Local News

Six young musicians from Washington state have been chosen for the first National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, a group that Carnegie Hall assembled to represent the best teenage musicians in the country.

The orchestra has a total of 120 members from 42 states, all aged 16-19.  They will attend a two-week summer residency in New York state, then perform in Washington D.C., Moscow, St. Petersburg and London.

The Washington musicians are:  Joseph Lorang of Seattle (violin), Marianne Martinoli of Monroe (violin), Sophia Stoyanvich of Bainbridge Island (violin), Audrey Chen of Redmond (cello), William Langlie-Miletich of Seattle (bass), and Karl Ronneburg of Sammamish (timpani and percussion).

Police believe a pickup truck similar to this one was involved in a Monroe hit-and-run accident that killed a bicyclist. This is not a photo of the actual vehicle involved. (Monroe Police Department photo)

Police believe they spotted a pickup truck involved in a Monroe hit-and-run in this surveillance video footage recorded right before the accident. (Monroe Police Department)

The woman killed by a hit-and-run driver as she was bicycling across Highway 2 in Monroe Wednesday night has been identified as Debbrah Marie Pesce, 53,  the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Police are still searching for a light-colored pickup witnesses said hit her around 7:35 p.m. at the lighted intersection of Old Owen Road and Highway 2. The pickup was described as a white late-80s to early-90s Ford F-series pickup with a dark blue or green stripe.

Christopher Johnson, the manager of nearby Brookside Motel, said he and tenants were shaken by her death because they had seen her try so hard in recent weeks to lift herself out of homelessness.

Johnson said Pesce had moved into the hotel a couple weeks ago after living in her car for some time. While looking for a job and trying to find cleaning work, he said she would help paint the motel and volunteer at Next Step Community Resource Center, a faith-based, non-profit that serves homeless and low-income residents in the Skykomish River Valley. Johnson said he remembers her saying she helped with Next Step’s after-school children’s program.

“She was always such a sweet lady – she had nothing but she gave all that she could,” Johnson said.

Witnesses of the hit-and-run said the eastbound pickup was revving its engine while stopped on Highway 2 behind one vehicle before it went around that vehicle and between two others, then struck her. It isn’t clear whether the light was red or green at the time, said Monroe police spokesman Debbie Willis.

Pesce, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from her bicycle into two other vehicles. She was taken to Valley General Hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The Medical Examiner’s Office said she died of blunt force injuries to the head.

Anyone with information about the pickup involved in the accident can report it by calling 911, the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300, or the department’s anonymous tip line at 360-863-4600.

Police are looking for the hit-and-run driver who killed a woman riding this bicycle in Monroe Wednesday night. (Monroe Police Department photo)

A woman riding a bicycle across Highway 2 in Monroe was struck by a pickup and killed Wednesday night, according to Monroe Police.

The woman, who was not wearing a helmet, was bicycling across the highway at Old Owen Road about about 7:37 p.m. when she was struck by a light-colored pickup.

Witnesses told Monroe police that the truck had been stopped and was revving its engine behind another vehicle at the intersection before it drove around that vehicle and hit her. It’s not clear whether the light was red or green, according to police spokeswoman Debbie Willis.

She was thrown from her red bike into the path of two vehicles that also struck her, and suffered severe head trauma. Medics took her to Valley General Hospital in Monroe, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The drivers of the two passing vehicles that hit her stopped at the scene, said Trooper Mark Francis. Witnesses told troopers and police the pickup that hit her may have been blue and white.

Anyone with information about the pickup involved in the accident can report it by calling 911, the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300 or the department’s anonymous tip line at 360-863-4600.

Friends of a Monroe veterinarian who has traveled the world to help save animals are helping her search for her missing puppy. The dog was a gift to help her battle through breast cancer (Photo courtesy of Dana Bridges Westerman)

Friends of a Monroe woman who is battling breast cancer are looking for her microchipped and collared puppy, Escher, which they believe was stolen.

Dr. Dana Bridges Westerman, an equine veterinarian who has traveled to places like Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina to help save other animals, was given the German Shepherd by her husband to help her through her illness, according to friend Joan Ranquet. She went to the hospital today for the second surgery doctors believe will help her beat the cancer, said Ranquet.

“She’s more worried about where that dog is than her own recovery,” Ranquet said. “She’s the type of person who will stay up all night with a horse and its owners if they need her too.”

