Tweedell sentenced to 366 days in prison
Terri Tweedell, former president of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce, was sentenced March 27 to 366 days in prison for her guilty plea on charges of theft of assets of a man she had befriended.
Deputy prosecutor Jim David said Tweedell could be released in six months because of her background and no prior convictions, and good time in prison.
Tweedell said March 26 that she expected to be sent to a state corrections facility in Gig Harbor.
Prosecutor David said the court had received several letters urging leniency in the sentencing of Tweedell. Letters seeking a reduction in the sentence came from friends and acquaintances, said David.
David characterized the letters as coming from people “not having a clear understanding of what she had done.”
Tweedell was arrested in June 2006 and charged with first degree theft regarding the assets of Jaroslav Sedivy, a friend who died March 6, 2006.
According to court records, Tweedell obtained a power of attorney from Sedivy, and modified his will, and then used Sedivy’s assets for her personal gain. The modified will, said David, left all his assets to Tweedell and her husband, Tim Tweedell.
At one point, said David, family members could not locate Sedivy because Tweedell had moved him to an undisclosed care facility. Family members did not live in the area.
Sedivy later told his daughters and their attorney, said David, that he did not know what documents Tweedell had presented him with and he had signed. He revoked his will, said David.
David said a power of attorney allows a family member or friend to act in a person’s best interests. Using a power of attorney to benefit one’s self, said David, is theft.
“We don’t want to have people take advantage of people in need or in their time of need,” said David.
David said the “good time” policy of the state Department of Corrections on property crimes depends on a person’s background and behavior. Tweedell could be released with a third of her sentence off or a half off.
Tweedell pled guilty March 2 to five felony counts. Another 13 counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Battle Ground police had searched Tweedell’s home where they reportedly found some of Sedivy’s assets including furniture, ring and a Bible.
Prosecutors had expanded the charges against Tweedell in November 2006 to 18 counts which included two counts of first degree theft, nine counts of second degree theft and two counts of third degree theft, plus three counts of forgery and counts of attempted theft.
Prosecutors said they would seek a sentence above the standard range because Tweedell had acted from a position of trust and the victim was vulnerable or incapable of resistance.
Tweedell admitted that she used her power of attorney to cash checks on Sedivy’s accounts and use the money for personal purposes. She also admitted using Sedivy’s credit cards for personal gain.
But Tweedell stated that she was not aware that she could not benefit from her position as Power of Attorney or accept gifts.
“I don’t know what the Lord has planned for me after this,” said Tweedell March 26. “Whatever it is, the Lord is making that decision for me.”
“I thought I was going to retire from the Chamber,” said Tweedell. “Now only the Lord knows if I’ll ever get to retire.”
David said Tweedell used the proceeds from the recent sale of her home to pay restitution for “losses we could prove in a criminal proceeding.” Those losses totaled $17,213.75, said David. Tweedell deposited some additional money with the court, said David.
Tweedell wrote her own explanation of events regarding Jaroslav Sedivy, and why she took the actions she did. The text of her explanation is on page A-2.
David said that Tweedell was sentenced to more than one year because she could have served a sentence of less than one year in the Clark County jail. A sentence of more than one year must be served in prison, he said.
Tweedell said that, after she is released from prison, she will not be able to vote for five years. She said events have hurt her financially, and she has suffered about $20,000 in recent medical bills.
Tweedell was taken into custody following her March 27 sentencing.
Tweedell explains her actions
Terri Tweedell, sentenced last week for 366 days in prison for theft, wrote the following explanation of her actions.
Tweedell admitted guilt March 2 to five felony counts involving the assets of Jaroslav Sedivy, a man she had befriended and who died March 8, 2006. She was charged with misusing her Power of Attorney for personal gain. She paid $17,213 in restitution to the court on March 27, 2007, the day she was sentenced.
Here is the statement that Tweedell provided to The Reflector the day before she was incarcerated.

First I want everyone to know that I was totally unaware that a law existed stipulating that a Power of Attorney (POA) cannot in any way benefit from being the POA. On four occasions, our friend Yaro gave us gifts and I knew that telling him no would hurt his feeling after all of the care I was giving him.
