Klog

Users of West Side Highway need to know about a road closure that’s planned for most of next week, in the area about two miles south of Castle Rock. The Washington Department of Transportation says that State Route 411 will close in that area at 8 am Monday morning, as WashDOT crews work with the Cowlitz PUD to clear brush that overhangs power lines and the highway. The closure will be in place from 8 am to 4 pm, from Monday, the 14th to Friday, the 18th. A detour will be posted, using Hazel Dell Road and Delameter Road, adding about two miles to the trip. I-5 is also available as an alternate route.

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The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 21 is now offering a reward of $2,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects involved in the April 9th burglary of their union hall on 14th Avenue in Longview. Longview Police say someone got into the building on that night, stealing checks, credit cards, cash and other union paperwork from the building. Those involved also vandalized the interior of the building. Local 21 President Dan Coffman says that you can call the Longview Police Tip Line at 442-5920 if you have information on the case. You can also leave an anonymous tip on the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 577-1206.

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Skyler Lee, 12, of Longview was the center of attention earlier this week in Washington, D. C., as she received one of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The sixth-grader at the Kelso-Longview Adventist Academy is being recognized for her dedication to the Coats for Kids campaign, having collected more than 2,000 coats for the local Salvation Army. Skyler says that her motivation is simple. Lee was among 102 youth volunteers who were honored at the 17th annual Prudential Spirit of Community award presentation, selected out more than 25 thousand applicants. She received $1,000 and a silver medallion, in addition to this week’s trip to the nation’s capitol.

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Friday:
Featuring a number of Mark Morris High School graduates, “Daniel Kirkpatrick and the Bayonets” perform Friday night at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, with curtain set for 7:30 pm. Call 575-8499 for ticket information.

You’re invited over to the Monticello Hotel Ballroom on Friday night, as the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council and Occupy Longview team up to present a Working Class Solidarity/Social Night. It runs from 7 pm to midnight, with live music, a no-host bar and other activities planned.

The Thornton Wilder classic “Our Town” opens tonight in the Dana Brown Mainstage Theatre at R. A. Long High School, presented in connection with Longview Historic Preservation Month. Curtain is set for 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday night.

The 35th anniversary of Community Home Health and Hospice will be celebrated at an event being Friday evening at the Cowlitz County Expo Center. The social hour for “Home at Last” starts at 6 pm, then dinner starts at 7. Call 414-5406.

The Ryderwood Spring Arts and Crafts Fair is planned for this weekend, running from 10 am to 4 pm Friday and Saturday in the Ryderwood Community Hall, located right in the middle of town on SR 506.

The Rainier High School Theatre Club presents “Beauty and the Beast, Junior” Friday and Saturday night at 7 pm, along with a 2 pm matinee up in the Rainier High School Auditorium.

Saturday:
The annual Girls on the Run 5K Fun Run is set for Saturday at Longview Memorial Stadium, things are set to start at 9 am Saturday, but there’s a limit of 300 participants, so you’ll need to arrive early to make sure you get signed up.

The annual Les Nelson Memorial Breakfast and Auction Fundraiser will be held Saturday morning at the Cowlitz County Expo Center, with a great meal planned, and hundreds of items up for bid. Doors open at 7:45 am, and all proceeds will benefit the Cowlitz County Chaplaincy.

The kids at Northlake Elementary School are holding their Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, running from 9 am to 1 pm at the school on Olympia Way. Along with veggies, berries, herbs and ornamental plants, they’ll also have some student art on sale. You can tour their garden, and even meet “Steve the Garden Rabbit!”

Head by Kelso True Value Hardware and Marine on Saturday, as they team up with the WSU Master Gardeners for their annual Free Tomato Day. A free tomato plant is available to the first 200 people that stop by.

Remember to get your donations out for the 20th annual Letter Carriers Food Drive, collecting food for Lower Columbia CAP and the Help Food Warehouse. Letter carriers and volunteers will collect those donations through the day on Saturday.

Historic Preservation Month continues this Saturday in Longview, with a short walking tour of the Old West Side planned to start at 10 am. Mayor Dennis Weber will lead the tour, which is set to start at 10 am Saturday at Kessler and Maple.

Check out the rides of local high school kids at the 26th annual All High School Car Show, running from 9 to 11 am on Saturday at LCC. The event will run in the lot next to the Automotive Building at LCC.

The regional Scoutcapades and Pinewood Derby for the Chinook District of the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America will be held on Saturday at the Three Rivers Mall. They’ll have a number of Scouting demonstrations, along with activities and other fun. Things get started at 10 am, and are set to run through 7 pm.

