Lewis County Seeks to Rename Riffe Lake Overlook for Gary Stamper

In a unanimous vote on Tuesday morning, the Board of County Commissioners voted to expand curbside recycling services to the easternmost end of Lewis County. As of October 2007, curbside recycling by the county’s Solid Waste Utility Department has included all of unincorporated Lewis County from Pe Ell to Morton. With the passing of Tuesday’s ordinance, LeMay, the company that collects curbside trash and recycling for Lewis County, will expand services in Randle, Glenoma and Packwood.

The acting chairman of the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission said Wednesday that the planning group could make an airport site recommendation to the state sooner than expected but problems with the three locations under review made none likely to move forward. During a virtual "drop-in session" intended to answer questions...

After 14 years working for the county, four-and-a-half of those in the big job, Lewis County Manager Erik Martin announced Tuesday morning he will be resigning from his position for a new opportunity in engineering. Around the end of March, Martin will take a job as director of Perteet Inc.’s...

I was just thinking that the only way we can know how far we’ve come is by looking back on where we’ve been. That’s hardly a profound statement, but it’s the best I could come up with as I paged through a 1922/1923 edition of what was known as the Lewis County Directory. What a treasure trove of information, well worth the $5 or so I paid for it at a local estate sale.

The Riverside Fire Authority (RFA) experienced a 17% increase in calls for service in 2022, with a total of 4,742 calls, surpassing the previous record of 4,404 calls in 2021, according to a news release. The growing population across northern Lewis County, including the city of Centralia, is attributed to...

As construction continues on Centralia Station, the Port of Centralia held a forum at O’Blarney’s at the Gibson House Wednesday morning and provided an update on the long-awaited development. Centralia Station is a proposed shopping center and mixed-use development with WinCo Foods planned as the anchor tenant. Once...

• TRACY S. DAVIS, 56, Chehalis, died Jan. 29 at Providence Centralia Hospital. Arrangements are under the care of Cattermole Funeral Home. • JOSEPH KRUPLA III, 71, Cinebar, died Jan. 28 at Arbor Health Morton Hospital. Arrangements are under the care of Cattermole Funeral Home. • JOHN ROBERT WOHLERS, 80,...

A woman who was retained as counsel for a defendant in Lewis County Superior Court last year is now facing felony charges for unlawful practice of law. The woman, Malika M. Duke, 44, of Spokane, is accused of representing a Centralia man in a Lewis County Superior Court case despite not having an attorney license in Washington state.

The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Centerville Cafe will take place at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Centerville Cafe reopened Jan. 5 with new owners Michelle and Lisa Little in downtown Centralia. The Littles will be on hand to celebrate...

A 30-year-old woman from Yelm was pronounced dead at the scene of a fatal traffic collision on state Route 507 in Roy on Wednesday, Feb. 1. According to a Washington State Patrol memo, the woman was traveling northbound on state Route 507 when the 2005 Hyundai Sonata she was driving collided with a 2014 Ram ProMaster in the southbound lane at around 6:10 a.m.

There’s lots of talk in our Legislature and in the other Washington about rent control, renter’s bill of rights and what to do about homelessness. I believe these types of actions, putting more restrictions on landlords, will have the effect of making less housing available and probably even less affordable. My reasoning tells me that anything you restrict you get less of. Therefore, restrictions on landlords and how they manage their rentals will tend to force some out of the market. Ask yourself, if you have a very valuable asset that you now have little control over how it is priced and even who you rent to, what would you do?

An Onalaska woman who has been charged with seven counts of animal cruelty fulfilled a summons to Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday with her attorney, where she pleaded not guilty to all charges. Katherine A. Pratt, 48, of Onalaska, is facing three counts of first-degree animal cruelty, which is...

On Sept. 8, 2022, I attended a Boistfort Community Meeting hosted by Lewis County District 2 Commissioner Lindsey Pollock. The focus of the meeting was a proposal before the county commission to permit the erecting of a test site to gather data for a proposed wind turbine farm atop a ridge above the pristine Boistfort Valley. I spoke at this meeting against such a proposal and laid out my reasoning based on sound engineering principals. Some time later the commission members tabled the idea of a test site. Whew!

Steven Walter Pierce, 53, of Aberdeen, Washington, passed away peacefully on Jan. 23, 2023, in Elma, Washington. Steven was born on July 16, 1969, to John and Anita (Bourgault) Pierce in Aberdeen. Steven attended Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Aberdeen through the eighth grade. He later graduated from Hoquiam High...

A $10,000 bench warrant was issued for a Centralia man on Tuesday after he didn’t appear in Lewis County Superior Court to fulfill a summons on accusations that he allegedly abused two horses while they were in his care. Isaac A. Knee, 31, has been charged with two counts...

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office is continuing an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man found in Porter Creek near Elma last week. Gerald Eugene Beglinger, 53, is scheduled for an autopsy on Friday by the county coroner's office. "We're trying to backtrack and find the...

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has referred Aron Christensen’s case back to the prosecutor’s office, The Chronicle confirmed Tuesday. The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office is in the process of reviewing the investigation material submitted by the sheriff’s office and will decide whether to file criminal charges related to Christensen’s death in the coming weeks.

A 44-year-old Kelso man was detained Monday by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office after allegedly firing a shotgun inside a home. Larry Duane Howard made his first appearance before a Cowlitz County Superior Court judge Tuesday afternoon. He faces malicious mischief, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest charges. Bail is set at $10,000.

A jury found a 31-year-old Thurston County man guilty of murdering his elderly parents in 2021. Josiah Sweeney, 31, has been convicted on two counts of first-degree aggravated murder, first-degree burglary with a deadly weapon and assault in violations of a protection order, according to Superior Court records. The jury...

Following a one-year hiatus, the Home & Garden Show will return to the Blue Pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on April 14 and 15, according to a Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce news release. The chamber produces the event and, according to Chamber Executive Director Cynthia Mudge, 29 spots have...