70 Years of Marriage Bearcats Earn Win Lewis County Couple Recounts a Life of Love W.F. West Girls Pound Out 20 Hits in Vic- on Their Platinum Anniversary / Life 1 tory Over North Thurston / Sports 1 ‘King Chuck’ Sues $1 Lewis County Early Week Edition Democrats Tuesday, / Main 5 Serving our communities since 1889 — www.chronline.com March 22, 2016 County, Centralia’s Campbell Chrysler Dealership Chehalis to Close; I-5 Auto Group Buying Franchise Turn Down OPENING APRIL 1 IN CHEHALIS: Twin Centralia’s only new-automobile dealer- Pehl will open a new dealership, I-5 Chance to ship will soon close its doors after I-5 Auto Chrysler Jeep Dodge RAM, in Chehalis at Cities Officials Assess Impact Group finalizes the purchase of the fran- 1560 NW State Ave., alongside South Sound Purchase on Sales Taxes With Closure in chise and assets of the company. Trucks. It will be the eighth dealership to The location, which has housed a car join the I-5 Auto Group. Centralia, Opening in Chehalis dealership almost continuously since 1926, “The franchise adds some very unique 20 Miles of will soon sit empty as Campbell Chrysler brands to our already great lineup, and it’s By Justyna Tomtas Jeep Dodge RAM closes on March 31 after Tacoma Rail [email protected] a sale to Heidi Pehl, owner of LC Auto INC. please see CAMPBELL, page Main 11 ANALYSIS: Study Shows Paying $3 Million for Line Would Be Risky Father, Friends Remember Centralia By Kaylee Osowski [email protected] Lewis County and the city Children as Loving, Creative, Talented of Chehalis will not be buying a stretch of railroad together. A railroading advising agency, Tangent Services Inc., crunched some numbers and determined that it would be risky for the entities, and any others that have been involved in the process, to moved for- ward with purchasing 20 miles of track from the city of Taco- ma for $3 million. Representatives of the cit- ies of Centralia and Chehalis, the Board of County Commis- sioners, the community and Western Washington Railroad, which operates the line, met with Ann-Marie Lundberg, of Tangent Services, Monday in a public meeting to discuss the findings of a feasibility study. please see RAIL, page Main 11 Tenino Clerk Treasurer Cited ‘Bullying’ as Paul Dunn / For The Chronicle Brad Tower, center, the father of three children killed in a March 4 house ire in Centralia, hugs a well-wisher after a service Saturday at Evergreen Christian Community Reason for in Olympia. Resignation REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY: LETTER: Erika Stancil Brad Tower Says He’ll Alleges Mayor Wayne Live Life in a Way Fournier Was ‘Hostile,’ that Would Make His ‘Frightening’ Children, Who Were By Justyna Tomtas Killed in a Fire, Proud [email protected] By Natalie Johnson The former clerk-treasurer [email protected] of Tenino resigned from her position earlier this month be- Brad Tower spoke about cause Mayor Wayne Fournier each of his three children in used “bullying and verbal turn Saturday, before vowing to abuse as a management style,” move forward by living his life she said in her resignation let- in a way that would make them ter. proud. In the letter, dated March “Since I woke up to this hor- 1, Erika Stancil said staff at ror March 4, the question has City Hall have been in turmoil confronted me. What now?” he since the mayor took office. said during a remembrance cer- “Unfortunately, these tac- emony Saturday afternoon at tics directly oppose my per- Evergreen Christian Commu- sonal business philosophy, nity in Olympia. which advocates more of a Ben 12, Maddy, 10, and Sam team and communicative ap- Tower, 7, died March 4 in a proach,” the letter, obtained fire that destroyed their home through a public records re- on Ham Hill Road in Centra- quest, stated. lia. Their mother, Sue Tower, “Not only is it unconscio- the fire’s only survivor, tried A service at Evergreen Christian Community in Olympia Saturday commemorates the young victims of a fatal March 4 nable for me to work in such a please see FATHER, page Main 11 house ire in Centralia. From left to right are Ben Tower, 12, Madeline Tower, 10, and Sam Tower, 7. please see LETTER, page Main 11 The Chronicle, Serving The Greater Road Access Just Dance Deaths Lewis County Area Since 1889 Back Country Dancers Hallam, Keith S., 90, Vader Follow Us on Twitter Ross, Kirk A., 55, Onalaska @chronline Horsemen From Brooks, Kathy Louise, 68, Clear Across the Oroville Find Us on Facebook Culverts Region Reed, Daniel L., 56, Chehalis www.facebook.com/ Fredrickson, Velma, 94, thecentraliachronicle Damaged in Descend on Issaquah Storms Centralia Goble, Donald, 68, Roy / Main 4 / Main 3 Gelder, Lois, 90, Centralia Main 2 • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash., Tuesday, March 