Bulletin column - March 10, 2011

CREW TO START MILL PROJECT

A Colfax city crew will begin work soon on replacing service lines beneath the segment of S. Mill Street which has been slated for reconstruction this year. Public Works Supervisor Andy Rogers said all of the galvanized water service lines beneath the four-block length of the street project will be replaced with PVC pipe. The aim is to avoid having the old pipe break after a new surface is constructed for the street.

City crews did the same work in advance of the N. Mill Street project two years ago. Rogers said they intend to replace the pipe by excavating holes at each end and pulling the new PVC while removing the old pipe. The new pipe will extend from the water main beneath Mill to the meter boxes.

The city has purchased 700 feet of one-inch PVC pipe and 200 feet of two-inch pipe for the project.

In other project news, Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen said members of First Baptist Church had expressed concern to him about the number of trees which are included in the current street project plan for the church parking lot. The last plan draft from Pullman engineer Munir Daud charted six trees along the lot. Under revisions from the original plan, Daud has relocated most of the tree sites from proposed curb-outs to the inside edge of the sidewalks.

ESCAPEE WILL GO TO PRISON

Ronald Rutledge, the Whitman County jail inmate who departed during a work detail Nov. 20, was sentenced to 15 months in the state prison system Friday after admitting charges of escape and theft. Rutledge was serving a sentence here for burglary of a Rosalia storage locker when he vanished from the jail courtyard. An investigation report said he took a truck at Colfax, went to Dayton where he is suspected of additional crimes and then stole a semi truck to drive to Spokane.

Rutledge, 29, Spokane Valley, had an offender score of three based on his prior conviction last September in the Rosalia case and two convictions in Kittitas County.

He was also ordered to pay $830 in fines and fees.

MISSING COMPUTERS NET 30 DAYS

Vu Tong Nguyen, 19, WSU student from Seattle, was sentenced to 30 days in jail Friday after pleading guilty to possession of two computers which were stolen from student rooms in Regents Hall on the WSU campus. Prosecutors noted Nguyen was a resident advisor at Regents and had access to rooms.

The report said Nguyen was apprehended when the missing computers began to be used on the WSU system.

Nguyen was ordered to pay $4,294 in fines and fees, including $2,494 restitution for one of the computers. He will also be required to pay restitution for repairs and replacement, if needed, on the other computer which has been held in possession of WSU police as evidence. The two students who owned the computers were present in court Friday but declined to comment in the session.

Judge David Frazier noted Nguyen had been placed in a position of trust at the residence hall and had violated it.

COLFAX MAN SENTENCED

Cody W. Rohrich, 19, Colfax, was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but five suspended after he pleaded guilty in superior court Friday to an amended charge of fourth-degree assault. Rohrich was initially charged with second-degree assault after he and another suspect attacked Judson Doak Oct. 3 in Colfax.

Rohrich was ordered to pay $1,200 in fines and fees and allowed the option to work off $500 of the fees through public service work.

CITY GETS REIMBURSEMENT

Colfax has received $39,576 from the state Office of Outdoor Recreation for grantreimbursement for the McDonald Park lighting project. The sum was for the ditching and wiring of the outdoor McDonald lights that made their debut during the summer baseball season. Treasurer Mark Clinton said the installation project totaled about $43,000 with the city providing in-kind work for their part of the project.

The actual grant application was prepared by the school. The reimbursement payments will be used to replenish capital funds of McDonald Park and the City Parks which were used to pay the contractor, Harrison Electric, after the job was completed last summer.

An addition to McDonald is expected in the coming weeks when the former Gonzaga University scoreboard is installed behind the outfield fence of the main baseball field. The sign has been painted in Colfax colors.

Colfax Coach Mike Parrish acquired the sign from Gonzaga after the university surplused the sign as part of a field construction project. The scoreboard has been stored at McDonald for two seasons since the acquisition.

Coach Parrish said he aims to get the sign in place before the March 25 opener at McDonald when Asotin is scheduled to visit here.

WSU STUDENT ARRESTED FOR RAPE

Ryker L. Edwards, 18, WSU student, was allowed release on his own recognizance Monday after being booked in jail on a probable charge of second-degree rape. Edwards was arrested by campus police after the victim said she had been raped at Goldsworthy Residence Hall. She told police she had gone to the residence hall with Edwards who told her he was accompanying friends back to the residence hall. She had expected him to accompany her back to her sorority after they stopped at Goldsworthy.

WATER BILLS WILL SEE CATCHUP

Colfax city crews will begin reading meters this week for the first time since the normal winter break. Meters have not been read for the last three months, and the water portion of city bills has been billed out according to the base minimum rate. Colfax residents next week will get bills with a makeup amount for the past three months when the meters were not read.

The water portion of utility bills has been billed over the past three months at the $21.70 base rate minimum. The city also charges 61 cents per 100 cubic feet in addition to the base. Normal water monthly use for a family of four can be about 1,000 cubic feet or approximately $6 additional per month. That would mean an $18 makeup bump for the bills that go out next week.

The sewer portion of the utility bills is computed on average water use for the four winter months. Changes in those billing sums will show up on the April bills after the averages are known, according to City Clerk Connie Ellis.

