Chehalis City Council Roundup: New LeMay Contract Brings Rate Increases, Noise Complaints at Theater and Tax Clarification

The Chehalis Basin Local Action Non-Dam (LAND) Alternatives Steering Group held a workshop earlier this month at the Great Wolf Lodge to give basin residents a first look at four proposals that now require public input. The group was formed and funded through the Office of Chehalis Basin to look...

The Washington State Auditor’s Office has completed its inspection of the Lewis County commissioners in their role as the board of supervisors for the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District and gave them an exemplary audit, according to a county news release. Auditors looked at accounts payable, compliance...

A pilot project to stave off erosion on the banks of rivers in the Chehalis Basin is showing initial signs of success. The work was part of a $1.6 million investment by the Office of the Chehalis Basin to manage erosion by purchasing property, developing a streamflow gauge plan and testing how ground and surface waters mix with a demonstration project along the banks of the Satsop River just outside of Brady, according to a newsletter from the Office of the Chehalis Basin.

Note: This content was produced by the Economic Alliance of Lewis County as part of the monthly Economic Report supplement published in The Chronicle. To learn more about the Alliance, visit https://lewiscountyalliance.org/. At a business meeting of the Lewis County Commissioners on Jan. 3, the county approved a grant contract...

Inside what Gov. Jay Inslee described as Washington’s first facility on a “new horizon of behavioral health treatment,” daylight warms the room despite it being a foggy, rainy Friday morning. Inslee and other officials gathered inside Maple Lane School’s newest building for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating what...

Note: This content was produced by the Economic Alliance of Lewis County as part of the monthly Economic Report supplement published in The Chronicle. To learn more about the Alliance, visit https://lewiscountyalliance.org/. New Lewis County Economic Alliance Chair Luke Moerke brings his honesty, his straightforward approach and a drive to...

Note: This content was produced by the Economic Alliance of Lewis County as part of the monthly Economic Report supplement published in The Chronicle. To learn more about the Alliance, visit https://lewiscountyalliance.org/. Ameresco, with 60 offices around the world and regional offices in Vancouver, B.C., Seattle and Portland, focuses on...

The Southwest Washington Mycological Society will hold a meeting on Feb. 7 at the WSU Extension Office in Chehalis at 6 p.m. The office is located at 17 SW Cascade Ave. in Chehalis. There will be a presentation by Rainy Karnes from Raven’s Wind Farm who will discuss home cultivation...

TOLEDO — In a muddy field northwest of Toledo, multicolored flags marked the thousands of spots where natural color will push through this spring, signaling the return of one of the most significant plants to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. On Friday, about 30 Cowlitz tribal members, staff and volunteers...

Rainier Eye, set to open in June, may help those with trouble seeing — but, its owners’ vision for a community-owned and operated optometry clinic is clear. The clinic, located in Chehalis, will be co-owned by Drs. Mary Ferris and Angela Loeb, who previously worked as optometrists in Olympia.

Jester’s Auto Museum and Event Center was the location of the Lewis County Fire District 5 annual awards dinner on Jan. 21. The event was cosponsored by the Fire District 5 Firefighters Association and the district. Attendees were able to spend time viewing the impressive collection of automobiles prior...

Do you believe women pursuing a college education can impair their fertility? Today, such a notion sounds absurd, but that was a prevailing myth dispelled only after a small group of college graduates formed the American Association of University Women in 1881 and published a research report four years later.

Almost 750 people were killed in vehicle accidents across our state in 2022. That’s the highest number in the past 30 years. Are you concerned? You should be if you or your loved ones travel on our public roads. Our rise in the fatality rate is one of the...

Saturday was a great morning to plunge into Mayfield Lake for a good cause for dozens of area residents. The 2023 Special Olympics Polar Plunge was again hosted by the Lewis County Icicle Brigade. State Rep. Peter Abbarno and members of the Centralia Police Department led what has become an annual January tradition. All proceeds support Special Olympians in Lewis County. There’s still time to donate: https://impact.sowa.org/fundraiser/4310402.

Messina Occhino paged in the Washington state House of Representatives Jan. 16-20. The Chehalis Middle School student was sponsored by Rep. Ed Orcutt, of the 20th District. Messina was able to experience the Legislature in the second week of the 2023 legislative session. She assisted the Washington state House of Representatives with duties on the chamber floor, made deliveries throughout the campus and supported member offices. Messina also attended Page School to learn more about the legislative process.

A house fire near Capitol Forest that killed five members of the Cox family earlier this month spurred hundreds to attend a vigil at Tumwater High School Sunday evening. One organizer said they had brought enough food for 1,000 people, and nearly that many attended, almost filling the upper portion of the high school stadium that overlooks Sid Otton field.

• Fraudulent transactions out of a state retirement account were reported in the 700 block of North Tower Avenue at approximately 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 26. • A burglary to a vacant building in the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue was reported just after 8:50 a.m. on Jan. 26. Maintenance items were reported stolen.

Recently, I tried to evaluate my year as president of the Centralia School Board and what I may have learned during my 81 years that would help me assist Superintendent Dr. Lisa Grant and the board in developing an excellent and modern educational program for the students in our district.

After Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was beaten by several police officers in Memphis on Jan. 7 and died in a hospital three days later, body cam footage released in the days following revealed a gut-wrenching, aggressive attack. As Nichols’ death and the subsequent footage re-ignited conversations and protests...

Chronicle staffer Sarah Burdick captured these photos of semi-rare "hair ice," also known as ice wool or frost beard, during a walk near Napavine on Sunday morning. "Fungus shapes a strangely wondrous kind of ice called hair ice that is found only on rotting logs ... To see hair ice, one’s best chance is to hike into a broadleaf forest between the latitudes of between 45° and 55° N on a cold morning. There, amid patches of snow and frost, a keen eye might spot delicate crystals extending from wood in filaments about 0.01 millimeters thick — about the diameter of a human hair. But as soon as the sun rises, the fragile sculpture will melt away," Smithsonian Magazine wrote.