Roy Mollett Honored by City of Aberdeen

On Wednesday night at the Aberdeen City Council Meeting they honored city sewer employee Roy Mollett.

He said “Wastewater has put a lot of bread and butter on my table.”

Mollett will retire next week following over 35 years with the city. He started with the sewer department in October of 1977.

Crude Oil a Topic During Telephone Town Hall

Residents who live in the 19th Legislative District took part in a one-hour telephone town on Wednesday with their state legislators.

State Representatives Brian Blake and Dean Takko and with Senator Brian Hatfield took questions from residents on topics including economic issues, mental health, 2nd amendment rights, and other budget issues.

Town hall caller Cassie called and asked about crude oil coming to the Port of Grays Harbor and Senator Hatfield said that he agrees with bringing more work to the port.

Three proposals to bring crude oil to the port have received mixed reviews locally. Opponents of the plans cite environmental concerns, while proponents say that bringing the industry to the port is good for the area.

Bill by Senator Hargrove First to be Signed by Governor Inslee

A bill by Hoquiam Senator Jim Hargrove was the first bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill requires homeless or runaway shelters to notify parents, state officials or law enforcement of a youth’s location within 72 hours of becoming aware they are missing.

Shelters have been required to provide notification of a child’s whereabouts since 1995, but the time of notification was expanded from eight hours to 72 hours in 2010.

Senate Bill 5147 will establish permanent requirements for youth shelters and organizations that are designed to protect children and reunite families.

Those changes expired last year, but are made permanent under the new bill. The law will take effect in July.

New Bill Hopes to Lessen Vehicle Prowls

In both Grays Harbor and Pacific County, an increased number of vehicle prowls have been reported recently.

A bill approved by the State Senate is taking aim at the increasing number of property crimes in Washington.

Everett Sen. Nick Harper says a spike in vehicle prowls has prompted him to sponsor Senate Bill 5053, which would change the penalty for car prowling from a gross misdemeanor to a Class C felony for anyone convicted of vehicle prowling for a third time.

Sen. Harper said “While more retributive punishments aren’t necessarily always effective to reduce crime rates, certainty is shown to be an effective deterrent. So that certainty of having a felony conviction on one’s record, we hope, is a substantial step towards trying to reduce these rates in our communities.”

Police in both counties remind everyone to lock their vehicles and houses. These crimes are crimes of opportunity and by simply securing your cars and not leaving valuables visible inside you greatly reduce the possibility of becoming a victim.

Elma Auto Racing Hall of Fame

The 5th Annual Elma Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on March 16th. Six individuals are set to be inducted and two more will receive special recognition for their dedication to auto racing at the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds.

Included into the inductees will be 1978 hobby stock champion, Ken Stearns; 1983 super modified champion, Rick Leighty, three time hobby stock champion, Tom Williams; and Tom Neff, a racer and owner. All four will all be in attendance when they are officially inducted.

Two inductees will be represented by family members. Dan West, Jr. will accept on behalf of his father Dan West, Sr., who is out of state and the deceased Dick Morlan, Sr. will be represented by his son, Dick Morlan, Jr.

Brownfield Exemplary Contribution award winner, Bob Valencia, will be on hand to accept his honor, while Don Fry will receive the Spoon Distinguished Service Award for his late father, Del Fry.

The free event will be held March 16th at the Elma Eagles starting at 6:30 pm. The public is welcome.

Coast Guard Rescues 3 Near Grays Harbor

The Coast Guard rescued three people aboard a vessel taking on water near Grays Harbor Tuesday.

Coast Guard Sector Columbia River received a distress call from the 58-foot crabbing vessel Persistence at 8:50 pm. The crew reported they were taking on water approximately 5 miles northwest of Grays Harbor and were low on fuel for their dewatering pump.

Coast Guard Station Grays Harbor dispatched two lifeboat crews to the scene. The crews delivered two dewatering pumps to the vessel and escorted the Persistence and its crew safely back to Grays Harbor.

There were no injuries reported.

3 Local Coastlines Rank as Best Place to Watch Storms

Following the recent announcement of the disbanding of the Ocean Shores Surf Rescue Team, readers of MSN.com may now be headed out to the coast.

In a new list put out by the website ranking the 10 best places to watch storms on the West Coast, the Washington coast received 3 entries.

