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.

TEKOAN HURT IN TANK SPILL

Jeffrey D. Wentzel, 35, Tekoa, was taken by Tekoa Ambulance to Valley Hospital Saturday after he was hurt in a fertilizer truck rollover accident just north of Tilma on the Lovell Valley Road east of Tekoa. He was treated at the hospital and released.

One of the two 1,000 gallon tanks of anhydrous ammonia ruptured at the scene and led to a shutdown of the Lovell Valley Road for approximately eight hours and the Idaho Highway 60, which links with Idaho 95 north of Tensed, for approximately six hours, according to the Idaho State Patrol report.

According to the report, Wentzel was driving the 1994 GMC eastbound at 12:35 p.m. when he drifted off the roadway and the truck overturned.

The fire department contained the leaks and cleaned up the spill.

ADMITTED TO DRUG TREATMENT

Jonathan Morris, 31, the Moscow resident who was arrested last Feb. 15 on charges of burglarizing the Pullman Grange Supply, was accepted into the court drug treatment program Friday. Morris at the time he was arrested told Pullman officers he was using methamphetamine.

Morris was arrested after residents on NW State Street in Pullman reported a trespasser. Officers located Morris and later located his 1992 Ford Thunderbird near the Grange Supply, now Four Star Supply. The report alleged Morris cut a lock to gain entry to the back of the building and entered the manager’s office. Rolls of coins and cash from the previous day’s business were recovered after the arrest.

Morris initially pleaded not guilty to the charges and later petitioned to participate in the two year drug court treatment program.

FOUNDATION REPORTS ON FFA PRIZE

A report Friday from Nutrient for Life Foundation described the background for the $5,000 award received by the Colfax FFA chapter at the state convention in Pullman. The foundation, based in Washington, DC., was formed to disseminate educational information about fertilizers, modern agriculture and plant nutrients.

This was the first year of the “Helping Communities Grow” FFA recognition program, and Colfax won the $5,000 first prize for teaching elementary students about the global nitrogen cycle and its role in agriculture during FFA ag day which has been conducted by the local chapter for the past eight years.

The elementary students rotated in small groups through a series of displays and lessons about different parts of the nitrogen cycle.

Pomeroy placed second in the contest and won $3,000, and Elma placed third and received $1,000. Pomeroy organized an activity with teaching stations for second and fifth graders. Elma’s FFA chapter developed teaching materials for fifth and eighth graders.

Other FFA chapters who entered received $500 mini-grants for participation.

EXPLOITATION CHARGE FILED

An arrest warrant for Thomas Takeuchi, 61, was issued May 22 in Whitman County superior court after he was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. Bail figure on the arrest warrant was set at $100,000.

The charge alleges Takeuchi between July and October of last year caused a five-year-old to engage in sexually explicit conduct while knowing it would be photographed or a part of a live performance.

The court filing listed Takeuchi’s last known address in Wailuku, Hawaii.

ANOTHER

BLUEGRASS SEED ROUND

Another round in the Kentucky Bluegrass suit is expected next Friday when Pullman attorney Tim Esser, representing Seeds, Inc., of Tekoa, will ask the court to drop claims by Scotts Company that seed deliveries failed to meet specifications. The motion lists prior filings and statements which Esser contends show Scotts had the opportunity to review test results on the seed it purchased and failed to do so. A review of the test results would have disclosed the small percent which had failed to meet specs.

The motion contends Scotts was invoiced for the seeds and Seeds, Inc., sold more than 50 percent of the delivered seed on behalf of Scotts. It also contends Scotts did not bring up its claim that the seed did not meet specifications until May 21, 2011.

Also filed in court May 24 was a notice by Colin Folawn, attorney for Scotts, that he will present a proposed court order to formalize a prior ruling that Scotts was obligated to pay a 20-cent per pound bonus on seed it purchased on contract for 2009 and 2010. The proposed order denies Scotts’ motion to be dismissed from the bonus pay obligation and grants a counter motion by Seeds which states Scotts has the obligation to do so.

