Bulletin column - Aug. 6, 2009

Crews respond to alarm

A Colfax fire crew, including the ladder truck, was called out Monday night at about 9:05 p.m. by an automatic fire alarm report at Whitman Health & Rehab. The alarm indicated smoke in the 300 wing of the building and residents were evacuated from the wing.

A room by room search of the building failed to turn up any source of smoke, and the fire crew was able to reset the alarm.

Pay for loss or go to jail

Adam Christopher Johnson, 22, Lewiston resident who was charged with taking stock panels at a cattle feeding site behind Blyton Landing along the Snake River a year ago, was sentenced to 30 days in jail Friday after pleading guilty to a charge of second degree theft. Johnson was ordered to pay $800 in fines and fees. The court allowed him to convert the jail time into 240 hours of public service work on condition that he pay full restitution for the loss. A restitution hearing is slated Aug. 21.

Johnson was arrested after a deputy learned some of the missing stock panels had turned up at a salvage yard in North Lewiston. In addition to the stolen items, a squeeze chute was vandalized at the Blyton site.

Jail report notes injury

A jail inmate sustained a head cut and bruises July 28 when he was pushed down by another inmate, according to a disciplinary report filed in court Monday. The injured inmate was taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment. A 30-day lockdown was ordered for Bert Mageo after a disciplinary hearing. He also faces the possible loss of "good time" credit in the jail.

Fire extinguished above West

A Colfax fire crew responded to a fire in the hillside between Deanway and West Street at about 8 p.m. Saturday night. Neighbors with a fire extinguisher and buckets of water responded to the scene. The fire, believed to have been started by a juvenile playing with a lighter, was embedded in leaves and needles and old boards, some of them from the former boardwalk which linked the area to Deanway.

Driver unhurt

Monica D. Palmer, 20, Olympia, was unhurt last Wednesday afternoon when the car she was driving went off Highway 26 and struck a culvert after she attempted to avoid an oncoming vehicle. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving a 1997 Buick eastbound at 3:09 p.m. when a westbound vehicle crossed into the eastbound lane. She went into the gravel and lost control of the sedan near mile marker 112 west of Dusty.

Portable tip suspect: wind

A portable toilet at McDonald Park was found on its side Thursday morning. The portable unit is located at the north end of the park near the walking trail.

Officials initially assumed the portable was tipped over by vandals, but other evidence that a strong wind hit the park area, including a broken branch limb found in the first parking lot at Schmuck Park, has led to the conclusion that wind pushed over the portable, according to Steve Larkin, parks supervisor.

E. Johnson hurt in accident

Edwin A. Johnson, 77, Colfax, sustained head and neck injuries July 29 in a one-car accident on Highway 195 near Rosalia. Johnson was driving a 2003 Lincoln Aviator southbound at 5:40 p.m. when it drifted off the roadway and came to a halt in the ditch, according to the Washington State Patrol report.

He was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital and later transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Motleys submit low bid

Motley & Motley of Pullman was the apparent low bidder July 20 for the S. Main/Fairview paving project in Colfax. They submitted a bid of $112,055. Other bidders were Poe Asphalt $152,916 and Spokane Rock Products, $156,988.

The project calls for grinding off asphalt surfacing on the roads and application of 750 tons of asphalt mix.

Kennet Bertelson of USKH Inc., consulting engineers on the project from Spokane, will study the bids and make a recommendation to the city council Monday.

Fight sends man to hospital

Alex Rodriguez, 50, a resident of Paul’s Place, was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital late July 28 night for facial cuts and bruises sustained in an alleged fight with another resident, Tom Martin, 35. Martin was booked into the jail on a probable charge of fourth degree assault, and Rodriguez was signed into jail after treatment at the hospital on a charge of disorderly conduct. The alleged fight started over a disagreement involving cigarettes, according to the city police report.

Both were released on their own recognizance, pending a mental health evaluation, after an initial hearing in city court Wednesday.

Orofino teen hurt

Wyatt Johnson, 17, Orofino, sustained head injuries Tuesday evening, Jan. 18, when he lost control of a 1990 Toyota Corolla on Highway 26 west of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Johnson was driving eastbound at 6:45 p.m. when the Corolla drifted onto the eastbound shoulder, and he over-corrected after the car hit a reflector post. It crossed the highway and rolled onto its top in the ditch on the westbound side of the highway.

Pullman teen convicted

Caleb R. Smith, 18, Pullman, was sentenced to a year in jail with all but two days suspended for third degree theft July 30 in Whitman County Superior court. Smith admitted taking items from a residence on SW Meis Street March 22. The family told Pullman Police the items were taken from the house while they were attending church that afternoon.

The police investigation led to the suspect when the family noted their phone message recorder indicated a call came to their residence from a number they did not know while they were gone. The number was traced to a cell phone used by the suspect.

Smith was placed on 12 months of probation and ordered to pay $1,200 fines and fees.

Cemetery passes audit

Whitman County Cemetery District No. 4, which covers the Endicott cemetery, received a clean audit report from the State Auditor’s Office. The report said auditors could find no fault with the district’s 2007 records.