There’s a Ladies Purse Exchange set for Saturday afternoon at the Kelso-Longview Elks Lodge, an event to benefit Children’s Community Resources. Bring by your gently-used purse and a $10 donation for an afternoon of dessert, prizes, raffles and other fun. Tickets will be available at the door.

The annual Hulda Klager Lilac Days wrap up this weekend, concluding on Mother’s Day at the historic homestead on South Pekin Road near Woodland. Hours are 10 am to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday.

The Cowlitz Community Farmer’s Market is now up and running, open every Tuesday and Saturday through October. They’ll be open with fresh produce, flowers, honey and other goodies from 9 am until 2 pm in the 7th Avenue parking lot across the street from the Cowlitz County Fairgrounds.

Sunday:
As part of the Celebration Concert Series at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Longview, the “Kaleidoscope” concert is planned for Sunday, with musical performances, storytelling by Leslie Slape, and an orchestral performance. It’s set for 3 pm on Sunday, with donations collected at the door. Proceeds will go to Cowlitz County CASA

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People driving along the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway helped to rescue a woman who supposedly drove into Silver Lake in a suicide attempt. Around 7:45 pm, a Vancouver man called Cowlitz County 911, claiming that his girlfriend had called him a few minutes before, saying that she was going to drive her car into the lake. He says that the woman’s mother had died about two years ago, and they’d spread her ashes on the lake. That death apparently had been weighing heavily on the woman in recent days. A few minutes after the initial 911 call, reports came in from the 4200 block of the Spirit Lake Highway, reporting that a car had gone into the water. Several drivers stopped to provide assistance, and were able to help the woman driver get out. They wrapped her in blankets until aid personnel arrived. The female driver was identified as the man’s girlfriend, and it appears that she wasn’t injured in the incident. The 22 year-old was taken to St. John Medical Center for further mental evaluation.

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The Sheriff’s Office is looking into a probable suicide that took place last night at a home near Kalama. Around 7 pm, a woman called 911 from a home on Tara Lane, reporting that her 55 year-old father-in-law had taken his own life. She says that there had been an argument in the home just prior to the incident, apparently over money. The victim then went into a bedroom, and they heard a shot. The other people in the house went into the bedroom and found the man on the bed, with a single gunshot wound to his head. The victim was turned over to the County Coroner, while Sheriff’s Deputies recovered the gun. It’s also reported that several rounds may have been fired out of the bedroom window, so interviews of neighbors were also conducted. The victim’s name hasn’t yet been released.

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The Sheriff’s Office reports that a passing tugboat helped to rescue a kayaker that got into trouble yesterday evening on the Columbia River near Cottonwood Island. Around 6:25 pm, the Coast Guard relayed a second-hand report to Cowlitz County, saying that there was an overturned kayak near the south end of the island, with a person trying to hang onto the boat. While on the line, Coast Guard officials were contacted by a tugboat that was in the area, saying that they’d spotted the kayaker, and were trying to get a line to him. They were successful in making that rescue, then took the kayaker and his boat to the marina in Rainier. Authorities in Rainier met with the man, who says that he wasn’t injured, and declined any medical treatment.

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A Rose Valley area resident is recovering from a broken hip that he received in an ATV crash that happened yesterday morning on his property east of Kelso. A call came into 911 at about 12:30 pm, saying that the 74 year-old was up on his property on Raven Ridge Road. The man apparently had been riding a 4-wheeler by himself, and rolled the machine on a steep hillside. He was immobile for at least an hour, finally found by a friend who’d gone searching after deciding the man had been gone for too long. Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue mobilized a technical rescue team, eventually carrying the victim about a half-mile to where he could be loaded into an ambulance. It’s speculated that the man suffered a broken hip in the crash, but wasn’t badly hurt otherwise. The man’s name has not been disclosed.

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The suspect in yesterday’s high-speed chase from Olympia to Castle Rock has been identified as David Jin Lee, 23, of Edmonds. This all got started just before 2 am yesterday, when a Thurston County Deputy tried to contact two men on the side of the road, standing next to a brand-new Camaro. When the Deputy turned on his lights, one of the men jumped in the car and sped off, eventually getting to the freeway. Speeds in the chase approached 150 miles an hour as they continued south. The suspect avoided spike strips set up at milepost 88 and 77, but then hit some spike strips at milepost 72. The suspect continued at more than 100 miles a hour, evenutally losing a tire at milepost 56. At milepost 52, a PIT maneuver was accomplished, knocking the car off the road. Lee was arrested at that time, and is now being held in the Thurston County Jail on charges of eluding a police officer, first-degree possession of stolen property and driving while suspended, and is currently being held without bail. It took less than a half-hour for the chase to cover about 50 miles, ending with the arrest of Lee.

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