Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Some 200 plus individuals will descend on the Grand Mound-Rochester area next Thursday morning as public agencies from five counties test their capacity to respond to a natural disaster.

Members of fire districts, sheriff’s offices and medics will be practicing what they would do in the aftermath if a tsunami should hit Washington’s coast.

It’s not the most likely event, but its consequences would be widespread, according to Homeland Security Region Three Coordinator Jesi Chapin.

For example, traffic from coastal evacuees will become very congested and when those residents arrive, they will need sheltering and feeding, she said.

“When the day comes, when it actually hits, (those) people are not going to be able to go back,” she said. “We’ll be in a position here of housing people in the interior corridor.”

It begins at 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. with a simulated mass casualty response – a bus filled with evacuees crashes – on county property at 183rd Avenue and Sargent Road.

The exercise conducted by Homeland Security Region Three is titled Pacific Panda.

Joining the public agencies will be the American Red Cross, American Medical Response, Olympic Ambulance and 120 volunteers who will be role playing, according to Chapin.

Agencies will be testing communications, citizen sheltering, incident management and mass care, according to organizers.

Maple Lane School will be the site for practicing sheltering, as well as a debriefing afterward, Chapin said.

Area residents might also notice shuttle busses for participants from parking areas at Great Wolf Lodge and Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers.

The counties involved in the practice response include Lewis, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Pacific and Mason.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Sheriff’s deputies will host a class on Saturday for those who want a boating safety card.

A card is required for anyone 40 years old or younger to operate a vessel with a 15 horsepower or larger engine, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The session is free, although the state charges a $10 fee to obtain the card after passing the test given at the end of the day.

The class runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be held in the training room on the first floor of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center at 345 West Main St. in Chehalis.

Boating safety education cards can also be obtained by taking a course online, according to the sheriff’s office. For more information, check with Washington State Parks.

Next January, the age requirement for a card will encompass all boaters 50 and younger, and the law is set up to change each year until 2016 when all operators over the age of 12 will be required to possess the card, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

To register for Saturday’s class, contact Lisa Arthur at 360-740-2713.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Attorneys this morning set a date of June 8 for the sentencing of former softball coach Todd D. Phelps,  convicted last week of rape of a teenage team member.

Todd D. Phelps

Phelps, 52, did not come up from the jail for the brief hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

The former log truck driver from Pe Ell faces as much as six years in prison after a jury found him guilty of third-degree rape and second-degree sexual misconduct.

The sentencing did not take place right away because  the offense is a sex crime necessitating a “pre-trial sentencing investigation” to be conducted by the state Department of Corrections, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

Halstead and Deputy Prosecutor Debra Eurich handled the case together. Phelps is represented by Centralia defense attorney Don Blair.

Phelps also has a case pending in Lewis County District Court related to allegedly violating a no contact order regarding the now-17-year-old-year-old girl.
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For background, read “Pe Ell rape trial: Guilty as charged” from  Friday April 27, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Members of the public will get an opportunity next week to observe as the Washington State Supreme Court holds sessions on three cases at Centralia College.

Taking the state’s highest court on the road is part of an outreach effort so citizens can see the court in action, something they do periodically, according to college spokesperson Don Frey.

“They’ve never been to Centralia College before, but they have done it at other colleges in the state,” Frey said.

The sessions take place in Corbet Theater on Thursday May 10 at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m.

The final sessions will have a 20-minute question and answer period with the audience.

The State Supreme Court is located in Olympia on the grounds of the state capitol. All oral arguments are open to the public.

The nine justices will deliberate in private following the third session at the college.

Frey said he didn’t have details of the particular cases. They are however listed on the court’s spring schedule.

The two-day visit begins on Wednesday May 9, with a luncheon with student leaders, campus tour and includes some of the justices leading a political science class, a criminal justice class and an anthropology class.

The justices will be presenters at a 90-minute forum beginning at 1 p.m. that day, also in Corbet Theater and also open to the public, according to the college.

It will include a discussion on variety of judicial topics such as funding of basic education in K-12; school violence including bullying, sexual and racial harassment, shootings and guns on campus, gay rights including marriage, growth management, law enforcement and civil rights, and first amendment rights, according to organizers.

A reception co-hosted by the Lewis County Bar Association will follow at 3:30 p.m. on the third floor of the science building.