Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A trial date was finally set for murder suspect Ryan McCarthy.

McCarthy, 29, is charged is charged with John Allen Booth Jr. in August’s triple homicide in the Salkum-Onalaska area. Both men have pleaded not guilty and remain in the Lewis County Jail.

Ryan J. McCarthy

The defendant, his lawyer Olympia defense attorney Rick Cordes and Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher met briefly before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis.

McCarthy’s trial was scheduled for the week of April 18.

The two men are charged with murder and extortion in connection with the gunshot deaths on Aug. 21 of David J. West Sr. 52, his son David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle, at the West’s Onalaska area home. Booth is also charged with attempted murder of 51-year-old Denise Salts who lived in the home.

Two of the counts against Booth are for aggravated first-degree murder, potentially putting the death penalty on the table. A trial date has not yet been set for him.
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Read most recent news story about Booth here
Read most recent story about McCarthy here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – State highways and bridges in Lewis County were undamaged by Tuesday’s earthquake near Mossyrock, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Engineers and maintenance staff paired up Tuesday and drove the roads after the 4.2 magnitude quake, a DOT spokesperson said yesterday. On U.S. Highway 12, the Mayfield Bridge over the Cowlitz River at milepost 82 and the Twin Canyon Creek Bridge at milepost 89.5 got special attention, according to spokesperson Heidi Sause.

“They went out and checked every state route in the county and checked every structure and everything was good,” Sause said.

Similar checks were conducted on state highway infrastructure in the region to the north of Lewis County as well and no damage was found, according to DOT.

A crew cuts up a Douglas Fir that dropped across the roof of a home on Middle Fork Road between Chehalis and Onalaska.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 11:30 a.m.

Last night’s windstorm and falling trees caused power outages in places from Cinebar to Rochester, and at least one fir tree fell onto a house in rural Chehalis causing significant damage.

“It kind of hit dead center and broke through the roof,” Lewis County Fire District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth said this morning.

Firefighters called about 9:30 p.m. to Middle Fork Road had to use chainsaws to get in the driveway and again to make another path so the resident could get her car out, Bozarth said.

They stayed only long enough to shut off the power to the single-story dwelling and have paramedics check out the woman, who was pretty shook up, he said.

“While we up there, more trees were coming down around us,” he said. “We evacuated the resident and got out.”

District 5 which protects the Napavine area was busy all night with power lines and trees across roads, he said.

The Winlock area fire department had no calls of wind-related incidents overnight, nor did the Chehalis Fire Department or responders in the Boistfort area but firefighters in Centralia and Rochester kept busy.

Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Greg Schwartz said they were called about 10:30 p.m. after wires fell across Seminary Hill Road near the Armory and police had already put up barricades.

“It was gusting pretty strong there for awhile,” Schwartz said.

In Rochester, the fire department began getting calls about 8 p.m. that varied from trees across the road – even Interstate 5 – to power lines in driveways, according to to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott.

They had to use chainsaws to cut up trees that fell down in front of and behind a motorist on Tilley Road near Millersylvania State Park at about 9 p.m., Scott said.

No injuries were reported among their some 15 or 16 calls, Scott said.

Their own power was out, however, and they were using generators this morning at their stations on Sargent Road and in Little Rock, he said.

The chief said at last check, about 2,000 people in the Rochester area were still without electricity.

State Route 507 remains blocked from downed power lines at Bucoda and the Washington State Department of Transportation estimates the road will be closed until at least 1:15 p.m. today.

Crews have been there since before 11 p.m. last night. Puget Sound Energy workers are on the scene now.

Motorists are advised to use alternate routes.

Trees on state Route 507 also blocked both directions near Reservation Road in Tenino last night but were cleared by 2 a.m.

Near Millersylvania State Park, fallen trees tangled in power lines shut down both directions of state Route 121 at 113th Avenue Southwest at about 11 p.m. which could remain blocked until at 5 p.m. because of multiple damaged poles and lines, according to DOT.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 8:30 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.

Authorities are reporting a magnitude 3.5 earthquake near Mossyrock occurred about 15 minutes ago.

Preliminary information indicates it hit at 7:51 a.m. three miles northeast of Mossyrock and eight miles west of Morton. It was recorded preliminarily as six miles below the ground, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

The computer generated message from the seismic network – not yet reviewed by a seismologist – describes it as a minor earthquake.

At the Chehalis Fire Department, “the building just kinda went whooomp,” Firefighter Jay Birley said. One person had already called to ask what happened just before 8 a.m.

Lewis County Fire District 5 Firefighter Kevin Van Egdom said his wife called from Marys Corner and told him she felt it go on for 25 to 30 seconds.

Call takers in Lewis County’s 911 center said they have gotten reports of an earthquake, but received conflicting information as to where it was.

They have gotten no calls of injuries or damage so far. About 20 members of the public had called 911 about it as of 8:25 a.m.

By 11 a.m., the seismic network was calling it a light earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2.

The updated depth is record as 9.1 miles.

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Look at information from Pacific Northwest Seismic Network here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

State Route 507 was blocked from downed power lines at Bucoda and with fallen trees in the Tenino area as KOMOnews.com is reporting a windstorm and gusts of 50 to 60 mph at points north.

The Washington State Patrol was on the scene of when power lines in the road closed state Route 507 near South Front Street in Bucoda at 10:50 p.m., according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Trees on the roadway blocked both directions near Reservation Road in Tenino, DOT reported about 11:35 p.m. but were cleared by 2 a.m.

Near Millersylvania State Park, fallen trees tangled in power lines shut down both directions of state Route 121 at 113th Avenue Southwest at about 11 p.m., according to DOT.

The rest areas at Scatter Creek and Maytown along Interstate 5 were both closed because of a power outage shortly after 10 p.m., according to DOT.

KOMOnews.com reported power outages from Snohomish County to Grays Harbor County, including some 500 customers in the Oakville area. Read KOMOnews.com’s story here