Archive for November, 2011

Notes from behind the news: Who wants to make some money?

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Greetings readers.

Who wants to make some money?

Lewis County Sirens has been a huge success, bringing timely and relevant news to thousands of readers in greater Lewis County.

However, it’s operated for nearly all of its almost 18-month existence without an advertising sales representative.

It’s time for that now.

I’m looking for a person who wants to join me, who will sell and design ads for the news site.

The ideal individual is highly motivated, outgoing and has an entrepreneurial spirit. They also would have experience selling advertising locally and the skills to create ads.

Lewis County Sirens is an award-winning news site, and it has more readers than the circulation of the local newspaper.

It’s an independent news provider, with an emphasis on publishing reliable, balanced and fresh stories. And it inspires some of the most lively and robust online dialogue among its readers you will find anywhere locally.

If you or someone you know would like to be a part of that – and you want to make money – get in touch with me.

The sales commission is very good.

Did I mention we have more readers than the circulation of the local paper? Way more.

Send me a note. A resume would be nice. Questions are welcome.

Your news reporter,
Sharyn L. Decker
Chehalis, Wash.
adminsharyn@lewiscountysirens.com
360-748-4981

News brief: Shop with a Cop applications available

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Association is looking for donations and for kids for its annual Shop with a Cop event.

The program is an opportunity for underprivileged children who would benefit from positive interaction with police officers to go Christmas shopping for gifts for themselves and their family.

It kicked off 10 years ago with a fundraiser in which some $7,800 of Krispy Kreme donuts were sold, something that has has helped sustain the program for many years, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

While other fundraisers have been held, and Wal-Mart provides some financial assistance, the majority of its funds have come from sheriff’s office employees and the public, according to Brown.

“We could sure use some donations this year,” Brown says.

The event is set for Dec. 15, when each child is partnered up with a deputy, gets to go shop for presents and then ride back to the courthouse in a patrol car where they take part in a gift wrapping party.

The deadline for applications / nominations of children who would benefit is Thursday. The program is open to youngsters ages 8 through 18 who reside in Lewis County.

The applications are available from United Way of Lewis County, at 450 NW Pacific Ave., Chehalis, by calling 748-8100 and on its web site.

Donations can be sent to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Association, attention Chief Deputy Brown / Shop with a Cop, 345 West Main St., Chehalis, 98532.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

THEFT

• Centralia police yesterday morning learned a Plymouth Voyager van stolen from the 1000 block of South Pearl Street was recovered by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Police were called just before noon yesterday to the 100 block of Railroad Avenue in Centralia about a car prowl. Somebody broke out a window and removed a car stereo face plate, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A car prowl was reported just before 11 a.m. yesterday on the 1000 block of Roosevelt Avenue in Centralia, according to police. Someone broke through the door lock and stole  a car stereo face plate, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECK

• A 34-year-old woman escaped serious injury when her car crashed into an embankment and fence along Interstate 5 south of Chehalis this morning. Troopers were called about 10:15 a.m. to the northbound lanes at milepost 66 after the driver of a Kia Spectra lost control and wrecked her car, according to the Washington State Patrol. The car was totaled, according to the state patrol. The driver, Felisha R. Talk, of Tacoma, declined aid although she advised of a sore back, according to the investigating trooper.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, November 18th, 2011

TEEN HUNTERS STRANDED IN SNOW NEAR CINEBAR

• A pair of teenagers were rescued overnight after getting their pickup truck stuck in the snow northeast of Cinebar where they went hunting yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 17-year-old boy from Onalaska and 16-year-old girl from Toledo gone up the 73 Road near Rooster Rock where their F150 pickup got stuck, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. The pair walked to where they could get a cell signal and called for help, summoning a pair of adults who also got their vehicle stuck in the snow, Brown said. An acquaintance responded to another call for help and arrived and gave shelter in his truck to the males, and a deputy called out arrived about 2:20 a.m. and picked up the females who were asleep in the original stuck truck, Brown said. They were all able to get out safely, Brown said. Brown did not know how early in the day on Thursday the hunting trip began.

DRUG BUST IN CENTRALIA

• Four people were arrested when Centralia police searched a mobile home on the 1700 block of Harrison Avenue yesterday in connection with a drug investigation. Officers went to the home about 2:45 p.m. and spent several hours there in a search, according to Centralia police. Exactly how much and what they found isn’t clear this morning, but it included suspected methamphetamine “chards” and a pipe with residue, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Arrested for delivery of methamphetamine was Ronald W. McNeal, 51, of Chehalis; for possession with intent to deliver was Roxanne I. Chipman, 27, of Oakville; and for possession was Donald R. Pender, 56, of Centralia, according to police. A 46-year-old Centralia woman, Tracy L. Hensley, was arrested for an outstanding warrant. All were booked into the Lewis County Jail.

COMPUTER HELD FOR RANSOM

• A computer stolen Wednesday morning from a Centralia motel room by a female acquaintance when a man left to get breakfast was recovered by police last night after a reward was offered and someone demanded the reward plus additional money for the return of the laptop computer, according to police. A female – a friend or relative of the victim – offered a reward on Facebook, and notified police when she got the response, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert. A meeting was arranged for about 8:45 p.m. at a parking lot on South Tower Avenue, Reichert said. Instead of the victim, 22-year-old Marcus J. Inman was met by an undercover officer, as well as another officer and his K-9 partner, Reichert said. Inman fled but was apprehended by Lobo, the police dog. Lobo also tracked down Inman’s backpack which he discarded while running. The computer was inside. Inman was arrested and booked for trafficking stolen property, according to the Centralia Police Department. A 19-year-old who was with Inman and waiting nearby was also detained, according to police.

