Bulletin column - Feb. 3, 2011

Scotts Ordered To Pay $7,448,103

The Scotts Company was ordered to pay $7,448,103 Monday afternoon after attorneys and Judge David Frazier determined the sums now due as a result of the court’s Jan. 21 ruling in favor of Seeds, Inc., Tekoa, on their motion for a partial summary judgment. The sum was due Seeds under agreements which called for one third payments to be made for Kentucky Blue Grass seed delivered by contracted growers to Seeds.

Dropped from the proposed orders Monday was a request for payment of interest at 18 percent from the payment due date.

Judge Frazier ruled interest payment provisions included issues of fact that will need to be determined at trial and could not be included under the ruling on the partial summary judgment.

Tim Esser of Pullman, who presented the order on behalf of Seeds, said the supply agreement included a clause which required Scotts to pay interest on the full amount of the sum due in the event they failed to make any of the contract deadlines.

Judge Frazier did order Scotts to pay interest at 18 percent from Monday, the date of the order, but the amount of the interest due since Scotts failed to make the fall payments will have to be determined at trial.

Richard Kuhling, the Spokane attorney who started the court case with a filing against Scotts, Seeds and Dye Seed Co. of Pomeroy, Monday urged the court to award an interest sum. He noted his clients, the growers, needed an award for interest to make up for some of the extra expenses they faced since September for not getting paid for their crops. Kuhling noted interest on the overdue payments could now be in the range of $300,000.

Esser in his initial filing of the proposed order contended the interest compilation comes to $3,853 per day from Sept. 10. That figure was based off an overall sum which was larger than the amount ordered paid at the Monday session.

The order Monday includes $7,081,434 to Seeds for one-third payment on the estimated crop due Sept. 10 and another third due Dec. 20. The sums include crops delivered under contracts made in 2007 at $1.10 per pound and in 2008 at $1.30 per pound. Seeds sought the sums in order to meet their obligations to the growers they had contracted.

Also included is $366,669 due Seeds for a margin payment for processing the crop. Seeds contracted for processing at 12 cents per pound and the payment was for one third of the crop which is still being processed.

Monday’s order also did not address claims for attorney fees, sums due under an alleged 20 cent price bump offered by Scotts on some contracts and claims by or against Dye Seed which was not part of the motion pursued by Esser on behalf of Seeds.

Suspect Arrested In Montana

A March 14 trial date has been set for Sean R. Hall, 42, Pullman, after he pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge of child rape. Hall was arrested in Miles City, Mont., and waived extradition back to Whitman County. Bond for pre-trail release has been set at $100,000.

Pullman police received a report of the alleged child rape Jan. 12 and an arrest warrant was issued after they learned Hall had left town. Formal charges were filed against Hall Friday before his arraignment in Superior Court.

WSP Accident Reports

Tina G. Vance, 46, Clarkston, complained of a sore neck after she rolled a 2001 Toyota Camry off Highway 195 about 2.6 miles north of Colfax Monday. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving northbound at 12:16 p.m. when the Camry went onto the shoulder of the highway, left the highway and rolled onto its top.

Alexander Tooke, 20, Bremerton, was unhurt Sunday when the 2011 Subaru he was driving was struck by a deer on Highway 26 about 38 miles west of Colfax. The WSP report said Tooke was driving eastbound at 6:50 p.m. when a deer ran into the right side of the Impreza.

Suspects Arrested In Dusty Case

Two Tri-Cities residents were arrested over the weekend in connection with a rash of burglaries in Whitman County, including the break-in at Dusty last week that involved the theft of a 25-foot travel trailer and a four-wheeler. Arrested were Mark McKee, 34, and Darin F. Williams, 43, after warrant searches at their residents in the Tri-Cities.

McKee was taken into custody here on probable charges of two counts of second degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

Williams is being held on similar charges in Benton County and is expected to be extradited to Whitman County to face charges here later this week, according to a report Sunday from Sheriff Brett Myers. Both are expected to face additional charges, and arrests of additional suspects are expected as the investigation continues.

Sheriff Myers reported officers have worked tirelessly with area businesses and citizens to obtain the information needed to make the arrests.

Deputies were called to the Dusty area Jan. 20 after getting a report of a burglary at a farm shop along Highway 26. In addition to the 25-foot Prowler travel trailer, a four-wheeler, dirt bike and pickup truck were reported missing along with tools.

Deputies at that time suspected at least two suspects and two large pickup trucks were involved in the burglary.

Library Buys Hamilton Building

Whitman County Library has purchased the Hamilton Drug building which adjoins the library’s Colfax building on the south side. The building was purchased from Kenneth and Ruth Cox of Colfax, long-time proprietors of Hamilton Drug.

Price of the building was $75,000, according to a report from Kristie Kirkpatrick, library director. The sale was finalized Monday and title and transfer tax forms were filed at the courthouse, according to Colfax Realtor D. John Henry.

At one point, the library had considered expansion into the former Hamilton Drug space as part of the remodeling project which was completed last August. That alternative was dropped, and the $1 million project was done within the confines of the present building.

Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick reported the $75,000 used for the purchase was given to the library Foundation for the express purpose of purchasing the Hamilton property. The Foundation voted to donate the funds to the library and the sale was completed Monday after negotiations were concluded. The library board of trustees approved the purchase.

Kirkpatrick’s news release said the donors of the $75,000 wish to remain anonymous.

At this point the library is exploring a number of possible uses for the building that will benefit the community in accordance with the library’s mission and goals, the report said.

Second Mill Street Meet Set

A second public session on plans for the Mill Street construction project in Colfax has been scheduled for tonight, Feb. 3, at 6:30 p.m. Pullman Engineer Munir Daud plans to bring two different plans to the session for public review.

At the Jan. 20 session in city hall, Daud posted a plan for the project but pointed out it had already been sidelined and a revised plan would be drawn up and presented in two weeks.

Mill Street business owners and residents generally encouraged the engineer to keep the project simple with a minimum of trees and curb-outs.

Charge Strangulation Attempt

Charges of second degree and fourth degree assault were filed last Thursday, Jan. 27, against Antawnette Hampton, 25, WSU student who was booked into jail Jan. 22. She was arrested after campus police investigated a Jan. 7 report of a female student who was assaulted in a dorm room and taken to the hospital for treatment.

The second degree assault charge alleges Hampton several weeks ago attempted to strangulate the same victim. A police report filed with the case said officers learned about the alleged strangulation after investigating the alleged Jan. 7 assault.

Hampton, who was allowed release on her own recognizance after a first appearance in court Jan. 24, was summoned to appear in court for arraignment Feb. 4.

Deer Hit Near Palouse

Neil R. Manning, Jr., 50, Palouse, was unhurt last Thursday, Jan. 27, when the car he was driving collided with a deer on Highway 27 a mile south of Palouse. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Manning was driving a 2007 Ford Fusion northbound at 5:36 p.m. when a deer ran into the left side of the car about a mile south of Palouse.