By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 34-year-old Centralia woman charged with receiving child pornography in connection an alleged affair with a New Jersey teenager she met playing an Internet video game made an appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jessica Pearce was permitted to remain free on electronic monitoring, according to news reporter Barbara Boyer.
Read news reporter Barbara Boyer’s story here
Shoppers stroll through the north end of the Centralia Factory Outlet Stores.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A judge signed an order today to put the Centralia Factory Outlet Stores into the hands of a receiver as the bank holding a $30.7 million note has commenced foreclosure.
Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank filed a petition two weeks ago in Lewis County Superior Court alleging the Centralia Outlets are in default on a loan made in early 2007 for extensive renovations at the mall.
Centralia Outlets have some 30 tenants in the mall which covers areas on both sides of Interstate 5 near the Harrison Avenue interchange.
Centralia Outlets LLC argued it is not in default and has complied with requirements to extend the date of a balloon payment until next March. Attorneys wrote in a response filed Wednesday the Centralia Outlets are profitably operated.
The principals of Centralia Outlets LLC are listed s Richard K. Getty and Jerry R. Barnett in Tacoma.
The asset manager for the two men wrote in opposition to the petition, “It’s not a secret the bank was in danger of being shut down.”
“It’s clear that their decision to call this loan in default by stretching and distorting the meaning of the two sections of the loan document was based solely on their need for cash,” Sandra Smith wrote.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler today sided with the bank signing an order saying the note and deed of trust are in default, and the property and the rents it generates are in danger of being lost or materially injured or impaired.
John P. Rader was appointed a general receiver at the request of Sterling Savings. A receiver is a person appointed as the court’s agent to take possession of, manage or dispose of property.
As of Nov. 2, according to the bank’s filing, more than $24 million was owed on the note.
Part of the default occurred, according to lawyers for Sterling Savings, when the principals transferred their membership interest in violation of restrictions on the loan. Attorneys for Centralia Outlets LLC wrote in response they assigned their member units to family LLCs for estate planning purposes, something they did two years ago.
They had asked Lawler for a 30-day continuance but it was not granted.
Centralia Outlets opened in 1988, becoming the first outlet shopping center in the Pacific Northwest, according to their property manager Renate Johnson.
In the past three years, they have added tenants such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Aeropostale, Billabong, Coach and just this autumn, Toys R Us Express.
Negotiations are underway with several more for spring and summer openings, according to Centralia Outlets LLC.
Centralia Outlets was ordered to deliver all its property to the receiver when he posts a $250,000 bond, which is to be done within seven court days.
A judge signed an order to put the Centralia Factory Outlet Stores into the hands of a receiver on Friday as the bank holding a $30.7 million note has commenced foreclosure.
HOMELESS MAN THROWS BEDROLL AT OFFICER
• A 57-year-old man who threw his bicycle and bedroll in the direction of a police officer and took up a fighting stance ended up get Tazed and then booked into jail overnight. Police were called about 2:15 a.m. about a suspicious person near North Tower Avenue and Center Street. The man had plugged a radio into an outdoor electrical outlet not meant for public use, according to Centralia police. When first asked for identification, the man pulled the cord and began to walk away shouting obscenities but then became combative, according to Sgt. Carl Buster. David R. Anderson, a homeless person, was arrested for obstructing a law enforcement officer, police reported.
ABANDONED CAR WAS STOLEN
• Centralia police are asking if anyone saw anybody near an abandoned vehicle found about 7:20 a.m. yesterday on North Pearl Street partway in the southbound lane just beyond the Skookumchuck Bridge. Officers impounded the maroon Saturn because it was a hazard, and then learned the car was stolen out of Thurston County, according to police.
“SO DOPE”
• Police were called yesterday afternoon to the 800 block of E Street where somebody had used florescent orange spray paint on a camper parked in an alley, leaving the words “so dope”, according to the Centralia Police Department.
