Bulletin column - Aug. 19, 2010

Street not city’s problem

Planned vacation of two little-used segments of city streets on the south end has been canceled because city officials determined they were already vacated in the 1930s.

On the chopping block were Ash Street, a steep segment of street running downhill from E. Fairview to Highway 195, and Reed Street, a small alleyway platted to intersect with Ash. A public hearing on the vacation had been slated for Sept. 20.

City officials began the road vacation process after a poplar tree at the top of Ash Street was blown over during a wind storm and damaged a house on Fairview.

City Administrator Carl Thompson told the city council Monday night he found a map from 1938 that had Ash Street marked as vacated. Public Works Director Andy Rogers said the road has not been maintained by the city for years.

Thompson said the city will still pay the cleanup and repair costs from the fallen tree, but will not pay any possible future tree damages.

City troubled by peddler problem

An influx of door-to-door salesmen have city officials encouraging residents to make sure porch-step peddlers have their proper permits.

The city’s peddler ordinance requires door-to-door salesmen to register their presence with city hall. The permit lists business supervisors and lays out what sections of town salesmen are allowed to sell their wares.

Councilman Jeremiah Roberts said he recently had a doorstep experience with a pushy vacuum salesman, who let himself into the house later after seeing several people leave.

Chief Bill Hickman said a bus load of magazine salesmen hit town a couple weeks ago, using rude, aggressive tactics to sell their publications. After several complaints to city hall, Hickman contacted their supervisor and the salesmen left town.

The peddling ordinance went into effect the first of this year. Chief Hickman said it was designed after a series of salesmen allegedly sold subscriptions to magazines that residents never received.

Cost of a peddler’s permit is $25 for a year, $15 for six months and $5 for a three day permit.

WSP reports pair of weekend collisions

Two drivers were injured in a car accident Sunday evening, Aug. 15, on Highway 195 just west of Pullman. John Fosse, 20, Shelton, suffered lacerations to his face after he made a left turn in his 2002 Toyota pickup at the north Pullman interchange in front of the 1991 Chevy Storm being driven north by Robyn Miller, 23, Spokane. Miller sustained injuries to her head, neck and knee. The report from the Washington State Patrol said both cars were towed from the scene.

An accident Saturday, Aug 14, on Highway 26, 10 miles west of Colfax resulted in no injuries. According to the state patrol report, Rowshan Akhter, 49, Richland was driving her 2006 Toyota Sienna westbound at 5:15 p.m. when she crossed the centerline onto the eastbound shoulder. Carl Kidder, 34, Fort Yates, N. D., tried to move his 2000 Freightliner tractor trailer out of the way, but Akhter ran into the semi’s right rear tire.

Student sues professor

David Brown, a former grad student at WSU, filed suit Monday, Aug 16, against his former professor, Kenneth Butterfield, alleging the professor intentionally inflicted emotional and mental distress upon Brown.

Brown’s suit claims Butterfield gave lectures and assignments in a business class taken in the fall 2009 semester that were designed to intentionally harass and humiliate Brown. Brown was suspended from the university this spring.

His suit seeks $80,000 compensation for lifelong emotional harm suffered from the class. Brown originally requested a bench trial. He later amended his complaint to demand he be heard by a six-member jury panel because of the different burden of proof required.

Getaway driver nabbed in Spokane

Mark S. Heltsley, 42, was arrested by Pullman and Spokane police last Thursday, Aug. 12, at his home in Spokane for allegedly taking part in the early morning burglary of a Pullman home Aug. 10.

Heltsley is alleged to have driven the getaway car, a maroon minivan, after a home invasion armed robbery on Sunnyside Hill.

He made a first appearance in Whitman County Superior Court last Friday morning, Aug. 13. Pullman police forwarded to the prosecutor’s office charges of first degree robbery, first degree burglary and second degree theft.

