Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 3

The Daily News JJj News of Record Page A4 Community News Page A5 Obituaries Page C4 Viewpoint Page B7 Wednesday November 1 2000 CITY EDITOR: Andre Stepankowsky (360) 577-2520 andretdncom Page A3 MISSING WOMAN PEOPLE Mastering the Art of Language 86-year-old's life experiences help him to fulfill dream By Cathy Turgeon FOR THE DAILY NEWS CATHLAMET-Jay Ellis Ransom taught Alaskan Aleut cliil-dren in their own language He wrote guidebooks for fossil limiters and gold miners And he pedaled a bicycle from Los Angeles to Detroit in 1935 Now the 86-year old man spends part of the year in his Airstream office on heels at the Elochomin Marina in Cathlamet Tliis week packing up to spend the winter in California never worked at a job more than 18 months" he said ultimate goal was to be freelance His restlessness has served him well I got bored I would quit my job and turn to my typewriter All of my jobs prepared me to be a he said Equipped with degrees in chemistry mathematics anthropology and education he went to Alaska in 1936 to begin his teaching career He faced two mqjor dilemmas during his fust week in the village of Nikolaski on Umnak Island in the Aleutian Chain The cliildren in his class spoke no English and Ransom know Aleut He sought the aid of a Russian Orthodox pnest who spoke a little English The first night there Ransom memorized 15 plirases that aided in classroom management used an anthropological he said The second dilemma presented itself when the Indian Service notified him tliat the job required him to be married He solved the problem by dasliing off a telegram to a with a manual typewriter to do his Roger Werth The Daily News language translations Jay Ellis Ransom 86 still works girl he fancied but know well Luckily enough the yoimg lady had always wanted to marry an anthropologist and yearned to see Alaska experiences as an anthropologist and as an author are as boundless as Iris energy and ciuiosity He speaks at least 10 languages including several Native American dialects He learned the Flathead language wliile living on a reservation in Montana where he learned to ride a horse and chase cattle throat was sore for a JUST CURIOUS Question: Is opera ever performed in any language other than Kalian? VS Longview Answer: Yes but Italian is the most fwpular choice Operas are also composed and performed in English Spanish French German Portuguese and other languages The opera we are familiar with today has its roots in late 1500 Italy The Italian language which has been used to compose operas even by non-Italians has a lyncal quality which is well-matched with musical notes Research by Donna Yardley BRIEFS 18-year-old in jail for alleged diamond theft An 18-yeai-old woman who reportedly stole $13000 worth of diamond jew eliy then pawned the pieces for a fraction of their worth has been jailed on suspicion of first-degree theft Amanda Godfrey who also uses the name Gnibe allegedly admitted hiking diamond jewelry wliile the ietmi a Longview woman was out of tow according to a ptobable cause statement Godfiey was staying in tire home as a guest of tiie niece The victim discos ered the theft when she arris ed home from her trip shortly after 1 a Oct 23 Cow lilz County sheriffs deputies contacted Godfrey a transient at a home in North Kelso Monday She reportedly admitted to deputies that she took the jew eliy and pawned it at a local pawn shop for $1775 the statement said She told them she no longer had the money Godfrey was held at the Cowlitz County Jail in lieu of $15000 bail Police arrest Longview man suspected of forgery A man suspected of forging checks on the account of a 75-year-old Longview woman has been taken into custody Longview police had been looking for De Wayne Kim Wasliington 31 of Longview since the Oct 17 theft of cash and checks from the victim according to a pmbable cause statement Fiv of the checks were subsequently foiged and cashed The victim recognized the handwriting on 'three of the checks as Waslungt according to the statement On Oct 21 a different victim reported the theft of rent money from her purse hen Washington allegedly was the only person in the room tire statement said Longview police received word tliat Wasliington was in Kelso on Monday and enlisted the help of Kelso police Kelso police trails Kilted him to tl le Cow litz Comity Jail where he admitted in an interview ith Longview police to hiking tire money and foigmg three of the checks the statement said He said he spent the money on dings according to the statement He named a female acquaintance as tire person ho foiged the other two checks She remains at large Washington was held in lieu of $10 (X)0 bail He faces two counts of second-degree theft and three counts of foigery Public invited to attend festival planning meeting The public is invited to the Etimic Support Councils International Festival 2001 planning committee meeting at 5:30 pm Thursday The meeting will be held at the Etluiic Support Council office 1801 Hudson St Longview The multicultural event Ls scheduled for Saturday May 26 at Lower Columbia College If tire 11th annual festival is held it will feature entertainment food aits and crafts The Etluiic Support Council will likely decide in Novemlier whether pr not to continue ilduig die festival since participation on the planning conuuittee lias dwindled said ESC board president Cindy Lopez Call 7514127 for details CORRECTION Marital status incorrect story about Brycetm