In a year marked by the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, it could be easy to forget the year that was on South Whidbey.

Though no local news story affected as many people as the events of that day, 2001 brought many happenings that helped build the South Whidbey community, and a few that damaged it.

During the past year, Southenders gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to set aside wildlands, weathered an earthquake, restored historic buildings, built housing for senior citizens, and learned to conserve energy.

We also witnessed the start of what could be the second largest municipal bond default in state history unfold at Holmes Harbor, opened yet another strange chapter in the disappearance and death of Linda Moran, and worried as friends and neighbors who work at Boeing lost their jobs.

2001 was an important year for the Southend. Here are the top stories of the past 12 months.

January

The Trust for Public Lands finalizes its purchase of 400 acres of farmland within the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. Coupeville’s Engle family had farmed the land for more than 150 years.

A 40-acre clearcut near Whidbey Shores spawns the formation of a community group concerned about drainage, erosionand environmental issues. The landowner replanted the land later in the year.

Island County and the Northwest Air Pollution Authority fail to negotiate outdoor burning rules that would have required a total burn ban or permits for all outdoor burning. United States Census numbers reported later in the year further delay a new burn rule when they show the county has fewer than 50,000 residents living in unincorporated areas.

The Puget Sound Anglers’ annual rearing and release of hatchery salmon at the Langley Small Boat Harbor ends when the Endangered Species Act outlaws the practice.

Propane prices soar as high as $1.87 a gallon, a record for South Whidbey.

Fire Protection District 3 approves spending $1 million to build a new fire station on Freeland’s Cameron Road.

Island County Hearings Examiner Michael Bobbink rules that a 2.73-acre commercial site at the corner of Fish Road and Highway 525 is not a wetland. South Whidbey residents opposing the construction of a gas station at the site try to make the case that it is. Protesters picket the site during the next few weeks as construction begins.

During a temporary daytime closure of the Mukilteo ferry dock, foot passengers ride aboard the Mosquito Fleet people ferry St. Nicholas.

A group opposing the reopening of flood-damaged Glendale Road asks the Island County Board of Commissioners to consider a single-lane option. The board later rejects the idea.

February

The State Department of Transportation activates a long-awaited turn signal at Highway 525 and Fish Road.

An Island County Sheriff’s deputy shoots and kills a wolf-hybrid dog in the Double Bluff area. The dog escaped from its pen near Goss Lake.

A winter storm blankets South Whidbey with several inches of snow. Many locals unable to get to work choose to go sledding instead.

While protesting the construction of the Shell gas station in Freeland, Susan Cyr is struck by a car. The incident effectively ends protests at the site.

South Whidbey’s last transitional home for people recovering from drug additions closes in Scatchet Head after owner Matt McCauley is unable to make the house payments.

Langley expands the Woodmen Cemetery by adding room for 800 more burial plots.

Chuck and Claudia Pettis purchase the Newman Ponds in Freeland with the intention of turning the wetland into a wildlife sanctuary.

Musicians in the South Whidbey High School Jazz Band win their division at the 34th annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho. Flutist Stephanie Jacobson earns outstanding flute soloist for all flutists in all divisions.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake shakes Whidbey Island and most of the Puget Sound area. Islanders report little damage.

March

Figures generated by the Island County Assessor’s Office show the total property value of South Whidbey — more than $2 billion — as being higher than any other area of the county for the first time in history.

Crawford Road property owners contract with Kreig Construction to pave a road considered the most potholed on South Whidbey.

Kathy McClymont, the director of Island County’s 911 center, ICOM, dies suddenly. ICOM’s board of directors names former Island County Commissioner Tom Shaughnessy to the director’s post.

A coalition of community groups and agencies pitches an idea for a combined senior and youth center to be built in the Bayview area.

Langley attorney Linda Moore announces her intention to buy the Langley Marina.

April

A Bothell developer proposes building a mobile home park on Thompson Road. He withdraws his proposal after area residents object.

Puget Sound Energy proposes a tiered rate structure that would charge more for electricity used during peak hours.

