News-Times Whidbey
A&C Fest’s 50th year a real crowd-pleaser A2
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 65 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Rep. Larsen joins call for more public input on EIS
AN EVENT-FULL WEEKEND
By JANIS REID Staff reporter
Congressman Rick Larsen, Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard and Commissioner Helen Price Johnson released a statement Monday asking the Navy to gather additional public input on the basing of EA-18G Growlers. The Navy announced last month that they are reconsidering the number of Growlers LARSEN that would be based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, which could affect the Environmental Impact SEE EIS LETTER, A10 Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times
Firefighters from N. Whidbey help fight massive fires By MICHELLE BEAHM Staff reporter
Seven North Whidbey firefighters are having a busier summer than usual. Part of a regional strike team that fights wildfires, the group has been sent out five times already, and the wildfire season isn’t over yet. Busy season can last well into September, said Ryan McCarthy, a member of this strike team since 2004. And he doesn’t expect to spend a lot of time at home for the next few weeks. “This is an abnormal year,” McCarthy said. SEE FIREFIGHTERS, A10
A young festival-goer takes part in a parachute game for children during Sunday’s Oak Harbor Pigfest. The seventh annual event, formerly known as the Fidalgo Avenue Block Party, drew about 8,000 people in its first year taking place on Pioneer Way.
OH Pigfest doubles previous attendance By RON NEWBERRY Staff reporter
As the head judge officiating a sanctioned barbecue competition for the first time in Oak Harbor Sunday, Mike Marcum said he was impressed by what he saw around him. “I’ve never seen anything like it out of all the events I’ve been to,” Marcum said. The Oak Harbor Pigfest drew more people and served more food than any of the previous community block parties.
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Scott Fraser, the event’s founder, estimates that at least 8,000 people attended Pigfest, about double the number the number of attendees in 2013. The event was held for the first time in a more spacious, visible location on Pioneer Way after six years on Fidalgo Avenue. A free pork meal was served to about 6,000 people — 2,500 more than in 2013 — and Fraser estimates that at least 2,000 more people attended, but didn’t wait in the SEE PIGFEST, A13
Hydros race to help residents in Pateros By JANIS REID Staff reporter
T
his weekend’s revival of the Oak Harbor hydro races is for a good cause. During the two-day racing event, slated for noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Oak Harbor Marina, donations will be accepted to benefit Pateros residents who lost their homes in devastating fires last month. Pateros, with a population of less than 700, is a regular stop for the hydro races. In light of the tragedy there, the hydro SEE HYDROS, A13
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