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.

HICKMAN

FINISHES RR

SADDLE

Bob Hickman of Post Falls, former proprietor of Hickman Boot & Saddlery in Colfax, recently completed work on a silver mounted parade saddle which will be raffled off for the benefit of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Happy Trails Children’s Foundation. Hickman has worked for about a year on the saddle in tandem with a silversmith Conrad Anderson in Kingston, Idaho.

Hickman recently displayed the classic saddle at the National Rodeo Finals. The saddle is a tribute to the work of Edward Bohlin who made many of the parade saddles used by the Hollywood cowboy stars of the past. A few of Bohlin’s saddles can still be seen in the Rose Bowl parade.

The winner of the raffle will be announced April 20, 2013, at the Friends of Happy Trails banquet in Victorville, Calif.

RESTITUTION RELEASE ALLOWED

James M. Poesy, Lewiston, one of the suspects convicted in the April 22, 2010, robbery of Larry Hood, has been allowed release from serving a 364-day sentence on condition that he make monthly payments on the $2,500 restitution he has been ordered to pay back to Hood. Poesy was sentenced Dec. 9 after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third degree theft. Poesy at the time told the court he was a driver on the night a group of people traveled from the Lewiston area up to Hood’s rural residence south of Pullman. He told the court he was not aware at the time that other members of the group were planning to rob Hood.

Part of the release agreement Friday called for Poesy to waive extradition back to Whitman County after he failed to return from a jail furlough. The release order requires him to make $500 monthly restitution payments with the first due March 1. Failure to make the payments each month will result in his return to jail.

A superior court jury Dec. 20 convicted Michael D. Thompson of robbing Hood by taking him down in his driveway early that morning and taking his wallet, which contained more than $2,500. Thompson, who was sent to jail after the verdict, has been scheduled for sentencing Jan. 13.

D. HARDY

SENTENCED

TO 90 DAYS

Dustin Hardy, 22, former Colfax resident now of Pullman, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday in superior court after pleading guilty to felony harassment and assault with sexual motivation. The plea and sentence was the result of a plea bargain agreement. Hardy was initially charged last Aug. 30 with second-degree rape in a case which started in January of 2009.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Byron Bedirian told the court one of the factors which led to the plea bargain agreement was the reluctance on the part of the victim to have the state pursue the case.

Defense Attorney Roger Sandberg said the difference between Hardy’s age and the victim’s was within two months of what otherwise would have not led to initial charges under state requirements. He also noted Hardy had no felony record.

Before sentencing Judge David Frazier pointed out to Hardy he would have faced a much more serious sentence if he had been convicted of a sex crime.

SENTENCED IN

S. COUNTY

BURGLARIES

Eric M. Burnet, 24, Moscow, one of the suspects in burglaries in the south part of the county last summer, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail last week under a plea bargain agreement. Burnet pleaded guilty to charges of residential burglary and burglary in the second degree.

Deputies last August responded after the neighbor of a rural residence in the Colton area reported a pickup truck with two men and a women departed at a high rate of speed when he confronted the trio. The truck, which had been parked in what was described as a loading mode at the neighbor’s house, later was spotted on Baker Road by an off-duty deputy.

Tracking the truck later led to the arrest of Burnet and Shaun McArthur of Uniontown. Investigation also led to evidence of a burglary at the Uniontown Co-Op office in Uniontown.

Burnet was ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $2,550. Included in the order was $250 to Ken Meines, owner of a welder which was taken from a shop building on Staley Road, and $400 restitution to Uniontown Co-Op.

The other suspect in the area burglaries, McArthur, 29, Uniontown, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 on one count of residential burglary involved in the Aug. 24 case. He was sentenced to 19 months. Sentences for both defendants places them into the state prison system.

McArthur, who has an extensive felony record in the county, was assigned an offender score of six.

HUB ACQUIRES AIA AGENCY

Hub International Limited, based in Chicago, has acquired Associated Independent Agencies, Inc., the Pullman-based insurance agency which also has offices in Colfax and five other Whitman County towns.

AIA was founded in 1985 with the merger of two long-time agencies in Pullman and has grown into one of the largest independent brokerages in eastern Washington. Other county offices are located at Colton, Endicott, LaCrosse, Palouse and Rosalia.

The AIA operation will become part of Hub International Mountain States Limited, known as Hub Mountain. Tom Lees, chairman; Mike Rydbom, president, and Les Ruhs, secretary, will join Hub Mountain as a result of the acquisition and Lees will serve as a member of the Hub Mountain executive committee.

Other AIA branches are located in Colville, Davenport, Kettle Falls, Moscow and Spokane.

