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.

FAIR REVENUE REPORT

Palouse Empire Fair directors Monday night received a preliminary report on revenue from the Sept. 6-9 fair. Fair Manager Bob Reynolds reported the carnival, operated by Northstar Amusements, set a four-day revenue record, resulting in a $11,100-plus payment to the fair. The carnival operator pays 25 percent of advance ticket sales and 20 percent of on-site ticket sales.

Total carnival and concession revenue to date stands at $19,392. Vendors pay 18 percent of their revenue to the fair, and non-profit groups pay a share of earnings based on a sliding scale rated on attendance.

The seven teams representing fair royalty candidates totaled more than $13,000 in advance admission sales.

The fair’s admission tally was reported at $55,284 with more income expected from commercial exhibitors who purchase tickets in conjunction with their space rental fees.

Reynolds reported the fair’s Saturday evening’s attendance rated as the largest single-day crowd he has ever seen at the fair. He said the overall admission numbers rate in the top 10 for the fair. Overall revenue figure for the fair, which includes season-long income from camping, storage and rentals, now totals $143,358.

ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEAS

A Nov. 17 trial date was set Friday for vehicular assault charges filed against Richard Lee-Waddell, 20, LaCrosse. He pleaded not guilty to the two charges in Whitman County Superior Court.

The charges filed by Prosecutor Denis Tracy involve the Sept. 26, 2011, collision at the intersection just north of the Palouse Empire Fairground. The charges allege Waddell was driving in a reckless manner when the car he was driving collided with a sheriff’s car driven by Sgt. Jodene Hamilton Young on the Colfax-Endicott Road which runs along the east side of the fairground.

The deputy and Cody Rankin, a passenger in the car driven by Waddell, are the alleged victims listed in the two vehicular assault charges.

Dayton Attorney Randy O. Lewis has filed a notice with the court that he will represent Waddell.

SPOKANE

DRIVER UNHURT

Stacy N. Wittstock, 24, Spokane, was unhurt when the 2006 Chevrolet Malibu she was driving Monday night collided with a deer on Highway 195 just north of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Wittstock was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu southbound just after midnight when a deer came onto the highway and struck the door on the driver’s side. The Malibu slid off the highway and came to a halt facing north in a driveway entrance.

ARTS COUNCIL PLANS BOOTH

Colfax Arts Council plans to offer vintage clothing at their Colfax Hullaballoo booth Oct. 5-6 in Whitman County Library’s Community Enrichment Center building, the former Hamilton Drug. Debbie Snell, a member of the council and the Port of Whitman properties manager, has donated her collection of vintage clothing. Snell majored in theater arts at WSU with an emphasis on costuming and developed an interest in vintage clothing which ranges from the 1930s through the 1970s.

The Arts Council booth will also feature art items donated by members of the Arts Council, Friends of the Library and library staffers.

Proceeds from booth sales will be used for Arts Council projects such as their spring street banner contest and the monthly Meet the Artist series at the library. A new project for the council will be painting motifs inside the large display windows of the former Hunters Furniture Building on Main Street.

DUO ARRESTED FOR PROSTITUTION, ROBBERY

Two Spokane residents were arrested and booked into jail late Saturday after deputies investigated what the report said was an escort service/prostitution and robbery case which began with a stranded motorist call from a man and a woman who later became the suspects in the case.

Deputies arrested Tiffany J. Herrick, 24, on probable charges of prostitution, accomplice to robbery, providing false statements and driving with a suspended license. Also arrested was Jonathan L. Allen, 21, on probable charges of first degree robbery, providing false statements, being an accomplice in prostitution and possession of marijuana.

According to a report by Sheriff Brett Myers, Saturday’s investigation started when deputies responded to a stranded vehicle report on a rural road five miles west of Pullman. The duo said their car, a 1997 Pontiac, broke down at the remote site after they fled a confrontation with a man.

Deputies located the person said to be in the confrontation, and he told them he had responded to an internet advertisement for a Spokane escort service, later paid for sexual services and was then confronted by Herrick’s escort who had a gun. He said Herrick and Allen then left in the Pontiac with money he had paid to her.

The sheriff’s report said deputies found an Airsoft pistol hidden behind the dashboard in a subsequent search of the Pontiac.

The sheriff’s report said the victim of the alleged robbery could face charges of solicitation of a prostitute.

