Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 6:16 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two men were injured in a fire early this morning east of Randle, one of them a 67-year-old who was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Firefighters were called around 4:30 a.m. to the 700 block of Carr Road by a neighbor, according to responders.

Lewis County Fire District 14 Firefighter Ron Blankenship said he and his wife – both advanced EMTs – arrived first and found the man and his 23-year-old grandson walking toward the road.

About 200 yards behind them, he could see what he understood was a trailer house fully involved in flames, he said.

The grandfather had burns on 20 percent of his body, on his arms, legs, chest and head, Blankenship said.

The younger man had minor burns on at least one hand and his front, he said. He was taken to Morton General Hospital, he said.

Firefighters were joined by members of Lewis County Fire District 10 in Packwood.

Fire Investigator Jay Birley said there was so little left, he couldn’t be certain what it was before it burned and doubted he would pinpoint a cause.

“It looked like he had a trailer, there was a metal frame on cinder blocks,” Birley said. “It looked like wood frame structures were added onto the sides.”

The resident had no electricity, and Birley learned from a deputy on the scene, the man had had issues with his wood stove door.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detectives are looking for help in solving a burglary in which an 83-year-old Glenoma man lost thousands of dollars worth of cash, firearms and presumably irreplaceable belongings including a silver Russian KGB wrist watch.

It was almost two weeks ago, on Sunday April 5, when somebody got into his home through an unsecured door at the 8300 block of U.S. Highway 12 and stole 10 handguns and other valuables, according to the sheriff’s office.

Among the property missing are more than 150 pictures circa 1900s in a mahogany box, as well as an antique stereoscope, according to Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey.

Also taken was $6,500 in cash and two half-karat diamond rings.

The total loss is estimated at more than $14,000.

Lewis County Crime Stoppers is hoping for tips.

If anyone knows anything about the location of the stolen property or who is responsible for taking it, they are asked to please call right away.

Crime Stoppers pays up to $1,000 for information leading to the clearance of crimes. Anonymous calls can be made to 1-800-748-6422 or information may be shared online at www.lewiscountycrimestoppers.org

The missing items include:

• Ruger 44 magnum revolver
• Smith and Wesson 22 caliber revolver
• Two High Standard 22 caliber pistols
• Two Iver Johnson 32 caliber revolvers
• Two Argentine 45 caliber pistols
• Savage 32 caliber pistol
• Stevens 22 caliber revolver
• Boker Gaucho hunting knife
• German Linder hunting knife
• Leupold hunting knife
• A German hunting knife
• Croton wrist watch
• Phase-of-the-moon wrist watch
• Wrist watch
• Another $1,500 worth of jewelry
• Two Exakta 35 mm cameras, with a 2.0 lens and a 2.8 lens

Laveta Arnold shares the defense table with her husband James Arnold as the two go before Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Onalaska couple arrested in February after police cleaned out what was described as an elaborate indoor garden with more than 600 marijuana plants at their Griel Road property were each given 30 days in jail yesterday.

James L. Arnold and Laveta L. Arnold told officers they’d been growing personal medicinal marijuana for more than 15 years, but during the past five were selling it for profit, generating approximately $136,000 per year, according to court documents.

Centralia police contended the money financed numerous safari trips to Africa to hunt large trophy animals and paid for various assets which were all seized.

A plea deal was worked out in which a charge of money laundering was dropped. The couple, ages 55 and 52, have no previous criminal history, and have been free on bail since two days after they were jailed.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello said the maximum penalty of five years in prison and the standard sentencing range for their remaining offenses were the same as for felony possession of drugs.

Yesterday morning, in Lewis County Superior Court, the Arnolds pleaded guilty to manufacture of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to to deliver.

The standard range is zero to six months in the county jail. Masiello and defense attorneys made an agreed recommendation to the judge they each serve 30 days.

Their lawyer Keith Hall told the judge the Arnolds understood they needed to take responsibility and wanted to put it behind them.

Judge James Lawler said it was a difficult case, because of the magnitude of it.

