Sam Fletcher

Dec 31, 2024 | southwhidbeyrecord.com | Sam Fletcher

The revelation that it may take $1.35 billion to fund U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s barred owl management plan over 30 years has brought Animal Wellness Action to call upon President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency to nix the program. On Whidbey, wildlife experts don’t agree on the controversial strategy.

Dec 31, 2024 | whidbeynewstimes.com | Sam Fletcher

Electronic Attack Squadron 133, the Wizards, returned home to Whidbey from a five-month deployment to the Middle East and Eastern Pacific earlier this month after achieving some first-ever accomplishments for the squadron and the Navy. The Wizards were the first to deploy with the ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer, a Mid-Band frequency interrupter comprising of two pods per shipset.

Dec 17, 2024 | whidbeynewstimes.com | Sam Fletcher

The first of the Sounders, or North Puget Sound gray whales, has arrived off Whidbey’s shores about three months earlier than the rest of the group. Yet for the Sounder who made it, it’s not early at all. Little Patch, identified as CRC-53, has returned to Puget Sound months before the rest for the fifth season in a row for reasons whale scientists aren’t completely sure about.

Dec 6, 2024 | whidbeynewstimes.com | Sam Fletcher

Before Dza Kilung Rinpoche, head of Kilung Monastery in the Dzachuka region of Kham, Tibet, founded the Kilung Foundation in Clinton, he grew up in green highland valleys at an altitude of 15,000 feet. He moved pasture to pasture, helping his family tend to yaks and sheep, sleeping in a tent made of yak hair. He traveled and communicated by horseback.

Nov 1, 2024 | whidbeynewstimes.com | Sam Fletcher

Oak Harbor’s Smith Park may soon be on the local historic register. As discussed by the Oak Harbor Historic Preservation Commission, which assembled in January, the decision will come to a vote next month. The park made it onto the Washington Heritage Register last year which, according to Garry Oak Society President Laura Renninger, is extraordinary. Only three other parks in the state have made it onto the list: Douglas Park in Grand Coulee, Denny Park in Seattle and Pioneer Park in Ferndale.