Read about explosion and fire at Chehalis power plant …

January 20th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Associated Press is reporting firefighters responded this morning to an explosion at the power plant in the Chehalis Industrial Park.

Read it here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 19th, 2011

VIDEO GAME PLAYING TURNS UGLY IN RANDLE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office yesterday arrested a 19-year-old Randle resident they say got so angry when repeatedly losing at a video game, he allegedly choked, hit and bit his opponent, as well as held a survival knife to his throat. Deputies were called about 8:20 p.m. on Sunday about the attack on the 100 block of Cispus Road but couldn’t respond because of flooding in the area, according to the the sheriff’s office. The 19-year-old’s grandmother said the two had been separated into their different homes, Chief Stacy Brown said this morning. Yesterday, deputies arrested Jeffrey T. Peddie, 19, of Randle, for second-degree assault, Brown said. Peddie reportedly got upset because the 17-year-old kept winning and also allegedly also threatened the 17-year-old boy with a box cutter, leaving the victim with bruises on his face, as well as bite marks and punctures on his back, arms and fingers, Brown said.

STORAGE UNIT BUSINESS DISCOVERS MASSIVE THEFT

• Somebody pried open a roll up garage door to a storage unit in Grand Mound and managed to break through walls and ceilings to burglarize six different storage spaces of about $10,000 in valuables over the weekend. The theft at the Grand Mound Mini-storage on the 20,600 block of Grand Mound Way was discovered on Sunday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Two individuals who rented the six spaces lost items such as aluminum semi-truck wheels, a specialty torque wrench, auto supplies and other tools, Lt. Greg Elwin said this morning.

TRIO OF BURGLARIES IN ROCHESTER NEIGHBORHOOD

• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office took reports of three break-ins that all occurred on the same night near 178th Avenue Southwest and Applegate Street in Rochester. Lt Greg Elwin said said the thefts happened between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. Somebody went into a vehicle inside a garage and took items like binoculars and sunglasses and someone went into another garage and stole power and electric tools, he said. Somebody also prowled a pickup truck parked in a driveway, Elwin said. He indicated it seemed likely given the time frame and proximity the victims were all targeted by the same individual.

CAR THEFT IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called to the Mellen Street park and ride just before 5 p.m. yesterday after a motorist discovered their purple 1994 Acura left there in the morning was gone. The car has a license plate of 823 MBQ.

CAR PROWLS

• Police were called about 4:30 p.m. yesterday about a car prowl on Lum Road. A laptop was taken from an unlocked vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police also yesterday took a report of a car prowl from South Pearl and West Main streets in which a backpack was stolen from a vehicle. It occurred about a week and a half ago, police reported.

VEHICLE VERSUS PEDESTRIAN

• Centralia police reported this morning an officer responded to a vehicle versus pedestrian accident on North Schueber Road at about 8:45 p.m. last night. The injuries were minor, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Read about which area police department is hiring …

January 19th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The (Longview) Daily News is reporting the Longview Police Department is hiring four new officers.

Th openings in the agency of normally 57 sworn officers come because of retirements, according to news reporter

Read news reporter Amy M.E. Fisher’s story here

Read about Rochester firefighter meets grizzly bear …

January 19th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

KIROTV.com reports Rochester-area Firefighter Joel Swecker shot and killed a grizzly bear that charged him while hunting.

Read Richard Thompson’s news report here

Read about Yakima area launches gang fighting website …

January 19th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports information about gang trends in schools, offenders and other information about gangs in the Yakima Valley are the subject of a website launched by the Yakima County Gang Commission.

The site, called Yakima County Say No To Gangs, will also allow for people to log complaints and post pictures of incidents, according to the news item.

Read the news item here.

News brief: Flood damage information requested

January 19th, 2011
2011.0118.seiber.sr131randle

State Route 131 south of Randle on Tuesday morning. / Courtesy photo by Chief Gene Seiber, Lewis County Sheriff's Office

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter


Residents or business owners who sustained damage from flooding are urged to report a dollar estimate as soon as possible to the Lewis County Division of Emergency Management.

Call 360-740-1152, leave a message with name and phone number and staff will return the calls, a news release from Emergency Management yesterday states.

Those in Centralia need to call 360-623-1373.

The information will be used in an attempt to secure a presidential disaster declaration, which could then allow for FEMA recovery assistance and or low interest loans.

