Latest Headlines from Island County

Three current Island County elected officials and former Island County Superior Court Judge Vickie Churchill were fined by the Public Disclosure Commission last week for failing to file F-1 reports that cover personal financial information. The Island County officials are Whidbey Island Hospital Commissioner Nancy Fey, Oak Harbor Councilmember Erica...

Island County has received $16.8 million of taxpayer money from the Federal Government through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 which provided counties and municipalities across the nation with large amounts of cash and relatively permissive rules governing the use of the funds. The Island County Commissioners have decided...

Whidbey Island will soon receive millions of dollars of American Rescue Plan funding. Oak Harbor was allotted $6,578,122. Coupeville was allotted $550,480 and Langley was allotted $318,229. Island County will get $16,500,000. Half the money will be received in 2021 and the other half in 2022. The respective city councils...

Island County Commissioners voted to approve the Port of Coupeville’s application for funding through the State’s Rural County Economic Development Fund. This year, the commissioners decided to focus on funding projects related to broadband. Commissioner Melanie Bacon said this is a “huge priority” for the board. See the story by...

Friday, May 22 was the final day of candidate filing week for Island County’s general election this coming November. The Coupeville School Board saw some shuffling of candidates as Kathleen Anderson, the current board president, withdrew her name. Jessie Stensland has the story with more details. For a complete listing...

Karina Andrew reports that Public Health Director Keith Higman announced the Island County Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB) will begin meeting again in June after a six-month hiatus. In January, the CHAB unilaterally decided to take this hiatus citing staffing difficulties and the unavailability of some board members as primary...

Douglas “Bernie” Upchurch has been appointed by the Island County Commissioners to serve out the term of Mary Engle, who resigned as assessor earlier this year to become the planning director for Island County. Following state law, the Island County Republican Central Committee presented the commissioners with the names of...

Running Start is a program that allows up to 250 high school juniors and seniors in Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties to enroll in Skagit Valley College to earn college credits or even associate degrees. The program has been available for decades but under a new pilot program, is...

Candidates who are running for election to a long list of Island County positions must file during the week of May 17 – 21. The Election in November is in an off year for federal and state races, but many positions in county, city and special districts will be on...

Jessie Stensland writes in the Whidbey News-Times about a Washington State Supreme Court ruling overturning the state’s felony drug possession law as unconstitutional. The ruling vacates the convictions of inmates who were found guilty of this crime, and those who were in custody on such charges are being released. Sheriff...