YAKIMA DRIVER HURT

Nicole A. Stone, 20, Yakima, sustained cuts and abrasions at 6:20 p.m. Friday when the 2003 Ford Escape she was driving went off Highway 26 about 28 miles west of Colfax and rolled. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving westbound when the car went off the roadway and onto the gravel shoulder section of the highway. The Escape ended up on its wheels in the westbound ditch.

TODDLER TAKES WALK

Colfax Officer Chris Olin Sunday evening responded to a report of a toddler who was walking alone near the intersection of S. Main and Wawawai Street. He located the three-year-old and her grandfather who had been looking for the youngster. The toddler is believed to have figured out how to open a front security lock and walked away from the residence which was located about a block from where she was found.

FIGHT REPORT LEADS TO ARREST

Officers early Monday morning responded to a report of a fight in the parking lot at Zips on N. Main Street. Thomas McClain, 26, was arrested on probable charges of assault and disorderly conduct and booked into the jail.

Colfax Officer Chris Olin said McClain was among a group of people who had arrived at the parking lot just before 1 a.m. He reported McClain apparently became upset when his ex-girlfriend encountered breathing problems and attempted to interfere when another person on the scene tried to assist her. The report said the suspect had been drinking, and that could have curtailed his ability to interpret what was happening.

The report said a deputy and WSP trooper had arrived on the scene and attempted to subdue the suspect who would not remain on the ground as ordered. At one point a taser gun was used in an attempt to stun the suspect, but it had no result.

The ex-girlfriend was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital and later released.

HIGHWAY 195 JOB NEEDS

CORRECTING

Construction crews will return to the Highway 195 project in the coming weeks to undertake corrective work before the job is closed out at the end of the construction season. One of the main corrections facing the contractor will be relocating rumble strips, the surface indentations which are now included in highway projects to warn motorists when they have crossed the centerline or the fog lines on the sides of the traffic lane.

At some places along the highway project south of Colfax, the new rumble strips fail to meet required standards. The strip impressions are required to be installed parallel with the fog lines with a six-inch space between the fog line and the rumble strips. According to Tom Brash, assistant engineer for the DOT, the strips at several locations along the job fail to meet the standard. At some points the strips far exceed the six-inch space and at other points the strips go within the six-inch spacing requirement.

The requirement is included on projects to provide motorists with a warning that they have driven over the fog line and are approaching the shoulder of the highway.

Other final work to be done on the project will be cutting the new asphalt to install utility access. Brash said that is a normal procedure to finish out projects. The utility access rings are removed prior to paving to prevent damage. After the paving surface is down contractors are required to cut into the new surface and re-install the access rings to align with the new height of the roadway surface.

Correcting the rumble strip problem is expected to involve removing and replacing the new asphalt in those areas where the strips are out of alignment. Brash said he expects the contractor will do all the paving at one time. He said the work is expected to be done before the end of the construction season which normally extends to the middle of October.

Central Washington Asphalt, Inc., Moses Lake, was the general contractor on the project with a low bid of $1,961,182. The job extends from the Cooper Street intersection in Colfax at mile 37.54 to a point south of the Babbitt Road intersection at mile 28.8.

HULLABALOO CORNERS OPEN

Colfax Chamber of Commerce has some of the Main Street corner sites available for Hullabaloo decorations, according to Chamber Secretary Kathy Clark. The straw bales and the Hullabaloo fence segments have been placed at the intersections. Businesses are encouraged to install fall decorations which will be judged prior to the event. Custom prizes are awarded to the winners. The decoration zone is between Uptown and Stevens Street intersections. For more information, call the chamber office.

SEED SUIT

DOCUMENT LIST TOPS 2000

Attorneys involved in the Kentucky Bluegrass seed suit to date have filed a listing of more than 2,000 documents which they expect to file as evidence in the giant civil case which has been scheduled to start Oct. 15. Court rules require attorneys to file a list of documents they plan to present in the case in advance of the trial to allow time for objections.

Attorneys for Scotts, Inc., one of the defendants in the suit, have listed 1,986 documents. Richard Kuhling, representing the growers group which has filed the suit, filed a list of 71 documents, and the law firm representing Dye Seed Farm, one of the defendants, had filed a list of 22 documents.

GOLDEN

GRADS TO RETURN

Members of the Colfax High School class of 1962 will have their 50-year reunion at the CETC Building on Main Street in Colfax Saturday, Sept. 29. Teachers, friends of the class and relatives are invited to visit after 7:30 p.m. The class totaled 74 members with 67 now living and about 33 expected to attend. They will be wearing name tags so visitors won’t have to guess their identity.