Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 22-year-old motorist who reportedly fell asleep before his car crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 12 northwest of Oakville is being blamed for a wreck that totaled a log truck driven by a Chehalis resident this morning.

Both drivers escaped unhurt, as did the driver of a flatbed truck that was also involved, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers were called just before 6 a.m. to the scene three miles south of Elma.

The oncoming 2007 Kenworth log truck was hit in the front tire by the 1998 Acura Integra, causing the log truck to go off the road and spill its load of logs onto the highway, according to the state patrol. Dean R. Lennox, 46, of Chehalis, was reportedly uninjured.

The other two vehicles were described as totaled also.

Two passengers in the Integra, from Abderdeen, were taken by ambulance to Capitol Medical Center in Olympia, one with a broken leg and the other with a head injury, the patrol reported.

Kristopher M. Hyatt, 22, of Abderdeen, reportedly fell asleep and after his car struck the log truck tire, the car spun out and was hit by an oncoming 2008 Dodge flatbed work truck, the state patrol reported.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The sheriff revealed this morning that identification found with the body discovered at Riffe Lake belonged to a Colorado man wanted for murder.

The find on the shore’s edge of the East Lewis County lake was reported about 6 p.m. Wednesday by a boater, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The body was badly decomposed.

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield said this morning positive identification has not been made but detectives found the ID in a backpack next to the body. It belongs to a 49-year-old Denver man wanted in connection with the murder of his girlfriend in March in Denver, according to Mansfield.

The sheriff said the wanted man’s vehicle was found in April near the Blue Lake Campground outside of Randle. It was impounded and its owner not located, he said.

The Blue Lake Campground is on the Cispus River in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest – more than 30 miles from where the body was found.

The wanted man’s name is James A. Sprague, according to the sheriff’s office.

Detectives began processing the scene at the lake where the body was found – near the Mossyrock Dam fishing area – yesterday morning. Sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said there were other items found that suggested the individual had a makeshift camp set up there.

Detectives are working with the Lewis County Coroner’s Office to determine the cause of death and make a positive identification, the sheriff said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Lewis County sheriff’s detectives are examining the scene on Riffe Lake where a body was found last evening.

The find on the shore’s edge of the East Lewis County lake was reported about 6 p.m. last night by boaters, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said it is badly decomposed and they have no idea who it is.

“We can’t tell if its a male or a female but it does appear to be an adult,” Aust said.

Deputies had to access the area, in a remote cove on the northwest portion of the lake, by boat, according to Aust. Detectives began processing the scene about 7 o’clock this morning, he said.

The west end of the 17-mile lake is about two and a half miles east of Mossyrock.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state patrol responded to a rollover crash on state Route 508 overnight, a wreck they blame on the driver falling asleep.

Troopers and aid were called about 3 o’clock this morning to the scene south of Chehalis, about two miles east of Interstate 5.

The 19-year-old driver, Daniel S. Holmes of Chehalis, suffered cuts to his head and hand and was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. He was treated and has been released, a hospital spokesperson said this morning.

Holmes’ 1993 Dodge Dakota was described as totaled.

The pickup truck was westbound and when Holmes nodded off, it drifted onto the left shoulder and rolled one time, coming to rest wheels down in a ditch, according to the investigating trooper.

The trooper reported he expected Holmes would be cited for wheels off the roadway.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Cedar Creek Corrections Center at Littlerock is getting a new superintendent next month, a man who also has been tapped to assist in finding a spot to build a new 1,000-bed prison for Washington state.

Doug Cole’s appointment takes effect August 15, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections.

Cole is currently the superintendent at the women’s prison at Purdy and previously served as an associate superintendent at McNeil Island Corrections Center, according to Belinda Stewart, a spokesperson for DOC. He has extensive experience in security management, Stewart said.

“He has been in corrections for a long time, he came up through the custody ranks,” Stewart said.

Cedar Creek’s current superintendent Jane Parnell will move to take Cole’s post at the Washington Corrections Center for Women near Gig Harbor.

