NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
Sports: Wolves lose at home. A9
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011 | Vol. 120, No. 98 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Downtown, where all the lights are bright By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Justin Burnett / Whidbey News-Times
An estimated 500 people braved Old Man Winter’s chill to attend the eighth annual tree lighting ceremony in downtown Oak Harbor Saturday. It was a frosty evening with temperatures dipping into the high 30s but it didn’t seem to cool the holiday mood on SE Pioneer Way. Whether grinning over the rim of a prized cup of hot cocoa, taking a frigid carriage ride or craning their necks for a glimpse of Santa Claus, people seemed to be having a good time everywhere you looked. “We come every year to the tree lighting,” said David Paul, an associate dean at Skagit Valley College. “It’s a nice event.” Paul was there with his wife and four children and typified the many families in attendance. While many came to watch the tree lighting itself, that magical moment when the cedar on the corner of Dock Street is alight with holiday warmth and cheer, Santa Claus was also a big hit.
Hundreds of islanders enjoy the annual tree lighting ceremony in downtown Oak Harbor Saturday.
SEE LIGHTS, A11
Whidbey woman gives birth in speeding car By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
The first place Izaak Ellison saw after birth was the inside of his parents’ 2009 Jetta TDI. He just couldn’t wait until Stephanie and Travis Ellison made it to the hospital to come into the world. “He was delivered just past Sidney Street going 100 miles per hour,” said his father, Travis. “It was the craziest experience of my life,” said his mother, Stephanie. Izaak was born Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9:30 a.m. He wasn’t due until Dec. 2. The Tuesday before, doctors had given Stephanie a shot to stop her labor. The doctor told Stephanie that the goal was to have the baby after Thanksgiving. But Izaak had other plans. The morning of Nov. 12, Stephanie said she awakened at 7 o’clock feeling unwell and went to take a show-
er to help her feel better. When a shower didn’t help, she woke Travis so he could take her to the hospital. He left to get coffee and Stephanie got back in the shower. “I felt really uncomfortable and didn’t quite know what was going on,” Stephanie said. A friend who was caring for their 6-and-one-half-year-old son, Kaiden, came by the home just before Stephanie’s water broke. She found herself unable to walk so the friend carried her to the car. She didn’t remember much of the drive. “I was in the zone,” Stephanie said. Travis sped from their home on Oak Harbor Street south toward Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville, flashing the lights at other cars and trying to get to the hospital as quickly as he could. Near Rolling Hills, Travis said he SEE BIRTH, A4
3 burglary suspects sought By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Investigators are searching for three people who may have been involved in a recent series of burglaries on North Whidbey. Detectives at both the Oak Harbor Police Department and the Island County Sheriff’s Office sent out alerts Monday asking the public for help in finding two men and a woman accused of possessing property stolen from homes in the city SEE BURGLARY, A4
Rebecca Olson/Whidbey News-Times
Travis and Stephanie Ellison hold their new son, Izaak. After four washings, Travis still wears the sweatshirt Izaak was delivered in.