Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 3

Area News tdncomnewslocal THURSDAY MAY 5 2011 Page A3 General Dan Wendel to avoid potential conflict of interest Atchison will discuss the new matter with Wendel to determine how their offices will handle this case Nodecisionhadbeenmadeasof Wednesday he said Although investigators had identified Harrison as the suspect in March they waited to arrest him because he was outside the state undergoing drug rehabilitation under the terms of his probation said Sheriff Jeff Dickerson "We have been looking at this investigation since March wait -ing for the suspect to return to the area following his stay in Dickerson said knew a number of people in the Clatskanie area were aware of the positive identification of Mr Harrison as our suspect and decided to make an arrest as soon as practicable to avoid any flight also pointed to the former officer investigators said Harrison was booked at the Columbia County Jail on suspicion of first -degree burglary and posted $6000 bail (10 percent of $60000) It was not immediately known if anything was stolen in the February burglary Harrison 36 of Clatskanie served nine years with tire Clatskanie Police Department in which he was the K9 officer and started the Citizens Police Academy He resigned from the department shortly before Oregon State Police arrested him in August 2009 during an investigation into the burglary and theft of Vicodin and OxyContin from three Clatskanie homes By Leslie Slape klapetdncom Former Clatskanie police officer Joseph Lee Harrison who has been on probation after serving time for burglary to steal pain medication was arrested Tuesday on a new burglary allegation Columbia County deputies arrested Harrison at his residence after an investigation into a February break-in in the 80000 block of Kallunki Road outside Clatskanie A neighbor who reported the burglary on March 7 told Clatskanie police about seeing Harrison near the residence in February investigators said The witness picked Harrison out of a photo lineup and other evidence Joseph Harrison Harrison told the OSP investigator he had become addicted to pain medications Vicodin and OxyContin are opioid analgesics related to opium and with the same high risk of addiction Harrison later pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of first -degree official misconduct and was sentenced to six months in jail which he finished serving last August Harrison is on three probation for those convictions and if he violates the terms of his probation he faces up to 19 months in prison It is unclear at this point if prosecutors will seek to enforce the terms of the probation charge the new crimes or both Columbia County District At -tomey Steve Atchison said that because the original case was prosecuted by assistant Attorney Lee body pulled from river Barbara LaBoe blaboetdncom A woman whose body was found in the Columbia River near Wood! and Wednesday committed suicide according to the Cowlitz County Comer Authorities did not release the name Wednesday pending notification of her family said Coroner Tim Davidson She was in her late 40s and had lived most recently in either in Clark County or Portland he said An autopsy was conducted Wednesday night Davidson said the cause of death was asphyxiation by drowning and the manner was suicide The woman had a prior history of suicide attempts he said Davidson estimated the woman had been in the river between 24 and 48 hours The body was noticed by a local fisherman shortly after noon near Day Park said Chief Criminal Deputy Charlie Rosenzweig of the Cowlitz County office Units from Cowlitz County the Woodland Fire Department and the Columbia County office in their boat unit responded and retrieved the body Rosenzweig said Longview residents Robert Johnson Sr left and his son Robert Johnson Jr Kelso Train Depot last weekend in preparation for National Train Day events Below: The Kelso Train Depot will celebrate its 100th anniversary Saturday will be held around the country Chugging BRIEFS Single-car crash kills one A woman was killed Wednesday night in a single-car crash near the Mt Solo Cemetery west of Longview The crash happened about 7:30 pm according to Cowlitz 2 Fire Rescue which responded with the Washington State Patrol and the Cowlitz County office County Coroner Tim Davidson said a woman was killed Crews were still on the scene late Wednes -day and officials would not release the age or city of residence Information about the cause of the crash was not available 21 apply to be school district superintendent The Kelso School District received 21 new applicants for the superintendent position after the search was re opened last month was a surprising said Mike Boring the consultant conducting the search The Kelso School Board accepted applications through Monday and may select a list of finalists as early as this coming Monday The board re-opened the search after two of its three finalists pulled out of the running The third finalist Ami Varkados of the Bethel School District in Spanaway was placed back into the applicant pool There were 19 applicants during the initial search Boring said Kelso is replacing Superintendent Glenys Hill who is retiring in June after 12 years with the district Celebrate Longview's past The month-long celebration of history gets into full swing at 1 pm Saturday at the Longview Public Library Photos from the collection of the late Clyde Shadiow will be dis -played and two short films about the city will be shown A Long and his wife Ella Long (played by Drs Travis and Phyllis Cavens) will arrive in a 1931 Model A Ford The Longview Historical Preservation annual award recipient will be announced At 10 am May 14 former city parks superintendent A1 George will lead tours of Lions Island and the Japanese Island at Lake Sacajawea At 10 am May 21 City Councilman Dennis Weber will lead a tour of Old West Side homes At 2 pm May 22 Mayor Kurt Anagnostou and Mayor Pro Tern Don Jensen will lead a Lake Sacajawea bike ride that starts at the Monticello Hotel Water main breaks in Kelso A water main break Wednesday night left the 1400 block of North First Street in Kelso closed until repairs can be made According to Cowlitz 2 Fire Rescue authorities were called about 7:30 pm after a resident noticed his yard was flooding A garage and