TV NEWS TEAM MAKES STOP

A television news team from KREM in Spokane rolled to Colfax May 24 to check out an alleged report of a possible link between a sex trafficking investigation in Spokane with the Marcus Schur murder case in Whitman County. Sheriff Brett Myers confirmed that the alleged victim of the Spokane sex trafficking case had a relationship with Schur several years ago but said that was not believed to be related to a motive in the murder charges the county has brought against Frank G. Lazcano, 24, Pine City, and his brother Daniel C. Lazcano, 20, Spokane.

Court records filed to date in the investigation indicate the Lazcanos are suspected of murdering Schur because they believed Schur had taken some of their property, including guns, from an unoccupied residence in Rosalia.

Schur’s body was discovered in the creek below Bonnie Lake March 3. The charges against the Lazcanos allege Schur was shot in Malden Dec. 27.

RAILROAD

SIGNALS MASKED

The long-dormant railroad crossing signals on S. Main in Colfax were wrapped in plastic and rotated with the lights away from oncoming traffic May 23. The work was done by Jason Engelhart, a signal man who is employed with a firm contracted by the Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad.

The railroad crossing signal has been dormant since the railroad link to Pullman was taken out by the 2006 fire which destroyed the bridge across the S. Palouse River, downstream from Risbeck. Truckers, bus drivers and other commercial drivers have continued to stop at the crossing.

Status of the S. Main crossing has come under question because the state plans to rebuild the south segment of Main Street as part of a paving contract.

Palouse River & Coulee City operates on the former Union Pacific railroad.

Work on the project is expected to begin in late June. The Main Street work will be on the same order as the rebuild work done on Main Street in 1998 up to the S. Palouse River Bridge. The contract also calls for re-paving Highway 195 south to the Babbitt Road intersection.

PULLMAN ORDERED T0 SHOW CAUSE

Pullman city officials have been ordered to appear in superior court June 1 and show cause why they have denied a public records request from Christopher Jack Reid, the former porn film actor who is now an inmate at the state’s Stafford Creek Corrections Center at Aberdeen.

Reid was convicted in a 2007 sex crime case in which he and another suspect entered sorority houses in Pullman. While in prison, he has submitted a series of petitions to the court.

His latest charge alleges Pullman officials have denied his request for public records in the case. The petition filed with the court said he had been informed by a response from the Washington State Patrol that records were forwarded by them to the city of Pullman. Reid contends Pullman officials have not provided a portion of the public records which the WSP reported was submitted to them.

BURGLARY NETS

6 MONTHS

Bryan M. Hollenbeck, 22, Lewiston, one of the suspects in a burglary at the Larry Hood residence south of Pullman two years ago, was sentenced to six months in jail May 22. Hollenbeck was credited for time served.

He pleaded guilty to residential burglary. Hollenbeck was among three suspects involved in a May 7 burglary in which a Sharp television set was taken. He was ordered to pay $1,000 restitution to Hood and to pay other fines and fees of $1,550. The restitution debt was a joint obligation which is also due from the other two suspects in the case.

The burglary at the Hood residence on May 7, 2010, was followed three days later by a robbery in which Hood was taken down in his driveway and threatened before he turned over his wallet.

Hollenbeck was not involved in that case.

Court accounts filed in the cases alleged Hood became a victim of Lewiston area residents because he was known to be a regular visitor at the casino in the valley. In the May 7 case, Hood discovered his house had been entered and the television set missing when he returned home.

ANIMAL

ORDINANCE CONCERNS

Colfax city council members May 21 discussed proposed changes to the city’s animal ordinance. The topic has surfaced after residents have requested the ordinance be modified to allow keeping of chickens in town for backyard poultry production.

Police Chief Bill Hickman said he was concerned about the added number of calls that could be generated for the department if the present ban was lifted. The chief told the council he was concerned about the 10 percent of the population who would not adhere to the conditions of such an ordinance.

He added that response to violation complaints could open up a variety of legal questions related to enforcing such an ordinance which is scheduled for a hearing at the next council session.