Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A second member of a drug ring accused of distributing highly pure methamphetamine in Cowlitz and Lewis counties got a 10-year sentence today.

Randy Scott Chalupa, 47, of Kelso, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Michael J. Waddington, 24, of Silver Lake, received a similar sentence on a similar charge in late December.

Toledo resident Anthony Wayne Reisbeck, described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the leader of the trafficking organization, is set to be sentenced later this month.

In his request for a sentence of more than 12 years for Chalupa, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Backhus noted Chalupa took over the operation after Reisbeck’s arrest and played a significant role, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for Western Washington.

Read about Chalupa in The (Longview) Daily News here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating a 45-year-old Lacey area man who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday.

Marcos A. Sanchez

Marcos A. Sanchez’s Chevrolet Silverado was found last night in a shopping center parking lot off Martin Road in the Hawks Prairie area, according to the sheriff’s office.

He left home about 7 a.m. Wednesday and was last seen about 11:30 a.m. that day in Lacey, according to Lt. Greg Elwin said. Sanchez was reported missing last night.

Sanchez is a construction contractor and his job site on Wednesday was on the Tacoma waterfront, Elwin said.

The truck offered no obvious indications of any foul play, but it has been impounded and detectives were to examine its interior this afternoon, according to Elwin.

Sanchez's Chevrolet Silverado

“We haven’t found anything odd or peculiar about him or his background,” Elwin said. “He seems like a regular guy with a job and a family, and he just didn’t come home. That in itself makes it kind of concerning.”

Anyone with any information about his whereabouts is asked to call Lt. Elwin at the sheriff’s office at 360-786-5530.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Four fire departments responding to a report of an explosion and fire at at the Chehalis Power Plant early this morning discovered one of three huge transformers burning.

The fire in the Chehalis Industrial Park at 1813 Bishop Road involved only the transformer at the gas-powered plant, Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Bud Goodwill said this morning.

There were no injuries.

The 4:18 a.m. call drew assistance from the Chehalis Fire Department, Lewis County Fire District 5 and Riverside Fire Authority from Centralia.

Burning was one of three 20-foot tall transformers, Goodwillie said.

After they confirmed the high-voltage area was de-energized, they moved in and extinguished the blaze, Goodwillie said.