Bulletin Column

These reports are from the previous two 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.

MILL STREET LIGHTS EN ROUTE

Shipment of a segment of the streetlights for the Mill Street project has been made, but there’s not much chance the new lights will be in place for today’s Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade. Pullman Engineer Munir Daud said he has received a report that the light bases for the lights are now on their way with the rest of the fixtures to follow. The lights are coming from Architectural Area Light Co., La Mirada, Calif.

Daud said an estimated 10 days will be needed to get the lights mounted and operating once all of the shipments arrive. M & M Harrison of Colfax is electrical subcontractor of the project.

Concrete bases for the lights have been completed and the conduit for the power lines is in place. Daud said installation of the actual lines in the conduit will be done just before the light standards are mounted.

TRAFFIC DELAY CRASHES

Troopers responded to four accidents Sunday night within 75 minutes on Highway 195 between Colfax and Pullman when traffic loads were heavy with students returning to campus after Thanksgiving break.

Isa Lim, 23, Seattle, sustained a neck injury 14.4 miles south of Colfax at 5:53 p.m. She was a passenger in a 1998 Lexus driven by Minh Huynh, 27, Seattle. The Lexus, which was stopped for traffic in the roadway, was struck from behind by a 2000 Ford Escort driven by Alicia Woodward, 22, Colbert.

Michael V. Coleck, 19, Newman Lake, and Kyle Smith, 21, Seattle, complained of neck injuries in another rear-end collision at 6:37 p.m. 13.8 miles south of Colfax. The report said Coleck, driving a 2007 Honda Civic, failed to stop in time to avoid hitting the back of a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser which Smith had slowed for traffic.

Three more vehicles, all southbound, were involved in a non-injury accident at 7:10 p.m. 9.4 miles south of Colfax. A 2005 Dodge Neon driven by Raul Aranzazu, 18, Othello, struck the back of a 2008 Nissan Xterra driven by Eric Rogers, 18, Bothell. The Neon then rotated and was struck by a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Ericka Grieser, 39, Genesee.

Also at 7:10, a 1999 Ford Taurus driven by Rachell Snodgrass, 22, Gig Harbor, struck the rear of a 2007 Toyota Camry driven by Rayce Barnes, 23, East Wenatchee, 9.46 miles south of Colfax. Snodgrass was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting the Camry which had also slowed for traffic in the southbound lane.

COLLISION IN COLFAX

A 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Donald Kackman of Colfax collided with a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Melanie Lange of Colfax Monday morning on Valleyview Street in Colfax. Kackman backed out of the driveway at his residence and collided with the front of the Tahoe which Lange was driving westbound, according to Chief Bill Hickman.

ST. JOHN RESIDENT ALLOWED O.R.

Shawn Fleury, 47, St. John, was allowed release on his own recognizance Nov. 23 after being booked in jail in the early morning hours on charges of malicious mischief and assault.

According to the deputy’s investigation report, Fleury accidentally cut his hand during a confrontation with a roommate at St. John. He allegedly rubbed blood from his cut hand on his roommate’s face, and she fled to a neighbor’s residence.

The report said Fleury resisted arrest, and after he was placed in the back of the squad car he sustained a head cut while intentionally bumping his head. He left blood smears in the back of the squad car.

He was initially taken to Whitman Hospital.

HIGH BAIL SET ON SUSPECT

A $20,000 bail was set Monday for pre-trial release of Jonathon C. Stout, 26, Pullman. Stout was arrested and booked in the jail Nov. 23 on probable charges of theft and possession of stolen property. According to the investigation report, Pullman Police received a report Nov. 18 from a woman who said her purse was stolen at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Police later discovered a credit card belonging to the victim’s mother was used to purchase more than $500 in goods from the WalMart at Clarkston. Surveillance videos at the store were used to identify the card users who were at the Rent-A-Car office when the purse turned up missing.

A request for a high bail amount was added to the report after police alleged warrants had to be issued for Stout’s arrest in past cases.

HIGHWAY 26 SCENE OF COLLISIONS

The Washington State Patrol logs for Sunday included six reportable accidents with one involving injuries.

Highway 26 at mile marker 116 just west of Dusty was the scene of a rash of accidents. Ambulance crews from Colfax and LaCrosse responded to the scene. Colfax crews were called out at 7:30 and 8 p.m. to that area of Highway 26 and transported patients to Whitman Hospital.

Five people were taken to the hospital by the three ambulance crews.

A WSP trooper on duty Sunday night in a preliminary report said as many as 22 different vehicles were involved in nine accidents at the mile 116 site beginning at 6 p.m.

Traffic on Highway 26 was heavy Sunday with many WSU students returning back to campus from the west side of the state after the Thanksgiving holiday.

TAX RULINGS PUT 7 PROPERTIES

UP FOR BID

Judgments for taxes due have put seven properties up for bid Dec. 9 beginning at 10 a.m. in the county commissioners chambers of the courthouse. Treasurer Robert Lothspeich posted the auction notice after the court issued orders of sale Nov. 18.

Minimum bids listed by the county include unpaid taxes plus penalties and interest going back three years.

Largest sum due is $5,420 for a house on S. Meadow Street in Colfax. Number two is $5,030 judged due on property at Farmington. Other properties are located in Lamont, Winona, Malden, Tekoa and Endicott.

Tax foreclosure judgments allow owners to redeem their property with the payment of taxes and fees up until the time of sale.

NOTICE FILED ON TOP SCOTTS EXEC

A notice to attend trial was filed last week in superior court on James Hagedorn, chairman and CEO of Scotts Company, by Tim Esser, Pullman attorney who represents Seeds, Inc., of Tekoa in the Kentucky Bluegrass seeds civil suit.

Scotts, Seeds Inc., and Dye Seed Co. of Pomeroy are co-defendants in a suit brought by area seed growers.

Esser’s notice said he wants to ask Hagedorn questions regarding Scotts decisions not to make initial one-third payments on seed delivered in the 2010 harvest, not to pay a 20-cent addendum on seed on some contracts, the decisions to make counter claims in the suit and circumstances which led to the cessation of employment or change of employment for Scotts executives which had been involved in Kentucky blue grass seed production.

The notice said Esser also wants to ask questions about Scotts decision not to proceed with the purchase of Seeds Inc. Some of the points argued at pre-trial hearings have involved agreements made by Scotts, Seeds and Dye after Scotts dropped its efforts to buy the two seed processing companies.

‘WANTED’ SUSPECTS REPORT TO JAIL

James M. Poesy, 23, Moscow, and Amanda L. Tobin, 22, Lewiston, two people wanted on charges related to a robbery at a rural residence south of Pullman April 22, turned themselves into the Whitman County jail Nov. 23. Prosecutor Denis Tracy early last week issued an appeal to the public to help locate the two suspects who failed to appear at a pre-trial hearings in the case. Warrants had been issued for their arrests.