Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Friends of the wife of one of the three men killed Saturday morning in the wreck on U.S. Highway 12 in Ethel have set up a memorial fund to help the families with the costs for funerals and burials.

Elvis Garcia-Ortiz, 44, of Centralia, died, along with two of his uncles when their small pickup slid on ice into a log truck just before 6:30 a.m. near Larmon Road.

Garcia-Lopez leaves behind a wife Victoria Garcia and five children, according to a friend, Jean Tennihill. His uncles, Javier Ortiz-Valdovinos, 49, and Rigoberto Ortiz, 46, both of Rochester, have children as well, she said.

Tennihill, who works with Victoria Garcia in Tumwater, said she doesn’t believe the mothers in the other two families work.

“The financial expense of it is just huge on them,” Tennihill said.

It’s a large family and her friend Victoria Garcia is overwhelmed, she said. She and her co-worker Desiree Rosenberg thought opening an account for possible donations made more sense than people sending flowers, given the needs right now.

Donations can be made at any branch of Washington State Employees Credit Union, by writing a check out to WSECU and noting “Elvis Garcia Memorial Fund” in the memo line, according to Tennihill.

Troopers were told the three men were headed out hunting before the wreck that totaled their truck and ended their lives. The log truck driver, James K. Chenoweth, 35, of Glenoma, was reportedly uninjured.

Tennihill can be reached at 360-259-4120.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The three men killed yesterday morning when their small pickup was broadsided by a log truck on U.S. Highway 12 were all part of the same family.

The driver Javier Ortiz-Valdovinos, 49, and Rigoberto Ortiz, 46, both of Rochester were brothers, according to the Lewis County coroner. Elvis Garcia-Ortiz, 44, of Centralia, was their nephew, Coroner Warren McLeod said today.

“The entire family has lost sons, fathers, brothers and husband, a week before Thanksgiving,” McLeod said. “It’s sad. It’s always sad, but …”

No charges are expected as the eastbound 1992 Toyota hit some ice, and crossed into the oncoming lane when it collided with the unloaded log truck, according to the Washington State Patrol.

It happened just before 6:30 a.m. in Ethel near Larmon Road.

The log truck driver, James K. Chenoweth, 35, of Glenoma, was reportedly uninjured.

Unexpected icy conditions contributed to numerous other minor collisions in that area around Highway 12 and Interstate 5, yesterday morning, according to responders.
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Updated at 5:01 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two teenage boys were hospitalized after responders were called about a vehicle versus pedestrian accident near Centralia High School this afternoon.

Riverside Fire Authority was called shortly after school got out to Mount Vista Road along the fence line for the pheasant farm, according to Firefighter-paramedic Mark Holmberg.

The pair of teenage males were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Holmberg said.

They were struck by a small pickup truck, occupied by two 17-year-old boys, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

A half dozen students were already on hand comforting the young men when aid arrived, Holmberg said.

“Some kids from the school folded up their coats and put them under their heads,” he said.

According to the sheriff’s office, the 17-year-olds were traveling in a 1993 Ford Ranger and the 15- and 16-year-old boys were walking on the side of the road.

The boys in the truck were arguing about “which CD to play, so there was some distracted driving going on,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

All the boys are students at the high school, Brown said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The first-ever nationwide test of the emergency alert system will take place at 11 o’clock this morning, meaning a short message will be broadcast over every radio and television station.

Sgt. Ross McDowell, deputy director of Lewis County Emergency Management, asks the public to be aware it’s only a test, and not to be alarmed.

“They don’t need to call 911 or anyone else, it’s just a test,” McDowell said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 31-year-old man who showed up at a Yelm fire station last night with a gunshot wound in the abdomen refused to tell sheriff’s deputies how he was shot and gave conflicting information on where it happened, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called about 7:20 p.m. to the Mill Road station of the Southeast Thurston Fire Authority in Yelm, according to sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin.

Matthew Aho, 31, of Yelm, had been dropped off there and was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia where he was scheduled for surgery, Elwin said today.

Investigators today were trying to learn more about what occurred, according to Elwin.

Aho said he thought the shooting happened in front of Country Joe’s, a convenience store near Nisqually Pines, but his story also suggested another location, according to Elwin.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about this shooting incident is asked to call the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-786-5500 or 360-704.2740 or Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222.