Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Seismologists at the University of Washington say they are thinking today’s earthquake near Mount St. Helens is not volcanic related.

A shallow quake of magnitude 4.3 struck at 10:35 a.m. six miles northwest of the volcano and 19 miles south of Morton, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

The quake and its aftershocks occurred right beneath the Johnstone Ridge Observatory, said Doug Gibbons, a research assistant at the U.W. seismic laboratory. They’ve been in contact with staff there and they were not damaged, he said.

The morning shaking happened in a place named the St. Helen’s seismic zone, he said.

“This is a zone with crustal faults, like others, and just happens to be close to the volcano,” Gibbons said this afternoon. “It’s in the park, but not under the crater and not within the zone where we’d be looking for volcanic activity.”

Lewis County Emergency Management this morning had received about a dozen calls from people who said they felt it in Morton, Mossyrock and Randle.

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network got reports from people from Lake Oswego and Astoria Ore. up through Olympia.

The seismic network labeled it a light earthquake.

“A lot of those felt weak shaking,” Gibbons said.

This morning’s shaking was followed by at least eight aftershocks, two of which people noticed – one of 2.8 magnitude and another of 2.3, Gibbons said about 4 p.m. today.

“We haven’t had an earthquake like this with aftershocks in awhile,” Gibbons said. “We don’t usually get aftershocks that are felt.”

The last time the particular region saw an earthquake of similar size was a 3.9 earthquake on May 24, 2003, according to Gibbons.

Sgt. Ross McDowell, of Lewis County Emergency Management, said late this morning there were no reports of damage. However, because of its shallowness, folks could have cracking in their houses, he said.

Late this afternoon, the Lewis County 911 center had no calls reporting anything more than the quake was felt.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash. reported this evening “(A)t present there appears to be no signs of unrest in the volcanic system.”

Gibbons said because the earthquake was only about three miles deep, “we think it’s just crustal faulting.”

By contrast, the quake on Nov. 16 near Mossyrock was about nine miles below the surface and initially recorded at 3.5 and upgraded to 4.2. It made the list of notable Pacific Northwest earthquakes since 1993, compiled by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

Today’s quake was in the same area where two weeks ago more than a dozen small earthquakes were felt, according to McDowell.

McDowell said folks should remember we live in an earthquake zone and they should be prepared, because there is little or no notification for earthquakes.

Washington state typically experiences over 1,000 earthquakes each month, according to Lewis County Emergency Management. Of these, approximately two dozen a year are large enough to be felt.

The public can follow the earthquake data at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network’s website

Follow observations of scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash. here

"Did you feel it?" response area map from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. / Courtesy image from Pacific Northwest Seismic Network

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A site selection team for a new 1000-bed prison facility visited Morton and Winlock last week, looking at multiple properties in the two communities, both of which invited the state Department of Corrections to consider them.

“Jobs, that’s what prompted this,” said Pat Hart, a retired Morton business man who helped bring prison officials to the East Lewis County town. “That is what we need, jobs. It’s bad out here; unemployment is pushing 25 percent.”

DOC plans to construct a what it calls a new male reception center in Western Washington. It’s the place offenders go first, to be evaluated for physical, mental health, security and other needs and to determine the particular prison where they will serve their time, according to DOC.

The Washington Corrections Center in Shelton serves that purpose now, but prison authorities want to return it to its original role as a multi-custody prison and increase the number of beds in the system.

At the end of 2010, state prisons housed some 16,000 inmates spread out through 13 facilities, according to DOC.

Prison authorities say the construction of a facility specifically sited and designed for intake management purposes will increase efficiencies and result in lower construction costs as DOC expands to meet expected future capacity needs.

Interested communities had a Jan. 6 deadline to submit their proposals. The team has 16 sites to look over. Proposals came from as far north as Snohomish County, as far west as Raymond and south to Castle Rock. Grand Mound is also among them.

Hart, who toured with the team and others on Tuesday, said they looked at one site off state Route 7 just north of town owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and another owned by Hampton east off of Priest Road.

He thought the visit went well and that Morton would make a good place for the center.

“For one, the city is seriously for it, they want it,” Hart said.

Also, having Morton General Hospital right there is something other communities can’t offer, he said.

And it would be very good for Morton as well, he said, noting it could bring an estimated 300 corrections officer jobs, with their family-wage pay.

On Wednesday, the team visited Winlock to view two properties in the town’s urban growth area and another south off of Knowles Road, according to Mayor Glen Cook.

It’s not so much the jobs that make the center attractive to Cook, as they would be slow in moving into the area, Cook said.

The reception center would be a very good utility customer and could be an anchor in a future industrial park, he said.

The mayor thinks the community has a good shot at getting the Department of Corrections to choose them.

“I have a positive feeling on it,” he said.

Hart said they were told the site selection team was about halfway finished with its touring and hopes to narrow the field to three by the end of March.

The team is looking for 40 to 50 acres available for purchase and development with utilities available or planned and less than a 30 minute drive to Interstate 5 or I-90, as well as nearness to police, fire and emergency services which are willing to respond and within a reasonable distance to a shooting range, according to its criteria.

The state legislature last year approved funding to find a location and for pre-design costs but have not yet approved funds to build the new facility, according to DOC.

Proposals for sites for a new prison came from as far south as Castle Rock and as far north as Snohomish County.

Erik R. Massa, center, waits for court to begin with his lawyers, Chris Baum, left and Joe Mano.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked a judge today to set bail in the Randle murder case at $25,000 unsecured, but with 10 percent of that posted with the court.