Hub President Tim Barnes said they consider AIA to be a strategic fit which will allow Hub to expand their geographic footprint into Eastern Washington. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

HEAT LEADS TO FIRE RESPONSE

Colfax fire and rescue crews Sunday responded to a report of excessive heat in a lower unit of an apartment house at the south end of S. Mill Street. Crews received the alarm at 6:31 p.m. after the excessive heat was discovered in the lower unit. The cause of the excess heat was determined to be a malfunctioning heating unit in the apartment building.

The apartment building features in-floor heating, and the source of the heat for the lower apartment unit was determined to be from the floor of the unit above it.

HERVEY RETURNS TO PRISON

Franklin L. Hervey, 48, was sentenced to 16 months in prison Friday morning after he pleaded guilty to burglarizing a shop and storage building along Hume Road last November.

Because of his criminal record, which included a role in the north county burglaries in early 2010, Hervey was assigned an offender score of four in the state’s sentencing guideline scale.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy said owners of the buildings in the Hume Road area discovered last Nov. 1 that the buildings had been entered but apparently found nothing missing. Deputies installed a surveillance camera on the buildings and on Nov. 8 the cameras recorded entry by two men. Hervey was identified as one of the suspects. Fuel was taken out of vehicles in the buildings and tools and a ladder were stolen.

Officers later conducted a warrant search of Hervey’s residence north of Oakesdale along Highway 271.

Hervey, who was sentenced on a previous conviction here in April of 2010, told the court he got out of prison in July and was unable to find work. He also said he had found the Lord since being arrested in the Hume Road burglary and vowed this sentence would be his last.

Hervey also has convictions in California during the 1990s and those have not been taken off his record because of subsequent minor convictions.

Robert Lawson, 48, Garfield, who was arrested with Hervey, has pleaded not guilty to charges and has been scheduled for trial. Officers also allege they discovered marijuana and firearms while conducting a warrant search of Lawson’s residence in Garfield.

JAIL RETURN ORDERED

Haley Blumenshein, who was convicted of theft of a ring in St. John over a year ago, was ordered to serve 29 more days in jail for failing to complete public service hours and pay fines and fees ordered as part of her conviction.

Judge David Frazier, who noted Blumenshein had already been allowed a continuance for not meeting the requirements, said for the record that she had only completed eight hours of public service work and had not made the required payments.

Blumenshein said she had been undergoing extreme financial problems while attempting to finish schooling. She also said some of the records of her public service work had been lost.

The judge noted the conviction involved a ring which had a high monetary and emotional value. He asked Blumenshein if she had any knowledge of what happened to the ring and she said she didn’t know.

Blumenshein was sentenced to 90 days in jail and allowed to do community service on 30 of the days. She was credited for one day with the eight hours of work shown Friday and returned to jail to serve the remaining 29 days.

OFFICE REMODELING UNDERWAY

A permit for remodeling the Dreamworks office at 612 N. Main in Colfax was issued by the city building inspector Jan. 3. The cost of the remodeling was estimated at $40,000. Daryl Issac of Country Builders in Viola is the contractor of the job.

The Dreamworks office on Main Street is located next to the site of the fire which destroyed the Mitz’s Cabinets Shop in late 2010. Part of the aim of the current project is to rid the Dreamworks office of smoke odor which has persisted in the building.

IT WILL BE

AT THE LIBRARY

Invitations have gone out for the city staff retirement party for former mayor Norma Becker Jan. 19 at the library’s Norma McGregor library conference room. The library site was suggested at the Dec. 19 city council session after Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick outlined library services and plans. She attended the session in response to city questions on the agreement which involves an annual billing to the city.

Later in the meeting when the city clerk reported they were having trouble finding a site for the dinner, council members suggested they book it for the library conference room.

POLICE CAMERA SESSIONS SET

Pullman Police have scheduled a series of public meetings to develop a video policing policy. The department was recently awarded a $300,000 “smart policing” grant to install video cameras at public locations. A live video feed will be transmitted to the police station and police cars and recordings will be made for use in investigations and prosecution.

Location of the cameras will be determined through research conducted by the Washington State Institute for Criminal Justice and the WSU Department of Justice and Criminology. Pullman Chief Gary Jenkins reported initial research indicates the Adams Mall on College Hill is an area where the cameras could have an impact.

Public sessions have been slated for Jan. 18 at Stubblefield’s Bar & Grill, and Feb. 8 at Pullman City Council chambers, both at 7 p.m. They also plan a March session on the campus but a site and date have not been determined.

S. MILL LIGHTS AWAIT BULBS

The city is closer to hitting the switch on the new streetlights for the S. Mill Street project. Crews from Harrison Electric installed the necks and globes for the new lights last week.

However, the lights still lack bulbs. The crew is awaiting shipment of the new LED type bulbs.

Installation of the lights has been held up because of late shipments from the suppliers. Standards for the lights were installed earlier last month, but Harrison crews had to await arrival of the arms and globes before installing them on the standards last week. The LED bulbs will come from a different supplier.