Washington State Ferries is considering changes to the way ferries are loaded and unloaded, and the modifications may mean drivers could face a set “cut-off” time for getting aboard a departing vessel.
Say goodbye to squeezing aboard at the last minute.
The recommendation is one of three dozen for improving the state’s ferry system made by a panel of experts from across the country. The suggestions were made at the close of a six-month examination of Washington State Ferries ordered last March by Gov. Christine Gregoire.

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Opponents of a controversial subdivision are pressing the Langley City Council to move forward with its rejection of the project, despite the recent threat of a lawsuit over the housing development.

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City officials need to do a better job of spelling out the priorities of city hall in these cash-strapped times, Langley residents told the city council at its first hearing on the 2011 budget.

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The Langley City Council’s rejection of a new 20-home subdivision, and the council’s recent second-guessing on a new park-and-ride lot that was first approved four years ago, has rekindled criticism that Langley’s “no-growth” attitude is devastating the Village by the Sea.
“It’s sending out a message of no-growth,” said Maureen Cooke, the owner of Maurlee’s Take Out & Catering.
“Now everybody is running scared; no one wants to approach the city,” she said.

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Officials from the Washington State Auditor’s Office strongly hinted that several of the controversies that have dogged Langley in recent months will be examined as part of the state’s early audit of the Village by the Sea.

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Lines are starting to be drawn over a proposed development project in the Village by the Sea, but not in the way that city officials had imagined.

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Republican challenger Kelly Emerson now leads by 536 votes in the race. She has 15,556 votes to Dean’s 15,020.

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Incumbent Democratic Island County Commissioner John Dean pulled closer to Republican challenger Kelly Emerson in the race for the District 3 seat on the county board of commissioners, according to the most recent vote tally released Wednesday evening.

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One public works employee at city hall was laid off on Friday, and Langley city workers will face another year of frozen wages and no cost-of-living or merit raises, city officials said Monday after the release of the proposed 2011 budget.

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During an awkward evening of stutter steps and near apologies, the Langley City Council rejected the plan for Langley Passage, a proposed 20-home subdivision on the northeast end of town, and rebuked the city’s planning director for his “clearly erroneous” environmental review of the project.

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North Whidbey voters are making Republican Kelly Emerson the next Island County commissioner, according to a Record review of early precinct returns in the race for the District 3 seat.

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Island County voters have finally started to show up for this year’s General Election.

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