Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Thurston County Narcotics Task Force seized roughly four pounds of methamphetamine, cash and vehicles in a drug investigation that included searching a home in Tenino yesterday.

Detectives with the task force, the Tenino Police Department and special agents with Homeland Security have conducted an investigation over the past several months that included purchasing large quantities of the drug, according to a news release from the task force.

They identified several locations and subjects involved in the sale and distribution of methamphetamine, the news release states.

Two females and two males were arrested yesterday when search warrants were served at the 900 block of Garfield Street East in Tenino and the 8500 block of Steilacoom Road Southeast near Lacey, according to the news release.

Two young children were placed into the custody of Child Protective Services, according to the news release.

Charges are expected of possession and delivery of a controlled substance as well as unlawful use of a building for drug purposes, according to the news release.

The street value of the methamphetamine was placed at $154,360. The task force notes the investigation will continue.

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For further details following a bail hearing, read The Olympian news story, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The local Fraternal Order of Police group is inviting the public to its May meeting to hear Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield discuss responsibilities and consequences associated with citizens’ use of deadly force.

The gathering is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday May 9 at the Lewis and Clark Apartments at 117 W. Magnolia Street in Centralia.

The question to be addressed is when is it okay for a citizen to use deadly force to protect themselves or their property, according to a news release from the F.O.P. Centerville Lodge No. 26.

Twice in recent years a Lewis County citizen has used deadly force against persons they discovered on their property which resulted in death and ended up in court.

In 2002, a 65-year-old man was charged with manslaughter after he fatally shot a presumed burglar on his property in rural Centralia. He was found not guilty by a jury.

Last spring, 60-year-old Ronald A. Brady fired at two suspected burglars on his Onalaska property, killing one of them. Sheriff Mansfield made it clear he believed the shooting to be justified and announced he would not arrest Brady.

The Lewis County Prosecutors Office however, charged Brady with manslaughter and then upgraded the charge to first-degree murder. The case is awaiting trial.

Sheriff’s detective Sgt. Dusty Breen will join the sheriff in the presentation. A question and answer session will be included, according to F.O.P event chair Bradd Reynolds.

For further information, contact Reynolds at 360-520-6562.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A vigil is set for the still missing-Kayla Croft-Payne on Thursday evening, the one year anniversary of the Lewis County teenager’s disappearance.

Croft-Payne was 18 years old and living in a trailer between Chehalis and Napavine on April 28, 2010 when she last logged onto her MySpace internet account. She was reported missing on May 5 by a friend who hadn’t seen or heard from her for several days.

Kayla Croft-Payne

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has followed tips up into Pierce County, down into Cowlitz County and beyond but the young woman hasn’t turned up.

Last month, detectives said the last place they could verify she was seen was a  a trailer park in the Toutle area.

Winlock resident Jerome Painter is organizing Thursday’s event at Penny Playground in Chehalis. His cousin is a really good friend of Croft-Payne’s, he said.

“I know a lot of people who know Kayla and love Kayla and want answers, like her family,” Painter said. “It’s just touched my heart and I really wanted to do something.”

Painter said people who know her and people who don’t are equally welcome to attend.

Her parents and other family members will be there, he said.

Her father, Thomas Payne of Longview, said he’d rather his daughter was found, so he didn’t have to go to such a gathering, but he will be there to honor his daughter.

“I’m hoping some of her friends will come up and talk with me,” Payne said today.

He’s frustrated, having so little information about his daughter’s movements before she vanished, and hopes perhaps someone who hasn’t been comfortable talking with law enforcement would feel okay talking to her father, he said.

Painter put Croft-Payne’s parents to work, giving them tasks such as spreading the word and trying to round up donations of candles and helium balloons.
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What: Vigil for Kayla Croft-Payne
Where: Penny Playground in Chehalis, at Southwest 13th Street, off Interstate 5 exit 76
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday April 28, 2011
For information: contact Jerome Painter at jeremy@zebracomputers.com

Join the Missing Kayla Facebook page, here
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Read background on Kayla Croft-Payne, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state Department of Corrections is inviting public comment on the possible impacts of building a new state prison facility in Grand Mound or two other potential locations.

Members of the public can offer their thoughts by letter, by email or at a meeting scheduled next week at Rochester High School.

DOC hopes to construct what they call a prison reception center in Western Washington – with 1,024 beds.

It’s the place offenders go first, to be evaluated for physical, mental health, security and other needs and to determine the particular prison where they will serve their time, according to DOC.

Officials anticipate a staff of approximately 500 in a 356,000 square-foot building on roughly 50 acres.

They are looking at the site which currently is home to Maple Lane School – a state juvenile correctional facility at 20311 Old Highway 9 SW in Grand Mound which is slated for closure.

DOC is also considering two other properties: in Kitsap County near Belfair and Bremerton, as well as in Mason County near Shelton and the existing Washington State Correctional Center.

They would like what they are calling the Westside Prison Reception Center to be up and running by 2016, since prison population forecasts indicate a bed shortage for male offenders by that time.

Prison officials are proposing environmental impact statements be conducted on all three sites, to determine probable, significant adverse environmental impacts.

Those could include a broad range of effects, such as on water, plants, animals, air quality, noise, utilities, transportation, schools, police and fire services and more, according to DOC.

Agencies and members of the public are being asked to offer feedback on the scope of the environmental impact statements and may comment on such things as alternatives, mitigation measures and expected impacts, according to DOC.

The state legislature has approved funding to find a location and for pre-design costs but have not yet approved funds to build the new facility, according to DOC.

Properties pitched earlier this year by Winlock, Morton and Castle Rock didn’t make the cut.

Comments can be submitted before 5 p.m. on May 13, 2011.

By email: to David B. Jansen at receptioncentersiting@doc.wa.gov

On the DOC website: at http://www.doc.wa.gov/business/capitalprograms/prisonsiting

By mail: to David B. Jansen at WA Department of Corrections, PO Box 41112, Mail stop 41112, Olympia, Wash. 08504-1112

At the meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday May 4 in the commons room at Rochester High School at 19800 Carper Road SW, Rochester.

Similar meetings will be held the same week at Bremerton City Hall and Mason County Public Works.

The cause of the Monday afternoon wreck in Onalaska is under investigation. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 27-year-old Chehalis woman died after her car struck a power pole on state Route 508 in Onalaska this afternoon.

A 6-year-old girl inside the Chevrolet Impala escaped with only bumps and bruises, according to responders.

Aid and troopers were called about 2:30 p.m. to the scene near Gish Road – about five miles east of Interstate 5.

The driver, Diann M. Harding, 27, of Chehalis, passed away en route to the hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Harding’s 2001 Impala was eastbound and crossed the centerline, hitting the pole with the passenger side of the car, the state patrol reported.

The cause is under investigation.

The child’s name was not reported, but Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Mark Conner said he understood the girl is Harding’s daughter.

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Correction: This news items was updated on Tuesday April 26, 2011 to reflect the correct spelling of Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Mark Conner’s name.