Bulletin Column

These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated.

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MILL ST. START NOW THURSDAY

Start of the S. Mill Street project, which had been slated for after Labor Day, has now been booked for today, Thursday.

Temporary lane closures will be in effect starting Thursday, according to a report Tuesday morning from Motley & Motley. Work will begin at the Island Street end of the project.

Starting next week, two blocks of Mill, one from Island to Upton, and the other from Wall to Spring, will be closed to traffic. Crews plan to leave the block between those two segments open to provide some access.

Munir Daud, city engineer for the project, said Motley & Motley crews have been working on the N. Grand project in Pullman, and with that job wrapping up crew members will be moved over to the Colfax project. City officials have pushed for an earlier start after hearing the contractor had projected a Sept. 6 start on the job.

Motley & Motley said they plan to have the job finished in mid-November.

FAIR RV, VENDOR SLOTS BOOKED

All RV parking spaces and vendor spaces have been booked for the Palouse Empire Fair, Terry Jeffries reported to the fair board Monday night. The fair offers a total of 100 spaces for parking camper trailers and RVs on the grounds during the fair.

Jeffries said the late harvest could mean some of the spaces could go unused if families have to stay at home to complete harvest. The fair plans to leave the spaces vacant in the event that happens.

The fair also has booked 60 outside vendor spaces and 40 interior booths in the display building. The late harvest could also result in staffing problems for volunteers who offer time to work in the booths.

Monday’s meeting was the last before the fair opens Sept. 8 for its four-day run. Jeffries said she plans to move the fair office out to the grounds on Monday.

SEX OFFENDER SENTENCED

Marcus Payne, 49, Troy, Idaho, was sentenced to 30 days in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender. Payne appeared in court Friday after prosecutors here moved to revoke the pre-trial release which he had been allowed after he initially pleaded not guilty July 29. Prosecutors argued Payne should be held in jail without release pending trial on the failure to register charge because he was arrested for indecent exposure in Moscow. Police reports said Payne exposed himself next to a University of Idaho sorority.

Payne was charged with failing to register last November after a deputy discovered he had been kicked out of the residence he listed when he registered. Judge David Frazier advised Payne to make it a point to learn sex offender registration requirements in any state where he resides. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Byron Bedirian advised the court Payne had a prior record of eight arrests for indecent exposure from 1993 to 2003.

A bench warrant for Payne’s arrest had been issued last week, but he appeared in court Friday on his own accord.

CIGARETTE SAID

PULLMAN

FIRE CAUSE

Cause of a fire at the Pioneer Hill apartments in the 400 block of SE Jordan was identified as a cigarette which had been left on a couch, Rich Dragoo, Pullman fire prevention officer reported Monday, Aug. 22. After starting on the couch, the fire spread to the walls in the living room of the ground floor apartment. Residents of the apartment directly over the unit reported the fire, and residents reportedly used a fire extinguisher and buckets of water to fight the fire.

Pullman firefighters responded to the alarm just before 10 p.m. Sunday and found the apartment filled with smoke. They were told the unit was the manager’s apartment.

GOLF SHOTS

SENTENCE

Collin Tuggle, 22, was sentenced Friday, Aug. 19, to two days in jail with credit for the same amount already served, after he pleaded guilty in court Friday to a reduced charge of reckless endangerment. Tuggle and Scott Langdon, 24, were arrested in Pullman after officers May 21 discovered someone was hitting golf balls onto Grand Ave. near the Pufferbelly Depot where they were in the process of arresting a drunk driving suspect.

The suspect at the arrest scene, who was undergoing sobriety tests, was ordered to get back into a patrol car for his own protection. One of the golf balls allegedly shattered a driver’s side window of a Pullman squad car.

Tuggle and Langdon were arrested at a residence on NE Kamiaken above Grand.

Tuggle was ordered to pay the same schedule of fines and fees already assigned to Langdon who pleaded guilty to the same reduced charge earlier and was ordered to pay $1,700 in fines and fees, including $500 restitution to the Pullman Police.

Tuggle faces a student conduct hearing Sept. 13. He expects to graduate from Washington State University at the end of this semester and apply to attend law school. He was officially allowed a deferred sentence.