GALLONS OF FUEL SPILL ONTO STREET
• The Chehalis Fire Department was called about 4:40 p.m. to the Market Street Market near 13th Street where an estimated 10 to 15 gallons of fuel had spilled and flowed down the street. Firefighter Adam Myer said they ended up spreading “kitty litter” well onto 12th street to soak up the fuel.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Lewis County’s own Judge Richard Brosey is a featured guest columnist in the current issue of the Olimpian.
The occasionally published look at the “seamy underbelly of the local legal community, delivering all the news that is fit or unfit to print …” is produced by the Morgan Hill law firm in Olympia.
The brilliant writer Rob Hill is a lawyer, but he is also a one-time journalism major and a standup comedian.
So when you click to read Brosey’s editorial, “Who the hell do I have to sleep with in Olympia to get Tracy Mitchell a job in Thurston County?” you can figure out pretty quickly it’s make-believe.
Unlike the angry reader Hill said he got a call from yesterday calling him a racist and demanding a retraction of a clearly made up story.
You’ll find a small item on Paris Hilton and Olympia attorney Jim Dixon who is currently representing an aggravated first-degree murder defendant in Lewis County.
The two-page edition also lists nominees for the Morgan Hill 2010 Rock Star Award: among them, a senior deputy prosecutor in Grays Harbor County who earned his 15 minutes of fame by getting “doinked on the bean” by a murder defendant and Lewis County Prosecutor-elect Jonathan Meyer who … well, you can read it yourself.
Lewis County doesn’t get quite as much play as it did in the Dec. 2007 edition when the top of the fold, front page story highlighted an expected “misconduct contest” between Thurston County Prosecutor Ed Holm and Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden.
The contestants were to be awarded one point for each slap in the face from a female, three points for closed-fist punches from angry husbands, and so on.
Read the current issue of The Olimpian
Read The Olimpian from Dec. 2007
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – As expected, a judge signed an order today for a competency evaluation on the 21-year-old Morton man accused of accosting a boy in a public restroom this summer.
Steven R. Moulton waits in Lewis County Superior Court with his father behind him.
Steven R. Moulton was arrested by Morton police in June after he allegedly crawled under the closed door of an occupied bathroom stall in Gust Backstrom Park where an 8-year-old boy started screaming drawing the child’s grandfather and then police.
The boy told officers Moulton covered his mouth and hit him twice. Moulton denied striking the child and said he knew someone was in the stall, “but he had to go to the bathroom,” according to charging documents.
Defense attorney David Arcuri told Judge James Lawler last week his client has previously been found not competent due to a developmental disability.
Moulton is free on a signature bond co-signed by his father, Michael R. Moulton.
Arcuri said today he will be be evaluated by specialists from Western State Hospital.
Moulton has not yet been arraigned. Arcuri said his client can’t enter a plea until he’s found competent.
Moulton is charged with burglary; for unlawfully entering or remaining in a building with the intent to commit a crime.
•••
Read more about the case in “Developmental delays may put alleged attack in Morton park restroom case on hold” from Friday Nov. 26, 2010 here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The attorney for the man charged in the fatal shooting of a neighbor in a Winlock trailer park asked a judge today that his client’s mental health be evaluated.
Richard J. F. Roth
Richard Joseph Frank Roth, 65, is charged with first-degree murder for the Nov. 4 death of 64-year-old Jackie Marie Lawyer.
Attorney Mike Underwood said it’s standard procedure in a case this serious to discover whether or not a defendant is competent to stand trial.
Prosecutor’s allege Roth retrieved a handgun from his property and confronted Lawyer near the trailer park mailboxes after an argument between the two about him “snitching” on her for dumping wood stove ashes in the woods. Roth called 911 to report the shooting after it happened.
Roth previously has been brought up for his court appearances in a wheelchair but attorneys didn’t have him come to the courtroom for today’s brief hearing.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains held on $500,000 bail.