He said he’d looked over numerous letters of support, and in doing so, saw how much of a double life they were leading.

“That confirms to me people can project what they want to, while at the same time doing something extraordinarily illegal,” Lawler said.

Four rows of benches on each side of the small courtroom were nearly filled with family and friends during the morning hearing.

The judge explained that his usual method of deciding a sentence is starting at the middle of the range and then looking for reasons to give more time or less time.

“The fact you’ve been involved in the community and done a lot of things is a basis to go down,” he said. “The nature and extent of this is a reason to go up.”

The Arnolds were active in the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue program. She is a master gardner, according to Hall.

Lawler said he would go along with what the lawyers negotiated. Neither of the Arnolds chose to make any statement on their own behalf.

The judge agreed that while Laveta Arnold was taken into custody after the hearing, James Arnold could wait to check into jail on May 12.

Masiello asked for and was granted an order assessing them each $1,900 in various fees, minus a portion based on the plea negotiations.

Lawler reminded them both they’ve lost their right to use, own or possess firearms, as is customary with felony convictions.

“You would be committing another felony,” he said. “The sentence for illegal possession of a firearm is far worse than what you’re facing here today, so don’t mess with that.”

The case began at the end of last year as an investigation into a money laundering operation by the Centralia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Team and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said James Arnold was a vice president of a medical marijuana dispensary in the Olympia area called Urban Medicinals as well as another location in the Tacoma area. The couple owns a business called Alpha Marine Installations based at their Onalaska home.

Centralia police said after the arrests, the case would also be referred to the Internal Revenue Service for investigation of possible tax fraud and to state authorities for business tax evasion.

Besides the plants, when police and deputies served the search warrant, they seized more than 40 pounds of marijuana processed and packaged  for sale with a street value of at least $2,000 per pound; five vehicles including a 1948 Ford hot rod pickup and a 1969 Chevy Corvette; 33 guns included hunting rifles, assault rifles and handguns; and approximately 30 mounted animal heads.

Centralia police said James Arnold admitted to purchasing all or part of the vehicles with the proceeds.

Kent-based lawyer Hall said now that the criminal case is done, he and his partner Bradley G. Barshis will work on the civil forfeiture case being handled by the city of Centralia’s attorney.

“The way that works is they take everything, and you have a right to ask for a hearing to contest it,” he said.

The state medical marijuana law allows for up to 15 plants or 24 ounces for a qualifying patient.

And Initiative 502 passed by voters in November 2012 allows recreational use by adults and set up rules under which those obtaining a state license may cultivate and package cannabis and related products.

Any applicant for a county business license in unincorporated Lewis County however would need to provide approval from the federal government, which still outlaws marijuana. The county has issued no licenses to grow marijuana.
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For background, read “Onalaska illegal marijuana enterprise case headed toward plea deal instead of trial” from Friday April 3, 2015, here

Firefighters found the roof burning when they arrived to a house fire on the 100 block of Hideaway Hills Lane on Monday morning. / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The fire that destroyed the home of a mother and two teenage children east of Centralia was caused by a cigarette put into a soil-filled planter on the front porch that smoldered for hours, before the planter itself caught fire and began burning the siding near the front door.

Flames crawled up the wall, into the attic and then burned the roof off the 1,900 square-foot house, according to Fire Investigator Derrick Paul.

Paul said he’s seen it at least once before, and has also watched during training, how purchased potting soil products – not just ordinary dirt – will ignite.  Some of the components are flammable, he said.

Members of four fire departments arrived early Monday morning after a barking dog alerted the occupants before their smoke alarms sounded.

Nobody was hurt and Paul said it was his understanding all the pets made it out fine.

The residence, built in 2000, is at the 100 block of Hideaway Hills Lane and owned by TransAlta. The tenants did not have renter’s insurance, according to Paul.

He said crews did a good job of stopping the fire, and some of the contents possibly may be salvageable.
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For background, read “News brief: Fire claims Centralia area home” from Monday April 13, 2015, here