Latest Curated Headlines from Oak Harbor and North Whidbey

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: WhidbeyHealth’s board and HealthTech are clashing over governance, CEO authority, contract costs, and revenue-cycle performance, with medical staff urging the board to dissolve the management contract early.

CITY OF OAK HARBOR: Oak Harbor’s Feb. 24, 2026 council workshop covered monthly departmental updates, 2025 Comprehensive Plan/EIS timeline and policy changes, plus pedestrian safety, bike/micromobility lanes, and crosswalk improvement strategy.

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: Oak Harbor’s Salary Commission gave Mayor Wright and city council members a 2.5% cost-of-living raise, bringing the mayor’s annual compensation to $138,375.​

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: Mayor Wright joined 130+ cities in opposing the governor’s plan to sweep millions from the Public Works Assistance Account, a key source of local infrastructure funding.​

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: Oak Harbor School District is reviewing elementary school attendance boundaries due to enrollment declines and reduced state funding, with changes possible for the 2027–28 school year.

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: WhidbeyHealth board unanimously appointed Coupeville attorney Katherine Nelson to one of two vacant seats, created by recent board member resignations following a failed CEO firing.

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: Oak Harbor approved a March–July pilot hiring a local falconer to fly Harris’s hawks over downtown as a humane way to curb nuisance gulls and related mess and damage.

WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES: WhidbeyHealth commissioners named four finalists to fill a vacant board seat after two members resigned in a dispute over firing CEO Nathan Staggs, with an appointment expected after Monday interviews.

BRYAN STUCKY: Last year I heard an awful lot of complaints about the smell/seagull poop at the downtown business close to the water during the nesting period.

CITY OF OAK HARBOR: Council heard school and public health presentations, approved a $35,000 falconry pilot to deter nuisance birds downtown, and received a 2.5% COLA report for elected officials during the Feb. 17th council meeting.