Lewis County Sirens.com

The Hurley’s green barn has been cleaned up and the brown barn has been torn down, but the ravine remains on their property since the 2009 mudslides. / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The jury in the Glenoma mudslides case returned a verdict this morning in favor of Menasha Forest Products.

The attorney representing 11 families whose properties were inundated with mud, trees, boulders and debris during a January 2009 storm says they may appeal.

“It’s too early to know, but it’s certainly something we’re considering,” Seattle-based lawyer David Bricklin said.

The decision by 12 men and women was reached in less than three hours following an approximately six-week long trial in Lewis County Superior Court. Specifically, they found Menasha was not negligent in its actions.

Bricklin, representing the plaintiffs, contended it was Menasha’s clear cutting of a steep unstable slope above Glenoma that caused the destruction to a number of properties. Menasha’s lawyers said it was erosion from a storm that brought an unprecedented amount of water.

Bessie Hurley, who with her husband Jerome Hurley was part of the lawsuit, said she’s deeply disappointed.

“What is most upsetting about it isn’t the money,” she said. “It’s that the logging company had it confirmed to them they can do whatever they want with no consequences.”

Bessie Hurley, 59, and her family experienced multiple slides on their five acres that day, one of which left a ravine 10 feet deep and as much as 30 feet wide across their yard.

They haven’t been able to afford the bull dozing work or new top soil needed to restore their property, she said. A barn that was undercut had to be torn down, she said.

The worst part though was the fear, the fear they were going to die, she said.

She spoke of hearing what sounded like a freight train before daybreak on Jan. 7, 2009, and going outside with flashlights to explore what had occurred. Four more slides came through before they called 911 and were told, if they couldn’t get out, then rescuers wouldn’t be able reach them.

She describes walls of debris with boulders the size of Volkswagens roiling down as though in a washing machine.

The property at the far end of Martin Road has been in her family since 1964. She said she’s afraid to live there, but can’t imagine anyone who would buy the place.

She and her husband are retired, and take care of an 18-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy who is bedridden.

“I have to tell you, I feel like that logging company raped us that day, and now they did it again,” Bessie Hurley said.

Another one of the plaintiffs, the only one who doesn’t live on Martin Road, considers himself one of the luckier ones. The mud and silt only ran under his house, across his grass and ruined his nature trail and about five cords of split and stacked maple, he said.

Disappointed isn’t a strong enough word for Mike Wood.

“It’s just another case of large corporate greed,” Wood said. “They made the profit, we suffered the destruction, and they don’t have to answer for it.”

Menasha was purchased in 2007 by The Campbell Group based in Portland.

Neither they not their attorney could be reached for comment today.

Olympia attorney Robert Wright filed the lawsuit in November 2010, and took it to trial with Bricklin.

Still pending, is another mudslide suit filed by Wright, involving Manke Timber Co. and five individuals who lived on Bear Mountain Road.

Also, seven of the original plaintiffs – from around the Lunch Creek area – will see their case go to trial in April of next year in Lewis County Superior Court.

Bricklin said he didn’t think the verdict today necessarily means much for the Lunch Creek case, even though all 12 jurors agreed when only 10 were needed for a decision.

The defendant in that case is Port Blakely, and it also involves a clear cut, he said.

“The negligence claims in the Lunch Creek suit are very different,” Bricklin said. “Different different rules, different facts and different landscaping.”
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For background, read “Lawsuit: Glenoma families fault logging practices for 2009 mudslide damage” from Thursday December 13, 2012, here

Glenoma mudslides. / Courtesy photo Washington State Department of Natural Resources

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Almost four years ago, while the public’s attention was turned to predictions of flooding on major rivers in Western Washington, forecasters were warning the coming heavy rains would swell small streams and increase the likelihood of landslides.

In Morton, an estimated three feet of snow on the ground melted down to two in about 12 hours.

Rain-saturated snow collapsed roofs. Creeks and rivers overflowed and changed courses and hillsides of trees and mud slid into houses, yards and across roadways.

It was Jan. 7, 2009.

Interstate 5 was closed from exit 68 and to the north through Lewis County because of water over the freeway. At the same time, U.S. Highway 12 between Morton and Packwood was shut down with multiple mudslides.

The Glenoma area was especially hard hit.

Lawyers representing 11 families wrapped up closing arguments in Lewis County Superior Court today in a trial in which a timber company is being asked to repay them for the damages.

Seattle-based lawyer David Bricklin contends Menasha Forest Products, purchased in 2007 by The Campbell Group based in Portland, clear cut a steep unstable slope above Glenoma causing a number of properties to be buried by mud on Jan. 7, 2009.

Menasha’s attorney Bud Fallon says the huge storm with an unprecedented amount of water started a process of erosion which caused great damage. But no one was hurt, and no one was killed, Fallon said.

The trial began Nov. 1 before Judge Nelson Hunt.

The “harvest unit” in question was about 118 acres of Douglas Fir clear-cut in the year 2000, according to Fallon.

