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.

PULLMAN

‘TAGGER’

SENTENCED

Gilberto Villalobos, Jr., 22, Pullman, was sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended after he pleaded guilty Friday to two misdemeanor charges of malicious mischief in superior court. He was allowed to work off the jail sentence with 240 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $7,121 in fines and fees which included $5,921 in restitution.

According to the arrest report filed with the case, Villalobos was a suspect in a series of graffiti cases which has been reported to Pullman Police in 2010. He was apprehended at a grain elevator in May of that year after police responded to an alarm system. He was found hiding in bushes near the elevators which are located just off Stadium Way.

The Pullman Police report said a warrant search was conducted of the suspect’s residence and officers found paint, garments with paint marks and art work which appeared to be designs for graffiti. The designs indicated the suspect used several “tags” on his graffiti designs such as “Endo, Basur, Sode” and others. The report alleged the design work found at the suspect’s residence made him a suspect of approximately 25 graffiti cases previously reported to police.

VAN HITS GUARDRAIL ON 271

Michael B. Donahey, 42, Airway Heights, escaped injury when the GMC van he was driving went out of control and struck a guardrail Monday morning on Highway 271 six and one-half miles north of Oakesdale. According to the Washington State Patrol report Donahey was driving south at 7 a.m. and lost control of the 1999 GMC Safari when he failed to negotiate a curve.

ROSALIAN

ARRESTED FOR

BURGLARIES

Michael J. Fullerton, 29, Rosalia, was booked into jail on multiple burglary and vehicle prowl charges and possession of marijuana. Fullerton was arrested after deputies conducted warrant searches of Fullerton’s residence in Rosalia and a barn on Old Highway 195 in Spokane County north of Rosalia.

According to the arrest report filed in court the investigation involved theft of batteries and other equipment in the Dusty, Uniontown and Tekoa areas. Also some of the initial information came from the victim of a 2009 theft of a gun safe containing several guns from a Pine City residence.

The report said the owner of the missing gun safe last February received a call from a man who reported he had attended a gun show and purchased eight of the guns which he believed had been in the safe at a gun show. He told the owner that he realized he had purchased stolen guns after seeing a poster which had been placed in a pawn shop at Cheney.

The report said officers had obtained partial shoe tracks and tire tracks and a surveillance video in the recent thefts of batteries. They also said they obtained salvage sale records on the batteries from a shop in the Spokane area.

Spokane deputies and state Fish & Game officers participated in the warrant searches Sunday, Sheriff Brett Myers reported. He said the suspect could also face charges, including trafficking in stolen property, in Spokane County.

Fullerton was booked into jail here on three probable charges of burglary and three vehicle prowl charges. He was also charged with possession of marijuana.

HEAD SHAVES

FOR CANCER

A head shaving session has been slated at Colfax High School Friday as part of a drive for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fight cancer in children. Colfax High School students will be conducting the drive this week and next week.

An assembly has been slated for Friday beginning at 1:35 p.m. for the “shaving of the heads.” Among volunteers who have vowed to lose their locks are Supt. Michael Morgan, School Board President Brian Becker, Teacher Tony Carter, and students Andrew Becker, Lucas Lyon, Alvin Li and Brent Conrad, according to ASB Advisor Heidi Lowe.

The head shaving signifies support for youngsters who lose their hair as the result of cancer treatment.

CHS GRAD

LINKED TO

ST. BALDRICK’S

Among donors to the CHS St. Baldrick’s drive is Dr. Greg Aune of San Antonio, Texas. A 1993 graduate of Colfax High School, Aune was stricken with cancer when he was a student at CHS.

Dr. Aune, who is a graduate of the University of Texas medical school at Houston, is now a pediatric oncologist at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio. He operates his own research lab and has received grants from St. Balderick’s which is based in New York.

Dr. Aune, son of John and Jane Aune of Colfax, heads a St. Baldrick’s drive in San Antonio and now has a shaved head.

TWO HURT NEAR ROCKFORD

Drivers of two vehicles were hospitalized Saturday following a collision on Highway 278 about four miles east of Rockford. Tiburicio Ramirez, 38, Tekoa, was taken to Valley Hospital, and Phyllis Stephens, 56, Spokane, was taken by Medstar to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Ramirez was driving a 1998 Chevrolet pickup westbound at 11:48 a.m. and pulled into the oncoming lane to avoid a vehicle which had slowed to make a turn. The pickup collided with a 2000 Ford Expedition which was being driven eastbound by Stephens.