•••
Read more about the case here in “Slain woman previously managed Winlock trailer park where she died” from Friday Nov. 12, 2010
Join us
About the news: You can help Lewis County Sirens bring you the news
Sunday, December 5th, 2010By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
When I launched this news site, a former executive editor who was super enthusiastic about the idea suggested to me such local news sites could probably only be sustainable by tapping into multiple revenue streams.
Local advertising, sure. Donations from readers. Perhaps support from a patron who believes deeply in the value of independent local news. Grants. And then those little Google or Yahoo ads sprinkled throughout that pay a few cents for each click.
Maybe even “micro-payments” – charging a little bit to read each story, but I’m not so keen on that.
On any given day however, it’s way funner to report and write a news story. And it’s no secret that I’m not all that technically savvy, so I’ve been slow to do the web development work to incorporate new elements.
I’m in between advertising sales people right now, which apparently I have been for a few months.
So yesterday, I finally took the time to add a “donate” button to the web site.
If you like what you’re reading here and would like to help support Lewis County Sirens, it’s super easy to contribute that way. Just click on the yellow button and it will take you to PayPal, a secure site to send money through.
If giving money electronically makes you uncomfortable, Lewis County Sirens’ mailing address can be found on the right sidebar under “Contact us at Lewis County Sirens“.
Meanwhile, for anyone who has wanted to advertise on Lewis County Sirens and didn’t get a response to an inquiry, please contact me directly at adminsharyn@lewiscountysirens.com
Readership just continues to grow and grow.
Last month, Lewis County Sirens tallied more than 68,000 page views. Local people who want to read quality journalism and keep current with what’s going on in their community.
Who brought you a story with photos by 8:45 a.m. on July 7 telling that the reason a freight train was idling in downtown Centralia was because police were investigating a man getting run down on the tracks?
Who brought you photos on the weekend of July 24 of the Centralia wood furniture store fully engulfed in flames – one of the most destructive fires seen in Centralia in years?
Who brought you – within 16 minutes – news of an earthquake striking near Mossyrock last month?
Who told the extensive backstory of the three men sought by the law after August’s triple homicide on Wings Way in Onalaska? And later, brought you the link between one of them and an Olympia murder suspect?
Who described two weeks ago how ATF undercover agents have been roaming gun shows in Centralia?
Who told you Friday the Centralia Factory Outlet Stores are in foreclosure?
Who told you Winlock homicide victim Jackie Lawyer was “a little fiery”, that Ron Meeks who died in his Centralia apartment fire had never lived on his own before because of a brain injury, that the 21-year-old accused of accosting a child in a public restroom is developmentally delayed, that the death of supposed runaway Morton teen Austin King was homicide – a month before the sheriff’s office acknowledged foul play was involved?
And who finally got a public comment last week from Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden about his election loss?
Those are just some of the stories told first, or only, on Lewis County Sirens.
The news site is also a one-stop site to check in with free-to-read newspapers surrounding Lewis County, find out who’s in jail, see summaries of court cases and monitor river levels and weather conditions to get an early heads up when storms threaten.
Choosing to advertise or to donate are two important ways to support Lewis County Sirens. However, if you appreciate a reliable source for local news, you can contribute to its success in other ways a well.
If you come across a story here you’d like to share with friends, do it. Send them a link, and spread the word that Lewis County Sirens is the place to find news daily and when it happens of crime, police, fire and courts in greater Lewis County.
If you know someone you think could benefit from advertising here, make sure they know Lewis County Sirens exists.
Also, if you happen to snap a photo of some newsworthy event, send it my way.
Even more important to the journalist in me, if you have a news tip, don’t hesitate to contact me. That’s where some of the best stories come from.
And most of all, you can simply continue to read the news here. For that, I thank each and every one of you.
Your news reporter,
Sharyn L. Decker
sharyn.decker@lewiscountysirens.com
360-748-4981 and 206-546-3638
Tags:By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
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