Fallon spoke to the jury today of multiple slides that ripped whole trees from the ground, and sent boulders, rocks and 16,000 cubic feet of soil down the hillside.

He said Menasha followed the logging rules set by the Department of Natural Resources.

“This isn’t a landslide, you can see clearly this is erosion,” he said. “The run off would have been the same whether the harvest occurred or not.”

The plaintiff’s attorney Bricklin argued it was a big storm, but one that could have been anticipated and taken into account.

The huge storm of 1996 didn’t cause anything similar, he said.

“What’s different between 1996 and 2009?” Bricklin asked. “One difference of course is the fact it’s been clear-cut.

“The geology didn’t change, the slope didn’t change, but the vegetation on it did.”

Bricklin noted some unique features on this site, such as slopes higher than 31 percent situated directly above homes.

“Menasha was willing to take the risk,” he said.

Olympia attorney Robert Wright filed the lawsuit in November 2010 on behalf of Glenoma residents Jerome and Bessie Hurley and others. The plaintiffs involved in the case were affected by the Martin Road slides.

Bricklin said they are asking Menasha to cover in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $750,000 per family.

Jurors began deliberating just after 3:30 p.m. today and will resume in the morning.

Seven of the original plaintiffs – from around the Lunch Creek area – will see their case go to trial in April of next year.

The Roadside Inn Tavern on U.S. Highway was destroyed during the same storm from a different mudslide, according to Wright.

Another suit filed by Wright is pending, involving Manke Timber Co. and five individuals who lived on Bear Mountain Road on the south side of the Tilton River near Morton.

James Reeder waits to be escorted out of the courtroom and back down to the jail.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge will decide if some of the information gathered by police during their death investigation of a Centralia toddler will be kept from jurors, details James Reeder’s attorney said were obtained illegally.

Reeder, 26, is charged with homicide by abuse and other related offenses regarding the May death of his live-in girlfriend’s daughter, 2-year-old Koralynn Fister.

Reeder claimed he found her face down in the bathtub and carried the naked and unbreathing child to neighbors across the street from her house asking them to call 911 while he attempted CPR.

Prosecutors allege Reeder tortured and raped the child. According to the coroner, Koralynn died from drowning and head trauma.

Defense attorney David Arcuri filed a motion to suppress evidence in Lewis County Superior Court, alleging a Centralia police detective went inside the home on West Oakview Street the afternoon of May 24 purportedly to see if there was another child in the residence even though other officers had told him they’d already checked inside for anyone else.

The information detective Pat Beall obtained while inside is what Arcuri is trying to get tossed out, according to Arcuri.

According to the written motion, Beall walked through the house and found no other children. He then dipped his hand into the bath water, finding it cold to his touch.

Beall notified the hospital and was told the child’s temperature was 84 degrees while in the emergency room, according to Arcuri.

The fire department had been called the scene at 3:09 p.m. and Koralynn was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m.

Beall’s information and more was given to Lewis County District Court Judge R.W. Buzzard to then obtain a search warrant for the house, according to Arcuri.

“If you conduct a search without a warrant, it’s presumptively bad,” Arcuri said today.

The other side must show it was okay, according to Arcuri.

Reeder and his attorney went before a judge briefly this morning to schedule a hearing on the matter.

The arguments will be heard on Jan. 11. Reeder’s trial is set for the end of January.

Reeder remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $5 million bail.
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For background, read “Defendant in Centralia toddler death by abuse case pleads not guilty” from Thursday July 12, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Toledo High School student charged with hitting his father in the head with a baseball bat this summer pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser crime, but still in adult court.

The boy, who turned 17 about a month ago, was arrested in mid-July and charged in adult court with first-degree assault, a felony for which he faced as long as 12 years in prison, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

Charging documents contended he came upon his parents arguing about the father’s extramarital affairs and struck his dad with a metal bat.

When police and aid were called to the Toledo home, the father Leslie Bagley was unconscious on the floor with what was described as major trauma to his head, according to authorities.

O’Rourke said he understood the injuries included multiple skull fractures, although they appear to have healed.

Prosecutors had to get a court order to get interviews with the parents.

The teenager was in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, but still in adult court as prosecutors insisted, according to O’Rourke.

“This is about as close as you can get to being a mortal injury,” he said. “It could have been murder two, that’s why we stuck to our guns.”

The standard sentencing range he now faces is 15 to 21 months, which includes a deadly weapon enhancement for the baseball bat.

O’Rourke called it a good outcome, that takes into account the defendant’s age, their desires and community safety.

Defense attorney Chris Baum said his client made the choice to take the plea agreement. He called it a tough situation.

“It’s kind of a sad case all the way around,” Baum said. “The victim didn’t want him prosecuted, but the state insisted.”

Sentencing will occur in January.

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For background, read “Toledo teen charged in adult court for allegedly taking bat to father’s head” from Tuesday July 24, 2012, here