News-Times Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 98 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
INSIDE: Woman creates board game, page A14
Flashing crosswalk to aid pedestrians By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
David Sharpe/dsharpephotography.com
A diver had to swim 35 to 45 feet down into a pond Monday morning to find a car that plunged into the water over the weekend. The driver of the car was uninjured.
Car submerged near Keystone By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Increase in downtown bar violence sparks concern By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
David Sharpe/dsharpephotography.com
Once a diver attached a cable to the car, a tow truck was able to pull it from the murky waters. the car at the bottom of the pond and attach a cable to winch it out. “The diver said it was colder than the ocean,” Greene said.
See SIGN, A12
Oak Harbor officials are concerned about a series of violence incidents — including a fatality — associated with bars in Oak Harbor over the last few months, but are finding solutions elusive. In four incidents, alcoholfueled attacks allegedly lead to someone getting seriously injured after being punched in the head and falling to the ground. “We are very concerned,” said Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley. “I don’t know what we can do to rectify it, but it’s
on our radar screen.” A memorial was held last week for 23-year-old Oak Harbor resident Christopher Cooper. He was found unconscious in a parking on Pioneer Way Nov. 17 after being punched at least once, according to the Island County Prosecutor’s Office. He passed away Nov. 29. See VIOLENCE, A12
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A diver had to swim down about 35 to 45 feet Monday morning to get to a car that had plunged to the bottom of a Central Whidbey pond over the weekend. Trooper Jesse Greene with the Washington State Patrol said the driver, a Port Townsend woman, slid the car into the pond Saturday morning on her way to the Coupeville ferry dock. She was able to escape before the 2003 Subaru Baja sank to the bottom of the water-filled quarry. According to Greene, the woman was driving south on Highway 20 and failed to negotiate the curve at Keystone Avenue. She was unfamiliar with the area and the roads were slippery from an earlier hail storm. The car slid across the road and into the pond. The woman swam ashore and called 911. This wasn’t the first time that someone drove a car into one of the ponds in the area; Greene said he was told the last time it happened was four years ago. The deep ponds were once gravel quarries, he said. The woman’s insurance company hired a diver to locate
Oak Harbor city and school officials were taken by surprise by an accident last week where a motorist struck a middle school student walking in a crosswalk. The crosswalk, located on Whidbey Avenue at the intersection of Izett Street near North Whidbey Middle School, is one of a number of crossings near schools in town that received lighted upgrades last summer. Those lights are designed to make crosswalks more visible to motorists and safer for pedestrians. Those upgrades cost $360,000. “It was a surprise to us, we didn’t expect it,” said Joe Stowell, engineer for the City of Oak Harbor. He said staff is waiting for the police report and they are looking
to see if anything else needs to be done to make the intersection safer. On Friday morning, an Oak Harbor resident was trying to make a left turn from Izett Street onto Whidbey Avenue when he hit the 13-year-old North Whidbey Middle School seventh-grader. When the driver realized what happened, he dialed 911 and stayed with the girl. During the summer, workers installed new solarpowered LED pedestrian signs. In addition, solar-powered lights were embedded in the roadway that flash to warn motorists of a pedestrian, who has to push a button at the crosswalk to activate the flashing lights. Similar lights were installed