Council coverage continued

Due to space limitations last week, the Odessa Town Council report continues here:

Odessa Deputy Town Marshal Bryce Peterson reported that after a couple of quiet weeks, things had gotten very busy again, with 15 to 20 calls coming in since the prior week. Some were relatively routine (barking dogs, scrap metal theft) and some were definitely out of the ordinary.

He said he was called in the middle of the night recently to provide assistance to another agency by removing a dead deer from a county roadway. Expecting a pretty straightforward task, Peterson found that the deer had not been freshly killed in a vehicle collision but instead had been pulled onto the road by coyotes feeding on several pieces of the rotting and disintegrating carcass of a long-dead animal.

Another interesting call came in to the dispatch office from Amtrak. Peterson was told that an unruly passenger was to be put off the train in Odessa, the nearest town, because the passenger was “acting psychotic” according to an Amtrak employee.

Lincoln County Deputy Steven Steadman and Peterson met the train and were shown to where the unruly passenger was supposed to be. However, his seat was empty and the window in the compartment had been broken out. Another passenger told the officers that the fellow had broken the window and jumped out when the train slowed down.

Peterson said he and Steadman searched the area near the tracks for two and a half hours, looking in every vehicle and building to which they could find access but were unable to find the former Amtrak passenger.

Town marshal search

After a round of interviews and discussion among council members, Mayor Doug Plinski and Lincoln County Undersheriff Kelley Watkins, the job of Odessa Town Marshal will be offered to Helen Coubra most recently of ?, pending satisfactory completion of psychological testing and a background check.

Coubra has nearly 30 years worth of experience in law enforcement and was highly recommended by prosecuting attorneys with whom she had worked. She has also worked as a trainer for other law enforcement personnel in dealing with child molestation issues and domestic violence situations.

She told the interviewers she was interested in moving to eastern Washington because she wanted to be closer to her children and grandchildren who live in Wenatchee.