Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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HULLABALOO EYES MILL STREET JOB
Colfax Chamber of Commerce members Monday night voiced concerns about an overlap with the Mill Street construction project and the annual Colfax Hullabaloo celebration which has been set for the Oct. 8 weekend. Kathy Mayer reported Hullabaloo vendors are slated to begin setting up on the evening of Oct. 7 with booth sales set for the next day at the First Baptist family center building.
The Hullabaloo parade and firemen’s breakfast could also conflict with the rebuild of Mill Street which will extend from Island Street to Canyon.
Mayor Norma Becker said city officials had expected the project to be finished before the scheduled Hullabaloo events.
The Mill Street construction project has a 90-work day deadline limit, but Munir Daud, project engineer, believes the work will be finished closer to 60 working days which now will be later than the Hullabaloo weekend.
City Administrator Carl Thompson said they should know by Wednesday when work will get underway. Motley & Motley of Pullman won the construction bid. They have since told the city they plan a block-by-block approach to the construction project.
Police Chief Bill Hickman said Morton Street could serve as an alternate parade route for Hullabaloo. He noted Morton provides parking spaces for spectators, a staging area at the city park and a loop route for parade entrants via Sumner Street.
“It’s an option; it’s not perfect,” Hickman commented.
CITY LOSING
28 GALLONS
PER MINUTE
Public Works Director Andy Rogers Monday night reported the recently competed leak detection survey of Colfax has determined the city is losing 28 gallons a minute. The survey found five leaks with the largest at the intersection of Hillcrest and Fairview on the south end of town. A faulty valve at that location is losing an estimated 20 gallons a minute.
Rogers noted the total leak rate amounts to more than 40,000 gallons per day.
Also, Rogers reported he has delayed a cleaning and painting of the Southview reservoir until after harvest because of concern for the grain crop adjoining the tank. Water drained out of the tank could spill onto the grain field, he noted. The project had initially been scheduled to happen earlier, but the start was delayed through the summer.
CHANNEL LOGS READY TO LAUNCH
Four lengths of logs, which were removed from the center drain of the flood control channel on the N. Fork of the Palouse and cut into sections, were placed at the top of the ice breaker in the channel. The logs are expected to float downstream when high water hits the channel again this fall.
Public Works Director Andy Rogers said the log extrication project was part of the cleanup of the city’s flood control channels prior to an Army Corps of Engineers inspection this week.
BURGLARY CHARGES FILED
Anthony R. Dailey, 28, Colfax, was charged Aug. 11 in Superior Court with residential burglary in Colfax. According to the arrest report, police responded to a residence on S. Lake June 20 after a resident reported Dailey entered the residence and removed cans of beer. The occupant of the house said Dailey, who was hired to mow the lawn at the residence, was observed taking the beer out of the residence while he was mowing the lawn. The report alleged Dailey also rummaged through rooms of the house.
In an unrelated case, Kenneth Fuller, Jr., 26, Moscow, was charged with burglary of a residence in Garfield May 5. The police report said Fuller is suspected of taking hydrocodone from the residence where he was part of a remodeling work crew. The report alleges the owner of the residence was tipped off when another member of the work crew reported Fuller had offered to sell him hydrocodone after they left the residence.
OAKESDALE
DRIVER HITS DEER
Patrick R. Wright, 42, Oakesdale, was unhurt early Friday morning, Aug. 12, when the 2001 Chevrolet Impala he was driving struck a deer on Highway 195 near Rosalia. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Wright was driving northbound at 4:50 a.m. when the deer ran across the roadway and struck the Impala.
Mona A. Younes, 55, Pullman, sustained back and side injuries Saturday afternoon, Aug. 13, when she lost control of a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer on Highway 195 just south of Pullman. According to the WSP report, she was driving northbound at 4:05 p.m. when she lost control of the Trailblazer which crossed the highway and rolled down the embankment on the opposite side of the highway. The Trailblazer came to a halt on the driver’s side.
SUIT FILED IN GREEK ROW FALL
A damage suit was filed Aug. 11 in superior court on behalf of Megan Mitchell for alleged damages sustained when she fell at a fraternity on Greek Row in 2008. The suit was filed by Wenatchee attorney Thomas O’Connell. Mitchell is a 2006 graduate of Eastmont High School.
Defendants in the suit are Theta Xi fraternity and Phi Kappa Sigma, alleged landlords of the building.
The suit alleges Mitchell went to the fraternity to attend a Theta Xi open dance Sept. 28, 2008, after a WSU football game. She said she left the dance and then returned later in the evening. The suit contends she was on the upper level of the fraternity building and looking for another member of her group when she stepped through a door with a lit Exit sign. The suit said she stepped through the door into an unguarded opening and fell to a concrete floor.
Amount of alleged damages will be determined at trial, according to the suit.
SCOTTS SEEKS TRIAL DATE,
CONSOLIDATION
A motion by The Scotts Co. seeks a trial date June 4, 2012, for the giant Kentucky Bluegrass suit. Seattle Attorney Matthew Turetsky suggested the court date in a motion which asks the court to set a scheduling conference to establish deadlines for preparation for the trial date. He contended the suit involves a complex dispute involving multiple parties and asked the court to schedule case preparation deadlines for all parties to follow.
The suit was filed by area grass seed growers against Scotts, Seeds Inc. of Tekoa and Dye Seed Ranch of Pomeroy.
Turetsky also asked the court to consolidate a similar seed suit which was filed against Scotts and Seeds Inc. by 39 growers in the Camas Prairie area of Idaho last November. He contends the two suits are similar and should be decided at the same time.
REMINDER :
Residents are reminded to place their Colfax Honor Society Community Calendar order by Aug. 31. Contact Jan Varnes, CHS advisor, for more information.
DUO ARRESTED IN PARK FIRES CASE
Two boys, ages 14 and 15, were arrested early Friday morning, Aug. 12, after a resident reported seeing fires ignited along the Colfax High track and lights in the announcers’ booth at the field. Initial investigation also led to evidence the youths were responsible for setting fires in previous weeks in the Schmuck Park area.
According to the Colfax Police report, officers received a report of a possible break-in at the announcers’ box at the Schmuck Park playfield at 25 minutes after midnight. A person who was taking a walk reported spotting lights in the announcers’ box and fires along the football field, according to the report filed Friday in juvenile court by Colfax Officer Rich Kramlich.
He and two deputies responded to the scene. One youth was located on Sumner Street behind the high school and the other was located behind the boxcar storage unit next to the track.
The report said the youths said they went up into the announcers’ box to look around. They also said they had been lighting Q-tips with lighters on the retaining wall of the track and admitted to lighting toilet paper in a restroom at the park. They also admitted to breaking a bottle of cologne in the women’s rest room and attempting to light it.
City Officer Bryce Nebe Friday morning said burn marks were found inside the announcers’ booth and a place where fire had spread into weeds along the retaining wall at the track was found.
The two youths have also admitted to prior fires which officers had suspected were set at Schmuck Park. They also said they attempted to light a fire with the use of glue along lower Thorn Street.
The duo was released to the custody of their parents following a first appearance in juvenile court Friday. They were prohibited from being in possession of matches or lighters. They were also prohibited from contacting one another.
CLOTHING
GIVEAWAY AT GARFIELD
Flyers advertising the free clothing giveaway next week at the American Legion/Grange Hall building in Garfield were posted in Colfax businesses. The giveaway is open to people of all ages and all sizes. Hours will be 11 to 7 Thursday through Sunday.
The event is sponsored by LaDow Grange and the American Legion post.
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