Bulletin column 5/19/11

DOT WILL GET CROSSWALK REPORT

A report on the May 7 Colfax crosswalk fatality and a request for improvements will be made to the state Department of Transportation after the city police department receives a completed investigation report. The accident last week took the life of Mary Ann Largent, 76, long-time resident. She was hit while crossing Main Street in the crosswalk between The Courtyard and Arby’s.

Chief Bill Hickman told the city council Monday night he plans to approach the state after the accident report is completed. He said the Washington State Patrol is working on the accident investigation, and he anticipates the work of the six different officers who took part in the investigation will be included in the report.

“I want a book of facts that cannot be disputed,” Hickman told the city council about his approach to the DOT.

The Main and Stevens intersection generates pedestrian traffic from Arby’s, the Post Office and the Courtyard. Upgrading the intersection has been on the council’s agenda before.

The chief said a traffic control will be sought for the intersection. He said he believes some type of electronic system could be installed to make the crosswalk safer. He added signal flags, used in other locations, generally don’t work because the flags vanish or wind up on one side of the street.

Hickman noted the hazard factor involved with crosswalks is a problem which is not unique to Colfax.

Other problem crosswalks in Colfax include the Thorn and Main Street intersection on the south end and the crossing at Cougar Food Mart. Thorn Street is particularly dangerous because pedestrians have to cross just north of the blind curve of Highway 195.

The chief also told the council that paint markings of the accident will be removed as soon as the department receives notice that WSP investigators have all the measurements they need.

A copy of the accident report will also be sent to the prosecutor’s office where a charging decision will be made.

ARSON CHARGE FILED IN COURT

A charge of second degree arson was filed Friday in Whitman County superior court against Michael J. Walton, 23, Pullman. Walton was arrested after officers in Pullman responded to a report of four people lighting a dumpster on fire at 3:20 a.m. in the alley between NE Oak and NE Campus Streets in Pullman.

Walton was one of two males and two females apprehended at the scene of the fire. Officers said witnesses said Walton started the fire and the others assisted in keeping it burning.

DRIVER AVOIDS COLLISION

Courtney M. Parham, 22, Mukilteo, was unhurt Friday afternoon when she swerved off Highway 26 near LaCrosse to avoid an oncoming vehicle. The 2007 Mazda she was driving struck an embankment along the westbound lane.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Silvia M. Twilligear, 63, Pullman, was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Impala eastbound at 3:25 p.m. and pulled into the oncoming lane in an attempt to pass a semi truck. Parham swerved to the right to avoid a collision with the Impala.

—-Jolene Boyle, 58, Colfax, was unhurt Friday night when the 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer she was driving collided with a deer on Highway 195 in the Rosalia area. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Boyle was driving northbound at 9:05 p.m. when the deer ran onto the highway and struck the right front corner of the Trailblazer.

COLFAX 59 GRAD DIES IN ARIZONA

Shannon Caldwell Rhodes, 69, a member of the Colfax High School class of 1959, died Sunday, May 15, 2011, at her winter home in Green Valley, Ariz. She and her husband, Ken Rhodes, for the last 10 years have resided in Coeur d’Alene and Green Valley. They were married in 1981. Also surviving are two daughters from a previous marriage, Stacy Black of Everett and Erin Black of Seattle. Born Aug, 1941, she was the daughter of Clarence and Doris Whealen Caldwell of Colfax. A memorial service will be at a later date in Coeur d’Alene.

GROWERS ‘STUFFING’ CHARGE DROPPED

An allegation that growers of Kentucky Blue Grass “stuffed” their harvest loads to take advantage of contract prices was not confirmed in an audit conducted for The Scotts Co., an attorney for the company told the court this morning. Matthew Turetsky said the audits provided no evidence that growers stuffed their loads with harvested seed from fields which were not under contract.

The statement was made in court Monday in a hearing on attorneys’ discovery arguments in the suit which started with growers last year suing Scotts, Seeds Inc. of Tekoa and Dye Seed Co. of Pomeroy for breach of contract on the contracts to supply seed. Scotts, as one of the defendants, has contended the seed deliveries were “stuffed” because the prices for delivery on the advance contracts were substantially higher than the market price which had slumped when demand for grass seed dropped with the housing market.

Turetsky and Tim Esser of Pullman, attorney for Seeds, Inc., told the court the argument now has moved to whether or not the seed processing companies stuffed the shipments.

The court ordered Scotts to provide Esser with the names and addresses of any third parties who provided Scotts with any information concerning stuffing. Esser told the court he needed the information to determine whether or not it could produce evidence which would be presented at trial. The court ordered Scotts to produce the information by noon Friday.

However, the court did limit access to the information to attorneys preparing for the trial. The judge ruled even the clients of the attorneys cannot be informed of the source of the information at this juncture. Turetsky argued release of the information could be harmful to the source without having any value at the upcoming trial.

WALMART EMPLOYEE JAILED

Corey A. Sines, 29, Princeton, Idaho, was booked into jail Saturday night on probable charges of second degree theft and perjury in a case involving items alleged missing from WalMart where he was employed. The Pullman police report said they were asked to investigate after an internal investigation by WalMart.

Among items alleged taken were a 42-inch 3D television set and a Sony Playstation. The police report alleged Sines initially told officers he had been intimidated by another man into taking the items. That account turned out to be invalid, the arrest report said.

BOARD TOSSES 7 BALLOTS

The county canvass board disqualified seven of the eight ballots it was asked to review Wednesday to close the books on the April 26 school bond elections. Final results, which included a tally of approximately 50 ballots put aside, still left both measures short of the 60 percent “yes” mark needed for approval.

Colton’s vote for $4,996,000 in bonds finished just over 58 percent in favor with 288 yes and 208 no, or 10 votes short of approval. The vote in the Colton precinct was 198 yes, 62.26 percent, and 120 no. The tally in Uniontown was 90 yes, 50.5 percent, and 88 no.

The Oakesdale measure for $4.2 million in bonds finished with under 48 percent in favor with 210 yes and 233 no. The Oakesdale precinct total was 180 in favor, 54.5 percent, and 150 no. The Farmington vote was 30 in favor, 26.5 percent, and 83 no.

The canvass board disqualified one ballot for lack of a signature, four ballots for being too late, and two of three ballots where the signatures on the ballots were questionable matches with the registration signatures.

The election staff withheld the count on approximately 50 ballots which were finally included along with the one ballot approved by the canvass board. That procedure was followed so the vote on the canvassed ballot cannot be tracked after it is pooled with the others, Debbie Hooper, election supervisor, explained.

CHEMICALS TAKEN AT BRUNING

Colfax Police Wednesday morning received a second report of intruders inside the Bruning Funeral Home on Mill Street. In both instances the intruders fled before they could be recognized.

Last Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. a staff member discovered an unauthorized person in the basement. On April 29, two people were discovered about 9:30 a.m. in the garage area at the back of the funeral home.

Three bottles of chemicals used in embalming have been discovered missing. The chemicals contain formaldehyde which can be used by drug users. No sign of forced entry was found in the building, Officer Bryce Nebe reported.

CURB-OUT POTS COME OUT

Steve Larkin, Colfax parks superintendent, has put out flower pots in curb-outs along Main Street. To volunteer for tending one of the pots contact Larkin via city hall. Last year 18 of the flower pots were located along Main Street.