In 1999, while owning Jazz ‘n’ Java, my husband Tim Tweedell and Jaroslav (Yaro) Sediry became friends. Yaro would spend hours at the shop talking guy talk several times a week. Their friendship continued to blossom and soon I was invited to join in the fun. Yaro never spoke of children, but I knew he had been married a couple of times. I had also learned that he was looking for a woman through the internet to share his life with and who would take care of him. In return, he would give her everything he had.
In early 2002, we were concerned because we hadn’t seen him for a while, but he often climbed into his conversion VW bus and went to the coast. A couple of days later, I received a call from a nurse at the VA Hospital wanting to know if I knew a Jaroslav Sedivy. That was when we found out he had driven himself to the emergency room many days before because of a herniated hernia. They performed emergency surgery right away and it took Yaro a couple of days to remember where I worked.
Tim visited Yaro every day and at times it was touch and go because of pneumonia. I would send home cooked meals to him because he said the VA food was terrible. At this time, Yaro never requested that we contact his daughter Patricia (Patsy), but we felt they should know how sick he was. To the best of our knowledge, they never contacted him at the hospital. Tim collected his mail, checked and answered his e-mail, watered his plants and gave the apartment a good cleaning before he came home.
Yaro never spoke of his children in any way but derogatorily. He had not spoken to his daughter in Arizona in 10 years and very seldom heard from Patricia. The first time I went to his home I was surprised to not see pictures of children or grandchildren. I later found out that he didn’t even know he had a granddaughter in Arizona.
Yaro’s health never really got back to the same after the surgery and pneumonia. By mid-2004, he was supposed to wear an oxygen tank, but seldom did, saying he really didn’t need it. It wasn’t until late January 2006 I demanded that this doctor tell him just how sick he was, and then the doctor told him he had Pulmonary Fibrosis and that he would die from it within a few months.
On Dec. 31, 2005, Yaro called and requested to be taken to the VA Emergency room as he could not breathe. He was admitted to ICU where he went through a series of tests, was put on some experimental medication and sent home. I was upset that they were sending this patient home where there was no one to care for him and lived alone. Tim and I checked on him daily, bought groceries and ensured he was using his oxygen.
Five days after being released from the VA, he called me and said he needed to get to the ER immediately. I went straight to his apartment, called the ambulance and he was transported to Southwest Washington Medical Center. During his 10+ day stay, he started discussing how he couldn’t continue to live by himself and thought that moving to Mallard Landing would be a great idea. That was also when he asked if Tim and I would become his Power of Attorney and that he also wanted to change his Will. We told him, of course of the POA and put the Will off to a later date.
The day Yaro was to be discharged to Mallard Landing, the doctors told us he had diabetes and had to go to a skilled nursing facility. He went to Parkway North Care Center. A week or so later, he was back in the hospital and was diagnosed with MRCA, a very contagious infection. Parkway North had only one room that could accommodate him and that was with another patient with the same infection who insisted on watching television 24 hours a day--and loud. Yaro demanded after two days to be moved somewhere so he could have peace of mind.
To the rescue--Superior Home Care for Seniors. They located a Foster Care Home run by an RN and they had a private room. Yaro was thrilled as the home was owned and operated by Romanians. Lydia and Danny were more wonderful that I can possibly say. Danny made Yaro European chicken noodle soup and that was all Yaro wanted for day.
Unfortunately, Yaro was back at the hospital again in about a week for a couple of days and then back home again.
In between all of this, Yaro kept saying he wanted his Will changed and he wanted me to do it. A local attorney said all I needed to do was retype the Will he had, making the necessary changes and have the Will witnessed. Throughout all of this back and forth, we continued to call Patsy and kept her updated.
When Yaro became very ill, approximately four years ago, he did not request us to notify his children, but we took it upon ourselves to locate Patricia’s phone number and let her know. Again on Dec. 31, 2005 when Yaro was admitted to ICU, we notified her again. We told her that her father had asked us to become his POA and did she have a problem with this. Her response was “it only make sense, you are there and I am here.”