As a springtime energy crunch deepens, South Whidbey residents get together to install low-wattage compact fluorescent light bulbs at Bayview Hall. Throughout the following months, the group promotes energy conservation by speaking in school classrooms and by pushing efficiency at their booth at the Bayview Farmers Market.

South Whidbey High School’s Knowledge Bowl team finishes second at the state championship meet.

Clinton’s Sub-Area Planning Committee disbands after deciding that converting the area into an non-municipal urban growth area would be impractical.

Construction workers begin dirt work on a senior housing development on Main Street in Freeland. Within the project, Freeland developer Erl Bangston starts work on about 40 townhouses, while Langley’s HMH Properties finalizes its plans for a 78-unit assisted living facility.

The Whidbey-Camano Land Trust purchases part of the Saratoga Woods, a 118-acre forest targeted several times in the past decade for development.

Three children playing in the woods along Bayview road find human remains which are identified as those of Linda Moran. Moran disappeared from the Bayview Exxon gas station in late 1996. Though her remains are found within a half-mile of the station, searches at the time of the South Whidbey woman’s disappearance had discovered no trace of her.

David Henny, owner of the Whidbey Telephone, dies at his home. Henny purchased the company from Ernie Noble in 1953 and expanded it to include all telephone service on South Whidbey.

May

After six years of operation, Bayview High School receives accreditation from the state Board of Education.

Heads of several Island County departments lodge complaints over the lack of space in the county’s new, $5 million Law and Justice Center.

Langley officials protest United States Census figures that show the city as having fewer than 1,000 residents.

The state purchases 25 acres of private waterfront property at Possession Point to add to the Cascades Marine Trail.

Builders erect the framework for a new self-storage facility on Woodard Avenue in Freeland. Freeland’s People for Reasonable, Organized Urban Development, or PROUD, challenge the facility’s permit, but drop their protests before the argument reaches the Island County Hearings Examiner.

FD3 purchases a new medical aid unit and two SUV emergency medical units for a total of $190,000.

The South Whidbey School District hires Daniel Blanton as assistant superintendent. Blanton’s pay for the position is set at about $84,000 a year.

Langley hires Laura Price as its newest police officer.

June

A South Whidbey Record investigation of a $20 million bond sale in the Holmes Harbor Sewer District shows the deal — which was undertaken to fund a private development in Everett — is on its way to being declared illegal by the state auditor’s office. The investigation and ensuing audit findings slow home sales within the district and later prompt all four of the district’s commissioners to resign.

Crew members aboard the ferry Cathlamet pull two stranded scuba divers from the water during a 9:30 p.m. run.

Island County Sheriff’s deputies arrest four teens and two adults in connection with house burglaries and a break-in at the Bayview Road Shop.

A Clinton home owned by Charles Hornshaw burns to the ground in the largest house fire of the year. FD3 firefighters prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby structures.

The state Legislature fails to pass a bill that would have designated Island County a rural county. The bill, introduced in the Senate by Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano, and in the House by Kelly Barlean, R-Langley, would have given the county $400,000 in additional funds.

Island County starts a remodeling project in its old courthouse building. The price of the job is estimated at $2.4 million.

Linda Moore purchases the Langley Marina from longtime owner Barney Hein for $125,000. She announces plans to turn the business into a kayaker-friendly “beer, bait, and tackle” shop.

July

Volunteers, including a number of employees of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, work to shore up the walls of the Freeland Hall. While doing the work, the volunteers add a deck and French doors.

Fourteen FD3 volunteers fly out of Langley on float planes to maroon themselves on a deserted island in the San Juans for a week. Called the “Ohana Island Survival Challenge,” the event forces the volunteers to work as a team to find water, food and shelter.

Tony Frantz, a Freeland builder, marks more than 350 creosote-treated logs on the Navy’s Lake Hancock reserve with red balloons. Frantz and a number of friends undertake the effort to draw attention to a material they believe to be toxic.

Seattle’s Dana Garvey purchases the 70-acre Rainshadow Gardens atop Double Bluff for $3.4 million, the most ever paid for a piece of residential property on Whidbey island.