According to Pullman Police Commander Chris Tennant, Heltsley was arrested without incident, and much of the stolen property from the burglary was found in his home.

Heltsley was identified by the victim after the homeowner escaped from the masked robber, who allegedly brandished a handgun and began rifling through an unlocked safe in the house. When the masked man turned his back to rummage through the safe, the resident fled out the back door and reportedly identified Heltsley standing beside the van.

The alleged burglar then appeared and the two drove off, after which the victim phoned police.

Tennant said the duo made off with a couple hundred dollars, some documents and spare house and car keys.

Tennant said police are continuing to investigate the identity of the masked man. So far, police have no major leads, he said.

Police also discovered a missing Spokane juvenile female in Heltsley’s home during the arrest. She was returned to her family.

Car-b-q extinguished on south hill

Colfax fire crews Monday morning, Aug 16, extinguished a car fire on the south Main Street hill. The fire started in the engine compartment of an early model Volkswagen Bug and broke out the rear window.

Lieutenant Scott Kruse said the owner of the car backed it out of her driveway when it stalled. She then went to start it again when she looked in her rear view mirror and noticed smoke billowing out of the back.

The fire department sent three trucks to the fire, and it was quickly extinguished.

Crews also responded to a report of a car fire on State Route 195 at the Albion turnoff Saturday morning, but the car had been removed by the time they arrived.

Bickle faces 21 counts

Paul S. Bickle, 32, who was arrested at LaCrosse Aug. 9 as a suspect in a series of area break-ins over the past three weeks, pleaded not guilty to 21 different charges in Whitman County Superior Court. Bickle, who has been ordered held on $200,000 bail has been slated for trial Sept. 13.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the court this morning that he will ask for an exceptional sentence in the event Bickle is convicted of any of the 21 charges. Bickle’s recent release from custody, the number of charges and victims involved and the allegation that Bickle had been placed in a position of trust are all factors in the request for an exceptional sentence.

The 21 charges related to Bickle’s arrest for two alleged burglaries at Arrow Machinery, two at the Department of Transportation shops just north of Arrow, one each at Ace Hardware and Rite Aid in Pullman and thefts at the WalMart Construction site in Pullman where he was employed at the start of the month as a night watchman.

The charges include sets of malicious mischief, burglary and theft at the store sites where windows were allegedly broken to gain entry.

Vikki June Kropp, 37, appeared in court Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges of possession and stolen property and attempted burglary. Kropp is being held in jail on a $50,000 bond for pre-trial release.

She was also scheduled for a Sept. 13 trial.

Bird dodge leads to crash

Shanshan S. Wen, 28, Pullman, was unhurt early Aug. 12 when she lost control of the 2000 Oldsmobile Integra she was driving and went off Highway 26 in the Hooper area. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving westbound at 7:15 a.m. and pulled onto the shoulder of the highway to avoid hitting a bird in the roadway. She over-corrected and the car went off the north side of the highway into a field and struck a barbed wire fence near mile marker 96.

Truckers collide on 194

Truck drivers Douglas A. Johnson, Harvard, Idaho, and Christopher L. Burns, Pullman, were unhurt when the tractor-trailer rigs they were diving collided at about 1:10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug 11, on the Almota grade approximately three miles from the Almota terminal. According to the Washington State Patrol accident report, Johnson was driving a loaded 1999 Kenworth down the grade, and Burns was driving a 2001 Freightliner with an empty trailer uphill. The trailer behind the Freightliner crossed the centerline on a sharp curve and hit the front of the Kenworth.

The Kenworth was repaired at the scene, but the hanger on trailer on Burns truck was damaged to the point where it had to be towed.

Pullman rape trial begins

The rape trial of Robert Wade Muskthel, 25, Walla Walla, began Monday, Aug 16, with selection of jurors from 45 candidates. Muskthel is charged with attempting to rape an intoxicated woman last Oct. 10 in the women’s restroom of a College Hill bar in Pullman.