Posts Tagged ‘news reporter’

Fire department leaders in Napavine want full-time chief again

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County Fire District 5’s experiment with employing a part-time chief didn’t work out.

A year and a half after stepping into the role at the fire department that protects the greater Napavine area, Chief Gregg Peterson has stepped down.

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Chief Gregg Peterson

The change took place last month and district’s board of commissioners is planning now to hire someone full-time to lead the department.

Commissioner Lyle Hojem said part time just isn’t enough time, because the district has so many calls to respond to.

“It was amiable, he knew,” Hojem said yesterday. “It wasn’t something he objected to in any way; we had the highest regard for him.”

Peterson was sworn in last spring, with a contract that  called for him to work up to 32 hours, with an annual salary of $40,000.

The previous chief and his second-in-command had resigned two months earlier. Jamie Guenther, chair of the board of commissioners when Peterson was hired, said at the time that a lot of people didn’t like the high wages paid to former Chief Eric Linn.

Linn was paid $82,000 a year and benefits that totaled more than $19,000.

Lewis County Fire District 5, re-named Newaukum Valley Fire and Rescue, serves a population of about 12,000 over a 66-square-mile area south of Chehalis.

Hojem said  Peterson was actually the one who brought the issue to the attention of the commissioners, recognizing it “some time ago”, and the commissioners agreed.

“We found a part-time chief just didn’t work for Lewis County Fire District 5,” he said.

Peterson, who served the previous six years as the volunteer chief in the Boistfort Valley where he resides, retired in 2011 from a professional firefighter career in South King County.

His retirement plan doesn’t allow him to continue receiving payments if he works more than part-time as a chief, Hojem said, and the board wasn’t going to ask him to give up his retirement money to stay on with them.

Hojem said the board is beginning to get its “ducks in order”, preparing a job description and then advertising for the position.

They hope to bring on a new chief by April, he said.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016
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NIGHTTIME INTRUDER AT CHEHALIS BUSINESS

• Chehalis police were called to a business on the 600 block of Northwest State Avenue about 9:10 a.m. yesterday after the discovery someone had broken a side window during the night, gone inside and stole small amounts of cash. It happened at Kaija’s garden, feed and pet store and police have no suspects, yet, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

UNINVITED GUESTS

• Morton police were called about 6:20 p.m. on Friday to a residence at the 300 block of Division Street where a female said someone had opened her front door. She described the suspects as possibly two younger males, maybe in their 20’s, wearing all black, with beanie hats, according to the Morton Police Department. She said they left on foot towards Third Street but an officer checking the area was unable to locate the suspects, according to police.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 7:10 a.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 1000 block of Elm Street. A laptop computer and paperwork were stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT MORTON

• Morton police were called to the 400 block of Third Street about 3:35 p.m. on Friday where an individual said they had put some items out by their car while they were trying to move and someone came by and stole the items. The case is under investigation, according to the Morton Police Department.

ROAD RAGE REPORT

• Chehalis police were called yesterday by a woman who said her estranged husband rammed her car, twice, the night before. An officer will look at the damage and further investigate, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VEHICLE BURNS

• Firefighters were called to the parking lot at Wal-Mart about 2:40 p.m. yesterday where a truck was ablaze near the garden center. Nobody was hurt but the 1986 Ford pickup was ruined, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, misdemeanor assault, unfounded reports, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, county road, state highway, inquiry about privacy regarding a drone flying in neighborhood … and more.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, January 4th, 2016
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Updated at 8 p.m.

MAN USES “N” WORD, GETS BEAT UP OUTSIDE BAR

• A 30-year-old Mossyrock man was assaulted on a sidewalk outside a bar in Centralia last night by numerous individuals after using racial slurs toward them, including the “N” word, according to the Centralia Police Department. An officer called about 6:15 p.m. to talk with the victim found he had a scraped and swollen face as well as a cut lip, according to police. It happened on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue. The suspects were not identified, police indicated.

