News-Times Whidbey
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Bubbles — big beautiful bubbles A11
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 | Vol. 124, No. 73 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Dentist dies in weekend blaze
Honoring lives that were lost on 9/11
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
A former Coupeville dentist was killed in a fire at his Central Whidbey Island home early Saturday morning. Matthew Nieder was 67 years old, according to the Island County Coroner’s Office. Oak Harbor Fire Chief Ray Merrill is investigating the cause of the blaze. He said Tuesday that it will likely be ruled undetermined because the extent of the fire damage makes it difficult to find evidence. There is no evidence of foul play or arson, according to both Merrill and Detective Rick Felici,
By JANIS REID Staff reporter
Burley Funeral Home placed nearly 3,000 flags in a nearby field Sunday to commemorate the lives lost during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The flags were placed by Boy Scout Troop No. 59 and Girl Scout Troop No. 42583 and will be on display through Sept. 13. ommunity members are being invited to place a flag in honor of their loved ones lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Burley Office Manager Cathy George said the funeral home staff came up with idea after a discussion about how they wanted to commemorate the day. A flag for each lost life seemed appropriate, George said. “Once we started mapping out the space, it sort of took your breath away,” George said. “Looking at all those flags and thinking each one was a person.” On Thursday, the Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services Battalion 3 will memorialize the attack during a Patriot Day ceremony starting at 7:55 a.m. Police, sheriff, fire and rescue units from all over the island will be in attendance. The event will be held at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station headquarters flag pole and will include a short ceremony led by base commander Capt. Mike Nortier. North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Marv Koorn said he and SEE SEPT. 11, A14
SEE FATAL FIRE, A14
Disabled struggling in wake of IT cuts By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Calling the 1900s?
Photo by Ron Newberry/Whidbey News-Times
Front Street in Coupeville turned into a scene from the early 1900s Monday when more than 60 pre-1916 vehicles arrived around lunch time with some drivers and passengers dressed in period clothing. The SkagitSnohomish chapter of the Horseless Carriage Club of America is on a Whidbey-based tour until Thursday.
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