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Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | 75 cents
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Man charged with second degree assault
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By Sarah Wehmann Staff Writer
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New facility to create 75 jobs in Sumner Page 3
Weather The forecast for today, Wednesday, calls for a 40 percent change of rain with a high near 51. Thursday calls for an increased chance of rain and a high near 55. Friday looks to be the same with a slight breeze. Saturday will be mostly cloudy with rain likely and a high of 54. Sunday looks to be similar to Saturday.
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No matter how small
Daniel Schreiner plays Horton the Elephant in Manestage Theatre’s production of Seussical the Musical, which will be performed through Feb. 15. In this scene, Schreiner listens to the Whos sing “Here on Who”. Photo by Ray Still
East Pierce Fire & Rescue chief aims for April retirement By Ray Still
right time to retire and allow the next generation of leaders to step into their new roles,” Thorson After what may be said in a press release. East Pierce Fire and Thorson said the Rescue’s hardest months failure of the last now b eh i nd Maintenance and them, Fire Chief Operation lev y Jerr y Thorson and the potential announced his layoffs of six fireretirement during fighters earlier in a special meeting December did not Jan. 28. prompt him to Thorson said he retire. Jerry Thorson has been thinking East Pierce’s about retiring for Board of several months, Commissioners said they and has settled on April are sorry to see the chief 30 as his official retiring go. date. SEE RETIREMENT, PAGE 8 “This just felt like the Staff Writer
Darren James Pendergast was charged Jan. 28 by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office with assault of a child in the second degree for an incident that occurred on Sunday, Jan. 25, in Carbonado. Second degree assault of a child is a class B felony. Upon arrival, Pierce County deputies spoke with the victim, Pendergast’s 3-year-old niece, and her mother. The girl was in the back of a medical aid car, according to the charging documents from the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office. His niece had a swol-
len and bruised eye, split lower lip and scratches on her arm. The documents stated the girl was transported to a nearby hospital and was later diagnosed with a fractured orbital socket and damage to her liver and kidney. She was then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Prior to the deputies arriving, Pendergast had left the residence. The girl’s mother told them while she and her sister, Pendergast’s wife, were out, Pendergast took the girl and his 6-yearold son for a walk in the woods.
SEE ASSAULT, PAGE 4
Washington’s smoke signals: myths and misconceptions By Ray Still Staff Writer
W
ith the passage of I-502 in 2012, development of marijuana legislation and marijuana research has surged to unprecedented levels. In an attempt to clearly translate new laws and research, the Reporter and Courier-Herald will examine these issues in a four-part series. Part two of this series addresses the issue of common, and not so common, myths and misconcep-
tions about marijuana. Think back to high school health class. You may have seen the old propaganda film “Reefer Mad ness,” or ig i na l ly released in 1938, though it was rev ived a nd brought back to schools in the 1970s. Sparing the plot details of the film, it paints marijuana as “the new drug menace which is destroying the youth of America in a larmingly increasing numbers.”
SEE MARIJUANA, PAGE 5
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