By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports a new anti-gang bill proposal will be unveiled today in Yakima by state Attorney General Rob McKenna and include provisions such as making intimidation and recruiting efforts by gang members felonies.
McKenna’s bill proposes spending of $10 million to stem gang violence, according to the Yakima Herald-Republic
Read news reporter Phil Ferolito’s story here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The inquiry into the possible creation of a super fire department along the I-5 corridor in the northern half of Lewis County is moving forward with leaders in the Twin Cities joining four fire departments in their talks.
Photo by Maleah Heldreth
Representatives from the cities of Chehalis and Centralia will meet again Nov. 17 with the fire protection agencies in their cities, rural Chehalis and the Napavine area, according to fire Lt. Laura Hanson.
They gathered Wednesday evening and identified committee members, agreed on a mission statement and set ground rules for the exploration, Hanson, of the Napavine area’s Lewis County Fire District 5, said in a news release.
Last month, Chehalis Fire Department Capt. Casey Beck, who is president of the IAFF Local 2510 representing his department’s union members, said they owe it to the citizens to at least consider the options. He said frontline firefighters seemed interested.
The reason for looking at combining jurisdictions is hope for a more cost effective way to serve the citizens, according to Beck.
Next, the multi-jurisdictional planning committee will look at statutory requirements and identify potential alternatives for delivery of fire and aid services, according to Hanson.
The agencies involved are Riverside Fire Authority, the Chehalis Fire Department, Lewis County Fire District 6 and Lewis County Fire District 5.
Riverside Fire Authority was created in January 2008 from the merging of the Centralia Fire Department and its neighboring rural Fire District 12. The consolidation was finalized with approval from voters but exploratory talks dated back to 2002.
The new committee made their mission statement public on Thursday. It is as follows:
“The mission of this multi-jurisdictional planning committee will be to evaluate each of the participating entities on an equal and unbiased format, assessing opportunities for improvements, and formulating recommendations for the elected officials to present to community stakeholders for consideration in combining jurisdictions as allowed for by RCW.”
Newcomer "Misha" a drug sniffing dog with the Winlock Police Department keeps close to her partner as she is introduced.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
WINLOCK – Those gathered last night at the Winlock Community Center got a chance to meet the town’s incoming drug-sniffing police dog and hear praise for outgoing Fire Chief Jon Hensley.
Hensley was called a firefighter who was baptized in fire and blood and came out steel.
A commissioner for Lewis County Fire District 15 recalled one of Hensley’s responses in which he entered a house fully involved in flames to save three lives.
“The fire flashed over and blew him down the stairwell and he went back up and got the three children,” Commissioner Randy Pennington said.
When Hensley’s helmet afterward was sent to be examined, they discovered it had been damaged from heat in excess of 1200 degrees, Pennington said.
Hensley has been with the department 27 years, most of them as chief, Pennington said. The district just got word he is retiring.
“When you see Jon, extend a hand in gratitude to him,” Pennington said. “He has left us a tremendous legacy in more ways than one.”
It was the annual law and order appreciation night dinner hosted by American Legion Post 101.
Responders and others who serve South Lewis County were introduced, recognized for their service and thanked.
Winlock Police Department Chief Terry Williams introduced “Misha” a canine who since she came on the job in June has already found methamphetamine and marijuana.
The 3-year-old Belgian Malinois – from Mexico – is trained to also sniff out heroin and cocaine.
She specializes in drugs, not tracking people, according to her handler, Officer Steve Miller.
Lewis County Commissioners Bill Schulte and Ron Averill presented several awards.
Not present were Washington State Patrol Trooper Jason Hicks who was honored with a certificate of commendation and Trooper Mike Anderson, who won the year’s humanitarian lifesaver award.
The excellence in civic duty honors went to Municipal Court Judge Steve Buzzard.
Two individuals from the Winlock area fire department, District 15, were recognized.
