Baseball team is on a hot streak Page 12
Your locally-owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington
May 3, 2012 VOL. 4, NO. 18
Up top Local firefighters are top fundraisers for stair climb. Page 2
Well-behaved mob Cash Mob helps out North Bend shop.
Page 6
Police blotter Page 6
What a waste New trash service is coming to Snoqualmie. Page 6
Shall we play a game? Games night comes to the Grange. Page 8
Bunker standoff over, questions still remain North Bend on April 22. Eastside Fire & Rescue Peter Alex Keller ended his soon discovered the women 22-hour standoff with police inside the rental house, at April 28 when he put a pistol 47227 S.W. 159th St., not in his mouth and pulled the too far from Interstate 90’s trigger. But with his death Exit 34. goes any possible explanation But it became clear that as to why he shot his wife, the women did not die in daughter and pets. the fire, and that Keller, 41, “I don’t think we’ll ever who also lived at the home, have a satisfying answer as to was missing. why Keller killed Lynnettee Court documents say that and Kaylene,” King County Lynnettee, who had been Sheriff married to Steve Peter for On the Web Strachan 21 years, said. was found Go to www.snovalleystar.com to “You’d be in her bed see more photos of the bunker trying to with a apply logic and its contents. gunshot to a totally wound to illogical set the back of of actions.” the head. Strachan said investigaKaylene was discovered in tors will continue to look the top bunk bed of her bedat Keller’s possible intent room, also with a gunshot and motivation for shooting wound to the back of her his wife, Lynnettee, 41, and head. Documents from the his 18-year-old daughter, King County Prosecutor’s Kaylene, but he admits they Office, charging Keller with may never find an answer. the killings while he was The saga that unfolded in still missing, said witnesses front of the nation this week described Peter as a “doting began as a house fire in rural father.” By Michele Mihalovich
No charges in home invasion shooting By Michele Mihalovich
No Names Needed Elementary schoolers top reading challenge. Page 10 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
No charges will be filed against the North Bend man who shot an intruder in his home March 30. Two King County Sheriff’s Office detectives gave an update of the case to the North Bend City Council at its April 24 workstudy session. The detectives gave a breakdown of everything that happened the night that led to the death of 30-year-old Joshua Henderson. They also played three 911 tapes and shared details not previously released. Detective Jim Belford said Henderson had been out drinking with friends and fam-
ily in Kirkland and Issaquah, and had become so aggressive, the group had been asked to leave both establishments. On the drive home back to North Bend, Henderson’s aggressive behavior escalated and the people in the vehicle feared for their safety and kicked him out of the car near Exit 31, Detective Jesse Anderson said. A clerk from the Shell gas station on Bendigo Boulevard spoke on a 911 tape, describing a “dude” who was being rude and verbally abusive to customers. But when deputies respondSee INVASION, Page 2
By Michele Mihalovich
A memorial of flowers and balloons (above) was placed in front of the Keller family’s rental home in rural North Bend on April 24. Contributed
Lynnettee Keller, 41, and Kaylene Keller, 18, (at right) pose together on Kaylene’s graduation day at Mount Si High School. The photo was provided by Lynnettee’s family. Strachan said it’s a small consolation for such violent deaths, “But I’m not aware of any evidence that would See BUNKER, Page 3
Biologists ask climbers to give peregrine falcons some breathing room By Michele Mihalovich The last thing a climber needs when scaling a steep rock wall is an angry peregrine falcon dive-bombing him. And if she’s a nesting falcon, that time away from her nestlings could put the wee ones at risk. That’s why wildlife biologists are asking climbers to avoid the popular Deception Crag Wall just off Interstate 90’s Exit 38 until the end of June. Sonny Paz, with the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, said a climber with the Washington Climbers Coalition
alerted him to a nesting pair on the steep rock face. He said peregrine falcons will view climbers near the nest as predators and fly toward them or dive-bomb them, which keeps the birds away from the nest. If they are away from eggs that need to be incubating, the eggs could fail, Paz said. Or if the adult has to leave hatchlings alone in the nest to fend off predators, then they aren’t getting the attention, food or protection they need. That concern for the nesting See FALCON, Page 2