neighboring yards also flooded -The Daily News KELSO DEPOT Dan Seward vice president of the volunteer program Increasing rail traffic prompted the city of Kelso to petition Northern Pacific for a more substantial train station The grand opening ceremony was Feb 12 1912 The depot became such a hub of activity that in 1948 the railroad expanded the south end of the building by about 44 feet But the advent of the interstate highway system in the late 1950s followed by a series of other set -backs for rail travel resulted in the Kelso closure in 1971 The new Amtrak train the Coast Starlight considered Kelso qualified only as a flag stop and the vacant depot slid into decline The lights burned out the pay phone was broken and vagrants moved in In the early 1990s the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor was designated and given federal funding The Kelso Depot was relevant again and the city poured $33 million into a complete overhaul turning it into the were among the key players in a drug ring that distributed several pounds a week of highly purified methamphetamine known as in the Cowlitz -Lewis county area for about five years The Cowlitz-Walikiakum Narcotics Task Force arrested them over several months in 2010 and all four cases were transferred to federal court in June Task force commander Johnson BrightbiU to receive state medals By Barbara LaBoe blaboetdncom Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson will receive the state Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Friday for his actions after being shot on the side of the road near Long Beach in 2010 Cowlitz County Sgt Troy BrightbiU also will receive the reward The medals honor police officers who have been killed in the line of duty or who have distinguished themselves by exceptional meritorious conduct Johnson then a Washington State Patrol trooper was on patrol in February 2010 when he stopped to help impound a car after another officer made a DUI arrest The husband of the woman arrested walked up behind him and shot Johnson in the head Though seriously wounded Johnson was able to take cover and fire at Martin Arthur Jones which officials say saved life Jones was sentenced to 50 years in prison earlier this year Johnson recovered and was elected Pacific County sheriff in November BrightbiU is being honored for his actions Dec 3 when he shoved a West Longview woman out of the way of a man charging with a samurai sword At the same time BrightbiU Tasered the sword-wielding man Officials credit him with saving the life Recipients of the medal are selected by a committee made up of representatives from the offices of tire governor and attorney general Washington State Troopers Association Washington CouncU of PoUce Sheriffs Washington State Law Enforcement Association and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and PoUce Chiefs Gov Chris Gregoire wiU present the awards during a ceremony on the Capitol grounds Calif prison Waddington 24 of SUver Lake was the He was sentenced in December to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute meth and being armed with a firearm in connection with a drug crime Chalupa 47 of Kelso was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute meth joined volunteers sprucing up the Saturday when National Train Day festivities along classic elegant building it is today The waiting room was gutted rebuilt and expanded and a new office AetaU space was carved out in the lower level The depot got a new clock tower and new platform The city dedicated and opened the resurrected depot in 1995 As years passed the shining image grew tarnished The office space had only one part -time tenant and Greyhound moved its bus station leaving the unoccupied building vulnerable to vandals In 2009 citizens concerned about the depot approached City Councilman Dan Myers an avid rail fan They established theKelso-Longview Trail Depot Volunteers program that year based on the volunteer program that has manned the Centennial Station in Lacey Wash since 1993 Now local train enthusiasts have begun manning the historic station to greet travelers They wear name badges and hang out in pairs in the ticket booth or the lobby answering questions about fares and schedules In April the volunteers used $600 in city lodging tax funds to put a computer in the waiting room to display arrival information to report to Sgt Kevin Tate was upset Lewis received what he considered a short sentence calling it The other aUeged members of the group received far longer sentences Tire ringleader Reisbeck 43 of SUver Lake pleaded guUty Oct 7 to conspiracy to distribute meth and was sentenced in January to 13'3 years in federal prison 100 years later train depot continues to serve area travellers By Amy ML Fischer afischertdncom The Kelso Train Depot will celebrate its 100th anniversary Saturday with cake historical photos and a model train display A model train layout from the Longview Kelso Rainier Model Railroad Club will run from 9 am to 5 pm Historical pictures from the Cowlitz County Historical Museum will be on display and a slide presentation about the Longview Portland and Northern Railroad founded by Longview founder A Long will flash all day on a TV screen At 2 pm Mayor David Futcher will make a speech about the 100th anniversary and cut a cake Coffee and cookies also will be served Built in 1911 the brick depot on First Street in South Kelso replaced a wooden building put up in the late 1880s along the Northern Pacific Railway The old structure built on 35 acres donated by the Crawford family housed a freight and passenger depot and a Western Union telegraph office according to a history of the depot compiled by pleaded guUty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine A federal judge allowed Lewis to delay her sentence untU she finishes spring quarter final exams at Lower Columbia CoUege Lewis is the last member of the ring to be sentenced in federal court According to court documents Anthony Reisbeck Michael Wad- dington Randy Chalupa and Lewis Final member of meth-trafficking ring By Leslie Slape lslapetdncom Erica Deanne Lewis a Toledo resident convicted of working in a large-scale meth-trafficking ring wiU report to federal prison in California June 20 Lewis 35 was sentenced last month in federal court to serve 18 months in prison after she.