Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office announced yesterday the 18-year-old who was driving the pickup truck in a December collision on U. S. Highway 12 at Mossyrock in which his 17-year-old passenger died was found not guilty of second-degree negligent driving.

Lewis County District Court Commissioner Wendy Tripp made the ruling Tuesday. The prosecutor’s office argued Benjamin Lamotte failed to exercise reasonable care by failing to yield the right of way to the log truck.

Lamotte, 18, had been cited after the Dec. 8 collision that left Ryan Rashoff, 17, dead.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office determined an inmate found dead in his cell Wednesday at the Lewis County Jail died from asphyxia due to ligature strangulation.

That means something around his neck cut off his air supply, Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said. An autopsy was conducted on Friday.

The 40-year-old dead man is Daniel Wolfgang Fish, Harris said. The coroner concluded the death was a suicide.

The Mossyrock, and former Morton, resident was isolated in a high-security cell by himself, at his request, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Fish was arrested and booked Tuesday in connection with several incidents of past sexual abuse of a female relative which had been recently reported to the Morton Police Department.

Jail staff found him Wednesday evening after he had apparently strangled himself using bedding, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown reported suicide notes were found in Fish’s cell.

It was the third inmate suicide in the Lewis County Jail in the last four years.

Andrew Morales-Loberg

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Chehalis police are still looking for two young men wanted in connection with the drive-by shooting earlier this month.

Andrew Morales-Loberg, 19, of Chehalis; and Juan Valentino Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover”, 24, of Centralia, are believed to have been inside a red Chevrolet Blazer when someone stuck a pistol out the window and fired a round that struck an unoccupied vehicle on Southwest William Street in Chehalis early on Aug 7.

Juan Valentino Vasquez

Warrants were issued for the pair. Bail is set at $500,000.

A Tenino couple, Ruben Alberto Palomares G., 25, and Christina Palomares, 24, have been charged in the case.

Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 360-748-8605 during regular business hours; and otherwise call 911.
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To read the most recent news story on the incident, “Tenino couple’s arraignment for Chehalis drive-by shooting set for today”, click here.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One firefighter and three members of the police department in Chehalis will be laid off under a plan the city announced today it’s proceeding with to maintain the fiscal viability of the city.

Revenues are much lower than budgeted for, primarily because the largest source, the sales and use tax, has continued to drop from even last year’s low numbers, according to Chehalis City Manager Merlin MacReynold.

The job cuts are among 15 positions identified for possible layoff, all union-represented workers, according to the announcement.

The budget cut discussions prompted a news release last night from Local 2510, Chehalis Professional Firefighters.

“This reduction in force at the fire department could certainly have disastrous repercussions to our citizens and the firefighters serving them,” the leaders of Local 2510 wrote. “There are other ways to reduce expenditures and increase revenues without lying (sp) off a firefighter/EMT”

Fire Capt. Casey Beck, president of group, said the voters last year authorized a six-year EMS levy in which up to 50 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value could be collected, but the city council last year voted to take only 36 cents.

The firefighters propose collecting the full amount next year, a move which would generate an additional $80,000, something that would more than save the one firefighter position, according to Beck.

The Chehalis Police Department is targeted to lose a community services officer, an administrative assistant and a records technician.

Fifty-one union employees in the city today received 60-day notices they may be laid off, according to a letter the city manager distributed to all employees of the city.

The number of notices is high because exactly which people’s jobs get cut depend upon bumping rights and seniority status outlined in labor contracts, according to MacReynold.