ROSAUERS PLANS NEW SIGN

A building permit to replace the reader board sign in front of Rosauer’s at 623 N. Main was issued at city hall. Pro Sign from Spokane Valley will be contractor for the project. Estimated value of the replacement will be $7,500.

HOW MUCH RAIN?

Continued steady rain Friday morning had residents asking that question. The Natural Resource Conservation Services gauge in Colfax Friday morning had a one-day reading of .62 inches for the previous 24 hours. The readings on the two previous days were .26 last Wednesday morning and .23 on Thursday morning for a total of 1.11 over three days.

HOSPITAL BILL

AT $553,230

A formal claim for $553,230 due for medical services was filed against the estate of the late Jerry Townsend of LaCrosse March 15 in probate court. The claim was for treatment by Sacred Heart Medical Center for Mr. Townsend who died at the hospital Feb. 12. He was 59.

A former banker in Colfax, Mr. Townsend was air-lifted to the Spokane hospital after he was found seriously injured last Oct. 15 in an ATV rollover accident on his pheasant hunting reserve north of LaCrosse. He was treated in the intensive care unit at the hospital for extensive head injuries sustained in the accident.

His estate has been filed in probate court here. The claim was filed by Providence Health & Services, Seattle.

RIOT CASE OFF THE BOOKS

The 1998 campus riot case of Joel Victor Millar is now officially off the books. Millar, one of a series of defendants in cases which evolved out of the WSU riots 14 years ago, petitioned the court to have the convictions removed from his record.

The riot charges resulted when Pullman officers and fire crews were called to college hill and met resistance from college students and others. Sheriff’s deputies and state troopers eventually responded to campus riot scene which led to a series of convictions in superior court.

Millar was convicted to two gross misdemeanors, rioting and reckless burning. The court docket listed former prosecutor James Kaufman as representing the state.

Deputy Prosecutor Byron Bederian, who later reported Millar first contacted him about five years ago about clearing his record on the convictions, told the court the state did not object.

Millar made an appearance in court by telephone.

SHERIFF GETS MOOSE REPORTS

Sheriff’s deputies March 15 were advised of a moose which has been around Garfield for the past two or three weeks. Several residents have reported spotting the large animal and at times it has become a traffic hazard.

Garfield School buses have had to stop to allow a moose crossing, and motorists going through town have stopped and attempted to photograph the animal.

Palouse Chief Jerry Neumann has been in Garfield and undertaken efforts to get the moose to leave town.

Garfield City Clerk Annie Pillars said people need to remember a moose is a large and powerful wild animal.

DRUG ARREST ON HIGHWAY 27

An arraignment for a Moscow woman who was arrested Sunday on probable charges of drug possession was delayed because she is now in custody in Latah County. The arrest report of Casey M. Jacobson said she was a passenger in a vehicle which was stopped near mile marker 31 for a traffic charge.

The deputy’s report said the driver and Jacobson were initially arrested after deputies learned they were wanted on warrants out of Latah County. The arresting deputy reported he detected the odor of marijuana in the vehicle and Jacobson, after being advised of her rights, admitted she had drugs on her person. The drugs were later discovered when she was searched after being brought to the jail here. The report alleged both methamphetamine and marijuana were found on her person.

ACCIDENTS TAKE TOLL

Two passengers were hurt Wednesday morning, March 14, when a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup went out of control in snow and ice 6.7 miles south of Colfax and rolled off the highway near the Albion Road intersection.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Jason E. Davis, 41, Spokane, lost control of the pickup while driving southbound at 7:05 p.m. while rounding a curve. The truck crossed the centerline, rolled and came to a halt on its wheels.

Douglas Hyde, 49, Cheney, sustained arm and back injuries, and Shawn S. Gille, Spokane, sustained neck and back injuries.

Colfax and Albion ambulance crews responded to the scene. The two Colfax ambulances transported patients to Whitman Hospital.

Eve Strongoni, 40, Moscow, sustained head and neck injuries when the 2003 Subaru Forester she was driving went out of control in snow and slush conditions on the Moscow-Pullman Highway early March 14 about 3.3 miles east of Pullman. The Subaru slid across one lane, onto the shoulder of the highway and then down the shoulder. It came to a stop on the passenger side in water along the highway.

Don L. Schirm, 29, Kennewick, sustained head and neck injuries when he lost control of a 2006 Pontiac and struck an embankment 13.2 miles south of Colfax on Highway 195 Wednesday at 9:35 a.m. According to the WSP report, he was driving north, attempted to pass a semi truck and lost control of the Pontiac, struck an embankment and rolled into the ditch on the northbound side of the highway.