The following are segments of stories taken from the front pages of the Whidbey Island Record 50, 25 and 15 years ago on Thursday, April 6, 1967, Tuesday, April 7, 1992 and Wednesday, April 3, 2002.
50 years ago
Editor: Dan Stebbins
‘UFO’ over Deer Lake
“A flying saucer over Deer Lake? Well at least some sort of “UFO” was spotted Tuesday night by four Deer Lake residents.
“Bryon Mills first noticed a bright red glowing object in the sky over his parents’ home at about 9:30 p.m. Bryon ran in and got his mother, Mrs. John (Bill) Mills.
When Mrs. Mills came outside she recalls seeing a “bright red light in the sky which was then passing to the westward over Deer Lake.” She said that it changed color from bright red to yellowish orange to white and back to bright red again.”
25 years ago
Editor: Jim Larsen
Langley teen crime night
“Friday night the quaint yesteryear warmth of downtown Langley was chilled by 10 youths, one brandishing a semi-automatic pistol and another trying to deal 70 hits of LSD.”
15 years ago
Editor: Matt Johnson
County ends
roadside spraying
“April Fool’s Day 2002 will be remembered as the moment “No Spray” signs became an artifact of Island County’s past.
In a bold and unexpected move, the county’s board of commissioners voted 3-0 to delete chemical herbicides from the county’s roadside maintenance program — a decision that drew raucous cheers from the 100-plus No Spray advocates on hand.
Island County joins Jefferson, Thurston, Clallam, San Juan and Snohomish as the only counties in the state to forgo the use of herbicides and pesticides in roadside maintenance.”