WAL-MART: ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION OR HONEST MISTAKE?

• Chehalis police got a phone call on Saturday afternoon from a father who said a woman tried to kidnap his 3-month-old baby, when she took off with his shopping car containing the infant at Wal-Mart. Police were told he yelled at the woman and threw his soda at her to get his daughter back, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The little one had been in a carrier and covered up, and the woman apologized, police said. The dad didn’t call 911 until he got home, according to police. Officers are waiting to view security footage to make a determination whether to proceed, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.

DOMESTIC INCIDENT

• A 65-year-old Chehalis area man was arrested on Saturday after an alleged assault of his wife on New Years at their shared home in which she said he got jealous and held her up by her throat and punched her. The woman turned up at the Longview Police Department seeking shelter, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. When Richard R. Bailey was contacted, he had a different version of events, but was booked into the Lewis County Jail for violation of an order with assault, according to the sheriff’s office. He said he thought she had dropped the order and they had been living together for several months, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. Prosecutors declined to file the charge and Bailey was released from the jail today.

HANDGUNS STOLEN

• A 34-year-old Centralia woman was arrested yesterday following an investigation into the theft of four firearms from a home on the 2500 block of Howard Avenue. The handguns went missing last month and Melissa A. McAllister, a relative of the owner, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for theft of a firearm yesterday afternoon, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MONEY MISSING FROM GAS STATION

• Centralia police were called at 3:50 a.m. today after an employee arrived to work at a service station on the 1100 block of Ellsbury Street and discovered a burglary. An undisclosed amount of cash had been taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LAMPS AND ALCOHOL AMONG THE LOOT

• Someone removed an air conditioner from the window of an outbuilding on the 100 block of Kennicot Road in Chehalis and stole more than $1,000 worth of valuables including a Tiffany-style lamp, a vintage Japanese pagoda lamp, a vintage camera and case, and a stationary desk as well as four bottles of beer and four bottles of wine. It happened sometime in the two-week period before Thursday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AUTO THEFT

• A 1996 Honda Civic reported stolen yesterday from the 3100 block of Ives Road in Centralia turned up later in the day minus its wheels and driver’s seat on property at the 200 block of Berry Road southwest of Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A neighbor reported seeing another (black, four-door) Honda Civic in the area a few minutes earlier, loaded up with tires, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A van discovered missing from the 1500 block of North National Avenue in Chehalis on Thursday morning turned up on Saturday in Lacey, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

TAMPERING OR INTERRUPTED TIRE THIEF

• Chehalis police were called yesterday by an individual on Southwest Third Street who said he discovered all but one of the lug nuts missing from the wheels of his vehicle, something that had happened once before.

FRAUD

• A Chehalis resident contacted police on Friday after discovering a credit card she’d acquired only four days earlier showed several transactions at Wal-Mart she didn’t make, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 20-year-old Centralia resident whose vehicle smelled of marijuana during a traffic stop was subsequently arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver on Saturday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy reportedly found nearly 55 grams of suspected marijuana, multiple plastic baggies and a scale. Dustin L. Fournier was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 3:20 p.m. on Saturday to the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue where someone had slashed four tires on the victim’s vehicle. There were no witnesses, there are no suspects, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

BREAKOUT FEARED AT GREEN HILL

• Concern about a suspected escape plan at Green Hill School – a possible repeat of the cut-a-hole-in-the-fence-and-run incident from last May, authorities at the state-run juvenile incarceration facility in south Chehalis, asked for extra police patrols on New Year’s Eve.

ARSON CHEHALIS

• Investigators are looking into an incident in which a truck inside a shop was set on fire over the weekend east of Chehalis. A deputy called about noon on Saturday to the 200 block of Aubrey Lane learned it was a “project truck” which had a wood bed installed, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Cardboard boxes in the back of the truck had burned up and the wood bed was missing, according to the sheriff’s office. They believe it occurred sometime after 9 p.m. on Friday, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. The fire was out, but a wood beam above the vehicle and some of the building’s insulation were charred, according to Brown.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, vandalism, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, someone getting cussed out after asking another if they threw a cigarette on the ground… and more.

