Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 33-year-old driver from Raymond was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle today after his pickup truck ran into a stand of trees along state Route 6 east of Pe Ell.

Troopers called at 2:10 p.m. to the scene about eight miles east of Pe Ell reported Travis K. Settlemyre was westbound at a curve to the left when he drove off the right side of the road and collided with some trees.

The 1994 Ford F250 pickup came to rest on its passenger side, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Settlemyre was injured; his truck was totaled, according to the state patrol.

The cause of the wreck is under investigation.

Update Wednesday September 26, 2012 at 11:30 a.m.:  Settlemyre is listed in satisfactory condition this morning.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A body found below a lookout in the southern part of Mount Rainier National Park is as yet unidentified but authorities suspect it may be linked to a missing person report from an undisclosed area.

A search initiated yesterday morning with ground crews and a helicopter located the body at the base of a cliff below Ricksecker Point, a dramatic lookout between Longmire and Paradise, according to a park spokesperson.

Rangers had been investigating a vehicle parked for several days at the lookout and found identification inside it which they linked to a missing person report, spokesperson Patti Wold said today. Wold wouldn’t say where that person was missing from.

She said the incident is under investigation by park service law enforcement.

The body was removed by helicopter and delivered to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office who said today identification is still pending.

The injuries are consistent with a fall from a great height, according to Wold.

Ricksecker Point has no snow this time of year, according to Wold.

“You wouldn’t really start a hike there, it’s a place you’d stop to take in the view,” she said.

Updated at 8:54 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A truck driver from Longview is dead after his big rig slid on its side through a guard rail off U.S. Highway 12 near Packwood, went over an embankment and landed on its top.

Troopers called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon reported it happened about eight miles east of Packwood near milepost 139, at the cut off to state Route 123.

The 1989 Peterbilt hauling a trailer of wood chips was traveling west bound and downhill when the driver lost control, failed to negotiate a left hand curve and wrecked, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The driver is identified as James V. Dorsett, 38, of Longview.

The cause is under investigation.

“The only thing we can assume is the brakes failing,” Trooper Jason Hicks said, speculating the driver “rode” the brakes coming off White Pass causing them to heat up and then weren’t there for him when he needed them.

The roadway was dry, he said.

The back half of the trailer broke off and shot all the way down the 200 foot hill almost to state Route 123, Hicks said. The cab got hung up in the trees, he said.

Dorsett was not wearing a seatbelt, but the truck sustained significant damage to its top, according to Hicks.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A SWAT team helped serve a search warrant this morning at a Chehalis residence following an ongoing drug investigation.

As many as a dozen officers converged on the home on Southwest First Street near Market Boulevard just after 9 o’clock, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

“It went down without incident,” police detective Sgt. Brian Hickey said.

Arrested for delivery of a controlled substance was Richard E. Engel, 22, who lives at the home, Hickey said. Also arrested was Lonzo W. Lawson II, 32, he said. A woman who was present was detained but then released, he said.

Officers spent about two and a half hours searching the home and found an as-yet unspecified amount and type of drugs, according to Hickey.

Hickey said they have primarily been seeing heroin from the investigation.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Retired Lewis County Sheriff Bill Logan, current Sheriff Steve Mansfield and Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg will be among the guest servers of breakfast at Applebee’s in Chehalis on Saturday morning to raise money for Crime Stoppers of Lewis County.

Crime Stoppers, which has served Lewis County since 1995, is a partnership effort between the media, police and the community to help reduce crime locally, according to a news release from the non-profit organization.

They are calling it a “flapjack fundraiser”. The event runs from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 at the door that morning or ahead of time at numerous locations.

Applebee’s is at 1670 NW Louisiana Ave. in Chehalis.
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Get tickets ahead of time at Sterling Bank offices in Chehalis, Centralia, and Morton; Book ’n’ Brush in Chehalis; the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office; Centralia Police Department; and Rose’s Furniture in Centralia.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The lawsuit filed by a former Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center employee who contended he was fired because of his religion has been dismissed by the court.

A summary judgement was issued today by the judge in the case of Geoff Nelson of Rochester.

Nelson and his attorney said he was ordered not to bring a Bible to work, “harassed” for being Christian and treated differently repeatedly because of his beliefs.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

Today’s decision means, in lay person’s terms, the court decided Nelson had no basis to sue the county, according to Lewis County RIsk Manager Paulette Young.

Nelson has 30 days in which to appeal, if he chooses.
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For background, read “Christianity at work: Rochester man seeks $3 million in suit against Lewis County” from Friday April 6, 2012, here