By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
KOMOtv.com reports a small tornado touched down briefly east of Napavine on Friday.
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Archive for May, 2011
Read about small tornado touches down near Napavine …
Saturday, May 28th, 2011News brief: Judge Buzzard stepping down from the bench
Friday, May 27th, 2011By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Judge Steven Buzzard is retiring from both municipal courts in Chehalis and Centralia.
His last day will be Tuesday.
Steve Buzzard
In Chehalis, they have four applications for the position and will be conducting interviews for a new judge during the next two weeks, according to Chehalis Municipal Court Administrator Becky Fox.
Buzzard has been on the bench there since December 1997. He started in Centralia in January 2005.
Centralia has five candidates for their judge position and will be interviewing this afternoon, according to the city’s human resources director Candice Rydalch.
“Hopefully we’ll have a decision by next week,” Rydalch said this morning.
Read about boy, 4, killed in Rochester tractor accident …
Friday, May 27th, 2011This was updated at 8:53 a.m. on Friday May 27, 2011
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
KIROtv.com reports a 4-year-old boy was killed when he was run over by a tractor driven by his 7-year-old brother in Rochester yesterday evening.
Read about it here
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office this morning identified the child as Isaac Decker, of Rochester. He is 3 years old, not 4 years old as initially reported, according to Lt. Greg Elwin.
According to Elwin, Isaac was riding on the running board of a sod-cutting tractor being driven by his 7-year-old brother.
At some point, the boy jumped off and slipped and was run over, according to Elwin.
Deputies and aid were called about 8:15 p.m. last night to the farm on the 17600 block of McCormick Road Southwest.
The boy suffered what Elwin described as massive head trauma and was declared dead the scene, Elwin reported.
An adult male was riding on the back of the tractor.
The child’s 18-year-old cousin saw it happening, tried to help and was injured as well, according to Elwin.
Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup
Thursday, May 26th, 2011BOMB THREAT AT SCHOOL
• Police say in all likelihood it was a prank, especially when they found no explosives yesterday at Centralia Middle School. Officers were called about 11:20 a.m. to the building on the 900 block of Johnson Road after a message was found saying there was a bomb on the premises. It was written in pencil on a bathroom wall, according to Centralia police. Officers viewed video from a camera in the hallway outside the bathroom in an attempt to discover who might had left the note, according to police. Several individuals were interviewed and no suspect was identified, police reported.
BURGLARY ARREST
• A 22-year-old woman was arrested yesterday afternoon for allegedly unlawfully entering an apartment on the 700 block of South Gold Street and removing a laptop computer, clothing and a computer game console. Nallely Garcia Gutierrez, of Chehalis, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• Police were called about 10 a.m. yesterday to the 1800 block of Van Wormer Street in Centralia about the theft of a wallet and camera from an unlocked vehicle.
Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011KNIFE AT SCHOOL
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy was sent to Winlock High School yesterday to take a report about an 18-year-old who allegedly pulled a knife during a dispute while playing football there the day before. The case is being referred for a requested charge of fourth-degree assault and possessing a dangerous weapon on school grounds, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.
ELUDING POLICE
• A 38-year-old driver was arrested for attempting to elude after he drove away from a Chehalis police officer who stopped him at Stan Hedwall Park on Rice Road. Police say Justus J. Kohlenberg, who had a warrant for his arrest, got onto Interstate 5 and exited at Mellen Street in Centralia, where police cars boxed him in. Kohlenberg continued talking on his cell phone instead exiting his vehicle and officers broke a window to get him out, according to Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut. Kohlenberg, who is listed as a transient and previously from Longview, was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
THEFT
• Centralia police were called yesterday about the theft of a license plate from a vehicle overnight on the 100 block of Jefferson Street. The missing plate reads B08322B, according to the Centralia Police Department.
OAKVILLE WRECK INJURES TWO
• Two occupants of an sport utility vehicle were hospitalized overnight after the SUV veered off U.S. Highway 12 in Oakville traveled down a ravine and ran into a tree. Kevin A. Albert, 36, of Oakville, had cuts to his head and was taken along with his passenger Jay A. McCall, 24, of Centralia, to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. McCall had neck pain, the state patrol reported. Trooper called about 2:15 a.m. to the scene near Elma Gate Road concluded Albert was driving under the influence. The 2000 Cadillac Escalade was described as totaled.