I had Yaro tell Patsy that he had changed his Will. We continued to care for Yaro and I was holding him in my arms when he passed away. His children had left and gone back home, knowing that he only had days to live because Yaro demanded they get out of his life. Upon his death, I made all of the funeral arrangements, airline reservations and hotel accommodations and gave the family cash for their use while they were in Vancouver. I also made the arrangements for a “celebration of Life” as requested by Yaro himself.
Yaro’s first gift to me was a check signed by him for $1,000 to help reimburse wages lost because of doctor appointments, fuel to get him to the VA Hospital and back, and all the special little treats he likes to eat. He then called Les Schwab in Battle Ground and requested that new wheels and tires of Tim’s choice be put on his truck ($889). He then instructed me to write a $300 check and go buy myself something nice to wear to an upcoming black tie affair.
He learned that at that event there was an auction item up for two children under 12 years of age to be picked up at their school by firefighters and the truck, taken back to the firehouse for lunch and then returned to the school by truck. Yaro was close to my grandson Timmy and told me to buy that for his birthday in May $525). The last charge was an inadvertent use of his credit card at the funeral home to finish paying off Tim’s mom’s charges. Out of four family members and two funeral home employees, none of us realized I had pulled our Yaro’s card instead of mine. The Prosecutor is, of course, saying I did it deliberately even though the funeral home directors say he knows it was a mistake. Yaro’s estranged daughter of 10 years went to the state and said we forced her father to make us POAs and fraudulently spent his money. The Prosecutor decided that since I was a high profile person in the county and this was a new division of the department, he would prosecute me to the further extent of the law.
I chose not to go to trial as the prosecutor was also going to charge me with lying to the police which I did regarding a family heirloom that Yaro did not want his children to have and made us promise to never let them get their hands on it. When the police searched my home, they found it. My attorney said we could beat all of the charges except lying to the police and if the jury found me guilty of just that, it would be a year in prison and often when a jury finds the defendant guilty on one charge, they just keep adding charges that could have possibly put me in prison for seven years.

Schools juggle schedules to make-up snow days
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
The snowy January that forced area school districts to close school for anywhere from four to six days has not affected the date on which most high school seniors will graduate but the snow has forced the graduating class to attend extra days–sometimes on Saturday.
Most schools in the Reflector circulation area have scheduled graduation and juggled schedules to provide 175 school days for the graduating class. Under Washington law, seniors are required to attend school only 175 days instead of the 180 required for all other students.
Battle Ground School District has not yet determined how to handle the needed make-up days for seniors. District spokeswoman Kelly O’Brien said that decision would be made “soon,” probably the week of April 1.
A planning meeting was scheduled for March 29. The last day of school for most Battle Ground students will be June 25.
Battle Ground seniors usually get five days without classes at the end of the year and before graduation, O’Brien said. Graduation in Battle Ground’s high schools had been scheduled for June 11 and 12.
Other school districts in Southwest Washington faced similar issues because of last winter’s snowy days, but only Battle Ground has not yet completed its year-end schedule.
Ridgefield School District has built in three make-up days, and students missed only four, requiring one make-up day.
“We took a teacher work day and had students attend that day,” said Patricia Bowles, director of instructional services. “The teacher work day was moved to June 18.”
In La Center, the senior class was scheduled to attend school for 178 days and when students missed four days because of snow, the seniors needed to make up only one day to bring the number to 175. Usually, La Center students have a transition day between semesters, but this year, school was open that day, said Superintendent Mark Mansell.
Hockinson High School, which will graduate its second senior class, will add two days at the end of the year and a Saturday school day for seniors scheduled for April 14. The seniors will graduate June 15. Maggie Bates, assistant superintendent, said that the graduating class had originally been scheduled to leave school two days before graduation but those two days were added to the senior calendar to give 175 days.
Woodland students missed six days because of snow, but the school year has three built-in make-up days, said Superintendent Bill Hundley. Seniors attended school three Saturdays during the winter to make up those three. Hundley said the seniors worked on graduation projects and a world problems class. Faculty were not required to attend on Saturday but some teachers who work primarily with the senior class participated.