A group of Swede Hill Road residents organize to oppose construction of a Sprint PCS cellular tower in their neighborhood. Island County Planning and community development says no to Sprint’s permit application in September.

August

The chambers of commerce in Langley and Clinton agree to merge. Together, the agencies become the Langley South Whidbey Chamber of Commerce.

The Washington State Auditor’s Office issues findings in an audit of the Holmes Harbor Sewer District that calls the district’s $20 million bond sale the previous October illegal.

FD3 purchases a new headquarters site on Thompson Road. District officials plan to build a station for medical response vehicles, a training facility and a sheriff’s precinct on the 19-acre, $232,000 site.

The Friends of Freeland and four private individuals purchase 18 acres of wetland, forest and commercially-zoned land between Scott and Newman roads. The group plans to prevent intense commercial development on the site.

Island County pulls out of a $138,000 contract with engineering firm Data Pacific to do a sewer study involving the Freeland Water District and the Holmes Harbor Sewer District.

Construction begins on a traffic light at the intersection of Highway 525 and Bayview Road. After a number of work delays in the fall, officials with the Washington Department of Transportation say the $800,000 job will not be completed until spring 2002.

An Island County jury convicts Brian Webb of first degree assault of a child. Webb was arrested for shaking his four-month-old daughter, an action that caused brain damage. He will serve nine years in prison.

Langley finishes construction on its cross-town walkway. The system of widened road shoulders and paths provides a safe haven for walkers, runners and cyclers between the Island County Fairgrounds and Brooks Hill Road.

September

Terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and on the Pentagon spur Washington State Ferries to shut down all its runs. South Whidbey school children spend the day watching coverage of the attacks and discussing their potential impacts on the nation. All air traffic, including planes at Porter Field, are grounded.

Construction workers at Bayview put the finishing touches on a high-tech outhouse featuring solar panels, a composting toilet, and a rainwater collection system.

Fishermen and property owners clash in a war of words at Bush Point. Those with homes near the area’s popular fishing beach accuse fishermen of trespassing and littering. Several fishermen also receive tickets from Island County Sheriff’s deputies for breaking state game rules.

Trustees of the Maple Glen Community Association have 3.1 miles of private roads paved over the objection of many community members.

Tony Frantz again protests a buildup of creosoted logs at Lake Hancock by suspending a sign reading “Rare Marsh Contaminated” from a crane and a telephone boom truck parked alongside Highway 525.

The South Whidbey School District begins surveying students, parents and other community members about the high school’s four-period day. Earlier in the year, the district hired a consultant to evaluate the schedule. The board of education also appoints a committee to come up with improvements for and alternatives to the schedule.

Nearly two years after Island County and Whidbey Island’s three cities began collecting a special overnight lodging tax, members of the committee that will decide how to spend the money meet for the first time. By the end of the year, the committee has more than $150,000 to spend on tourism promotion.

For the first time ever, a gallon of premium gasoline tops $2 on South Whidbey. Regular gas prices reach $1.81.

Hundreds of students at South Whidbey High School sign a pledge promising to respect diversity and avoid discriminatory behavior.

School teachers demand wage increases after deductions for health insurance coverage reduce take-home pay for many.

Boeing announces the first round of a number of layoffs it expects to make over the next year. Hundreds of machinists and engineers who live on Whidbey Island worry about their jobs.

A military callup related to the United State’s campaign in Afghanistan takes a number of sheriff’s deputies off their beats when they are required to do reserve military duty. Several other South Whidbey residents who work in the private sector are also called up.

The Island District Economic Development Council hires Sharon Hart as its new executive director. Hart replaces former director Tom Shaughnessy, who left the EDC to head Island County’s 911 dispatch center, ICOM.

October

A $268,941 state grant to Island Transit allows the bus service to resume a route to Mount Vernon for the first time since December 1999. The route was cut after the passage of Initiative 695.

A subcontractor finishes the last of a number of new, walk-through culverts in Glendale Creek. The work nearly completes a restoration of the historic salmon stream, five years after a winter flood tore out metal culverts that were not fish friendly.

