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.

VOLUNTEERS RESPOND

TO ALARM

A Colfax rural fire truck and tanker responded to a report of a possible structure fire at the Colfax cemetery early Sunday morning. Volunteers discovered the fire was in the burn pit located at the back of the cemetery which is used for brush, limbs and other debris. The fire crews were logged back at the station at 1:56 a.m. after about 30 minutes on the scene.

The fire station Monday received a cell phone report of a possible structure fire at the Palouse Empire Fairground. That caller’s report checked out to be a response to plumes emanating from the McGregor production plant at Mockonema.

PINE CITY MAN SENTENCED

Frank A. Lazcano III, 23, Pine City, a suspect in a Malden home entry case Dec. 27, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday with all but one day suspended after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first degree criminal trespass. He was credited for one day already spent in jail after his arrest. He was also ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $1,000.

The sheriff’s investigation report said Lazcano, who became the subject of a search in the Malden-Pine City area, turned himself into the jail at Colfax in the early morning hours of Dec. 28. He was subsequently allowed pre-trial release.

Deputies responded just after 5 p.m. Dec. 27 to a report of shots being fired in an alley at Malden. The investigation report said Lazcano had forced his way into a residence on SE Bluebird in Malden in search of a man he believed was present there. According to the report, the subject he sought went out the back door of the residence.

The investigation report said the gunshot reports came from a neighbor of the residence. Lazcano subsequently told deputies he did not take a gun to the residence. He told them he was so upset with the person he was seeking that he decided not to take a gun with him when he went to the residence on Bluebird.

The investigation report said deputies were unable to find shell casings in the alley behind the house where the sound of gunshots reportedly originated.

Lazcano Friday was placed on a year of probation and ordered to pay $1,000 in fines and fees. He was sentenced by Judge pro-tem Gary Libey.

OTHER BNP

SUSPECT ENTERS PLEA

Craig A. Bowmer, 45, Plummer, the other suspect in the BNP burglary Dec. 14 at Farmington, entered a guilty plea to second degree burglary Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. Bowmer entered his plea after accepting a plea bargain agreement in which the state agreed to drop a second charge.

He was scheduled for sentencing March 30.

The other suspect in the break-in, Aaron N. Hudson, 38, St. Maries, was sentenced to four months in jail after he admitted taking part in the burglary in which tools, equipment and mounted hunting trophies, which were in the BNP office, were taken. The hunting trophies were recovered at a taxidermy shop in Coeur d’Alene.

As part of the plea bargain, Bowmer agreed to be jointly responsible for $2,800 in restitution which Hudson was ordered to pay March 2. Hudson during his sentencing told the court he was Bowmer’s half brother.

The investigation report on the burglary said Bowmer became a suspect in the case because he was believed to be a disgruntled former employee. Hudson March 2 told the court he agreed to accompany Bowmer that night although he didn’t have a clear idea of what was in store. He told the court he was aware that Bowmer had a grudge against BNP.

APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS

SENTENCE

An appeal of a drug sentence for Terril James Wallace has been rejected by the Division III state appeals court in Spokane. A mandate from the Feb. 27 decision was filed with superior court here Friday.

Wallace, now 45, was sentenced to five years in prison Jan. 7, 2011, after pleading guilty to charges of delivery of methamphetamine and involving a minor in a drug transaction. The pleas were entered as part of a plea bargain in which the state agreed to drop a third charge.

Wallace’s appeal involved a court decision which denied his petition to be sentenced under terms of a drug offender option which would have reduced the length of a sentence. Appeals Court Chief Judge Teresa Kulik ruled the trial court judge properly executed his discretion in denying Wallace’s request for the drug offender option.

Wallace was arrested as the result of a Quad Cities Drug Task Force investigation of reports that he was trafficking drugs in the Colfax area in September of 2010. The undercover investigation included a report that a 17-year-old girl had received a methamphetamine injection in her arm from Wallace, according to the arrest report.

FIRE HITS WSU HAY BUILDING

A fire in a WSU hay storage building on east Terre View Street caused extensive damage late Thursday afternoon. Crews received a report at 3:49 p.m. that a tractor loader had caught fire inside the building and when crews arrived the fire had ignited hay stored in the building, according to a report from Pullman Fire Lt. Mark Johnson. Fire crews were able to hook up to a hydrant which was located about 100 yards from the structure and knock down the fire after about an hour.

The fire did extensive damage to the support structure of the metal building and left holes in the roof. A standby fire crew remained on the scene and the unburned hay was removed from the structure and spread out to make sure all embers were extinguished.

Johnson said Pullman’s rural fire district was called to bring tanker trucks because of some initial confusion about the location of the fire. The shed was located at the east end of Terre View just north of the intersection with the Airport Road. Some initial reports had the fire in the Airport Road area which lacks a hydrant system.

SPOKANE

ATTORNEY FILES

An official notice of appearance was filed in court March 8 by Spokane Attorney Milton Rowland on behalf of the county in its defense of the injunction suit filed by the Organization to Void Illegal Conduct. Rowland was hired to represent the county after his hiring was approved by Superior Court Judge David Frazier. The official filing also certified a notice had been sent to OVIC’s attorney, Tim Esser of Pullman.

The OVIC suit seeks to stop the county and Hawkins from continuing with an agreement which calls for the county to provide up to $15 million for development of the Hawkins shopping center project on the Whitman County side of the state line.

STALEY TRIAL

DATE SET

Lindsey Staley, 30, Pullman, pleaded not guilty in superior court Friday morning to one charge of manufacturing marijuana. Staley’s trial date was set for May 14.

He was arrested after a Quad Cities Drug Task Force warrant search Feb. 29 of his residence on the Johnson Road south of Pullman. Agents have alleged they seized more than 140 marijuana plants at the residence. Staley has been allowed pre-trial release on his own recognizance.

TREE DEPARTS CHANNEL

A giant deciduous tree which has been stuck in the channel of the North Fork of the Palouse River made its way downstream much to the relief of the Public Works department. The city crew, which had to undertake another tree clearing operation in the channel before winter, would have been looking at another major operation if the big tree remained stuck on the channel bottom.

The tree had been stuck in the channel for several weeks, and earlier runoffs had failed to move it. Andy Rogers, public works director, said the tree came to a halt with its root system upstream and that figured to be a plus when enough runoff flow hit and was able to float the tree downstream. The tree also cleared the ice breaker downstream from the place where it had stopped on the channel floor several weeks ago. Previous winter flows in the N. Fork River channel were unable to budge it.

City Crews last year sectioned another grounded tree in the same area of the channel and left the log segments in the channel in anticipation for higher water. Those sections later launched during high water flow and departed downstream.

City crew members are now clearing small trees from the dike segment of the flood control system. Several trees were cut and removed this week from the dike along Brown’s addition, across from the city sewer plant.