By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports the scaled back bill to reform medical marijuana distribution is being shelved for lack of time left during the current legislative session.
News reporter Jordan Schrader writes about it, here
The Seattle Times writes in further detail about where the law currently stands. Read it here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Pieces of a vehicle found at the scene of Saturday night’s hit and run accident that left a 77-year-old pedestrian dead on Interstate 5 are being analyzed in hopes of finding the driver.
Washington State Patrol detective Matt Hughes said they are still looking for witnesses to the incident that killed Lily M. Rowland of Chehalis.
Rowland was found deceased about 10 p.m. on northbound Interstate 5 near the Labree Road interchange south of Chehalis.
They had been getting 911 calls of a person walking in or near the lane of travel before she was hit, Hughes said.
Her family had been looking for her, he said.
“My understanding is she was experiencing dementia-like issues and had walked away from her residence,” Hughes said.
Her home is about a mile from where she was found, according to Hughes. They think she was walking south and he believed she had been missing less than an hour, he said.
Troopers retrieved a rear view mirror and front end parts at the scene.
Hughes said he is expecting later today to learn more about the type of vehicle that was involved.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call detective Hughes at 360-449-7944.
Sirens was updated at 12:25 p.m.
LIVESTOCK SHOT OUTSIDE CENTRALIA
• A deputy was called yesterday morning to the 2300 block of Little Hanaford Road outside Centralia where a woman’s cow had been shot and killed. The owner said it happened sometime between 10 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. She told the deputy it was the second time one of her chocolate brown beef cows had been fatally shot in the pasture during previous two week, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The woman said she spoke with neighbors and nobody had seen or heard anything, according to Brown.
BOY ATTACKED INSIDE DOG’S CRATE
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a 4-year-old child was attacked by a dog yesterday in Randle when the boy crawled into the animal’s crate while it was chewing on a bone. A deputy contacted the child’s mother at the emergency room at Morton General Hospital last night and learned it had occurred on the 400 block of Cispus Road, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Brown said the owner of the Labrador dog is a friend of the victim’s family and no citation will be issued. Information about how seriously the boy was injured was not reported by the sheriff’s office nor readily available.
ROOSTERS BLOCK ENTRANCE TO WOMAN’S HOUSE
• Police were called to Cascade Avenue just south of Main Street in Chehalis about 10:30 p.m. on Friday about two roosters on the front steps of a residence which were preventing a woman from getting inside her house. No arrests were made and few details were available. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said animals such as chickens are not prohibited from living within the city limits, but they are expected to be kept contained, the way that dogs are.
SHEEP AT LARGE IN CHEHALIS
• Chehalis police were called about 6 o’clock this morning about a flock of sheep blocking the roadway near Southwest Elzina Street and Newaukum Avenue.
THEFT
• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning of a rifle stolen from a gun safe at the 300 block of West Chestnut Street. Officers are investigating, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A deputy was called to the 100 block of Del Ray Road near Mossyrock on Friday about the theft of a Beretta 9 mm handgun. Its owner said it went missing about a month ago, around the same time he had hired a person to do some work for him around his property, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
• A 40-inch flat screen television was stolen from a residence on the 200 block of North Fork Road outside Chehalis sometime between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
CRASH AND ALMOST CRASH
• A Chehalis man was arrested early Sunday after he reportedly was driving under the influence and nearly ran into a deputy’s patrol car on Jackson Highway, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said Efren Morales Sanchez, 28, was traveling southbound and drove into the deputy’s lane at about 3:40 a.m. yesterday. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for DUI, Brown said. Just three nights earlier a speeding driver narrowly missed colliding head-on with a deputy when he was passing another vehicle on Jackson Highway south of Chehalis.
• A 63-year-old Winlock woman was arrested for driving under the influence after a single-vehicle non-injury collision early Saturday morning on the 600 block of North Military Road near Winlock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Claudette L. Sooter was cited and then released, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Information about what her vehicle struck was not available.
OFFICER CALLED ABOUT FLYERS ON CARS
• Chehalis police were called Saturday afternoon to the parking lot outside the movie theaters at the Lewis County Mall on Northeast Hampe Way where some males were placing White Supremacist flyers on people’s vehicles. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said it is a violation to put handbills on people’s cars but not to hand out the information. The individuals stayed and passed them out to people, Kaut said.
PIANO MISSING BRIEFLY IN CHEHALIS
• A man called Chehalis police about 4 p.m on Saturday to say his piano fell out of his truck somewhere in Chehalis. He wasn’t sure where and thought it might have occurred when he crossed over the railroad tracks, according to police. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said he didn’t have many details but it appeared it was retrieved by a citizen and returned to its owner.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The (Longview) Daily News writes the doctor at a new medical marijuana clinic in Castle Rock – who is also an emergency room physician at Providence Centralia Hospital – was reprimanded in 2007 for prescription abuse.
Dr. Robert E. Billings was since cleared to treat patients again and the matter was closed, according to news reporter Barbara LaBoe.
Read LaBoe’s story here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Galvin resident was killed when his motorcycle struck a tree yesterday west of Centralia.
Troopers were called about 12:19 p.m. to the 200 block of Joppish Road where Mycol E. Turner, 35, was dead at the scene, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Turner was traveling northbound when he failed to negotiate a curve to the right, ran off the road and down the shoulder before impacting the tree, according to the state patrol.
His 1983 Harley Davidson was totaled. The investigating trooper blamed the collision on speeding.
This news item was updated at 12:30 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Troopers are looking for witnesses to a fatal hit and run on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis last night that left a 77-year-old pedestrian dead.
The Washington State Patrol was called about 10 p.m. to the northbound lanes near the Labree Road interchange where Lily M. Rowland of Chehalis was killed when she was struck by a vehicle, according to Trooper Steven Schatzel.
Rowland was walking southbound when she was struck, according to Schatzel.
“My understanding is she was walking in the lane of travel,” Schatzel said today.
Schatzel said troopers don’t know why she was walking on the freeway. He didn’t believe she had left a disabled vehicle nearby, he said.
Lewis County Fire District 5’s public information officer Lt. Laura Hanson said crews responded, found the victim and proceeded as they normally would in such a situation. Hanson had no further details.
Rowland was dead at the scene, according to the state patrol.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call detective Matt Hughes at 360-449-7944.
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Notes from behind the news: Not crime, but a little good news
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Lewis County Sirens’ news web site was honored with an award last night in the Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest.
The annual competition coordinated by the Society of Professional Journalists recognizes work produced during 2010 in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
Lewis County Sirens received third place in the category of web sites, specialized subject.
First place in the category went to an all-about-Mount St. Helens site created by The (Longview) Daily News.
And second place went to a meteorologist at KOMOnews.com for a fun facts about weather sub-site.
Publications of all sizes competed against one another in the online division.
The contest honors journalism in all forms of media, such as print, television, radio and online.
Also recognized last night were three staffers from The (Centralia) Chronicle in the competition among daily newspapers with a circulation of 25,000 or less.
Okay, so I was just one of probably a couple hundred people singled out during the shindig last night, held at Safeco Field in Seattle. (The Mariners were elsewhere)
But that’s okay.
I’m just happy that my peers (I’m told members of the Society of Professional Journalists in Colorado judged the entries) think I’m doing good work.
And third place is really pretty darn good for me, a simple news reporter, who knows next-to-nothing about creating a web site.
Tags:By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Posted in Columns and commentary | 8 Comments »