The Whidbey-Camano Land Trust buys the final 80 acres of the 118-acre Saratoga Woods. The trust turns the land over to the Island County Parks Department immediately.

Investors who purchased millions of dollars of municipal bonds from the Holmes Harbor Sewer District sue in federal court for the repayment of their principal and interest. An attorney filing the suit estimates it will take months to get a court date.

The Freeland Sub-Area Planning Committee suspends its meetings for an indefinite period. Over the course of the previous months, the committee had tackled zoning and sewer issues, but was unable to decide whether Freeland should try to become a municipality or remain a rural area of intense development (RAID).

Jim Larsen, editor and publisher of The South Whidbey Record since 1982, leaves the paper to take the editor’s post at the Whidbey News Times in Oak Harbor. General manager Melissa Saylors is promoted to publisher. Matt Johnson is later named editor.

November

Norma Smith, a Clinton resident who served as chief aide to former United States Rep. Jack Metcalf, announces her candidacy for the 2nd District House seat. Smith says she will run as a Republican.

South Whidbey social worker Glenn Jolley is convicted on a charge of taking indecent liberties with his clients. He was tried on three different sex counts, including rape.

Island County quietly reopens Glendale Road, five years after floods collapsed portions of the roadbed and washed out culverts. Glendale residents withdraw a lawsuit intended to stop the road repairs.

About 25 properties owned by South Whidbey developer Jack Sikma are temporarily spared the auction block after a legal question arises over the Holmes Harbor Sewer District’s ULID. All of Sikma’s properties are in the district. During the summer, the county treasurer’s office had calculated that Sikma owed about $215,000 in back property taxes and $150,000 in sewer district assessments.

Langley police arrest three juveniles in connection with several dozen attempted car burglaries, the theft of several cases of beer, and the theft of a car.

Taxing districts, Island County and Whidbey Island cities scramble to plan their budgets in the aftermath of the passage of Initiative 747. Most agencies make deep budget cuts, although the Island County Board of Commissioners decides to dip into the county’s reserve account to make up a revenue shortfall of nearly $1 million. I-747 limits annual increases in property tax levy rates.

The county’s health department and pharmacies have trouble getting enough flu vaccine to serve county residents.

FD3 firefighters and other volunteers receive a higher reimbursement rate for emergency responses. The rate jumps $1 to $7.50.

A citizens group made up largely of South Whidbey residents protests the use of herbicides to control weeds on Island County roadsides. The group lodges its complaints in several county commissioners meetings and workshops.

A Shell gas station opens at the corner of Fish Road and Highway 525 without the protesters who picketed the site during the spring.

Whidbey Telephone subsidiary Lightstream Data Centers puts the finishing touches on its Everett “server hotel” prior to an expected January opening.

December

Legal gambling comes back to Langley for the first time in more than a decade when China City, a restaurant and lounge, installs pull tab dispensers.

After debating for months over whether to place an absolute cap on the size of new homes within the city limits, the Langley City Council approves a measure to keep houses “in scale” with the city but without a specific size limit.

Both the South Whidbey School District and the parks district decide to seek two-year property tax levies in a February vote.

Island County detectives seize more than 200 marijuana plants at a Mardell Drive, Langley address in the largest grow operation bust in several years.

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders signs $45 million in contracts to build a huge fire boat for the Port of Los Angeles and a 366-foot paddleboat. The paddleboat is the largest project ever undertaken by the Freeland company.

A winter windstorm knocks out power for all of Whidbey Island, downs trees, and buffets shoreline homes.

Supporters of a proposed skateboarding park learn the state will give the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District a $50,000 grant toward building the project. The grant funding had been temporarily suspended by Gov. Gary Locke. The South Whidbey Rotary Club raised over $95,000 in private donations by the end of the year to build the park.

The owners of the Mutiny Bay Resort file an application to demolish the existing buildings at the site and replace them with condominiums. The application signals the end of South Whidbey’s century-old fishing resort culture.

China City, LLC, purchases the building known as Teddy’s on Whidbey. The restaurant company owns restaurants in Langley and Oak Harbor.