The shy 4-month-old puppy was last seen walking near Bridges Westerman’s property at 26523 Old Pipeline Road with Bridges’ other dog last week. When only one dog returned to the house, Bridges and her friends scoured the neighborhood but did not find him. They suspect the dog may have been stolen because even though it has a blue collar with its home address on it and is microchipped, it still has not been returned.

Ranquet said the dog could be returned for a reward with no questions asked. Anyone who sees the 40-pound black and tan puppy can e-mail Bridges Westerman at DrDana@proequine-dvm.com.

Storage units at the Chain Lake Self Storage facility in Monroe were reduced to rumble in a three-alarm fire that struck very early this morning. Many other storage units also were destroyed in the blaze. (Photo by Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)

The Associated Press

A damaged fiber-optic cable is cutting off Monroe residents with AT&T and Sprint Nextel  from 911 service this afternoon, according to the Everett Police Department.

No one knows what damaged the cable just before 3 p.m. or when it will be fixed, said department spokesman Aaron Snell. But until it is fixed, Snell said police and fire personnel are conducting roving patrols throughout Monroe neighborhoods.

Snell said anyone experiencing trouble with calling 911 should go directly to a fire or police station for help, and he asked that 911 test calls not be made.

At first police didn’t know which Monroe residents were affected but it seems at least Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile networks are working properly, Snell said.

A14-year-old Everett boy who was pulled unconscious from a  Monroe lake on Sunday died early this morning , according to the Monroe Police Department.

The boy was part of an Everett church group that had gone to Lake Tye on Sunday. Friends swimming with the boy said they saw him wave and then lost sight of him.

Firefighters were called and found the boy and pulled him to shore, where CPR was initiated. He was then taken to Valley General Hospital in Monroe, and later transported to Seattle Children’s hospital.

The FBI is offering a reward for information about a man tied to at least seven bank robberies. (FBI photo)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of a male suspect tied to at least seven bank robberies in Bothell, Monroe and Woodinville. Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $6,000.

The robberies took place between Jan. 30 and July 30 of this year. The suspect wore a black full-face ski mask, gloves, a dark baseball cap or hoodie, and dark long-sleeved sweatshirt, according to an FBI release. The man, who has been armed with a handgun or knife during the robberies, usually leaves riding a bicycle.

He’s also described as being in his mid-20s to early 30s, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-10, 140-180 pounds with a thin to medium build.

In Bothell, he robbed a Key Bank on Jan. 30 and on July 5 as well as a U.S. Bank on July 23. In Woodinville, he robbed a Key Bank on May 2, a Union Bank on June 26, and a Bank of America on July 6. He also robbed a Washington Federal in Monroe on July 30.

Those with information can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS or the law-enforcement agencies investigating the robberies: the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311, the Bothell Police Department at 425-486-1254, the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300. The FBI recommends an anonymous tip line as well at 360-863-6300.

There is not points to locate on the map

Edmonds police say a man arrested yesterday following a home break-in is responsible for at least a half-dozen burglaries in the city.

The suspect, a 44-year-old Monroe man, was arrested just after 5:30 a.m. after he was spotted leaving a home in the 22200 block of 96th Avenue West that had just been burglarized, according to police. Officers had been watching the home  following a break-in a few days earlier.

The man was armed with a knife and pepper spray, but did not resist when he was taken into custody, police said. He was carrying bags of property taken from the home.

During their investigation, detectives recovered stolen property from the man’s vehicle as well as his home in Monroe. Police said the items included precious metals, jewelry, silver and china serving sets, TVs, antiques and tools. 

So far, detectives believe the man is responsible for six burglaries.  Police say he is a garbage truck driver who burglarized homes along his route.

He has been booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

A spokesman for the State Patrol says a 37-year-old trooper has been arrested by Monroe police in connection with a domestic violence incident, according to The Associated Press.

Spokesman Bob Calkins says Trooper Jeff Muren has been placed on administrative reassignment while he is being investigated. Muren has been with the State Patrol for eight years and is based in North Bend, The Associated Press is reporting.

According to Times news partner KING-TV, court documents filed in Snohomish County allege that Muren pointed a gun at his wife’s head Sunday and told her to “look at the barrel so she could see the bullet coming.”  The documents also said he choked his wife and hit her on the back of the head

The documents allege that Muren has threatened his wife on several occasions, telling her “he knew how to kill and would do it in a heartbeat,” according to KING-TV.

The Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office says bail was set at $15,000. Muren has not been charged.