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.

TRAFFIC PATROLS ON AIRPORT ROAD

Renewal of work on the Airport Road construction project has also led to renewal of citations for motorists who attempt to ignore “road closed” signs and use the route which is a favorite bypass shortcut from Highway 26 to the south end of Colfax and on to Pullman.

A deputy has been patrolling the work site where crews from M.A. DeAtley Construction resumed work April 8. The construction site closed down last fall and the Airport Road segment closed because of weather conditions.

Public Works Director Mark Storey noted motorists who attempt to use the road pose a threat to construction workers and can damage work in progress.

Under project funding provisions, the public works department has been able to pay for patrol and truck weight services on the project, and Vince Waltz has been assigned the task along with his regular duties with the sheriff’s department, according to Undersheriff Ron Rockness.

Crews are now working on the segment of the road on the Highway 26 end near the fairground. Number of workers now on the site normally ranges from 10 to 20.

FREE TREE RESPONSE

A city pickup truck and trailer departed for Spokane Tuesday for a load of trees which has been donated by Tim Stanek of Stanek Nursery in Spokane. He had advised the city earlier that trees would be made available when he closes down the business and advised the city yesterday that the trees were now available for pickup.

The trees will be planted in city parks to replace trees which have been removed.

NG NAMED

FOR JAPAN EXCHANGE

Colfax High School sophomore Ysabeaux Ng has been selected as one of 14 FCCLA members to be part of a national exchange team which will visit Japan this summer. Team members receive a scholarship award from the national FCCLA office. Ng is only the second Colfax student to be named for the honor in the last 25 years.

EVENSEN SENTENCING SET

A June 7 court date has been scheduled for Ben Evensen of Rosalia who is expected to enter a guilty plea and be sentenced for his part in breaking into the Rosalia liquor store. The court denied a request for modification of pre-trail release conditions to allow Evensen to travel to Colorado.

Defense attorney Johnathan Hart noted Evensen’s plea bargain agreement includes testifying in the state’s case against Daniel Lazcano who is scheduled for a second trial May 28. Evensen also testified at the first trial.

KNIFE REPORT LEADS TO ARREST

Erec Hopkins, 32, Palouse, was booked into the county jail Saturday morning on probable charges of second degree assault and obstructing an officer. Hopkins was arrested early Saturday morning in Pullman where he allegedly threatened employees at My Office Tavern with a knife.

According to the arrest report, officers received a call just before 1 a.m. from the tavern. They said Hopkins had been asked to leave the tavern after he had become intoxicated and made threats with a knife.

A Pullman officer located Hopkins walking southbound in the 700 block of S. Grand and ordered him to halt. The report said the suspect stopped but later decided to run and the officer grabbed him by the hood of his shirt and took him down to the ground.

ROBBERY

SUSPECTS

ARRESTED

Three suspects were arrested Friday in Pullman in connection with a report of a home invasion robbery at a residence on Highway 195 south of Pullman.

According to arrest reports filed in court, the victim was Larry Hood, the same victim in a strong arm robbery which led to a jury trial and convictions last year.

Hood reported the robbery at 5:36 a.m. and said one female and two males threatened him. He said he knew the female who knocked on his door and was followed into his residence by the two males. One of the males reportedly was carrying a folding baton which he used to threaten Hood. The report said they took $3,780 in cash from Hood and left the residence.

The report said Hood called 911 after they departed and they were apprehended in Pullman. They were arrested on probable charges of first degree robbery and burglary and second degree theft, according to Whitman County Undersheriff Ron Rockness.

One of the suspects, Justin J. A. Jaquith, 24, was wanted on a warrant out of Idaho for a parole violation. Also arrested were Matthew L. Evans, 24, Lewiston, and Andrea M. Savabui, 24.

JAZZ BAND

SECOND AT CBC

Colfax High School jazz band placed second in the A division Saturday at the Jazz Unlimited competition at Columbia Basin College in Pasco. The Colfax band placed second to Hockinson High School from Brush Prairie which has an enrollment of 700 students.

