Home deliveries of today’s South Whidbey Record will be late.

The printing of the Record was intentionally delayed Tuesday night so the newsroom could include the initial results of the 2011 General Election in today’s edition.

The late printing of the newspaper prevented the delivery of the newspapers to Whidbey Island last night. We apologize for any inconvenience to our readers.

Today’s front page. Top stories: Opponents of $40 million Freeland sewer project win in a landslide; R. Bruce Allen and Jim Sundberg prevail in Langley City Council races;  Langley settles employee lawsuit; Langley’s new mayor wants a pay cut.

The Langley City Council will meet in a closed-door executive session today to talk about “pending litigation” with the city’s lawyer.  City officials did not specify what court action prompted today’s private meeting.

The city’s legal counsel has been working recently on the unresolved Frank Sullivan lawsuit, however.

Sullivan is the former public works employee who claimed he was fired last December because of his age.

The executive session has been scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Langley City Council meets tonight to hold its first hearing on the 2012 budget.

Also on the agenda, a discussion of the Port of South Whidbey’s plans to renovate the Langley Marina.

The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. Agenda here.

The Island County Planning Commission holds a public workshop on the county’s update to its Shoreline Master Program on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The meeting will include a presentation on the draft shoreline inventory and characterization report and there will be a discussion of draft preliminary shoreline environment designations.

The Whidbey Environmental Action Network is rallying people to attend the meeting to press the nine points the organization made in a letter sent by WEAN, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and Whidbey Audubon.

The recommendations are:

“1. Key terms and definitions should be consistent and clear with regard to the county’s park land habitat and classification system.
2. Allow acquisition of important habitat lands not suitable for recreation and do not prohibit the use of conservation easements to acquire appropriate lands.
3. If lands with significant conservation values are transferred out of county ownership, they should go to an appropriate resource entity and the legal deed transferring the property should include appropriate language assuring the long-term protection of the conservation values.
4. Add a policy that states that recreation will not result in significant degradation of habitat, including cumulative degradation.
5. Add the need for wildlife corridors to key urbanizing and narrow areas of Whidbey Island.
6. County roads that end on the water should be formally signed to indicate public access, unless health, safety, or environmental concerns exist.
7. Table 12 (Habitat and Recreation Evaluation by Site) should be eliminated because it is confusing and incomplete and, because of this, will cause great controversy.
8. The Capital Facilities Plan (Table 14) should be revised to ensure that likely future acquisition or development proposals will receive credit in Washington State’s grant programs.
9. Certain properties should be reclassified on Maps C 1-4 from “Natural Recreation Area” to ‘Conservation Area.’”

The workshop begins at 9 a.m. Nov. 8 in the commissioners’ hearing room the County Annex Building at 1 NE Sixth St., Coupeville.

Copies of the shoreline planning documents and further information about the update process can be found at http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/shorelines.htm.

The Langley Civil Service Commission meets at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Commissioners will discuss rules and regulations and procedures for examination and appointment of a permanent chief of police. Randy Heston has been acting police chief since Bob Herzberg’s retirement earlier this year.

The meeting will be held at city hall.

Election Day! The Record will be watching returns as they come in Tuesday night, with results to be posted online as soon as possible.

There’s a lot on the ballot. Two contested council races are on the ballot in Langley, and there are two positions on the board of commissioners for the Freeland Water and Sewer District that voters will fill, as well as a seat on the board for the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District.

The board of commissioners for the Port of South Whidbey will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8 in the meeting room at the South Whidbey Parks and Rec District building at 5475 Maxwelton Road.

The original agenda include a closed-door executive session to discuss staff salaries, but the agenda was changed after the Record complained that the executive session would violate the state’s Open Meetings Act, which requires that any talk of staff salaries must be discussed in a session open to the public.

The board may still meet in executive session, but the talk will be limited to “staff performance,” according to a revised agenda released by the port.

The regular business meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. On the agenda: the port’s 2012 budget and the setting of the property tax levy for next year.

At Wednesday’s work session for Island County Commissioners, officials will talk about clarifying what the county will pay for when reimbursing travel expenses for employees; there are currently conflicting views of what will be reimbursed when it comes to light refreshments and beverages.

Officials will also discuss the auditor’s request for a staff position to help with the 2012 election.

Also on the agenda, a sheriff’s office item about licensing requirements for pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers. Both need county licenses in order to operate.

The existing regulations also require pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers (those who sell used merchandise of any kind) to provide the county with a weekly list of all loans and purchases.

The work session starts at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9 in the commissioners’ hearing room in the County Annex Building, 1 NE Sixth St., Coupeville.

WEAN holds its annual meeting followed by a potluck later from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at the Unitarian Universalist meeting hall on Highway 525 north of Freeland.

Today’s front page. Top stories: Most voters have yet to cast ballots in Tuesday’s mail-in election; Langley city budget for 2012 is larger, but pays for fewer workers at city hall; Langley student wins on “The Price is Right.”

Pick up today’s South Whidbey Record for your copy of USA WEEKEND Magazine.

The cover story is on the hottest new healer, Vitamin D. Learn how to get your daily dose of this crucial nutrient.

Also inside, an amazing true story for Veterans Day. After 65 years, fate returns a Navy man’s identity bracelet to his daughter.

