News

Letter writer Trisha Reeves thinks landlords are greedy.

When the cost of doing business increases because of changes in supply and demand or because some elitist government agency requires property owners to ignore market realities, the additional cost is passed along to the consumer.

It’s not greed. It’s government.

Thomas Higdon

Clark County

The Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources has reapproved legislation that increased monitoring of Washington’s five active volcanoes.

On Wednesday, the committee reauthorized the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act, which was first adopted in 2019. The legislation includes improvements to the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) in Vancouver, which helps the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitor volcanic activity throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington.

“The State of Washington is home to four of the most dangerous volcanoes in the nation,” Cantwell said. “This bill ensures we have the right science and monitoring in place to keep our communities informed, help mitigate future threats, and save lives.”

Washington is home to five active volcanoes, which include Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Glacier Peak, Mount Baker and Mount Adams. While Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier rank among the most dangerous volcanoes in the country, Mount Adams has perhaps drawn the most concern recently.

Last month, U.S. Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, and Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, wrote to the USGS to enhance seismic monitoring of volcanoes across the country, which came after the USGS reported a recent increase in seismic activity at the mountain.

In September, a seismic station near the volcano recorded six earthquakes between magnitude 0.9 and 2.0. The earthquakes were the most activity recorded at Mount Adams in any month since monitoring began in 1982.

Following the activity, the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network installed additional temporary seismic stations to the south and southwest of Mount Adams, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.

“Any surge in seismic activity heightens our community’s concern about larger earthquakes and volcanic activity, and the potentially devastating impacts to families and vulnerable infrastructure like the structurally deficient I-5 Bridge. It is critical that USGS take these concerns seriously, answer our communities’ questions, and enhance monitoring of volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest,” Reps. Gluesenkamp Perez and Newhouse wrote.

In the letter, the lawmakers requested additional information from the USGS, including the number of seismic stations around Mount Adams, the length of time the agency plans to operate temporary stations and whether the agency has enhanced at other volcanoes in the region.

“It is critical that USGS take these concerns seriously, answer our communities’ questions and enhance monitoring of volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest,” the letter states.

According to Cantwell’s office, the CVO will soon complete the permitting process with Gifford Pinchot National Forest for five new real-time volcano monitoring stations along the White Salmon drainage.

Since the legislation’s initial passage, the CVO has installed six new real-time volcano monitoring stations at Mount St. Helens.

On Friday, the USGS announced that all volcanoes in the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington had returned to normal background activity levels. In the announcement, the USGS stated that small earthquakes had been detected at Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams that were consistent with background activity levels.

The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act was cosponsored by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. The legislation will now head to the full Senate for consideration.

A 19-year-old man charged for murdering 30-year-old Navjot Singh at a Toledo area Shell station during an attempted robbery in May 2023 was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison.

Quinton M. Ramey pleaded guilty to murder and robbery charges on Nov. 15 and was sentenced that same day.

He and his codefendant, 18-year-old Taylor K. Lenihan, both of Redding, California, were arrested in Sumner just after 12:55 a.m. on May 4, 2023, and were charged the next day as adults in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a stolen firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm charges.

Ramey and Lenihan were 17 and 16 years old, respectively, at the time of the incident.

Surveillance footage of the Shell station reportedly shows Singh restocking shelves when, at approximately 8:46 p.m. on May 3, two individuals wearing masks and gloves entered the store. One individual was reportedly wearing a light-colored T-shirt and holding “a long gun with an extended magazine,” while the other was wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and holding “a bag and flex-cuffs,” according to court documents.

The individual holding the gun reportedly pointed the gun at Singh, who is then seen walking toward the cash register.

Singh then reportedly “turns his back towards the gunman and starts to struggle over the firearm,” according to court documents.

The struggle moved offscreen, but the surveillance camera reportedly captured footage of the individual in the hoodie “point(ing) something towards the struggle” before both individuals ran out of the store, got into a white Dodge truck with a temporary license plate and camping gear in the bed and then drove off.

A separate camera from the parking lot reportedly showed the truck pull into the parking lot from the west at 8:45 p.m. on May 3, roll through the parking lot, circle a second time, stop and reverse before the two individuals exit the vehicle and go into the store.

At about 8:49 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, Lewis County 911 received a call from a passerby indicating they saw two masked individuals running out of a store in the 100 block of Mulford Road.

The caller also reported the two individuals left in a white, extended-cab Dodge pickup truck and said their actions “appeared suspicious,” according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies were dispatched at approximately 8:52 p.m. on May 3.

Court documents identify the first-arriving officer as Lewis County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew G. Scrivner, who got to the scene at approximately 9:11 p.m.

When he arrived, Scrivner was “advised there was a person down, not breathing” and he “immediately requested aid units and detectives,” according to court documents. Scrivner stated he believed Singh had suffered a shotgun wound to the chest.

Medical aid arrived and declared Singh deceased at 9:27 p.m. on May 3, according to court documents.

At about 12:20 p.m. on May 4, a Florence, Oregon law enforcement agency contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to report “its belief the vehicle and suspects involved in the Toledo area death potentially matched an incident there,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

“They further advised the vehicle and suspects involved in their incident had been located by authorities with the Sumner Police Department and were currently in custody,” the sheriff’s office reported.

In the back seat of the car, which was identified as a stolen vehicle, was “a long gun” that matched the description of a firearm used during the Toledo robbery, according to court documents.

“Detectives were able to contact the Sumner Police Department and were able to confirm the vehicle, firearm and suspect information were consistent with the homicide investigation occurring in Lewis County,” according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

A third juvenile, who was 15 years old at the time of incident, was arrested and charged in Lewis County Juvenile Court.

Juvenile court records are not accessible to the public.

Ramey was sentenced to 192 months on the first-degree murder charge and six months on the robbery charge, to run concurrently. He is additionally ordered to serve 36 months of probation and to register as a felony firearm offender upon his release.

Lenihan pleaded guilty May 15, 2023, to one count each of first-degree robbery, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. Her sentencing, which was delayed until her codefendant’s case was resolved, is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. on Nov. 27.