Latest Headlines from Island County

There will be a three-day special filing period on August 9-11 to allow candidates to sign up to run for 10 Island County offices that currently have no candidates. For a listing of the positions, see the Island County Auditor elections website. For more details, see the story by Kira...

Island County Commissioners are considering many different ideas on how to spend the $16.5 million of taxpayer dollars given to the County thru the federal governments American Rescue Plan Act. Commissioner Jill Johnson suggested giving $9 to $10 million to Habitat for Humanity for purchasing property and putting in infrastructure...

Based on advice from Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks, the Island County Commissioners have rescinded a resolution that would have provided Island County essential employees bonuses for their “incredible work” during the Covid pandemic. The problem is that Washington state law and the state constitution does not allow for retroactive...

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...