Bulletin - Feb. 10, 2010

Assault case dropped

An assault charge against Brett C. Ware, 25, was dismissed Friday after Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the court his office has determined the charge cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The court accepted Tracy’s motion after hearing a different account from Martin Shanstrom, who was the alleged victim. The prosecutor said Shanstrom wanted to address the court at the time Tracy moved to drop the charge. Shanstrom testified by telephone from Tacoma.

Shanstrom said he believed the evidence in the case should be presented at trial and left for a jury to decide.

Ware was booked into jail here Oct. 17, 2009, after Pullman police responded to a report of an assault at the Cougar Cottage bar on College Hill. Police at the time said they decided to arrest Ware because he had allegedly struck Shanstrom several times with a beer mug and injured him. Ware, who was allowed pre-trial release on his own recognizance, pleaded not guilty to the charge last October.

Tracy said the case evolved from a fight which broke out between two groups at about midnight. He said the problem with proving the charge was conflicting accounts from witnesses. Some contend that Ware had acted in self defense.

Ware, who was not present Friday, was represented by Spokane Attorney William Becker. He told the court he would be able to call two witnesses to support the self-defense version in the event the case went to trial. He also said Ware had agreed to pay $3,690 to Shanstrom to cover his medical expenses.

Four jailed for work shortage

Four defendants who failed to complete community service work hours were sent to jail Friday by Superior Court Judge David Frazier. The defendants had been allowed the option of working off part of their sentences in lieu of serving time in jail. Judge Frazier ordered them back to jail after determining they had not completed the work hours.

Brian Berntgen, John Couch and Shawn Gould were all convicted in relation to the break-in in January of 2010 at Crossett’s Food Market in Oakesdale. They were sentenced in September to 30 days in jail with the option of working off 20 days of the term at the rate of eight hours per day. Friday was set as a review day to determine if they had completed the hours.

After computing the number of unfinished work hours, the judge ordered Berntgen to serve 16 more days in jail and Couch and Gould to each serve 13 more days.

Also ordered to serve 13 more days was Nathan Benson of Pullman. Judge Frazier noted Benson had a year to finish the 240 hours of work since he was sentenced last Feb. 5 on a charge of writing a $1,585 invalid check for car repairs. Benson failed to appear in court Nov. 5 for a review of his work hours.

Judge Frazier asked Benson how he figured he could be allowed extra time after Berntgen, Gould and Couch had all just been sent off to jail.

“You had a chance. Get to jail,” the judge ordered.

Trial set in Dusty case

An April 18 trial date has been set for Mark Lynn McKee of Richland, one of two suspects in a Jan. 20 break-in at a shop on Highway 26 in the Dusty area. McKee pleaded not guilty Friday in superior court to five charges of taking a motor vehicle and two charges of theft.

McKee, who was arrested and jailed the previous weekend, has been released on a $10,000 surety bond put up by his father.

Sheriff Myers in a report also alleged Darin F. Williams, 43, was another suspect in the case. Williams was jailed in Benton County.

Filed Feb. 2, the theft charges against McKee allege he took a 25-foot Prowler travel trailer and shop tools in the Jan. 20 break-in in the Dusty area. The motor vehicle theft charges include a pickup truck, two motorcycles and two four-wheelers. The probable cause investigation report alleges deputies determined the vehicles departed westbound from the shop site. They picked up a break in the case after checking out videos and credit card purchases at the Country Travel Plaza at the intersection of Highway 395 and 26.

Slim down due for Mill project

After hearing objections Thursday, Feb. 3, about planned curb-outs for the S. Mill Street project Pullman Engineer Munir Daud said he will revise the plan by taking a foot off the proposed width of the traffic lanes. The new plan will call for lanes that are 13 feet wide. Present width of the lanes is 12 feet.

The plan posted called for 14-foot lanes. “The people have spoken,” Daud said near the end of Thursday’s 30-minute review session in city hall.

Dr. Tom McKinney criticized the curb structure installed at the intersection of Mill and Island in the 2008 project and urged revisions. He noted the curb-out on the city hall corner, across from his office, restricted traffic, including emergency vehicles, when drivers attempted to turn right onto Mill from the east side of Island.

Dr. Robert Smith pointed out the plans for the curb-out at Mill and Spring Streets, across from his office, restricted traffic and parking.

The presentation also included an alternate plan proposal which would have installed diagonal parking between Spring and Wall. That alternative was dropped.

The plan called for a reduction in the curb-out at the southwest corner of Island Street where the 2008 project ended. The curb-out there has been the target of critics of the first phase of the Mill Street project which put curves in the street to accommodate diagonal parking in front of city hall and along the sheriff’s office..

Daud said Avista power poles will not be re-located along the west side of the street and that limited design options. The project, which is funded mostly by the state Transportation Improvement Board, is expected to go out for bid this spring for completion this summer.

Daud said cutting the proposed lane widths to 13 feet will probably eliminate plans for trees in the curb-outs.

Rape suspect arrested in Pullman

Pullman police Thursday, Feb. 3 reported they have arrested a suspect in a rape case after an investigation. Officers Monday, Jan. 31, received a report from a Clarkston woman who said she was sexually assaulted the previous night at a private party in an apartment on Merman Drive. Yuan Hui, 22, was arrested in Pullman and brought to the jail here on a probable charge of second-degree rape. Pullman officers conducted interviews and served a search warrant on Hui’s apartment prior to his arrest.

The suspect was allowed release on his own recognizance after a first appearance in court Friday, Feb. 4. An interpreter for Mandarin was used for the hearing. He was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim.

Jim Morasch dies of crash injuries

Jim Morasch, 68, Tri-Cities Airport director who was a member of the 1960 class at Colfax High School, died late Thursday afternoon, Feb. 3, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Mr. Morasch was flown to the Seattle hospital for treatment of multiple injuries sustained Jan. 25 in a collision on Taylor Flats Road in north Franklin County, according to the Tri-City Herald.

Cadillac part of Gwinn Collection

The 1959 Cadillac recovered by Sheriff Brett Myers and deputies early last week was part of the collection of the late J. Willard Gwinn of Garfield. Gwinn’s daughter, Donna Gwinn of Garfield, said the car was taken from a shed Oct. 25 while Mr. Gwinn was eating dinner at his place on the Elberton Road west of Garfield. She said the red Cadillac convertible was her dad’s favorite car and its loss was too much for him. Mr. Gwinn died Nov. 5, 2010.

Mr. Gwinn for years drove the Cadillac in Garfield May Day parades for royalty members and others. Donna Gwinn said she has invited Sheriff Myers and deputies to ride in the car for May Day this year at Garfield.

Reid D. McCullough, 53, was arrested at his residence in Pasco and taken to the jail in Franklin County as a suspect in the theft.

The sheriff’s report said McCullough could also face charges of narcotics trafficking and unlawful possession of firearms.

The sheriff said a warrant has also been issued for the arrest of Kimberly S. Miller, 43, of Kennewick for her alleged involvement.

Fifteen seek J-Miss crown

Fifteen junior class girls have officially entered this year’s Junior Miss competition which will be March 26. Theme for the program this year will be “A Night at the Movies.”

Listed in order of the competition number, the entrants are Sam Pearson, Natasha Nellis, Lauren Moore, Morgan Willson, Kelsey Nails, Elizabeth Hatley, Amanda Unger, Megan Groom, Abigail Muir, Abigale Thayer, Hayley Hahn, Kaysha Lyman, Erin Cox, Jherilynne Wride and Misty Skelton.

They are now practicing twice a week. Last year eight girls competed.