Newly elected Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley, the champion of Pioneer Way dissenters, found himself on the receiving end of public criticism this week. In a packed room at City Hall Tuesday, more than 20 people took to the microphone to condemn, express outrage, seek understanding or plead for the job of longtime Fire Chief Mark Soptich.

Oak Harbor resident Don Pierce is trying to find a home for his mother’s cats. And she had a lot of them. He has spent the past several weeks trapping the felines living in his mom’s Camano Island home. They scatter and hide when he tries to catch them, so he relies on humane traps. In that time, he has captured 30 and he expects to find more in the coming days.

Five Oak Harbor High School cheerleaders and several Oak Harbor parents and spectators are among the 192 who reported being ill after attending the Feb. 4 Washington State High School Cheerleading Championships in Everett. The Washington State Health Department is investigating the incident, and the cause and specific disease are still unknown.

Thirty-thousand coho smolt splashed into holding pens at Oak Harbor Marina for perhaps the last time Wednesday.

North Whidbey residents Jim and Inge Johnston want to spread warm feelings for Valentine’s Day and they’re using a simple hug to accomplish that. The annual romantic holiday coming Tuesday seems to be a great time to renew interest in their National Hug Holiday, an event they started when they lived in Florida in the mid-1980s.

OAK HARBOR, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Washington Banking Company (NASDAQ: WBCO), the holding company for Whidbey Island Bank, today reported improved profitability for both the year and the fourth quarter of 2011. Net income totaled $4.2 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011, and $14.9 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, for all of 2011. For the year ...

American Legion Post 58: 7 p.m. third Tuesday of every month at the Odd Fellows Building, 610 Lewis St., Monroe. Bob, 360-863-3544 or www.americanlegionmonroe.org .

The "second season" begins for the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. when the Wildcats travel to Shorewood for the first round of the district tournament.

Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks has had yet another success in defending a groundbreaking conviction of an Oak Harbor child murderer. The Washington State Court of Appeals sided with the prosecutor in a decision filed this week on a personal restraint petition filed by attorneys representing former Oak Harbor resident James Alexander.

The price of implementing newly elected Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley’s staff changes is now bumping up against the half-million dollar mark. According to Doug Merriman, the city’s finance director, the direct and indirect costs attached to the firings of three senior level city officials and the retirement of a fourth this past January will cost taxpayers at least $480,475.