The defendant, forty-three-year-old Erik R. Massa of Randle, was accompanied by two lawyers in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon who agreed with the recommendation.

Guy LaFontaine

Massa is charged with second-degree murder in the March death of Guy W. LaFontaine, 58, of Federal Way. The two men are related by marriage.

Massa, a taxidermist, was arrested last March 14 after LaFontaine died from  blunt force injuries to his head, torso and extremities and Lewis County sheriff’s detectives found evidence including a broken shotgun with blood on it in an empty silo next to Massa’s shop. He was released from jail three days later, with prosecutors telling a judge they did not yet have enough evidence to charge him.

Meagher charged Massa last week with first-degree assault, but on Monday upgraded the charge.

Six of LaFontaine’s family members and a former co-worker from Todd Shipyards in Seattle were in the Chehalis courtroom for this afternoon’s proceedings.

Meagher told the judge he was confident about the bail arrangement since Massa has no criminal history and owns a home here. He asked the judge to limit Massa’s travel to Lewis County.

Chehalis attorneys Joe Mano and Chris Baum are representing him.

Baum said his client has already surrendered all his firearms to Mano.

Judge Richard Brosey agreed with the bail arrangement.

Charging documents describe a night in which LaFontaine – who had gone to Randle to go fishing – called his wife and said he had been beat up and he thought he was going to die.

According to the documents: His wife Gail picked him up and took him to Morton General Hospital where they found both his eye sockets were broken and he had a broken arm.

At 3:45 a.m., the hospital advised a sheriff’s deputy they released LaFontaine because they couldn’t keep him in his bed.

LaFontaine’s wife took him to St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way where he was pronounced dead.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled LaFontaine’s death a homicide.

Massa’s arraignment was scheduled for Feb. 24.

Massa is one of six people charged in Lewis County with murder for homicides that occurred during 2010. His is the only second-degree murder case.

The others are:

• Ronald A. Brady, 60, is charged with first-degree murder for the April 19 shooting death in Onalaska of Thomas McKenzie, 56. Also, first-degree assault. Bail: $50,000 unsecured bond

• Richard Joseph Frank Roth, 65, is charged with first degree murder for the Nov. 4 shooting death in Winlock of Jackie Marie Lawyer, 64. Bail: $500,000

• Jack A. Silverthorne, 20, is charged with first-degree murder for the death of Austin King, 16, whose body was found in Morton on July 20. Bail: $2 million

• Ryan J. McCarthy, 29, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 21 shooting deaths in the Salkum-Onalaska area of David West Sr., 52, David West Jr., 16, and Tony Williams, 50. Also extortion. Bail: $2 million

• John A. Booth Jr., 31 is charged in the same deaths as McCarthy but with aggravated first-degree murder for West Jr. and Williams and attempted first-degree murder of Denise Salts. Also extortion. Bail: $10 million
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Read previous story on Massa and LaFontaine here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A video camera aboard the Twin Transit bus that drove into a Chehalis house this week shows the driver “wasn’t really coherent” after he started to make a left turn and until he ran into the house, police say.

Seventy-year-old Federico J. Mestaz was put on administrative leave while the collision is being investigated.

Police called Wednesday morning when the mid-sized bus plowed through a fence and yard before striking the home suspected the cause was related to some sort of medical issue.

Chehalis Police Department detective Sgt. Rick McNamara indicated this morning the videotape bolsters that theory.

Twin Transit General Manager Ernie Graichen would not release the driver’s name but said bus driver Fred Mestaz crashed into a light pole and awning of a bank on Pearl Street in Centralia in October of 2004.

Grachien would not confirm it was the same bus driver.

In the 2004 incident, Mestaz apparently passed out before running into the Bank of America, according to Grachien.

He returned to work after six months and an extensive medical evaluation, Grachien said.

Nobody was hurt in this week’s accident at the corner of Southwest 13th Street and Southwest McFadden Avenue, but a 66-year-old woman inside the home escaped likely serious injury only because she’d left her bed to sleep upstairs with a colicky grandchild, according to her family.

Grachien said on Wednesday the driver who hit the house was a 15-veteran with an “excellent record.”

All of Twin Transit’s 14 busses have video cameras inside which show multiple views, according to Graichen.

This morning, Sgt. McNamara watched the video and said it shows the driver “slump” a little to the left as his left arm relaxes and that hand drops off the steering wheel and becomes limp. His right hand was still on the wheel but the bus continues into the house, McNamara said.

Just before that, he has a coffee cup in his hand which he puts down and starts coughing, according to McNamara. He didn’t know if the coughing was related to the moments in which he appeared “incoherent.”

Grachien said he couldn’t answer if the driver would be let go, as the circumstances are still being investigated. In 2004, he didn’t have sufficient grounds to dismiss the driver, he said.

McNamara said he doesn’t expect Mestaz will be cited for the collision.

The bus company and its insurer – Washington State Transportation Insurance Pool – are conducting an investigation.

Graichen said he understands the insurer is getting estimates to repair the home and will take care of that.

The dollar amount to fix the 15-seat bus is not yet available, he said.

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Read Wednesday’s story “Chehalis bus versus house collision a mystery” here

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KIROtv.com posted video from inside the bus. See it here

Sabrina Kostick snapped this photo with her phone of the bus and house at the corner of Southwest 13th Street and Southwest McFadden Avenue in Chehalis.