 

News brief: Attempt to disarm deputy lands Toledo man in jail

Monday, January 4th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 41-year-old man who allegedly grabbed onto a deputy’s gun with both hands during an encounter in the Toledo-area was taken to the ground and then booked into the Lewis County Jail.

It happened after emergency medical responders asked for assistance with a combative patient at the 5300 block of Jackson Highway around 2:50 a.m. on Friday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s not clear why medics had been called, but deputies were told Dale R. Smith had made statements to his family that made them very concerned for his welfare, according to the sheriff’s office.

Smith, who appeared heavily intoxicated, was persuaded to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but then he made a statement like, “Let me see that gun” and pushed the deputy in the stomach, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

When Smith put his hands on the gun, the deputy used defensive tactics to make him let go and then took him into custody, according to Brown.

The weapon was in the deputy’s holster, Brown indicated.

Brown said Smith also tried to strike the deputy. Smith, a Toledo resident, was arrested for third-degree assault.

News brief: Possible eye loss from New Year’s fireworks

Monday, January 4th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The fireworks that severely injured a 30-year-old man in Silver Creek over the weekend appeared to be small legal mortars and rockets, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning.

Deputies and firefighters responding to the approximately 12:20 a.m. call on Friday at the 2400 block of U.S. Highway 12 aren’t sure exactly what happened as no one saw it occur and the victim didn’t recall, according to the sheriff’s office.

An individual at the scene said he was intoxicated and left the residence to shoot off some fireworks, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

Brown said the Silver Creek man lost a lot of blood and would likely lose at least one finger as well as possibly his right eye. His hearing was damaged as well, she said.

He was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, with possible plans for a transfer to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

News brief: Snow tapers off, but schools start late today

Monday, January 4th, 2016
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Check current conditions and the forecast from the National Weather Service, here

Updated at 8:03 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Most of the interior lowlands of Western Washington will see light snow or flurries this morning, but little to no accumulation is expected, according to the National Weather Service.

Roads will be slippery as temperatures will likely stay near freezing, the weather service says. This includes the Interstate 5 corridor from the north end of the Pierce county line southward.

White Pass schools are closed today, with most other school districts in Lewis County reporting they will start two hours late. School districts in Toledo, Winlock and Castle Rock are closed today as well.

Precipitation is expected to change over to rain by late morning.

Temperatures in Chehalis are 34 degrees this morning, having climbed from a low of 18 degrees yesterday morning.

Some, but not all, Lewis County schools share late start or closure information on the website Flash Alert, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016
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POLICE: DOMESTIC DISPUTE

• A 22-year-old man was arrested yesterday for unlawful imprisonment and other offenses after he allegedly blocked a door refusing to let his ex-girlfriend leave his Centralia home and took her car key off its ring and threw it in a creek behind the residence. An officer was flagged down just before 2 p.m. at the 400 block of Yew Street by a neighbor who pointed out the couple on the corner were arguing, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police contacted them and learned the female convinced him to go outside with her by lying and saying he could leave with her, according to police. Dakota S. Plaas was booked into the Lewis County Jail also for third-degree theft and violation of a protection order, according to police.

TIRE TAKEN

• An officer took a report of the theft of a spare tire from a utility trailer at the 300 block of North Washington Avenue in Centralia after an 8:30 a.m. call yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 3:45 p.m. yesterday to a parking lot at the 500 block of Harrison Avenue where someone got inside an unlocked vehicle and stole various items including a purse.

• Centralia police were called about 11:35 a.m. yesterday about  vehicle prowl at the 1300 block of St. Helens Street in which someone got inside an unlocked vehicle and stole only the registration.

• Police were called yesterday to the 800 block of Park Way in Centralia about an overnight vehicle prowl.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, driving under the influence, domestic incident; responses for alarm, dispute, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more.