DRUG TEST FAILURES NET SENTENCE

An 18-year-old Garfield youth was sentenced to 60 days of confinement March 3 after a deferred disposition of his juvenile court sentence was revoked. The prosecutor’s office moved to revoke the deferment because the youth had failed to refrain from using drugs as ordered by the court. The motion noted the youth had failed urine analysis tests which had been administered to determine compliance.

The youth was sentenced to 30 days each on convictions of burglary and malicious mischief involving a break-in and vandalism at the Garfield/Palouse High School in Palouse in November of 2009. The youth’s probation, part of the original deferred sentence, was revoked.

Three other charges against him were dismissed.

The investigation report noted the youth and a co-defendant entered the school and vandalized different areas of the building. A door window was broken, spills were found and a trophy case was vandalized. The Palouse police report said five trophies were removed from the case and later found in a dumpster which was located outside of the cafeteria. Also found in the dumpster was a photo montage of the state “teacher of the year” honor which went to Dennis Griner of Palouse.

The court also ordered the youth to pay incarceration fees at the rate of $25 per day for a total of $1,500. Juvenile court sentences do not provide for “good time” credits.

The youth was also ordered to pay $1,609 in restitution to the school district. The restitution payment was also ordered for the other youth involved in the case who was placed on deferred disposition of his sentence and remains on that status.

CITY TO GET BRIDGE UPDATE

Harold White, Department of Transportation maintenance and traffic engineer at the eastern regional office in Spokane, has been scheduled to appear at the March 21 city council session for an update on the proposed South Main bridge project. The city and state have been negotiating on a project to improve ramps on the bridge which now has limited access for use by handicapped residents and bicycle riders.

City Administrator Carl Thompson said the DOT has reported state plans for access ramps on the bridge have run into a snag because the state faces a requirement that guardrails on the bridge be brought up to modern day safety standards. The requirement kicks in when modifications are made to guardrails on older bridges, and the proposed ramp project at Colfax would require a modification of the guardrails.

Thompson said the state now is anticipating an alternative ramp solution which would not involve changing the guardrails on the S. Main bridge. White is expected to report on the alternative plan at the council session.

SCION TIPS ON HIGHWAY 26

Kenneth Breiten, 53, Dayton, was unhurt Tuesday, March 1, when he lost control of a 2006 Toyota Scion on Highway 26 in snow and slush conditions. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Breiten was driving eastbound at 7:40 a.m. when the Scion went out of control. The car went off the roadway on the right side and came to a halt on its side.

BOND SET AT $100,000

A $100,000 bond for pre-trial release was set for DJ Thomas Bortko, 20, the Pullman man suspected of assaulting Pullman Officer Ryan McNannay during an arrest in the early morning hours Feb. 28. Bortko has been identified as the driver of a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer that allegedly struck seven parked cars on Lost Trail Drive about 3:30 a.m.

A Pullman police report said three officers eventually subdued Bortko who was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital. At the time of his arrest Bortko did not have any identification on him. He was later identified by vehicle records on the Explorer which was registered in Bellevue. Officers also identified Bortko on Facebook.

Officer McNannay sustained cuts on his face, neck and hands. His shirt pocket was also cut and a cell phone in the pocket sustained damage which appeared to have been cause by stabbing.

The report said the suspect threatened a resident who came out of his house on Lost Trail Drive to find two of his vehicles had been hit. The report said vehicles in five consecutive driveways had apparently been hit by the Explorer.

After responding to the 911 call, McNannay spotted the suspect walking along a sidewalk. He pursued on foot, stopped the suspect and was apparently injured when wrestling with the suspect.

The report said a knife and screwdriver multi-tool were taken from the suspect.

The report said Bortko, who was secured on a backboard, spit on an ambulance attendant in route to the hospital.

After he was released from the hospital, Bortko was taken to the Pullman Police Department for booking and then transported to the Whitman County jail where he was booked.

Spokane Attorneys Carl Oreskovick and Ronald Van Wert have filed a notice of appearance on behalf of Bortko.

Formal charges of assault on McNannay and ambulance crew member Andrew Chiavaras, two counts of hit and run of an unattended vehicle and harassment of the resident who first encountered the suspect at the scene were filed March 3.

DYW TICKET SALES START

The fourteen entrants for the Colfax Distinguished Young Women (Junior Miss) competition March 26 began selling tickets for the event Tuesday. Tickets will be $8 with a special $9 VIP ticket offered. It will include a bag of popcorn.

One of the initial 15 initial entrants in the event had to withdraw because of sickness. A $50 cash prize will be awarded to the entrant who sells the most tickets.

DEER CRASH IN S CURVES

Drivers of a car and semi truck were unhurt March 2 in a rear-end collision accident in the S turns area of Highway 195 a mile south of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Arshdeep Singh, 25, Pullman, was driving northbound at 6:20 a.m. when he slowed and stopped for a deer which ran across the highway. William Perpignan, 65, Manteca, Calif., was driving a 2010 Peterbilt truck and trailer behind Singh and was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting the back of the Toyota Camry driven by Singh.