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.

DRAIN FIX FOR CLAY: $419,000

An estimated cost of rebuilding the storm drain system beneath Clay Street has been placed at $419,000. The estimate was made by Taylor Engineering who was signed by the city to study the project and come up with a cost estimate.

Colfax now plans to use the formal estimate to pursue grant applications to rebuild the line which now runs from the Lower Park Street intersection at the north end of Clay Street to Mill Street.

The estimate is for installation of a 12-inch line along the length of the drain pipe. Public Works Director Andy Rogers said the new line includes segments of line which vary from eight to 12 inches.

The Clay Street storm line was one of the factors in the flooding and mud which poured onto the street and residences last year. The drain system failed when soil washed off of farm ground which is located above Clay and Park streets on the East Hill of Colfax.

The runoff hit twice in a single week in July and plugged the drain. The city also had a third flooding of the area early this winter when a city main failed at Taco Time.

Councilman Jim Kackman, head of the city Public Works Committee, said the project would improve the storm drain system by having a single size line for the total length.

The Taylor estimate includes installation of 2,500 feet of the 12-inch main. The estimate includes the cost of making surface cuts along the length of the street for excavation and replacing the surfacing after the installation.

City Administrator Carl Thompson said at present the city has not determined where a grant application could be submitted for the project. He said the main gain for getting the estimate, which was sent to the city last Thursday, will be knowing the cost range when they submit a grant proposal.

CODGER POLE ON PARK LIST

A list of proposed capital improvement projects from a Colfax Parks Board session was reported to the Colfax City Council Monday night by Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen who also serves on the parks board.

He said one of the key items on the capital list was maintenance and repair of the Codger Pole on Main Street. The pole has sustained weathering for several years. Vorderbrueggen said the estimate for work on the pole was placed at $52,000.

The Codger Pole was installed when the Codger Park was constructed on Main Street in 1991 to commemorate the Codger Bowl football game three years earlier. The game was a rematch of the 1938 football game between Colfax and St. John.

Participants in the Codger Bowl game, most of them grads from St. John and Colfax, put up most of the funding for the pole. The late John Crawford, long-time Hollywood actor who was raised in Colfax, headed up the Codger Pole project with the assistance of the late John Lothspeich. Faces of the game participants are featured on the pole.

The Codger Pole is actually a cluster of cedar poles which were installed upside down with the assistance of Jack Buell of St. Maries.

City Treasurer Mark Clinton said he believes sealer has been applied to the pole twice since he has been employed by the city. One of the sealer applications was done by the Colfax volunteer firemen.

The main problem of the pole is rot which has been discovered on the inside of the pole. Parts of the Codger figures at the top of the pole have dropped off.

The city now has approximately $3,500 in a line item fund to maintain the pole. At one time the city budgeted $1,000 per year into the fund, but that has been scratched as the parks funding became more restricted, Clinton said.

COACH’S NEW BABY BORN ON GAME DAY

Bulldog boys’ basketball Coach Reece Jenkins got quite a surprise on Saturday in the middle of the state playoffs.

His wife, Breanne, went into labor a week early and had a baby about noon on Saturday at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. This is the third child for the Jenkins family.

“It was a busy, busy day,” Jenkins said.

The coach and team watched game replays until about 3 a.m. Saturday morning and then Jenkins said he woke up at 5:15 a.m. as his wife went into labor.

“She was supposed to be induced that morning, but that didn’t happen,” he said.

After the baby, who is named Ryker, was born, Jenkins said he left the hospital at 2 p.m., came back to the house, took a shower, watched additional game replays, and then re-joined the team.

The Bulldogs came in second in the state tournament and Jenkins said he’s “extremely proud.”

Mother and baby came home Sunday evening and “everyone is healthy and doing fine,” Jenkins said.

Ryker joins brother Adrik, 5, and sister Allie, 2.

WSP RESPONDS TO INJURY ACCIDENT

The Washington State Patrol and Colfax Ambulance crews responded to a motor vehicle accident on State Route 127 on Saturday at 3:43 p.m.

According to the WSP, Crystal S. Quan, Shoreline, was traveling southbound on SR-127 when she signaled and pulled to the right and attempted to make a U-turn to the northbound lane.

Shane A. Sanders of Spokane Valley was following Quan in a 2001 Ford pickup and struck Quan’s 2002 Toyota Camry in the mid- to rear driver’s side.

A passenger in the Quan vehicle, Anna E. Nagy of Seattle, was transported to the hospital with neck and head pain. No other injuries were reported.

DIRECT SEED MEETING SET

The Colfax Palouse Direct Seed breakfast meeting will be Wednesday, March 13, starting at 7 a.m. at the Colfax Methodist Church meeting room.

A complimentary breakfast will be served by the Top Notch Cafe.

Joe St. John, a grower from Tekoa and member of the Pine Creek Conservation District, will present a direct seed system he has developed in partnership with his father, Roy, and his wife, Becky.

Terry Morgan, a grower from Rosalia and chair of the Washington Canola Commission, will present activities of the WCC that affect growers in this area.

The meeting is open to the public.

REV. ANDREWS DIES AT 90

The Rev. Milton P. Andrews Jr., whose liberal views at one time led to a public debate in Colfax, died Feb. 14 in Des Moines, according to an obituary from the Seattle Times. The Rev. Andrews was assigned to Colfax United Methodist Church from Rainier Beach where he had served since 1955. During six years at Rainier he shocked some parishioners by advocating civil rights and inviting blacks to join the congregation, according to the Times report.

The Times noted his liberal views were also not welcome in Colfax and he was subsequently bounced out of several parishes which eventually led to his ouster from the church. He later served other denominations.

Times columnist Don Duncan in 1970 described the Rev. Andrews as the church’s resident “hot potato.” The Rev. Andrews credited his education at Oberlin College with opening his eyes to injustice. His activism later led to protests against the Vietnam War.

His first wife, Catherine, died in an auto accident in 1971, and he married Ruth Long in 1993. Also surviving are four children, two brothers and four sisters.

COLFAX POLICE LOG

On Feb. 17 about 10:30 p.m., a citizen reported a barking dog chained in the backyard on the 1000 block of South Mill Street.

On Feb. 18 about 1:30 a.m., a citizen reported that there were three to four suspicious people in the alley, prowling around. Officers responded.

On Feb. 18 at about 3 p.m., a non injury accident was reported. A 2011 Chevrolet Aveo driven by Valorie Kabella-Klem and a 2008 Nissan X-Terra driven by Jaycob Enzler collided on South Main Street. Kabella-Klem was cited for unsafe lane change.

On Feb. 18 at little after 3 p.m., a citizen reported that for the past week when she starts her car, she has noticed that her backyard gate has been opened and there are beer cans laying around.

On Feb. 19 about 7:30 a.m., a citizen reported someone stole mail from his mailbox in the 200 block of North West Street.

On Feb. 19 at 12:45 p.m., a citizen on the 700 block of North Park Street reported his tax return was stolen out of his mail box the day before.

On Feb. 19 at 12:50 p.m., a citizen reported seeing a suspicious man walking in the area of Harrison and Main streets. The person reported smelling the strong odor of marijuana in the area.

On Feb. 19 about 4 p.m., a citizen on the 600 block of South East Street reported that two rugs were stolen off the front porch.