Firefighter-EMT Vikki Bolden was named EMS person of the year and Firefighter-EMT Patrick Jacobson was named firefighter of the year
The law officer of the year award went to Sgt. Rob Snaza, of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
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Law Officer of the Year Award:
Sgt. Rob Snaza
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office
Rob Snaza
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Firefighter of the Year Award:
Firefighter-EMT Patrick Jacobson
Lewis County Fire District 15
Patrick Jacobson
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EMS Person of the Year Award:
Firefighter-EMT Vikki Bolden
Lewis County Fire District 15
Vikki Bolden
•••
Excellence in Civic Duty Award:
Judge Steve Buzzard
Municipal Courts
Steve Buzzard
TWO HONDA CARS STOLEN IN TWO DAYS
• A red 1993 Honda Civic was stolen from the Mellen Street Park and Ride in Centralia sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police describe it as a two-door, with an “off” colored red rear bumper and a license plate reading 106 TLI.
• Sometime between 10 p.m. on Wednesday and 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, a black 1996 Honda Civic was taken from the 2800 block of Russell Road in Centralia, according to police. The two-door car is slightly lowered with tinted windows and white wheel rims, according to the Centralia Police Department. It bears a license plate of 849 WZQ.
DRUG ARREST
• Centralia police reported yesterday they arrested Justin J. Woodhead, 28, no hometown noted, for possession of heroin and an outstanding warrant. He was booked after his contact with an officer about 3 p.m. Wednesday at Harrison and Belmont avenues.
MAN HIT BY VEHICLE NEAR WAL-MART
• Chehalis police were called at 3:13 p.m. yesterday to a vehicle versus pedestrian accident on Northwest Chamber of Commerce Way. The 61-year-old man was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.
VADER WOMAN WRECKS HER HONDA
• A 20-year-old Vader woman was hospitalized last night after her car struck a jersey barrier between Interstate 5 and and westbound state Route 432 near Longview. A trooper called just after 10 p.m. reported that Samantha J. Frisbie was taken by ambulance to St. John Medical Center in Longview with chest and neck pain. Her 1990 Honda accord was totaled, according to the Washington State Patrol. The investigating trooper noted Frisbie was traveling too fast and failed to negotiate the curve.
CAR KNOCKS CHEHALIS MAN’S BIG RIG OVER, PATROL SAYS
• The Washington State Patrol reported a Chehalis man’s tractor-trailer rig rolled and jack-knifed when a passenger car pulled in front of it on state Route 7 in south Pierce County yesterday. John R. Harrold, 46, of Chehalis, was northbound in his 2007 Kenworth when a 2009 Ford Focus pulled out from Ohop Valley Road and ran into the truck’s second trailer, according to the state patrol. A trooper called about 11:15 a.m. to the scene indicated Harrold was uninjured and his truck sustained an estimated $4,000 damage. The car was totaled and its 21-year-old female driver, from Eatonville, was treated at the scene, according to the trooper.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Jackie Marie Lawyer was a longtime fixture in Winlock’s Frost Road Trailer Park before she was fatally shot there last week, allegedly by a neighbor as they argued about “snitching”.
Richard J. F. Roth
Lawyer, 64, was the onsite manager, collecting rents and doing maintenance more than a dozen years ago when the park was temporarily put into the hands of Winlock accountant Don Lynch.
Lynch was stunned to hear the news of the resident he described as a single woman who lived there for quite some time before he took over.
“She worked hard for me, she was loyal as an employee; she could be a little fiery sometimes,” Lynch said after he learned of Lawyer’s death.
The trailer park, just east of Interstate 5 and north of Toledo, was put into receivership in the spring of 1997 related to the divorce of its owners, according to Lynch.
It was a difficult place to manage, he said.
Sheriff’s deputies were in there almost daily, he said, but with several evictions over time, he was able to reduce that to weekly visits, he said.
“There was a tremendous amount of things going on there, and Jackie was a tremendous help to me in getting it straightened up,” he said.
Lawyer died the morning of Nov. 4, of a penetrating gunshot wound to her chin and neck, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. Lewis County sheriff’s deputies called just before 11 a.m. say she was dead when they arrived.
Detectives were told by 65-year-old Richard Joseph Frank Roth that Lawyer approached him as he was doing his laundry in the recreation building, repeatedly calling him a snitch for telling the park manager she was dumping ashes from her wood stove in the woods across the street.