22, 2016 PAGE TWO News Outtake: Moments Before Contact of the Weird 20 miles south of Rochester. Police: Mall Easter Palermo sped across several Bunny, Father Scuffle lawns before stopping at the East Avon fire hall and running inside. After Child Slips He tried to blend in with the JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — crowd attending a ham raffle, The Easter bunny has scuffled in but an off-duty deputy who’s a mall brawl. also a volunteer firefighter A mall Easter bunny and a fa- helped capture him. ther got into a tussle Sunday af- ter the man’s child slipped from a chair while getting her photo Performer Known As taken, Jersey City police said Mini Kim Kardashian Monday. A video posted on Twitter on Dies at Home in Vegas Sunday evening shows a chaotic LAS VEGAS (AP) — Au- scene at the Newport Centre in thorities in Las Vegas say a per- Jersey City, New Jersey, near an former known for her imperson- area set up to take photos with ation as “Mini Kim Kardashian” Pete Caster / [email protected] the Easter bunny. died at her apartment during the W.F. West’s Olivia Dean slides into home plate while trying to avoid being tagged during a nonleague game against Juan Jimenez-Guerrero, 44, weekend. verbally and physically attacked North Thurston on Monday at RAC in Lacey. See what happened in a photograph on the cover of today’s Sports The Clark County coroner said section. Additional photos can be found at www.lewiscountysports.com. Kassim Charles, 22, who was Monday that 32-year-old Kim- playing the role of the Easter berly Tripp was pronounced dead bunny, after Jimenez-Guerrero’s early Sunday at her apartment. year-old daughter slipped, said The coroner didn’t make Notable Quote city spokeswoman Jennifer Mor- an immediate ruling on a rill. She said both men were taken cause and manner of death, to a hospital with minor injuries. pending laboratory results. Both men were charged with Police said there was no evi- aggravated assault and disor- “I’ll tell you, she was the only pretty girl dence of foul play. derly conduct, and each also had Tripp performed at Beacher’s back in that small town. The rest of them outstanding warrants. It wasn’t known Monday night if either Madhouse at the MGM Grand were all cow-country girls.” man had retained an attorney. Las Vegas resort. The video shows Charles Officer Michael Rodriguez wearing the body portion of the says her body was found by Fred Mitts bunny costume fighting and her boyfriend, who plays mini on 70th wedding anniversary Kanye West in the same show. then being separated by secu- (see page Life 1 for the full story) rity. A few seconds later, Charles appeared again, throws off his Library Book Overdue white bunny gloves and exchang- es more punches. Nearly 50 Years “The safety of guests and cast Returned to School Today in History members is of utmost impor- ner was suspected of carrying after ingesting cyanide in his DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A li- Today’s Highlight in History: tance,” said Charles Russell, a bootleg liquor.) Italian prison cell in what au- brary book overdue by nearly 50 On March 22, 1941, the spokesman for the Noerr Pro- In 1933, during Prohibition, thorities later ruled was a sui- years has been returned to a uni- Grand Coulee hydroelectric grams, which runs the Easter President Franklin D. Roosevelt cide. (Sindona was serving a life versity library in southwest Ohio. dam in Washington state offi- bunny photo program. “We will signed a measure to make wine sentence for ordering the death The University of Dayton says cially went into operation. continue to investigate this inci- and beer containing up to 3.2 of a bank examiner investigat- dent and take appropriate action.” a former student who borrowed On this date: the “History of the Crusades” in percent alcohol legal. ing his tangled financial affairs.) 1967 has sent it back with an apol- In 1638, religious dissident In 1945, the Arab League was In 1991, high school instruc- Police: NY Man Led Cops ogy for the late return. Anne Hutchinson was expelled formed with the adoption of a tor Pamela Smart, accused of on Chase That Ended at The university says James from the Massachusetts Bay charter in Cairo, Egypt. recruiting her teenage lover and Phillips, of Minnesota, appar- Colony for defying Puritan or- In 1958, movie producer Mike his friends to kill her husband, Ham Raffle ently checked out the book as a thodoxy. Todd, the husband of actress Gregory, was convicted in Ex- AVON, N.Y. (AP) — Authori- freshman before leaving school In 1765, the British Parlia- Elizabeth Taylor, and three other eter, New Hampshire, of mur- ties say a western New York man to join the U.S.