State v. Hutch

— Both the State and defendant, Geraldine Hutch, appeal from an order of public use and necessity limited to a light easement. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

Geraldine Hutch, a 71-year-old widow, lives alone in her home immediately behind the left field fence of the Lower Columbia College baseball field in Longview. Prior to 1976, Mrs. Hutch enjoyed a life of relative tranquility, engaging in numerous charitable activities and working in the Japanese garden she had created in her backyard. In 1976, however, her serenity was shattered when Lower Columbia College erected a lighting…