Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 75 cents
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Sumner motel murder suspect arrested in GA
A dairy kind of day
Georgia man Quentin Lorenzo Simmons, 29, is charged in the Dec. 16 murder of Rigoberto Daza Vargas
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By Daniel Nash Staff Writer
Spartan fastpitch advances to State | Page 14
Weather The forecast for today, Wednesday, calls for showers and highs near 55 with winds to 10 mph. Lows are forecast to 43. The chance of showers continues Thursday and through the weekend with high to 64 and lows in the mid 40s.
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Stephanie Van Volkenburg, chapter president of the Sumner High School FFA club, poses with cow Apple at the 75th Annual Enumclaw Junior Livestock Show. The 2013 competition was the last year of the show, which invited FFA students throughout the Puget Sound region. Photo by Kevin Hanson
Three races contested in Bonney Lake Mayor’s race sees two challengers for Neil Johnson; members of Families For A Responsible Bonney Lake file to run for two council seats By Daniel Nash Staff Writer
A series of last-day candidate filings have heated up the races for elected office in Bonney Lake. For the majority of the Pierce County Auditor’s May 13 to
May 17 filing period for the August primary election, it appeared the incumbents would run unchallenged for the mayor’s seat and the three seats on City Council. Now, two council seats will see two-candidate races in November, and three candidates for the mayor’s office
will go to the August primary election. In Washington state elections, the top two performers in August primary elections move on to the November general election. For mayor, Neil Johnson Jr. will run for a third term in office. His challengers for the seat are Councilman James Rackley and Mike Munson, the owner of freight shipping and
See candidates, Page 11
ions Visit The BonneyLake Courier Herald Website for t i d E Greenr Herald Up-To-Date News, Photos ...and more! s e d u l e c i r n I u * Co Updated DAILY! of The
The alleged murderer of a California construction worker found slain outside the Sumner Motor Inn in December was arrested in Georgia Wednesday by Dekalb County Sheriff’s deputies. Quentin Lorenzo Simmons, 29, was detained in his motel room shortly after 2 p.m., after deputies successfully tracked his location through his cell phone. “(Deputies) spotted him out front of his room, he spotted them and retreated back to his room, and the arrest proceeded from there,” Sumner Police Chief Brad Moericke said. Law enforcement had previously arrested Elyse Lattimer — a woman believed to be Simmons’ driver on the night of the murder, also known as Elyse Monique Gladue or China Simmons, according to the prosecutor’s charging papers — Thursday after she was discovered at the home of Simmons’ mother. She waived her right to refuse extradition to Washington state for prosecution in Pierce County Superior Court. Lattimer faces one charge of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree. Simmons waived his right to refuse extradition in open court Friday. He will likely be brought to Pierce County later this week, Moericke said. “We’re very pleased to have reached this resolution for the (victim’s) family and any other victims of this person,” Moericke said. On May 7, Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Simmons, in absentia, with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree
See Simmons, Page 3
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