“We need the approximate dollar damage figures as soon as possible to help us determine the needs of our citizens,”
Emergency Management Deputy Director Sgt. Ross McDowell stated in the news release.

The sooner the totals are received, the sooner citizens may be able to receive FEMA funding, the news release states.

Homeowners and renters need to be prepared to share an estimated dollar loss, insurance information  and assessed value of the homes.

Businesses can report loses of inventory, economic losses and damages to their buildings.

Estimates don’t need to come from a contractor but can be rough estimates, the news release states.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday morning no obvious damage to public infrastructure during the weekend flooding and reminds citizens to continue to monitor river and weather conditions.

For further information, visit Lewis County Division of Emergency Management.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 18th, 2011

SAFE CRACKER SNEAKS INTO TOLEDO BUSINESS

• Somebody broke into a Toledo restaurant, prying open a safe and taking approximately $1,500, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called just before 7 a.m. yesterday to the Country House restaurant on the 400 block of state Route 506 noted videotape was obtained that showed a male wearing a blue and white flannel shirt.

CAR NEARLY SUBMERGED IN CENTRALIA DITCH

• Four individuals managed to escape from a car on Saturday afternoon that flipped upside down into a water-filled ditch off North Gold Street in Centralia and was submerged up to its floor boards, according to authorities. Aid and police were called about 3:30 p.m. to the scene just north of Maple Street, according to police. The occupants were left with just bumps and bruises, according to the Centralia Police Department. The 19-year-old driver of the Acura Integra was cited for going too fast, according to police.

CREEPY-NESS

• Chehalis police were called about 8:45 p.m. on Saturday by a woman who said her daughter had received a phone call from a restricted number in which a male advised he was looking in her window, and when the daughter looked out, he said he could see her. An officer responding to the 500 block of Riverside Drive did not find anyone outside, according to police.

• Police were called on Saturday to a Centralia cemetery on the 1100 block of Cavenss Drive where somebody had been knocking over grave stones the previous few nights.

WITNESS INTIMIDATION REPORTED

• A deputy took a report on Saturday from a 24-year-old Centralia woman who said she had received a phone call from a man who threatened to kill her and her family if she testified at a trial related to a drive-by shooting case from Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A referral was made to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charge of intimidating a witness, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

CHURCH BREAK-INS

• Centralia police were called about 8:30 a.m. yesterday to a report of a burglary to a church office on the 700 block of Park Way.

• Centralia police were called about 2 p.m. on Sunday to an apparent attempted break-in at a church office on the 200 block of North Washington Street.

THEFTS AND BURGLARIES

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a burglary to a shop on the 600 block of West Third Street.

• Centralia police were directed to an abandoned vehicle about 9:30 p.m. last night on the 1200 block of West Pear Street that turned out to be stolen out of Thurston County, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called about 7:50 a.m. on Sunday to Adams Avenue about a black 987 Mazda pickup truck stolen within the previous two hours. Shortly after that, an officer responded to a blue 1989 Mazda pickup truck stolen sometime after 7 a.m. on Washington Avenue.

• Chehalis police were called Saturday afternoon to a former shoe store on Kresky Avenue that had been burglarized. Seven pairs of shoes were missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Two chainsaws were stolen from the back of a work truck on the 600 block of Leonard Road in Onalaska sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $1,800.

• A chainsaw, two wall heaters and a finish sander were discovered missing on Friday from a storage building on the 900 block of Davis Lake Road near Morton, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Somebody forced their way inside damaging the door frame and lock, the sheriff’s office reported.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s office took a report of a theft that occurred sometime between Dec. 20 to Dec. 25 of a handmade Amish mini horse wagon and a leather show harness from a barn on the 2500 block of Seminary Hill Road outside Centralia. The loss is estimated at $3,000, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy brown.

• Custom rims and tires, along with a piece of a sound system, were stolen from inside a vehicle on the 1100 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a  report made yesterday afternoon.

DUI FOLLOWS WRECK

• A 41-year-old man from Curtis was arrested for driving under the influence after a single-vehicle collision into a ditch early on Friday morning near the 1400 block of South Schueber Road, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Robert D. Smith was arrested. His Ford Ranger truck sustained an estimated $750 damage, the sheriff’s office noted. His injuries were not reported by the sheriff’s office.