Woodland seniors will graduate Fri., June 8, while the remainder of Woodland students will attend classes until June 20.
The final week for seniors is filled with examinations, projects and preparation for graduation, said Woodland High School Principal John Shoup.

Neighbors lose asphalt appeal
In a 70-page decision issued March 27, Clark County hearings examiner Joe Turner ruled against every claim made by the Greater Brush Prairie Neighborhood Association regarding county approval of a proposed asphalt plant in Brush Prairie.
John Karpinski, attorney for the Neighborhood Association, called the decision “disappointing.”
“He (Turner) uses the wrong factual standard of review by not requiring Lakeside to prove their case by a majority (preponderance) of the evidence,” said Karpinski. “We fully expect this and other errors of law to be reversed by the County Commissioners on appeal.”
Karpinski said he will appeal the hearings examiner’s decision by the April 10 deadline, file a brief by April 24, and take part in a hearing before the commissioners which could be in late May or early June.
Karpinski had claimed that noise from the proposed asphalt plant would exceed standards, that county code prohibits non-enclosed, heat generating operations, and that a planned stormwater system was not feasible.
Karpinski argued that alternatives to the proposed plant were not adequately addressed in an environmental impact statement. He also contended that officials should deny the project because of odor, water quality and quantity impacts, aesthetics, air pollution and dust.
The Lakeside Industries proposal is to construct a hot mix asphalt batch plant, office, vehicle maintenance building, fuel island, and train off-loading facilities in the Brush Prairie Rural Center between NE 151st St. and NE Caples Road about 2,000 feet east of SR-503. The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, owned by the county, bisects the site, and there is an agricultural building in the southwest corner.
Clark County officials zoned the site for heavy industrial use in 1998. Lakeside submitted an application and site plan in August 2000. The county hired a noise consultant to review noise impacts. County officials approved proposed modifications to NE Caples Road.
A draft Environmental Impact Statement was issued in October 2003 and a final Impact Statement in January 2006. The county approved the site plan in March 2006. Karpinski appealed both the Impact Statement and the county’s decision approving the project. Turner held five public hearings. The appeals raised procedural issues as well as matters of substance. The parties disputed the scope of the appeal as well.
Because the application was filed in 2000, the project is reviewed under codes in effect at that time.
The hearings examiner concluded that he had no authority to reconsider the zoning designation, but rather must apply laws and regulations adopted by the commissioners. He said an asphalt plant is a permitted use in the heavy manufacturing zone.
The hearings examiner found that the proposals for landscaping, parking, vehicular and pedestrian circulation and storage complied with county codes.
Turner noted that several letters from neighbors predicted a loss of property values of nearby homes if the project is built. Turner concluded that such an argument is outside the scope of his jurisdiction.
Turner also concluded that noise, smoke, heat and glare impacts of the plant were addressed in existing code or law.
Turner said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that there are no wetlands on the property.
Turner also concluded that the proposed transportation plan and road modifications met the requirements of the county transportation ordinance, subject to some conditions.
Turner also concluded that the proposed stormwater plan was adequate and that pit drains should be prohibited without additional environmental review. Stormwater facilities should not be allowed in the railroad right-of-way, concluded Turner.
Turner also found that the overall impacts of the facility will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment even though the project “will alter the existing environment and cause impacts.”
Several conditions apply to project construction as summarized in Turner’s report. Those conditions relate to transportation, stormwater, erosion, landscaping, fire marshal requirements and other matters.
Asphalt recycling at the facility is expressly prohibited without further environmental review and county approval. Nighttime noise is not to increase current levels in the area. Lakeside is to monitor noise levels to confirm compliance.

Ridgefield School District hires new superintendent
Bill Myers
staff reporter
With unanimous accord on March 27, Ridgefield School District board members ended a search process that took several months and voted to hire Artie (Art) C. Edgerly as new district superintendent.
For the past six years, Edgerly has been superintendent of the Wapato Public Schools, a district with 3,288 students in central Washington with a $28.6 million budget.