Hall the child chosen for the Toy Soldier Bazaar should have stated tliat Stacey Momson is separated from her husband but not divorced Reward offered for clues By Felicity Ayles THE DAILY NEWS A relative is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of a Rainier woman who disappeared a year ago Teresa Davidson-Murphy 35 was last seen in her Rainier home on Oct 7 1999 Oregon State Police troopers are distributing missing person bulletins to area businesses in hopes of developing leads according to Lt Gregg Hastings just nothing for us to go oa pretty Hastings said He said troopers are working with the Columbia Comity Sheriffs Office Hastings said the investigation has led to many dead ends He said investigators have checked with every state to see if she had applied for a license also watched for financial activity on her accounts and checked with family and friends to see if she has contacted them been doing everything we can in the last year to try and locate Hastings said one has heard from her at Davidson-Murphy came home on Thursday Oct 7 after dropping her daughter off at a house and saw her husband before he went on a camping tnp for the weekend according to OSP Her sister-in-law reported her missing on Oct 23 1999 Police have not explained wiry there was more than a two-week lag before Davidson-Murphy was reported missing She did not take any personal belongings and left her pickup at her house with the keys in the ignition according to the OSP She has two teen-age daughters ages 14 and 17 who now live with their father in Hamath Falls Ore A few days after disappearance her husband Richard Murphy reported a 45 caliber semi-automatic handgun missing from the residence Investigators are looking for the gun in hopes it will provide clues into Davidson-Murphy whereabouts could be another point to stall Hastings said Meanwhile Hastings said Davidson-Murphy mother is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to her recovery He said missing persons cases typically involve juveniles and many of those end up being runaways disappearance is unusual he added is a totally different he said been able to indicate where she may Anyone with information about whereabouts or the missing gun should call OSP Det Jeff Hershman at (503) 731-3020 Ext 264 FATAL ACCIDENT Woodland man dies in crash THE DAILY NEWS A Woodland man died when a pickup rammed into die side of his car outside Store in the Yale area east of WcKxlland on Tuesday evening Theodore Edward Burke 82 died at the scene of the accident on State Route 503 Burke was northbound in a brown 1969 Plymouth four-door and had reached a stop sign at the intersection at According to the state patrol Burke tried to make a left turn westbound onto SR 503 but cut in fiont of an eastbound Ford pickup driven by David Joel Womack 2S of Cougar vehicle struck car on the side Womack and lus two daughters aged 6 and 9 were iuiiijured COWLITZ DISTRICT COURT Poll: Marshall favorite for judgeship commissioners did not want a beauty Tabbut said want us to vote for one person we liked They asked us to come up with a list of criteria that we considered important We were much more comfortable with tliat than Despite good showing in the bar poll Commissioner Bill Lehning said not a done deal for him to land the job going to be a combination of a lot of factors ered Robert Huffhines a Longview defense attorney in four out of five categories Lisa Tabbut president of the 1 i -Wahkiakum Bar Association submitted the poll results Monday to Cowlitz Comity commissioners who will select Judge Robert Altenhofs successor Nov 14 ability leadership fairness and interpersonal skills A majority of the 61 attorneys who participated in the poll rated Marshall Cowlitz Comity cluef civil deputy prosecutor as iu those five categories No other candidate earned an overall rating in even one category wliile two-thirds of the voters consid Ron Marshall By James Tedford THE DAILY NEWS Lawyers have rated Ron Marshall Cowlitz Comity chief civil deputy prosecutor the strongest candidate for a soon-to-be vacant Cowlitz County District Court judgeship Marshall 46 emerged as the clear favorite among seven applicants in a Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Bar Association poll that ranked the seven candidates on organizational skills decision-making month trying to imitate the Flathead language His next goal is to study the dialects of the Polynesian Islands He taught writing for publication chemistry and physics He wrote guidebooks for wildlife See Ransom Page A4 (the bar poll) just being Lehning said Other groups are giving commissioners their opinions The Cowlitz County office has endorsed in no particular order Patrick Kubin (a lawyer in private practice in Longview) Tom Ladouceur (Woodland city prosecutor) Marshall and Ed Putka (a lawyer in private practice in Kalania) Longview Kelso See Marshall Page A4 For Halloween state Department of Licensing employees in Kelso from left Brigit Faber Sheila Baldwin Dianne Stillman and Dana Beck took artistic license with their work attire as they all came to work as spooky license plates Later Halloween night an assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional trick -or-treaters hit the streets Pipi Longstocking and a Power Ranger could be seen sprinting from house to house in west Longview followed by Darth Maul from 'Star Wars: Episode I' and the ghost from the movie 'Scream In Observance of Halloween: Personalized Service Bill Wagner The Daily News.