Sam Dailey, a sophomore, received an outstanding musician award for his trumpet solo on “Sing Sang Sung,” which is a takeoff arrangement of Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing.”

The jazz band will compete again at Mt. Hood and their jazz concert here has been scheduled for May 13.

MAIN STREET WORK

ON AT&T VAULT

The two-day construction project at the intersection of Highway 195 and S. Main near fireman’s park March 7-8 involved restoring access to an AT&T communications vault. The top of the vault was lowered last year to allow for the Highway 195 construction project.

Crews last week brought the vault up to the grade of the new highway surface. The project involved traffic control which was done by Northstar.

According to Thomas Brasch, DOT construction engineer, the last remaining job for last year’s 195 project will be installing a driveway entrance for access at the River View Apartment lot. The project will involve removing the curb and asphalt segment and installing a concrete driveway.

Crews last year installed a curb and paved sidewalk segment along the east side of Main where the railroad crossing was removed. Later, a project to remove the curb and install a driveway entrance was authorized.

Brasch said the driveway will be done as an add-on for last year’s project contract with Central Asphalt of Moses Like. He expects the work will be done by Winkler Construction, a subcontractor for Central which did the concrete work on the project last year.

He anticipates the concrete work will be done by mid-May.

WEITMAN

BENEFIT TOPS $10,500

The benefit dinner and auction at the Eagles lodge in Colfax April 6 raised more than $10,500 to assist the John (Glen) Weitman family of Thornton. The spaghetti dinner was served to more than 250 people.

The benefit featured a silent auction with 97 different items donated for bid, according to Weitman’s daughter, Amye Hanes of Colfax.

Weitman, a long-time employee at Taco Time, is suffering from liver cancer. He was able to attend Saturday’s dinner and auction.

Donations for the Weitman family can be left at Cougar Food Mart. Also, donations can be made to the family account under the name of his wife, Lin Weitman, at Bank of America.

JASON STAPERT ARRESTED

Jason Stapert, 39, the father of the Malden teen who is the alleged victim in the drug homicide case at Malden, was arrested early last Thursday morning on charges of burglarizing the residence of Bobby Bilderback in Malden last week. The arrest report said Jason Stapert admitted taking guitars and liquor from the Bilderback house on SW Birch Street in Malden and told deputies he did it to “get back” at Bobby Bilderback for the death of his son.

Bobby Bilderback and his live-in girlfriend. Chastity Bilderback remain in jail in Colfax on charges of controlled substance homicide which alleges he provided methamphetamine to Donavin Stapert, 17, who died of an overdose of the drug.

According to the arrest report Bilderback’s father, who is looking after his son’s residence on SW Birch Street, reported bottles liquor appeared to have been stolen from the bar in the house. The investigation led to Jason Stapert and some of the missing liquor bottles and other property, including guitars, were recovered. More of the missing liquor was found at a residence on N. Nevada in Spokane.

The report said the liquor bottles, guitars and a large cribbage board were identified by Bobby Bilderback at the jail. Value of 19 bottles of liquor was placed at $1,307. The value of the guitars and other recovered items was placed at $27,000.

He was ordered held on $100,000 bond. He has formerly been charged with second-degree burglary and third degree theft.

PLANS TO GO OVER THE EDGE

Laura Buckley Lautenslager, former Colfax resident, plans to participate in an Over the Edge Special Olympics fund raiser in Spokane June 22. She will rappel 20-plus stories off the Bank of American Financial building in downtown Spokane. Her fund raising goal was set at $1,000.

Buckley is the daughter of Barney and Gerianne Buckley of Colfax. She and her husband, John Lautenslager, and daughter Samantha, now reside in Rosalia where she is a firefighter and EMT for Rosalia District 11. Laura plans to participate in the event in honor of her uncle, Mike, and Billy Swank of Colfax, who has competed in the Special Olympics.