The following are segments of stories taken from the front pages of the Whidbey Island Record 25 and 15 years ago on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 1991 and Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001.
25 years ago
Editor: Jim Larsen
Upside down flag upsets some veterans
“ ‘I’m flying the flag in distress,” said Kirsten Andrews, pointing to a small American flag which hangs upside down behind the counter of her Clinton liquor store. ‘It is not out of disrespect for flag or country,’ she continued, ‘but I’m distressed because we’re in war.’
According to Andrews, two members of the Clinton American legion Post have complained about the placement of the flag and ‘made a concerted effort to make me change my flag.’ The Flag Code, adopted by the national Flag Conference in June of 1923 and revised as recently as 1976, states, ‘The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger of life or property.’ Andrews said she is in distress about the war and is entitled to display the flag union down. The mother of Air Force Sergeant John Andrews, who is stationed in Saudi Arabia, she is concerned for the soldiers fighting in Operation Desert Storm and believes ‘oil, greed and money is not cause enough for war. Glenn Nichols, Pearl Harbor survivor, veteran of World War II, and a member of the Clinton American Legion, was the first Legion member to approach Andrews about the flag. She said he was polite but firm about the incorrect placement of the flag.”
15 years ago
Editor: Jim Larsen
Freeland Exxon gets green light
“Developers planning to build a gas station complex in Freeland got the green light Thursday from Island County Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink. He announced his decision that the site on which it will be built is not a wetland. In a 31-page decision, Bobbink stated that the 2.73-acre site at the intersection of Fish Road and Highway 525 has not been a wetland for at least 30 years. He also wrote that increased traffic associated with the 6,000-square-foot retail building, 2,852-square-foot auto service center with enclosed car wash, 3,142-square-foot convenience retail store, and 10-pump, covered Exxon gas station to be built on the site will not overload roads or intersection in the area.”