Ridgefield school board chairman Chris Swindell said, “I believe Art Edgerly is an excellent fit for our school district.” The new superintendent will receive an annual salary of $118,966.
Edgerly, 48, is no stranger to Southwest Washington. Following his graduation from the University of Washington, he taught grades 4-8 for eight years at Amboy Middle School. He earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Portland and worked as a special services coordinator for the Battle Ground School District. He received his School Administrator certification from Seattle Pacific University.
From 1996-1999, Edgerly was principal of Adams Elementary School in the Wapato District. From 1999 until 2001, he was a principal of Wapato Middle School. Along the way, he also served as a superintendent intern before his appointment to the Wapato superintendent post.
The Ridgefield School District has a current student enrollment of 2,037 and school officials project significant growth over the next 10 years.
Married, Edgerly lives in the Wapato area with his wife, Irma, and daughter, Therese, 18. They have a grown son, Art, living in Seattle. “We have always dreamed of returning to Southwest Washington,” said Edgerly. “Ridgefield will be an outstanding place to work and live,” he added.
Following the departure last year of former superintendent Mary Vagner who resigned to take a superintendent’s position in Idaho, Ridgefield school officials asked former Ridgefield superintendent John Simpson to fill in pending recruitment of a new superintendent. Simpson filled the chair and received rave reviews from citizens and community leaders.

Triplets arrive at Legacy Salmon Creek
The first triplets born in Clark County since 1994 arrived March 29 at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital in Vancouver.
Parents Thomas and Ellen Gallagher of Bend, OR selected the new Legacy hospital because of its staff, equipment and readiness to handle a complicated delivery.
As it turns out, the delivery went smoothly, all three babies arrived at over four pounds and are healthy, and parents and children were set to return to Oregon about four days after the delivery.
Legacy spokesperson Maggie Huffman said the delivery “was a finely choreographed procedure that lasted one hour and involved at least 20 medical professionals anesthesiologist, two perinatologists, three neonatologists, a pediatrician hospitalist and 14 nurses, technologists and respiratory therapists.
Carey Winkler, M.D., who led the procedure, said “The delivery was without complications. It was everything one could hope for. All three babies came out vigorous. It was a perfect delivery.”
The babies were born about one month premature.
Babies a long time coming
Thomas and Ellen Gallagher waited a long time for a family. After 17 years of marriage, surgical reversal of a vasectomy, six artificial inseminations, three in vitro fertilizations and temporarily relocating from their home in Oregon, their dreams were finally fulfilled.
Ellen, 40, delivered the triplets by Cesarean section one minute apart: Trey Ryan, 5-lbs., 2-oz., and 18 1/4 inches long, was born first at 7:52 a.m. He was followed by Joy Elle, 4-lbs., 12-oz., and 18 inches long, and then by Thomas V, 4-lbs., 2-oz., and 18 3/4 inches long.
Huffman said the Gallaghers researched hospitals to find where they would receive the best medical care. They decided on Legacy Salmon Creek because of its Legacy Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, its state-of-the-art Family Birth Center, and the highly-rated intensive care unit for newborns, said Huffman.
“Even if we lived as far away as New Jersey, we would still want to come to Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital,” said Thomas. “It is definitely a five-star hospital in terms of customer service, comfort and capabilities. Ellen and the babies are in the best place to receive the best care from the best doctors and staff. Everything is centered on the family. Nothing could possibly be more important.”
“Staff members are all happy to be here and you can tell they love their work,” said the new mother.
Legacy Salmon Creek has on-site apartments for couples to sleep, do laundry and watch television. Each room in the Family Birth Center is equipped with a daybed for immediate family, a Jacuzzi tub and a baby warmer.
In January, the Gallaghers moved from Bend to Portland to get closer to Legacy Salmon Creek. In March, their physician advised them to relocate to Vancouver to avoid the I-5 drawbridge. The couple has been staying in a motor coach just a few miles from the hospital.
In the past 10 years, 12 sets of triplets were born to Clark County women in Portland hospitals. Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, equipped and staffed for high-risk pregnancies and premature babies, opened in 2005.