Ocean Shores, La Push, and Long Beach all made it onto the list.

MSN said that in Ocean Shores, the Pineapple Expresses from Hawaii can stir up waves three stories high, pounding the beaches between Westport and Ocean Shores.

In La Push they say that the storms are “gigantic”, yet the shore and sea stacks are “blissfully primitive”. They included Lake Quinault and Kalaloch to the south into their listing of La Push.

Long Beach rounded out the Washington coast making the list that also included many beaches in Oregon.

February Special Election Results Certified

The Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office certified the results of this month’s special elections, and showed that the opinion on the local measures did not change.

35.48% of voters turned out in total locally, and the majority of them who did approved their local measures.

62.83% of Aberdeen voters, 2,540 in all, voted yes on a new Transportation District and tax within the city. The thirteen-hundredths of one percent (0.0013) sales-and-use tax on qualifying purchases will go specifically to finance transportation projects.
In Hoquiam, 1,692 voters, or 73.64%, approved the funding of a new ladder truck for the city. The measure for a new truck, valued up to $1.3 million, had failed a levy in 2011 before passing this month.

Changes Being Made to Aberdeen Pontoon Construction

Changes are being made to the SR 520 floating bridge pontoons built in Aberdeen following recommendations by a review panel.

Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond announced repairs and design modifications for the pontoons in order to ensure a 75-year life of the new floating bridge.

Last year, WSDOT convened an expert panel to review the causes of cracking and spalling on the first cycle of pontoons built in Aberdeen. The panel’s recommendations to reduce cracking have been incorporated in the second cycle of pontoons, already under way. The panel was reconvened in fall 2012 to look over progress.

Hammond said “We are implementing the expert review panel’s findings to make repairs to the pontoons on Lake Washington and design modifications to the pontoons still to be built in Aberdeen”.

She added “The panel agrees the pontoons are structurally sufficient, and we take our responsibility for public safety seriously. These changes will ensure the SR 520 bridge is built to the highest standards.”

There has been limited cracking in the second cycle of construction to date, and the overall level of cracking is lower than the first cycle at this same stage. The second cycle of pontoons is anticipated to float out of Aberdeen this spring.

“Based on the panel’s findings, we will add post-tensioning across the pontoons on Lake Washington, in addition to the length-wise post-tensioning that is already in place,” said WSDOT construction engineer Jeff Carpenter.

Crews will add “transverse post-tensioning” to each of the 21 longitudinal pontoons constructed for the new SR 520 floating bridge. In the first cycle, these pontoons were post-tensioned lengthwise only. For Cycles 2-6, each longitudinal pontoon will be post-tensioned fully within the Aberdeen casting basin.

Construction on the $367 million SR 520 Pontoon Construction Project broke ground in February 2011 in Aberdeen. Construction on the $586.6 million SR 520 Floating Bridge and Landings Project began in spring 2012. The floating bridge contract requires the new, six-lane SR 520 floating bridge to open to traffic by July 2015, but includes incentives for an earlier opening in December 2014.

The latest jobs report counted 801 jobs directly connected to the pontoon and floating bridge project sites in Aberdeen, Tacoma, Kenmore and Bellevue and on Lake Washington.

Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office Continues Search for Louis Muller

Detectives with the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department are executing additional search warrants today in an ongoing effort to locate Louis “Buck” Muller. Muller was last seen on October 21st at his home in the 900 block of Monte-Elma Road of Elma.

The search warrants will be executed at two different locations including an antique store owned by Muller and his wife in Montesano. Investigators are looking at business records for information that may explain Muller’s disappearance.

The other warrant will be for the second search of the Muller home. Detectives will be expanding the search area to several acres of the property.

Muller was last seen October 21st at his home. He told his wife that he was going to North Dakota the following day. His wife said that he packed up his belongings and left the morning of the 22nd, although he did not leave in his vehicle and it is unknown how he left the area. Muller has not made contact with his family or friends.

Muller’s wife reported a Domestic Violence Assault 4th Degree on October 23rd. It is not known if Muller knows that she reported the assault. There is an active warrant for this case.

Muller is diabetic and has not been taking his insulin. According to his wife, Muller has been diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder and severe depression. He has made threats of suicide in the past.

Muller was described as 5’11”, 235lbs, with blue eyes and brown hair. He is missing his left index finger.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Louis Muller is asked to contact the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department.