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.

CITY CHICKENS REQUEST FRIED

A proposal to modify the town’s animal control ordinance to allow keeping chickens and possibly sheep inside the city limits failed to advance Monday night. After hearing residents’ comments and a staff report on what provisions could be included in such a change, council members said they were concerned about the city’s inability to enforce any ordinance which would be placed on the books.

A motion by Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen to cut off the discussion passed unanimously. Councilman Don Henderson, who seconded the motion, said he believed chickens raised in town would be targeted by dogs and that would compound the city’s problems with enforcing its dog ordinances.

“Dogs will go after chickens,” Henderson noted.

Councilwoman Jeannette Solimine said she was concerned about the potential added costs and liability exposure.

Councilman David Nails pointed out problems the city already has in enforcing its dog ordinances. He added the situation might be different if the city could afford an animal control officer.

Councilman Steve Holberg said he polled residents he serves at Hill Ray and most responded by stating chickens belong on the farm.

Aaron Crandall, one of the residents advancing the proposal, said his family was excited about the possibility of having chickens in the backyard.

Rick Brison said his family was moving to Colfax from Moscow and looked forward to having chickens in Colfax.

The first person to comment on the topic was Gerald Courter who told of his efforts to counter a dog barking problem on S. Mill. He questioned whether or not the city could change its ordinance to have barking dogs classified as a nuisance.

Florence Teitrick said she has complained about cats in her neighborhood on the West Hill and nothing has been done.

Councilman Jim Kackman said he would like to see the city’s ordinance changed to limit the number of dogs and cats to a total of four per residence.

Before the comment session, City Administrator Carl Thompson listed features which could have been included in a chicken keeping revision. Among requirements in the proposal, which was developed from a review of similar ordinances in other towns, were a limit of six birds, a ban on roosters and a setback requirement of 20 feet from a neighboring property line.

Thompson also presented a written report from Police Chief Bill Hickman which noted the city would need some type of structure to house chickens which might be confiscated as part of enforcement action.

DEFENSE

ATTORNEY SEEKS RECORDS

Inventory records and reports on six grain storage sites are listed in a subpoena filed Friday in superior court by Steve Graham, defense attorney for James Hughes of Endicott. The subpoena asks the manager of Whitgro, Inc., to provide the documents to Graham’s office at Republic by June 16.

Hughes, 52, has been charged with 19 counts of first degree theft allegedly involving grain taken from Whitgro. He has been scheduled for trial July 16 after pleading not guilty to the charges.

Graham seeks year-end, monthly and daily financial and inventory reports for warehouse sites which are listed on the subpoena by number designations. The subpoena also seeks any reports of shortages and overages from the same sites between March 1, 2008, and the end of 2011.

Each of the first degree theft charges filed against Hughes allege dates between April 24, 2009, and July of last year.

Graham Friday made a brief appearance in court for an omnibus hearing, one of the pretrial sessions slated in a criminal case.

KENNEWICK

RIDER HURT

Dale Weber, 54, Kennewick, sustained a possible concussion and shoulder injuries Sunday when he lost control of a 2002 Kawasaki motorcycle on Highway 194 7.6 miles west of Pullman.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Weber was riding westbound at 12:45 p.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve to the right. The cycle left the highway, flipped several times and came to rest at the bottom of a drop-off.

BLUEGRASS

HEARING DELAYED

The hearing in the Kentucky Bluegrass suit which was slated for court last Friday was stricken from the docket and slated for this Friday. The hearing was scheduled for presentation of orders following last week’s ruling on motions for partial summary judgments on the 20-cents-per-pound bonus which the court ruled was offered by the Scotts Company.

Also slated was presentation of an order as a follow-up to November and January hearings which would drop claims by Scotts that some harvested seed failed to meet quality specifications. The court ruled Scotts failed to file any complaints on quality within time limits required by the Uniform Commercial Code.

TATTOOS SAID END TO ID RUSE

Brianna J. Peak, 23, Lewiston, was allowed release on her own recognizance Friday morning after being booked into jail late the previous night after a drug arrest in Pullman.

The arrest report alleged officers first responded to a report of an alleged shoplifting at Walmart. Peak was located in a pickup truck and police alleged they found needles, a pipe and residue of methamphetamine in a pocket of a backpack.

