Bulletin column – Sept. 16, 2010

Lights out for Colfax

A Colfax police survey Monday night identified 12 streetlights which are out. Five of the malfunctioning lights are located on Main Street. Colfax also lost another light last week when a truck driver snapped off one of the downtown vintage-style streetlights near the intersection of Main and Upton.

The city will need to order a replacement for the broken light standard. The vintage-style lights in the downtown area were part of the Main Street reconstruction project 12 years ago.

Colfax streetlights are maintained as part of a service contract with Avista. The list of non-working lights will be relayed to the utility company for replacement.

Sentenced to prison

Kyle C. Allery, 20-year-old Pullman resident who has compiled a lengthy record of juvenile and adult offenses, was sentenced to 22 months in prison Friday on a conviction of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. Allery pleaded guilty to the amended charge July 29 and was remanded to custody of the jail at that time.

Allery was originally charged with child molestation May 10. The charge involved a juvenile girl in Pullman, according to the Pullman Police report.

Allery was rated with an offender score of five following a pre-sentence investigation. He has five felony convictions, three in juvenile court and two in adult court.

Allery will be placed on community supervision for up to 48 months after he completes his prison term. He was also ordered to pay fines and fees of $800.

Restitution in fuel theft

An agreed $2,500 restitution sum was ordered by the court Friday to be paid by Jeffrey Poston, who was convicted to taking fuel for private use with a McGregor Co. credit card at the Busch self-service fuel site in Garfield. Poston was an employee of the company at that time. He was convicted via the use of surveillance cameras at the site.

Poston, who was charged in June of 2009, was ordered to have $1,427 of the sum paid by Nov. 14.

Friendly lab in lockup

A female black Labrador has been in custody at the city pound for the past week. Police took custody of the dog in the S. Mill Street area Sept. 8, and to date an owner has not stepped forward to claim the dog. She is described as big, maybe a little overweight and very friendly.

Hard luck day

A juvenile driver hit the back side of the Ford Crown Vic cruiser driven by Chief Bill Hickman in front of the Courthouse Sept. 8. The driver had stopped in front of the courthouse so his mother could make a stop at AmericanWest Bank across the street. As he pulled back onto Main he failed to see Chief Hickman who had turned onto Main from Island and was headed to N. Main to direct traffic for the after-school bus run.

The rear door and fender on the passenger side of the patrol car was damaged. The accident was investigated by the Sheriff’s Department.

Suspect arrested in Idaho

Jessica Bonato, 30, who was sought on a bench warrant after failing to appear in court Aug. 27 on charges related to the North Campus Height apartment case in Pullman, was arrested by Latah County officers Sept. 8 and booked into jail here the next day. Bonato now resides in Troy, Idaho.

She has been charged with being an accomplice in first degree theft, an accomplice in forgery and third degree theft. She pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday and was allowed release on her recognizance.

Patient exits hospital

Thomas E. Kaufman, 41, Spokane, was the object of a police search in Colfax after he walked out of Whitman Hospital shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Kaufman was booked into jail on charges of third degree assault and tampering with a fire alarm.

According to the arrest report by Colfax Officer Michal Jordan, Kaufman struggled with a hospital staff member who was attempting to get him to take medication. He then attempted to leave the hospital, discovered the doors were locked and activated the hospital alarm system to open the doors.

He was reported last seen walking east on Fairview Street in a hospital gown. Several officers responded, and Kaufman was apprehended by Deputy Donald Broadfoot at the intersection of Wall and West Street in the downtown area.

Good day at the office

Colfax City office receipts logged a $2,795 gain Monday when James Elmer obtained a building permit for remodeling the former Harrison building into the county elections office. Value of the project was placed at $453,633. The Spokane firm started work on the project Monday.

Chase ends at top of hill

Jeffery Lee Mallory, 31, the former inmate who was booked back into jail Sunday, Sept 5. after being released the previous day, had an even shorter release Sept. 9, Thursday, when he ran out of the sheriff’s office, crossed Main Street and climbed up the west hill. Mallory was arrested without incident at the top of the hill by Colfax Chief Bill Hickman.

Jail Capt. Bob Ingalls said Mallory will not be charged with escape because he was not in official custody at the time he ran out of the sheriff’s office. Ingalls said the incident evolved out of a mix-up on the constitutional 72-hour rule which prohibits the state from keeping suspects beyond that time if they have not been formally charged.

Ingalls said Mallory had been released Sept. 9 because the jailers had not been informed by the prosecutor’s office that he had been formally charged. They later learned Mallory had been charged, but by then Mallory had left.

However, Mallory later came back to the sheriff’s office because he had left a necklace behind. By that time, the jailers had obtained a letter from the prosecutor’s office that Mallory had indeed been charged under the 72-hour rule.

Told he had to go back to jail, Mallory ran out the door, turned right and went between the courthouse and jail and across Main Street with Ingalls and Corrections Officer Sam Keller in pursuit. The chase continued across West Street before the jailers lost track of Mallory in the Deanway neighborhood.

They got help from Jim Retzer, an off-duty WSP trooper who spotted Mallory break out into the clear at the top of West Hill. Retzer was at his house in Hauser’s addition on the east side of Colfax.

Mallory had been returned to jail Sept. 5, Sunday, after he was observed coming out of a residence on the Dry Creek road with food he was suspected from taking from the residence. He was charged with burglary and pleaded not guilty Friday.

Water/sewer rate plan delayed

A proposal to hike Colfax water and sewer rates by three percent each year over the next five years has been delayed while the city reviews provisions which apply to motels. The city decided to delay voting on the measure after an official hearing at the Sept. 7 city council session. The hike in rates is expected to bring about $19,000 more in revenue each year. The revenue hike would be placed in a capital fund to upgrade infrastructure.

One big ticket item on the city’s future spending list is the pipeline connecting the Glenwood artesian wells with the city. Public Works Director Andy Rogers reported the aging Glenwood line has sustained eight leaks in the past year. He noted the city crew now knows of four more leaks along the line which will need to be repaired.

Age and the pounding of trucks along the North Palouse River Road have taken a toll.

Dennis Gransbery, operator of the Siesta Motel, asked the city to review provisions for the “additional unit” charge which was implemented for motels five years ago. He said the rate change has bumped his expenses for city utilities about four times.

The added unit charge was modified five years ago when Gransbery and others objected. They pointed out motel occupants normally do not use water for laundry and meal preparation. At present, motels are charged the “extra unit” fee on half of their rooms and have the option of documenting actual occupancy that go below that number. The Siesta now pays for eight units.

Basic household rates for water would increase from $21.10 this year to $24.50 in 2015 and from $22.60 now to $26.20 in 2015 for sewer.

Rosalia suspect sentenced

Ronald A. Rutledge, Jr., 28, Spokane, was sentenced Sept. 3 to four months in prison on a second degree burglary conviction. Rutledge was charged with breaking into the Rosalia Mini Storage last Feb. 14. A report by Rosalia Marshal Robert Fitzgerald said a video surveillance recording was used in identifying the suspect who was later observed driving in the area. Entry to the storage unit was made by breaking a lock hasp.

The officer’s report said Rutledge admitted taking the items and said he didn’t know why he did it. It also said Rutledge later showed up at Fitzgerald’s office and returned items taken from the storage unit, including a bed frame, trunk, television and stand.

Rutledge was also ordered to pay $1,800 in fines and fees.

The sentencing report said Rutledge was convicted in 2006 of possession of stolen property and drugs in Kittitas County.