Local News

A U.S. District Court judge has awarded more than $2.1 million in legal fees and costs to attorneys who worked for several years on a lawsuit that successfully challenged the quality of legal representation given to poor and indigent people in Mount Vernon and Burlington, Skagit County. The award was granted in April to lawyers from the…

Eileen Farley, director of the Northwest Defenders Division of the King County Department of Public Defense, has been selected to oversee indigent public defense for the cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. The position of public defense supervisor was established by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik in December…

A 59-year-old Burlington man was killed Sunday night when his pick-up truck crashed into a tree in Skagit  County, according to the Washington State Patrol. The crash occurred at about 7 p.m.in the 1300 block of Beaver Lake Road, north of the town of Clear Lake. Trooper Mark Francis said the driver was wearing a seatbelt. The driver’s identity was not…

By Kera Wanielista Skagit Valley Herald (MCT) BURLINGTON — A 17-year-old Burlington-Edison High School student was arrested Monday and booked into the Skagit County juvenile-detention center for investigation of felony harassment after a bomb threat allegedly was made at the school. Burlington police said in a news release that they responded to a bomb threat at the high…

National Weather Service / Forecast Here’s a story that appears to have come in under the radar … at least for us: Hackers electronically ripped off a Bank of America account in Burlington for $400,000 last week. The Skagit Valley Herald says the money was transferred to personal and business accounts…

The Associated Press: BELLINGHAM– Authorities have arrested a 30-year-old Burlington man hours after a woman walked out of woods south of Bellingham with her throat cut. Skagit County Undersheriff Tom Molitor says the suspect, who was in a domestic relationship with the victim, was arrested Saturday in Eastern Washington. The man will be transferred to Skagit County…

A second man has been arrested in connection with the slaying of Fernando Mendoza of Burlington, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The 19-year-old Lynnwood man, whose name was not released, is suspected of trying to cover up Mendoza’s slaying by moving and hiding his body after Mendoza was shot several times. The Lynnwood man also…

The News Tribune / Tacoma A 27-year-old Burlington man was arrested early this morning for driving the wrong way on Interstate 5 in Thurston County, according to the Washington State Patrol. At least eight people dialed 911 about 3:45 a.m. today to report a 1996 Honda Civic that was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes. Troopers believe…

A potentially precedent-setting federal lawsuit accusing two cities of providing constitutionally inadequate public defense for people charged with misdemeanors was certified as a class action on Thursday. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges that two public defenders for the cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington carry misdemeanor caseloads of more than…