News-Times Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 54 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
SPORTS: Road to Williamsport begins. A9
One dies, 2 hurt in North Whidbey crash; another accident on detour NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
ambulances and waved to politicians and were especially awed by the Oak Harbor Yacht Club pirate ship that shot its cannons and was followed by pirates handing out goodies. Grace Miller’s favorite part was the multitude of state flags carried by Knights of Columbus members. She and her mom, Christine Miller, enjoyed pointing out the flags of certain states. “Oh, it’s a great time every year,” Christine Miller said, adding that they’ve come to the parade every year for the 11 years they’ve lived on Whidbey. “We enjoy it. We never miss it.” Dana Daymude helped her children hold the bounty of candy harvested from the parade. “All he cares about is the candy and all the rings,”
One person was killed and two were injured in a twocar, head-on collision that occurred at 8 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20 north of Oak Harbor. A helicopter landed on the closed highway to airlift an injured woman to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment. A trooper at the scene said the woman appeared to have suffered a femoral artery bleed. Joshua Ryan Ziegler, a 24-year-old Oak Harbor man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The State Patrol originally reported that he was an Anacortes resident, but the county coroner found he had been living in Oak Harbor. Sgt. Bruce Maier with the Washington State Patrol said the man was driving a silver Saturn Scion toward Oak Harbor when the car drifted into the oncoming lane at the curve near Jones Road. The driver of an oncoming Cadillac Escalade, 75-yearold Woodinville resident John Paul Zollbrecht, tried to take evasive action, but Ziegler swerved back into his lane at the same time. They collided head-on in the southbound lane. Zollbrecht sustained nonlife threatening injuries and he was transported to Whidbey General Hospital. The female passenger in the Escalade, 64-year-old Susan Boyer, sustained serious injuries and was airlifted. As of press time, she was in an operating room at Harborview Medical Center and her condition wasn’t known. Troopers from the Washington State Patrol are investigating the accident. Highway 20 was closed until 11:45 p.m. Traffic was detoured at Jones Road and Frostad Road during the investigation and cleanup.
See Fourth, A20
See wreck, A2
Rebecca Olson / Whidbey News-Times
Gwyneth Miller, 3, eagerly shows off an ice pop handed out by parade participants during Oak Harbor’s annual Fourth of July parade. Gwyneth and her sister, Grace, and mom, Christine, come to the parade every year.
Everybody loves a parade By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
Just as summer seemed a world away from Oak Harbor, the sun came out for a cheery Fourth of July celebration. Hundreds of families sporting shorts and red, white and blue lined Bayshore Drive and Pioneer Way to watch the Grand Parade Wednesday. American flags were handed out and children and adults alike waved the Stars and Stripes as veteran and military groups, student groups, community clubs, local businesses and politicians marched down the streets. Grace Miller, 6, Gwyneth Miller, 3, Abbie Daymude, 5, and Eli Daymude, 3, were just a few of the many children bouncing after handfuls of candy thrown from the parade participants. They watched the
Nathan Whalen/Whidbey News-Times
Emergency personnel load Susan Boyer into a helicopter so she can be airlifted to Harborview Medical Center. As of press time Friday, she was in an operating room and her condition was unknown.
Nathan Whalen/Whidbey News-Times
At left, troopers from the Washington State Patrol investigate a car accident on Highway 20 near the intersection with Jones Road that killed an Anacortes man Thursday evening. Above, a helicopter prepares to fly a victim to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.