Updated at 11:51 a.m.
DIG OUT YOUR GALOSHES
• The National Weather Service says continued heavy precipitation over Southwest Washington will push the Newaukum River near Chehalis above flood stage today where it’s expected to remain into early tomorrow morning. The Cowlitz River at Randle is expected to overflow its banks early this evening, according to the weather service. Minor flooding is expected in both areas, impacting farmlands and roads. An increased threat of landslides remains due to the ongoing rainfall.
ANGRY MOM SCARES SCHOOL STAFF
• A parent so upset her child was dropped off by a school bus at the wrong place and her voice mail message to White Pass Elementary School was so alarming, the school went into lockdown this morning for approximately three hours. Deputies responded to the east end school about 7:45 a.m. today and subsequently located the mother driving to the school and arrested her, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release Cheryl A. Strong, 48, made threats to harm staff in the message left yesterday afternoon. The child had been left at the wrong residence yesterday, after the family had moved to a different address, according to Brown. School employees ordered the lockdown this morning as soon as they heard the message, Brown stated. Strong was detained just before 11 a.m. and arrested for felony harassment, according to Brown.
AUTO THEFT
• A deputy was called early this morning to Vader when a resident on the 900 block of 10th Street woke up and discovered his car missing. The deputy was told his wife parked his silver 1992 Honda Accord in front of the residence about 8:30 p.m. yesterday and by 5 a.m., it was gone, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The four-door car has a spoiler on its trunk, black steel rims and studded snow tires, according to the sheriff’s office.
BURGLARY
• Centralia police responded about 6 o’clock this morning to a report of someone entering a garage on the 400 block of South Gold Street and leaving with several items.
FELON WITH GUN
• A 37-year-old Centralia man was arrested on an outstanding warrant and felon in possession of a firearm yesterday morning at West First and North Pearl streets in Centralia. John M. Lundy booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CRIME IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg says while property crimes in the city inched up slightly last year, violent crimes dropped significantly to the lowest level in recent memory. Berg’s numbers come from statistics compiled for for the Washington State Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program which are forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Last year, there were no murders, fewer aggravated assaults and half as many forcible rapes as the previous year, according to Berg. The trend since 2004 – when Berg was hired – continues downward, according to the chief. Read his analysis here.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for dispute, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street, protection order violation … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Did the family move while the child was in school? If the driver picked the kid up at one spot in the morning it should have been the same one at night. This certainly does not give anyone the right to threaten people. With all of the school shootings and violence it does not show good judgment to threaten staff at a school full of kids even if they were empty threats.
Violent crime is down. Police shootings are up. Good shot i mean job.
I can understand being angry about her child being “misplaced” however, making threats against staff? That is a special kind of stupid~