THEFT

• A 35-year-old Mossyrock man was arrested last night during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 12 in Mossyrock in which he was found to be driving a stolen truck, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Anthony C. Burchfield was pulled over about 10:45 p.m. for not using a turn signal and found to be driving with a suspended license, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputy learned the 1985 Nissan pickup was stolen from Marysville and Burchfield was booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning.

• Police were called about 7:15 a.m. yesterday to a business on the 1100 block of Mellen Street in Centralia where someone had gone inside and stolen cash and sun glasses, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECKS

• A Curtis resident was injured when he lost control of his car in the hail and slush and and ran into an oncoming semi truck on state Route 101 just north of Raymond yesterday afternoon, according to the Washington State Patrol. Danny I. Harner, 31, of Curtis, was transported to Willapa Harbor Hospital after the approximately 2 p.m. collision, according to the state patrol. His passenger, a 54-year-old Aberdeen resident was reportedly uninjured. The driver of the 2007 Kenworth, Bernard D. Blake, 64, of Centralia, was also uninjured, according to the patrol.

• A Centralia driver escaped injury when his log truck rolled onto its side and lost its load on state Route 101 just north of Hoquiam on Wednesday morning, according to the Washington State Patrol. Nicholas R. Gibbons, 40, was traveling southbound just before 9:45 a.m. when his 1991 Kenworth struck a guard rail and a light pole near milepost 93, according to the state patrol. The truck was totaled. The wreck was blamed on a mechanical failure; a broken walking beam, according to the investigating trooper. The highway was blocked for most of seven hours, the patrol reported.

News brief: House catches fire in Doty

Friday, November 18th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Doty family was chased out of their home by a house fire last night.

Nobody was hurt and the cause is under investigation, according to Lewis County Fire District 16.

Firefighters called just before 10:30 p.m. to the one and a half story house on Front Street extinguished the blaze but it reignited about 5:30 this morning, Fire Chief Greg Feuchter said.

The fire damage was confined to the upstairs, he said.

The mother and two children are staying with relatives next door, according to Feuchter.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

SUSPICIOUS FIRE DAMAGES TWO HOMES

• A carport and two adjacent mobile homes caught fire yesterday evening in Centralia in an incident the police department is calling suspicious. Firefighters were called just after 5 p.m. to the 1400 block of Harrison Avenue where the carport was fully involved in flames, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The blaze spread and did minor damage to a vacant trailer on one side, but more severe damage to the other, according to  Fire Capt. Casey McCarthy. Nobody was home when it happened, McCarthy said. One firefighter was injured and taken to the hospital where she was treated and then released, he said. The cause is under investigation.

THEFT

• An orange and silver backhoe was reported stolen from the 200 block of Jerrells Road in Mossyrock, along with a cable and lock blocking the driveway, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning. It appeared somebody drove onto the Portland man’s property with a with a trailer and took the tractor sometime before Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office. The amount of the loss is unknown, the sheriff’s office said.

• A $3,000 hand-held, gas operated compactor was reported stolen from the back of a trailer on the 1800  block of Van Wormer Street in Centralia sometime between Sunday and Monday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Wacker brand compactor is black and aluminum, the sheriff’s office said.

• A heavy-duty load tarp valued at $600 was stolen from where it was covering hay stacks on the 700 block of Independence Road in Rochester sometime between Friday and Tuesday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Centralia police took a report from the 1000 block of Eckerson Road at 7:30 a.m. yesterday and told by a male that his female acquaintance stole his computer and cell phone when he left to get breakfast.

• A laptop computer was stolen from a vehicle around 4:30 a.m. today at the 300 block of West Summa Street in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

INTRUDER

• Police were called about 4:20 p.m. yesterday when workers went to a home being remodeled on the 1400 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia and found someone had been “squatting” there. The subject, who apparently had gotten inside through a window ran out the back door when workers arrived, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POWER POLE SNAPS

• Riverside Fire Authority reported they were called yesterday morning to the 1200 block of Alder Street where a power pole broke in half and fell when a transformer on it blew out. Nobody was hurt, Fire Capt. Scott Snyder said. Snyder said the pole was “eroded” and snapped. Firefighters isolated the area while city light workers made repairs, he said. Centralia police were called and concluded the pole had possibly been struck by an unknown vehicle. Electricity was knocked out to several area homes, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police were called about 4:45 p.m. to Southwest 11th Street where someone had smashed a window out of a vehicle.

WRECK

• A 21-year-old Centralia woman totaled her car when she lost control of it at the 400 block of River Heights Road outside Centralia yesterday, running into a ditch and a utility pole, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office. It happened just after 1 p.m. and was described as a “possible injury accident” by the sheriff’s office. The driver was taken by private vehicle to the hospital, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The driver was cited for traveling too fast, Brown said.

Read about stranded man rescued from wooded area near Tenino …

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

KIROtv.com reports a man stranded for days in the woods outside Tenino was rescued late yesterday afternoon with ankle injury.

Read and see more, here