News-Times Whidbey
LIVING: Marathon runner’s training goes to the dogs
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2013 | Vol. 114, No. 28 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Accused killer builds a case for insanity
Council OKs exec. assistant’s $65,000 contract
By JESSIE STENSLAND
The executive assistant to the mayor is the latest administrative employee at the city of Oak Harbor to receive an employment contract. And for the first time, a city council member expressed concern about the salary of an administrative official. Nonetheless, the council unanimously adopted the contract. Renee Recker has served as executive assistant to the mayor since 2005. She was hired by former Mayor Patty Cohen. Under the new contract, Recker will continue to earn a salary of $65,000 a year. With benefits, her compensation package is worth $86,000 per year. In contrast, the Oak Harbor mayor earns about $51,000 a year. During last week’s meeting, Oak Harbor Councilwoman Beth Munns said that she was “a little taken aback” by the amount of the executive assistant’s
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Staff reporter
Joshua Lambert suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and was “in the throes of a heightened delusional state” when he killed his two grandfathers on North Whidbey Oct. 3, 2011, a defense psychologist says. R.E. Deutsch, a Seattlearea psychologist, offers a much different assessment of Lambert’s mental state at the time of the killings than the conclusions drawn by psychiatrists at Western State Hospital. Deutsch wrote that Lambert suffers from “a pervasive and longstanding preexisting psychotic disorder” and was unable to appreciate “the wrongfulness” of his actions. Lambert didn’t set out to kill anyone, but his crimes were the result of “psychosis induced incompetence,” Deutsch wrote. State experts maintain Lambert’s alleged methamphetamine use, coupled with a personality disorder akin to psychopathology, likely led him to commit the crimes. The conflicting assessments means that trial, set for July 9, may become a battle of expert witnesses over the See lambert, A5
Nathan Whalen/Whidbey News-Times
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee talks with Island County Emergency Manager Eric Brooks during a visit to the Ledgewood disaster site Saturday.
Inslee tours slide area; fundraiser nets $10,000
By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Ten days after Ledgewood was rocked by an enormous landslide, the tiny Central Whidbey development was visited by Gov. Jay Inslee Saturday and a host of other state and local elected officials. The troupe that toured the neighborhood included Congressman Rick Larsen, a Second District Democrat; Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor; all three Island County commissioners and Coupeville Town Councilman Bob Clay. A handful of county and utility officials were present as well to help provide information. Residents said they were happy so many government representatives were
able to make it down and see the devastation first hand, though some can’t help but wonder whether it would result in actual assistance. “It was interesting but I’m not sure what will come of it,” said Jan Wright, president of the Ledgewood Beach Property Owners Association. Wright is hopeful the opportunity will serve as an educational experience, helping elected officials to make informed decisions and fairly distribute any available assistance to those affected. “There are needs there and they needed to be seen,” Wright said. “This is a big deal,” she said. On March 27 at about 4 a.m., more See STORY, A8
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