State patrol seeking damaged van from freeway hit and run
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Lily Rowland, right, and her husband of 52 years, Billy Rowland Sr., paused for a snapshot earlier this year. / Courtesy photo
This news story was updated at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday May 25, 2011
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Troopers say they are looking for a van with damage on its right side in connection with the hit and run that left a Chehalis woman dead on Interstate 5 near Chehalis over the weekend.
The vehicle will possibly be missing – or have damage to – its right-side mirror and missing the front passenger side amber-colored marking light, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Pieces of the van found at the scene Saturday night belong to a 1996 to 2002 full sized Chevrolet Express or GMC Savana van, according to Trooper Steven Schatzel.
Lily M. Rowland, 77, was found about 10 p.m. fatally injured on northbound Interstate 5 near the Labree Road interchange.
She had wandered away from her nearby home and when her grown daughter reported her missing, law enforcement officers had already been getting 911 calls about a pedestrian on the freeway.
Washington State Patrol detective Matt Hughes said he believed she had been missing less than an hour.
Rowland’s husband of 52 years said his wife had Alzheimer’s disease and had a tendency to try to wander away. Billy Rowland Sr. said when he realized she’d left, he looked around the house about 10 minutes before he and his daughter drove a couple times around the area.
The couple live on Bishop Road, but previously lived near Marys Corner, where they raised six children. His wife grew up there, he said.
“She was always wanting to go home; she didn’t know where, just go home,” he said.
Lily Rowland was a home maker, although she worked at a tree farm near Toledo in the 1980s, according to her husband.
After his retirement, the couple spent a lot of time traveling, buying and selling antiques, mostly farm items, at swap meets, he said.
“It’s just shocking,” Billy Rowland said. “It’s just sad, sad, sad. There’s no way to explain it.
“I just hope they get that guy.”
Lily Rowland’s funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday at the cemetery next to Fir Lawn Funeral Chapel in Toledo.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call detective Hughes at 360-449-7944 or 360-772-1010.
This photo is an example of the particular body and grille style of the van troopers are looking for. Details such as window configurations, color and length my be different. / Courtesy photo Washington State Patrol
Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011LIQUOR STING NETS BARTENDERS
• Law officers were bar hopping on Saturday night – along with an undercover, underage assistant who helped snag four bartenders that served alcohol to a minor, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies working with agents from the Washington State Liquor Control Board began at the Tall Timber on U.S. Highway 12 in Randle where the 18-year-old “investigative aid” was able to purchase alcohol, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Bartender Staci K. Davis, 45, of Randle, was the first to be issued a criminal citation for furnishing liquor to a minor, Brown said this morning. They moved to the Paradise Restaurant and Lounge on Chehalis Avenue in Chehalis where Kimberly M. Brown, 28, of Chehalis, was cited, Chief Brown said. At the Rumors tavern on Northwest Pacific Avenue in Chehalis, they cited Kristin M. Homan, 36, of Chehalis and finally, a citation was issued to Elizabeth R. Boylan, 28, of Chehalis, a bartender at the Tower Tavern on Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to Brown.
CAN OF FOOD TOSSED AT MOTORIST
• Centralia police were called about 11 o’clock last night after somebody in a white van threw a can of dog food at an individual’s vehicle on West Main Street.
THEFT
• Chehalis police were called about 4:40 p.m. yesterday to Southwest Third Street where a red Honda Accord was believed to have been stolen within the previous hour.
• A five-gallon gas can was stolen from a shed on the 100 block of Orchard Drive in Salkum yesterday sometime between 8 a.m. and 8:45 p.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Somebody had also tried to force their way through the front door a the residence, but didn’t get in, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.
• Tools and a radiator were stolen from a garage on the 2000 block of Williams Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday afternoon.
• Chehalis police were called to a retirement home on Northwest Quincy Place yesterday to a complaint money had been stolen from somebody’s room. Further details were not readily available.
• Centralia police took a report about 9 p.m. last night of a car prowl on the 600 block of West Main Street. A purse was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Chehalis police were called yesterday about a car prowl near the 500 block of North Market Boulevard in which a wallet was taken. It apparently occurred on Friday night.
DRUGS
• A 25-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of heroin and a warrant last night after contact with an officer on the 100 block of West High Street in Centralia. Jamie R. Anderson was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Centralia police.
WRECK
• A teenage driver was hospitalized after a single-vehicle crash near Haliday and Little Hanaford roads outside Centralia yesterday evening. Aid was called about 7:30 p.m. and found a Toyota Camry had left the road and taken out a light pole, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The young male patient was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be checked, primarily because of the seriousness of the wreck, fire Capt. Ken Colombo said.
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