In other stories, get the upside of aging, and learn why life after 70 is better than you may imagine. There’s also an article about Anderson Cooper, with six things you don’t know about the host of TV’s “Anderson.”

And in “Who’s News,” TV’s “The Killing” returns to AMC. Acting runs in the family for Amber Tamblyn of “House,” and country star Carrie Underwood stars in a few new roles.

Today’s front page. Top story: Peggy Sue Thomas enters not guilty plea on first-degree murder charge; candidates for Freeland Water and Sewer District differ on board’s next steps.

An IBOPE Zogby International poll released today shows a small bump in President Barack Obama’s approval rating, and more voters are willing to say the country is on the right track.

The “right track” view is up 5 percentage points from 10 days ago, and is the highest since July of this year, according to IBOPE Zogby.

That said, it’s still only 22 percent.

Pres. Obama’s job approval remains below a majority — at 43 percent in today’s poll — but it is up 2 percentage points. The percentage saying he deserves re-election is 38 percent.

The Zogby interactive poll was conducted from Oct. 28-31.

On Oct 21, 72 percent said the nation was on the wrong track and 17 percent said the U.S. was headed in the right direction. The “wrong track” number has fallen to 69 percent.

IBOPE Zogby conducted an online survey of 2,144 voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.2 percentage points.

We’ve been trading notes today in the newsroom about Halloween and the number of trick-or-treaters that came to our doorsteps last night.

The verdict: We will be eating candy in the office for weeks to come.

Everyone reported fewer kids this year than last who were out trick-or-treating, from the very south end of Whidbey (Scatchet Head) through Central Whidbey to the North End.

What’s up with that? It’s not like we were handing out popcorn balls.

Here’s the sad, sad roundup.

Kathy Reed, Whidbey Crosswind editor: About 20 to 30 kids, probably closer to 20.  “It was really lame,” she said. She gave out top-drawer treats, too: Starbursts, Milky Way bars, Reese’s peanut butter cups. Last year, she had more than 150 kids stop by for treats at her North Whidbey home.

Rebecca Olson, News-Times reporter: Zero kids at her place on Central Whidbey. They missed out on Almond Joys, Hershey chocolates, Kit Kat bars, Reese’s.

Nathan Whalen, News-Times reporter: Not a single trick-or-treater for Nathan’s Hershey bars.

Jim Waller, News-Times sports editor: One trick-or-treater stopped by for Reese’s.

Patricia Duff, Record A&E editor: About 30 children came by her Central Whidbey home. She passed out Airheads, Twizzlers and Mike and Ike candies.

Brian Kelly, Record editor: Zero goblins, ghosts. No witches or warlocks, princesses or pirates, either. Zero kids. The big bowl at the Kelly household in Scatchet Head had Milk Duds, Almond Joys, Snickers, Baby Ruth bars, Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls and Reese’s (Note: I ate the last one before 7 p.m.).

Initiative 1183 supporters are giving the proposal a vigorous push this week, urging undecided voters to get Washington out of the liquor business.

In Island County, the “Yes on 1183” campaign said today that county government and the cities of Langley, Coupeville and Oak Harbor would get more than $1.6 million in new revenue if the measure is passed.

Campaign officials cited an estimate from the Washington State Office of Financial Management, and said I-1183 will general more than $400 million in new revenues for local and state services over the next six years.

The campaign said Island County would receive more than $812,300 over the next six years if I-1183 is passed; Langley would get more than $36,000; Coupeville, more than $63,900; and Oak Harbor, more than $764,400.

I-1183 supporters said the OFM estimate is conservative, and represents revenues that are above and beyond what the current state system distributes to cities and counties across Washington.

The Washington State Republican Party also sent out an “urgent” email this morning to stoke support for the proposal.

In the email, Washington State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur said “The No on I-1183 campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts on I-1183. Actually, its been a campaign full of half truths and distortions meant to scare you into voting no.”

Wilbur said the initiative would remove the 53-percent markup currently in place to fund state liquor stores and enforcement, and would replace it with a 27 percent tax. Net revenue to the state would increase since Washington would no longer run government liquor stores.

“Unlike what the no campaign has been saying, this isn’t a tax increase. It is simply smarter government,” Wilbur wrote.

He also noted that mini-marts and convenience stores will not be able to sell liquor if voters approve I-1183.

This week’s weather forecast for South Whidbey, from the National Weather Service’s office in Seattle:

Today: Patchy fog before 11 a.m. today. Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Light and variable wind.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. North wind at 9 mph becoming southeast.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. Breezy, with a south southeast wind between 14 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wednesday night: Showers, mainly before 11 p.m. Low around 42. South wind between 11 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Thursday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. South southeast wind between 9 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Thursday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 45.

Friday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40.

Saturday: Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47.

Saturday night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42.

Sunday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47.

Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

And here’s last week’s weather roundup from across Whidbey, courtesy of Jackie Vannice from the WSU Extension/Island County.

Oct. 24-Oct. 30
Hi Temp         Low Temp         Wind mph     Rainfall YTD Rain     Last Year

Crockett Lake
56                      33                        28                     0.19        17.51               16.03

Fort Casey
59                      38                   (not reported)        0.30        16.83               13.49

Fawn Run in Coupeville
52                      43                   (not reported)        0.21        18.66               16.09

West Beach
56                      38                   (not reported)        0.28        16.69               15.07

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island
58                      32                          43                   0.42        16.36               16.65