Roth reportedly told detectives other tenants in the park had been having problems with Lawyer as well. He alleged she snuck around at night getting into people’s stuff and even stealing, dressed like a “Ninja”, according to charging documents.
Roth told detective Bruce Kimsey that after the incident in the recreation building, he took his laundry soap back to his van and put his .22 revolver in his back pocket. When he was confronted by Lawyer again, he pulled it out, pointed it at her neck and squeezed the trigger from about three feet away, according to charging documents.
The 65-year-old also told the detective it was all kind of blurry; she was holding a coffee cup and he did not know at what point he retrieved the weapon.
Roth pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder on Wednesday.
The crime carries a possible penalty of life in prison. A trial date was set for the week of Jan. 3.
A cousin of Roth’s was in Lewis County Superior Court for his appearance, but like a trio of women who came to support him the week before, declined to speak on the record about him.
Roth lived alone in a home-made wood trailer, moving to the Frost Road park a few months ago, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
The social security recipient was living in Castle Rock – described by defense attorney Bob Schroeter as “Baja Lewis County” for about three years before that.
He also has an address in Klamath Falls in southern Oregon; Schroeter said he lived just across the border in Tule Lake, Calif. His assets include a van and a 1960 motor home.
Roth’s background includes a conviction in 1969 for escape out of Sacramento, Calif. and for being an “ex-con with a gun” in 1982, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. Attorneys involved in the current case said they did not know what the underlying felony conviction was for.
Roth was brought to both his court appearances in a wheelchair; a neighbor has said he walks with a cane.
He was recently hospitalized for a heart procedure, and takes medication for his heart, his thyroid and his cholesterol, according to authorities.
His court-appointed attorney Mike Underwood on Wednesday said he’s got some “health issues”.
“He’s 65 years old, he has trouble getting around,” Underwood said.
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Jackie Lawyer was 64, not 66 as the sheriff’s office and coroner’s office initially reported.
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For more details and photos from the Nov. 4 events in Winlock, scroll down to read “Woman, 66, fatally shot in Winlock trailer park, neighbor arrested” or click here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A women was pinned under a vehicle in the Capitol Forest when she was sitting on the passenger window sill and the vehicle hit a stump and rolled onto its right side yesterday.
Troopers called about 4:30 a.m. yesterday to an unpaved trail near the D4000 line reported Jamie L. Voight, 31, of Gig Harbor, was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.
The driver, David W. Guritz, 32, and a 15-year-old passenger Trevor L. Bartley, both of Olympia, were unhurt, according to the Washington State Patrol. None of the occupants were wearing seatbelts.
The 2005 Chevrolet 1500 sustained an estimated $4,000 damage and was impounded.
The accident is under investigation, but troopers report drugs or alcohol were involved.
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Column: How long does beef jerky really last?
November 12th, 2010By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Perhaps after the last flood, you thought it would be wise to put copies of your car and house insurance in a ziplock baggie inside your freezer, just in case, but haven’t gotten around to it.
Did you borrow that extra blanket when you went to beach this summer?
How long does beef jerky really last?
The package in the trunk of my car was purchased very shortly after spending a few hours in November 2006 stuck on U.S. Highway 12 in Randle.
The Washington State Emergency Management Division has put together a web page with reminders of what to do to be prepared for a flood and more.
A couple of easy items jumped out at me, like: It’s time to check to see if I need to update my out-of-area contact; a card for each household member with the name and phone number of someone who lives out of the local area because sometimes in a disaster, local phone calls aren’t possible.
Also, I can make sure I’m keeping the temperature in my refrigerator below 40 degrees and the freezer at zero degrees to minimize the loss of food if the power goes out. And, I should freeze a container of water so I could put it into the refrigerator to keep the food colder longer.
The EMD page’s links include items like a checklist for the important documents to copy, a checklist for a comfort kit, frequently asked questions about flood insurance, and, a one-click “rate the flood risk at your address” link.
They call it In Focus 2010, flood safety. It’s their November spotlight. See it here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
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