Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A car drove through the front of a restaurant in Chehalis yesterday evening injuring a customer inside.

“There was a guy that was eating dinner on the other side of the wall,” Chehalis Fire Department Firefighter Kevin Reynolds said. “So the car bumped him and he went to the hospital.”

Responders called about 5 p.m. to the South Pacific Bistro on Southwest 13th Street found a car-shaped hole in the front of the building, Reynolds said.

It’s nose pushed the one table over, he said.

It appeared that the driver thought his vehicle was in reverse, but it was in drive when he hit the gas, according to Reynolds.

The cafe is owned by the same couple whose home just up the street has been struck twice by other vehicles, Reynolds said.

Three years ago, a wayward Twin Transit bus plowed through their fence and yard before striking a corner of their split level home.

A year later, a pickup truck drove through the fence into the driveway, where it shoved a parked vehicle several feet through the closed garage doors at the other end of the house.

Reynolds said the victim from yesterday’s incident suffered a knee injury.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A donation account has been set up for the family of Toledo resident Alex Oberg, the 63-year-old who lost his life falling trees last week.

Diane Wallace, the longtime business manager of Lewis County Fire District 2, said the numerous phone calls and inquiries about what might be done prompted her to visit Timberland Bank on Friday.

“When something like that happens, such a tragedy, so sudden, in your small town, it helps for people who want to help,” Wallace said. “They just want to do something.”

And, it will help with any expenses that arise with the loss of the long time community member, according to Wallace.

Oberg was working alone on Thursday cutting timber for a property owner on the 200 block of Maw Road when a tree fell on him. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said he was employing a “domino” tree falling technique in which saw cuts had been made to multiple trees.

As expected, the Lewis County coroner concluded it was an accident. Oberg died from multiple internal injuries due to blunt impact to his head and chest, Coroner Warren McLeod said on Saturday.

Donations can be made to the “Alex Oberg Memorial Fund” at any Timberland Bank branch, or may be mailed to Timberland Bank, PO Box 245, Toledo, Wash., 98591.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

New information has surfaced in the unsolved death of a 37-year-old Thurston County woman whose nude body was discovered alongside a Rochester road seven years ago, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Karen L. Bodine died of homicidal violence and it is believed she may have fallen victim because of her association with people in the drug sub-culture, according to the sheriff’s office.

She was found the morning of Jan. 22, 2007 at a gravel pit adjacent to Littlerock Road Southwest.

While early on, it appeared there were people with knowledge about Bodine’s death, the trail quickly went cold, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said in a news release this morning.

Recently however, new information has come up that leads investigators to think the trail is once again hot, according to Elwin.

All aspect of the evidence are being reviewed, and interviews will be re-conducted.

“(D)etectives continue to work this case and hope the passage of time will help those with knowledge of this horrendous crime come forward,” Elwin stated.

Anyone with information about her death, as well as the days leading up to it, is asked to call the sheriff’s office.

Detective Cameron Simper can be reached by phone at 360-754-3343 or by email at simperc@co.thurston.wa.us. TCSO Investigative Services can be reached by email at detectives@co.thurston.wa.us or through Facebook. Tipsters can also contact Olympia-Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or at http://www.crimebusters.org

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Heavy snow on mountain highways and windy conditions are expected tomorrow in the east end while a flood watch has been expanded to include Lewis County.

“This storm is looking a little more juicy today than yesterday,” forecasters at the National Weather Service say.

Up to a foot of snow is likely in the Cascade Mountains, with another foot likely tomorrow night, according to the weather service.

The winter storm warning was issued just after 10 a.m. today.

A flood watch issued about an hour later is in effect from late tonight through tomorrow night, to include portions of Western Washington such as Lewis, Grays Harbor, Clallam and Jefferson counties.

A period of heavy rainfall may cause rapid rising on more flood prone rivers, according to forecasters.

The storm managed to pick up some moisture from the tropics.

A wind advisory has also been put into place for the swath of Western Washington that is the Interstate 5 corridor, with gusts up to 45 mph tonight that could cause tree limbs to fall and isolated power outages, according to the weather service.

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Monitor the changing conditions by clicking on the links always on the right-hand sidebar of the page, “Weather alerts, forecasts” and also “River levels”

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Investigators are hoping some of the possibly stolen pieces from Alden’s Taxidermy will turn up so they can solve the arson fire that destroyed the Littlerock business early last month.

A person-of-interest identified by the victim has been interviewed and eliminated as a suspect, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives continue to look for a motive, Lt. Greg Elwin said in a news release yesterday afternoon.

After the nighttime blaze on Palermo Southwest, various taxidermy items that should have been present could not be found leading to suspicions of theft.

Elwin says detectives are working with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a database of all the taxidermy, which should be helpful if some or all of the property is discovered in the future.

More interviews are planned, there are no suspects, according to Elwin.

A reward fund of $10,000 has been set up by friends and family of Alden Johnson, for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Additionally, Crime Stoppers of Olympia / Thurston County will pay up to $1,000 for tips for the same information with the same results, according to the news release.

Crime Stoppers can be reached by calling 1-800-222-8477 or at www.crimebusters.org
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For background, read “Investigators: Littlerock business was intentionally burned” from Thursday December 12, 2013, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The man found dead inside a vehicle at Centralia’s Jack-in-the Box earlier this week died from basically a heart attack, the Lewis County coroner said this morning.

He was 59 years old.

Centralia police called to the parking lot at Jack-in-the-Box on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue  on Wednesday night learned that the four-door passenger car had been parked there for a couple of days.

Coroner Warren McLeod said he can’t say when the man passed, but believed he had been dead no more than two days.

The official cause is coronary artery disease, McLeod said.

Richard Borego lived in his car, McLeod said.

He has family in Bellingham who said he chose to live that way, according to McLeod.

“He was not homeless in the normal sense,” McLeod said. “He took very good care of himself.”

Borego was found in his backseat, very natural, very peaceful, as though he had been taking a nap, according to authorities.