenbrock hooked up on a perfectly-placed touchdown pass in the back-corner of the end zone with 4:18 left in regulation.
The Friday Harbor Wolverines won the Island Cup 21-14 in overtime today, at Orcas. Running back Roy Taylor scored the winning touchdown on a pitch and sweep. The Wolverines then held the Orcas Vikings at bay to end the game.
A memorial will be held in Islands Convalescent Center in Friday Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2-4 p.m.; and in Seattle at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2-6 p.m.
An estimated 2,000 Washington State University students have reported having flu-like symptoms, prompting concerns that the novel H1N1, or swine flu, virus may affect students in schools. No WSU student required hospitalization, news sources reported. Various reports differed on how many of the flu cases were swine flu. The San Juan County Health and Community Services Department warns that now that school has resumed, odds are good that if you have a school-age son or daughter, you may receive a call that you need to pick them up because they have a fever of more than 100F, a sore throat, headache and body aches.