The report also alleges Peak gave officers a false name.

It said they found a wallet in the backpack with the suspect’s picture and name on a driver’s license.

Peak allegedly told officers the driver’s license belonged to her sister but later admitted her identity after officers pointed out tattoos on the portrait picture on the license matched tattoos on her.

CAMPUS FIRES TOLL SAID $860,000

Damage for the three WSU fires has been estimated at a total of $860,000 according to a report released Friday by the university. The suspicious fires involved two apartment community center structures in apartment complexes and the McCoy Hall labs near Stadium Way.

Estimates were $300,000 damage to the Nez Perce Apartments center building which burned May 22 and $480,000 to the Chief Joseph Village center building which burned early May 26. Both of the apartment structures are owned by Washington State University. Both are considered a complete loss.

Damage at McCoy Hall is estimated at $80,000. The McCoy fire early May 29 was doused by a sprinkler system in the building.

DOG BAILS OUT OF TRUCK

A dog, believed to be a Border Collie, was reported to be around the Cougar Food Mart and the N. Main area May 31 in Colfax. Police received a report that the dog jumped out of the back of a pickup truck which also had other dogs loaded in the back.

The owner of the truck apparently failed to notice the dog had bailed out of the truck when he departed town with the truck headed northbound. Assistant Chief Dave Szambelan was called to the scene but was unable to take the dog into custody.

Police later received a report of a traffic hazard at the top of the Buck Canyon grade on Highway 195 involving a dog of the same description. The dog was reportedly giving chase to trucks.

BAIL REMAINS

AT $50,000

A charge of felony drunken driving was filed in superior court Friday morning against Charles L. Sanders of Pomeroy. He was arrested May 28 night on the Walla Walla Highway. A felony drunken driving charge can be filed when the suspect has four or more DUI convictions over a 10-year span. Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Sanders is believed to have had five DUI convictions over that time.

Judge David Frazier Friday morning declined to reduce the $50,000 bail requirement for pre-trial release. The judge said he based the decision on a concern for public safety.

“There’s just too much risk here,” the judge ruled.

Sanders told the court he had placed his vehicle in the custody of a friend and planned to travel around Pomeroy on a 10-speed bicycle. Judge Frazier said the record indicated Sanders’ decision-making in relation to driving apparently becomes blurred when he starts drinking.

Sanders was initially stopped south of Dusty after allegedly throwing a beer container out of the vehicle he was driving. Officers also alleged they determined he was driving with a suspended license and failed to have an ignition interlock installed in his vehicle.

STORED RAILROAD CARS MOVED

A long line of stored railroad freight cars were pulled off the former Colfax-Pullman railroad line last Thursday, May 31. The cars had been stored along the now dormant rail line as far north as Shawnee. The rail cars had been stored along the unused railroad line with gaps left at crossings.

Crews from Washington & Idaho Railways worked most of the day to pull out the stored cars which were stored for a three-mile section of the dormant rail line. The long line of cars led to traffic delays in Pullman where the slow, eastward moving train crossed Grand Avenue.

Some of the cars are slated to go back in service and others will be returned to storage.

ARTHUR SUIT COULD GO

TO U.S. COURT

A note to remove the sexual harassment suit of Brenda Arthur from Whitman County Superior Court to US Eastern District court in Spokane was filed May 30 in superior court. Arthur filed the suit against the county and Assessor Joe Reynolds in June of 2011 and her attorneys were later allowed to amend the suit to include an alleged violation of the 1964 US Civil Rights act.

The suit alleges Reynolds made inappropriate comments and physical contact with Arthur while she was working in the assessor’s office. Reynolds and the county are listed as defendants in the case.

The alleged civil rights violation was added to the charges last month after Arthur’s attorney Michael McFarland, Jr., Spokane, said they had received notice the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not pursue a violation complaint.

The notice of removal notes Arthur’s allegations involve claims that arise from laws based on the US Constitution where a US Court would have original jurisdiction.

SMOKE TRIGGERS ALARM

A Colfax fire crew responded at 6:26 a.m. last Thursday to an automatic alarm from the River View Apartments on S. Main. The alarm was apparently set off from breakfast cooking smoke.