Cedar Creek is a minimum security prison that houses offenders within four years of their release. The Bordeaux Road facility holds 480 inmates.

In addition to being in charge of Cedar Creek, Cole – a Mason County resident – will serve as the prison division’s liaison for the siting and design of a new facility.

DOC plans to construct a what it calls a new male reception center, in part because Washington Corrections Center in Shelton was never built for that purpose, which is currently serves, according to Stewart. A decision hasn’t yet been made about where it will go.

“We want it on the I-5 corridor,” Stewart said. “That just makes it easier for families to visit.”

Prisons Director Dick Morgan said in a news release Cole a good fit for his new duties.

“Doug has extensive experience with prison construction and his expertise will ensure progress is efficient and meets the needs of the agency,” Morgan stated. “This project is a huge undertaking and it’s critical that we have the right person heading up the effort for our division.”

DOC reports the prison population has changed drastically in the past year. The state agency has reduced 1,056 beds this year in response to a decreased offender population and a projected decline of incoming offenders in the future, according to the news release.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An outdoor burn ban will go into effect in Lewis County at one minute after midnight tonight.

Lewis County Building Official and Fire Marshal Fred Chapman said he expects it will remain until weather conditions change, probably sometime in October.

It’s a summertime restriction that means residents can’t burn brush outdoors, which they otherwise could have with a permit.

“This is the latest its gone into effect in my 10 years here,” Chapman said, noting that’s because June as such a wet month.

Small cooking campfires – no larger than three feet by three feet by two feet – are still allowed.

Thurston County implemented a similar ban on July 15.

Also on July 15, a burn ban went into effect statewide on all Department of Natural Resources-protected lands which include private forest lands and state-owned forest lands. An exception to those restrictions are recreational fires in approved fire pits in designated campgrounds. It is set to expire on Sept. 15.

In the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, campfires are currently allowed if certain safety measures are taken, such as using a ringed or grated fire pit and keeping tools such as a shovel nearby in case fire should escape, according to Ken Sandusky, a spokesperson for the National Forest.

The fire danger is currently listed as moderate in the Gifford Pinchot, and as the precaution level increases, so do the restrictions, Sandusky said.

Chapman said use common sense and enjoy the summer.

If a person builds a campfire, keep it at least 20 feet away from any structure, don’t do it under a tree and don’t leave it unattended, he said.

The end of July and the first of August often are accompanied by an increase in wildfire outbreaks, according to DNR. So far this year, as of last week, there have been more than 140 wildfires on the 12.7 million acres across Washington on land protected by DNR.

For more information check with your local fire department or the following:

• Lewis County Community Development – click here
• Washington State Department of Natural Resources – click here
• Gifford Pinchot National Forest – click here
• Southwest Washington Fire Prevention Council – click here
• Southwest Clean Air Agency – click here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A two-car crash on Interstate 5 near 13th Street in Chehalis sent two  women to the hospital yesterday afternoon.

The Washington State Patrol reported that a northbound Audi slammed into the rear of a Toyota Corolla which had braked hard to avoid traffic at about 2 p.m.

The impact forced the Toyota into the inside concrete barrier can caused it to flip onto its top, according to the state patrol.

The 2006 Toyota Corolla was totaled. The 2002 Audi A4 sustained an estimated $2,000 damage and was towed.

Lindsay A. Currier, 22, of Beaverton, Ore. and Alison L. Tuttle, 29, of Portland, Ore. were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. Both were treated and have been released.

The investigating trooper blamed the collision on inattention.

Early the day before, three Randle residents were hospitalized after a car ran off U.S. Highway 12 east of Packwood, rolled and landed on its top blocking both east and westbound lanes.

Aid and troopers were called about 5:45 a.m. on Saturday to the crash about six miles this side of White Pass.

Taken to Morton General Hospital with what were described as minor injuries were the driver of the 2006 Chevrolet HHR, Robert Miller, 77, Beatrice A. Dean, 73, and Lois B. Jones, 76, according to the state patrol.

The car was described as a total loss.