By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The (Aberdeen) Daily World reports the trial will be held in Lewis County for Steven Daniel Kravetz, accused of shooting a deputy and stabbing a judge in the Grays Harbor County courthouse last March.
News reporter Brionna Friedrich writes defense attorney David Arcuri told Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey yesterday he will argue his client has diminished capacity in a trial scheduled for March 25.
Read about it here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Firefighters spent three hours this morning dousing smoldering sawdust at a Centralia mill.
Crews responded about 8:50 a.m. to a fire alarm at Sierra Pacific in the Port of Centralia’s industrial park on Kuper Road, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
“We ended up having a fire in the bag house, where all the sawdust from the mill goes,” Fire Capt. Greg Schwartz said.
A pair of employees were already using an on-site hydrant and spraying water on the structure, he said. Schwartz described the bag house, or hopper, as a very large metal container outside the main building.
“It was one of these long, drawn out procedures to get it cooled down to be able to access the panels,” Schwartz said.
With workers’ assistance, firefighters were able get the panels open to hose down the contents of the hopper, he said.
Nobody was injured.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lewis County Crime Stoppers has launched a student crime stoppers program in Chehalis schools.
In an announcement last week, the 18-year-old local program which accepts anonymous tips and pays reward money for help in solving crime said it has partnered with the district to reach out to staff, parents and youngsters at W.F. West High School, Chehalis Middle School and Olympic Elementary School.
It grew out an offering at a meeting last fall with local school superintendents, according to a news release.
“With all the school tragedies happening around the country, this could be one more tool to help in the prevention of an incident occurring locally,” Crime Stoppers states.
The hope is to combat inappropriate behavior, criminal activities on campus and to get tips about some things even before they occur, according to the nonprofit organization, and since the tips can be made anonymously, young people can avoid being tagged as snitches.
It uses the same phone number as the existing Crime Stoppers program: 1-800-748-6422.
The new program will be the focus of the upcoming Crime Stoppers dinner and auction fundraiser to be held on April 20 at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Centralia police announced they arrested two individuals in their ongoing investigation of an increase in gang-related graffiti in the downtown corridor.
One of them reportedly told officers he was spray painting over existing graffiti not because he was a rival gang member, but because he “.. hate(s) gangs, because they bring the city down and give it a bad name,” according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.
The department earlier this month began offering cash rewards for tips as they began to see a more graffiti they attributed to the presence of an emerging gang. Graffiti posted by one gang can be a challenge to rival groups, who will then cross out each other’s graffiti as a sign of disrespect, according to police. Chief Bob Berg’s concern is that leads to retaliation, which often leads to violence.
Last Friday, off-duty officers came across two of their suspects and arrested them, according to police.
Officers had identified several suspects based on inquiries with local merchants about purchases of spray paint and also viewing private businesses’ security video in the course of their investigation, according to police.
Arrested for one count each of third-degree malicious mischief were Jeremy M. Barron, 21, and Jalab L. Browning, 18, both Centralia residents, according to Officer John Panco. Panco said he expects additional instances of tagging will be pinned to the young men.
They two were released pending their appearance in Centralia Municipal Court on March 5.
The hunt for other taggers continues.
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – In their efforts to reduce fatality and serious injury collisions, troopers in Lewis County last year removed 288 impaired drivers from local roadways.
The numbers come from a year-end break down of state patrol activities.
The troopers’ work efforts during 2012 contributed to a reduction in the number of fatal collisions by 15 percent, injury collisions by 12 percent and total collisions by 2 percent on state routes and Interstate highways in the five county area known as the Washington State Patrol’s District 5 compared with 2011, according to state patrol spokesperson Trooper Will Finn.
Other numbers tallied up for last year in Lewis County that came from 30,296 contacts with motorists by troopers include:
• Stopped 12,692 speeders.
• Stopped 1,041 aggressive drivers
• Contacted 883 vehicle occupants for not wearing or improperly wearing seat belts.
• Investigated 637 collisions
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Olympian reports a now-former employee of VJs Bargain Barn in Rochester pleaded guilty today to eight counts of theft in connection with an investigation he stole more than $200,000 from his employer over a three-year period.
News reporter Jeremy Pawloski writes that the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend Larry Ledl, 45, spend two years in prison.
Ledl was arrested on Sept. 28 and released on bail.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Elwin said at the time Ledl opened a similar business in Chehalis following the alleged theft; Builders Surplus Northwest. However, an employee there said the owner was someone who was not Ledl.
Read about it here
Updated at 11:35 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The skeletal remains found in a Toledo-area field in February 2010 have been positively identified as Travis Seeber, 35, of Toledo, the Lewis County Coroner announced this morning.
DNA was used to figure out who they belonged to, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.
The cause and manner of Seeber’s death are still undetermined, McLeod said in a news release.
The remains were found on Feb. 18, 2010 by a child playing on property near the 100 block of Cougar Lane. At the time, the sheriff’s office said there did not appear to be any foul play.
Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said deputies had been looking for Seeber since 2008 when they responded to a felony assault in which he was a suspect south of Winlock and soon after found his truck abandoned off Cougar Lane.
Seeber had allegedly groped an 18-year-old babysitter and waved a pistol when she awoke, but then apologized and fled. His driver’s license was found on the seat of his vehicle and a tracking dog did not find him.
The coroner, the sheriff’s office and a forensic anthropologist from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office are working together to come up with answers about the cause and manner of death, according to McLeod.
The sheriff’s office still don’t believe any foul play was involved in his death, Brown said this morning.
McLeod said he doesn’t know when the death occurred because of the skeletal condition of the remains.
DNA samples were sent to a lab at the University of North Texas, a lab that handles only non criminal cases and conducts the analysis free of charge, according to McLeod.
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