OLSON AIR-LIFTED TO SPOKANE

Richard W. Olson, 73, Colfax, was listed in serious condition Monday, Aug. 22, at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane where he was taken by helicopter from the scene of a one-car accident Friday night on the Colfax/ Palouse Highway about six miles east of Colfax.

Ambulance crew members and fire volunteers had to cut the roof of the 1995 Chevrolet Lumina Olson was driving to extricate him from the ravine where the car landed. He was strapped to a rescue board and placed in a Stokes litter so rescuers could pull him back up the bank of the ravine.

A Colfax ambulance, rescue truck and a fire engine responded to the scene.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Olson was driving westbound on Highway 272 at 10 p.m. and failed to negotiate a curve on the highway. The Lumina crossed the roadway and vaulted into the ravine which is along the small creek drainage east of the Clear Creek Road intersection with Highway 272.

Shane Riebold, who was driving eastbound, saw Olson’s car leave the roadway and vault into the ravine. Rescuers noted Olson’s wrecked car landed at a site which could have gone unnoticed for hours.

LOWRY RELEASED AFTER PLEA

Debra Lowry, 47, was allowed release from jail Friday after she pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third degree assault. Lowry faced up to 90 days in jail on the conviction, but she was allowed release because she had been in custody since May 2 and had undergone a mental evaluation.

Lowry’s mother from Clarkston attended the court session, and Lowry is expected to reside with her.

Lowry was charged with attacking her son with a syringe which she said at the time was loaded with blood contaminated with Hepatitis C. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Byron Bedirian said he decided to reduce the charge because the state and defense have conflicting medical reports on whether or not Hepatitis C was in the blood in the syringe.

Lowry was arrested about two months after she was identified as a victim of Nathaniel Simon of Albion. Among other charges, Simon was charged with inscribing “Do Not Resuscitate” on Lowry’s chest.

CYCLE CHASE ENDS IN ARREST

A high speed chase of two motorcycle riders Aug. 18 ended with one rider arrested in Rosalia and the other eluding officers and riding into Moscow after a pursuit which included a high speed run down the Main Street of Colfax at approximately 3:13 p.m. Thursday.

Moscow police later found an abandoned motorcycle, helmet and jacket which matched the descriptions of the runaway rider but were unable to locate the suspect. The Honda CBR was found abandoned in Moscow at the St. Mary’s School lot on D Street. Moscow Police Lt. Dave Lehmitz said police located the cycle about 4:30 p.m.

Lehmitz Monday morning said the rider had not turned up in Moscow. The motorcycle, which was registered by its owner in Kootenai County, was impounded.

According to a report from the Spokane Sheriff’s office, Spokane Deputy Greg Lance, who was driving a Ford SUV northbound on Highway 195 first spotted the southbound motorcycle riders traveling side-by-side at an estimated 110 miles an hour.

Lance did a U turn and began to pursue the duo but the SUV could not close in on the cycles. He radioed Spokane Deputy Ray Miller who was working along 195 south of Vance. Miller attempted to wave the duo over at the Plaza Road. The two riders slowed to 20 mph and then took off again.

Miller attempted to keep the duo in sight and saw one of the riders turn off into Rosalia. One witness reported the rider came into Rosalia on Whitman, slowed down, turned and then went up the west alley.

Miller located Ryan J. Peil, 22, Cheney, standing next to a red 2002 Honda motorcycle.

Peil reportedly told Deputy Miller he did not know the other rider. According to Miller’s radio advisory to officers in this area, Peil said they met up on the road and “started going for it.” Peil was arrested for attempting to elude and booked in the Spokane County Jail.

Deputy Lance continued to pursue the other rider southbound and Whitman deputies, troopers and Colfax city officers attempted to get into position to stop the rider who was reported to be traveling at “three digits” and passing other motorists on the right side.

Two Colfax officers attempted to wave down the rider or divert him out Highway 26, but he opted to go down Main Street. Subsequent radio reports had him turning off 195 at the South Pullman bypass. He was later reported on the Johnson and Sunshine roads and then went into Moscow on 270.