HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 13
$1.00
Caregiver suddenly becomes attacker LOU MARZELES EDITOR For five years, all was peaceful in the Bender household. Jennifer Bender and her wife, Crystal, and their caregiver, Travis Esson, passed the time in quiet and uneventful days punctuated mostly by health considerations. Until last Tuesday. That day, shortly before 6 p.m., Esson fell into a sudden fury. He took a mallet hammer and knife first to Jennifer, then to Crystal, and finally cut himself so badly he had to be LifeFlighted for treatment. “I was sitting in my bedroom cutting my toenails,” Jennifer recalls. She was in their residence at 311 W. Putnam Street in Goldendale. “I felt something hit my head and thought it was the dog jumping up on the bed.” When she turned around, she saw Esson with the hammer in mid-swing at her head again. The blow landed, then another. “I passed out,” she says, “and hit the floor.” Moments later she awakened to Crystal’s screams: “Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” Esson had gone to the porch where Crytal, wheelchair-bound, had been enjoying the evening. Esson
landed hammer blows on Crystal, then took a 12-inch kitchen knife and stabbed her in the back of the head, on her face, and on her leg. She got deep cuts on her right hand from trying to stop the knife. Jennifer came to and made her way onto the porch and dialed 911. Dispatch immediately relayed the information to law enforcement officers. Initially, it was characterized as a domestic fight, though in reality the incident was apparently an unprovoked attack. Goldendale Officer Bracken Kruger was first on the scene. He was met by the two women who told him Esson had attacked them and then driven away in a red Subaru Impreza. Kruger relayed the vehicle and suspect information on to Dispatch. Jennifer was holding a towel to the back of her head, and Kruger could see blood pooling in her collar before running down her back. He took the towel and applied pressure to Jennifer’s wound. She would later be transported to Klickitat Valley Health
(KVH) for treatment. Medics arrived shortly after and took over Jennifer’s treatment. Kruger then went inside the house and photographed the crime scene. He retrieved the mallet hammer (metal on one side, rubber on the other). The knife was missing. Kruger was notified that Esson was found at Milepost 9 on Highway 97. He had the knife in his hand. Kruger drove to the scene where a Washington State Patrol trooper had placed Esson in a prone position on the ground on the highway shoulder. The knife was on the roadway out of Esson’s reach. Esson was bleeding from his chest and profusely from a deep cut on the inside of his right thigh. Kruger applied a tourniquet and read Esson his Miranda rights. Esson was taken first to KVH. There Kruger got Esson’s rather confused version of what happened. According to Essen, the Benders were having him followed and planned to kill him. After all, Esson contended,
See Attack page A8
LOU MARZELES
NEW BUSINESS COMING TO FORMER PIZZA PLACE: Watch for a new restaurant and family entertainment business called Starcade Pizza coming soon.
Starcade Pizza, new familyoriented business, to open A new business opening in Goldendale represents the first phase of a larger plan to help bring family entertainment and tourism to Klickitat County. It’s called Goldendale Family Entertainment LLC, and it’s about to open what will be a pizza restaurant and miniature golf course. It’s at what used to be Pete’s Pizza at 340 E. Collins Street in Goldendale, near the Middle School. The business will be called Starcade Pizza. It will feature
a pizzeria specializing in New York Style Pizza by-the-slice, with a goal of lunch and dinner service seven days a week. The restaurant will serve hot dogs, specialty sandwiches, and concessions, which will include Hawaiian shave ice, fresh squeezed lemonade, and a large selection of ice cream and frozen treats. In addition to food, there will be a full arcade featuring about 25 games of various types with plans for a miniature golf course.
Board games, ping pong, and other family-friendly activities will be available for all ages. There will be monthly arcade highscore competitions and tournament play. Starcade Pizza will have a soft opening with limited food available during spring break starting Easter Weekend while waiting on Health Department approval for hot food. It will be open every day from about 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hours may vary.
MOONSCAPE: The almost-full moon rising above trees last week in Goldendale.
LOU MARZELES
EARTH.ORG
SOLAR CONCERNS: The Board of County Commissioners heard more on concerns about planned solar energy projects.
County commissioners meeting has flash point over solar project RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
Two members from the Washington State Department of Commerce appeared at the public comment section at the Klickitat County Commissioners weekly meeting on March 19. One was Larry Matson, who described himself as a “renewable energy grants section supervisor,” from the Yakima office of the Department of Commerce. He explained the agency had established a new clean energy siting and permitting grant program with a biennial budget of $10 million. For the next two weeks, he and Aaron Peterson of the agency’s policy department would be touring the six counties in central Washington where large solar and wind energy projects are being sited. The purpose, he said, was to make local governments aware that this new grant funding source could be used for supporting pre-development work, planning, and environmental impact statements for sites intended for clean energy production. That drew an immediate response from Greg Wagner, founder of CEASE (Citizens Educated About Solar Energy), a group that is opposed to a large proposed solar energy installation. He suggested that people in eastern Washington did not want any more renewable energy projects and that the agency should “take your money and take it back on the other side of the Cascade Mountains and let Gov. Inslee put solar panels on Bainbridge Island where he lives and put wind in Puget Sound so all you people on the westside can see what it’s like to have this useless so-called
green clean energy.” Commissioner Dan Christopher responded to Wagner’s criticism of the new $10 million fund by saying, “That money is not going to solar companies. That’s going for us to create good documents.” Aaron Peterson also said Commerce was doing a survey to take comments from all stakeholders, and that since the survey was being done by outside consultants, “That way, the input will be more candid than if they were talking to an agency person.” Peterson noted that the survey was in direct response to input by state senators and representatives from rural areas. “Hopefully, your local newspapers will be printing the information,” he added. That shouldn’t be a problem where Klickitat County citizens are concerned. To take the survey, go to ruralcleanenergywashington.org. On the right side of the page is a blue highlighted instruction to “Please use this link.” That will take you right to the survey itself, which has only three questions: “What’s your zip code? Do you consider your area of Washington to be rural?” And, “Please use the space below to enter your comments.” The other counties surveyed include Yakima, Benton, Kittitas, Grant, Walla Walla, Columbia, Whatcom, Snohomish, and part of Lewis. The survey results will be presented to the legislature prior to the 130-day-long session in early 2025. Several people also expressed concerns about conditions in the Klickitat County Jail following some recent reports. Christopher responded that he shared their
See County page A8
Newhouse opposes plan to introduce grizzly bears Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with proposed action on the question of introducing grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem. “This final EIS reveals the Biden Administration is more intent on pushing policies about Central Washingtonians than for them. The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service held public comment sessions in my district where the overwhelming majority of voices, which I heard firsthand, were adamantly opposed to the introduction of grizzly bears. Their voices have been shut out of this entire process. This administration’s blatant disregard for public opinion and their unwavering commitment to the whims of extreme environmentalists, many of whom don’t live anywhere near where the bears will be, is proven by the announcement of their ‘preferred
alternative’ today.” Background The North Cascades Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement was first proposed by the Obama Administration. Central Washington communities surrounding the North Cascades National Park were not provided an adequate opportunity to give their input on the proposal. In March 2017, Newhouse wrote to North Cascades National Park Service Superintendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich to express opposition to the plan, citing an inadequate level of local community input and encouraging federal agencies to defer to state and local authorities on grizzly bear management efforts. On April 12, 2018, Newhouse wrote a letter to former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, expressing his deep concern regarding the then-Secretary’s support for the proposal. On June 6, 2018, the House Appropriations Committee approved
See Bears page A8