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 BOARD GETS REPORT

Official attendance figure for this year’s Palouse Empire fair was 23,873, Fair Manager Bob Reynolds reported to the fair board Monday night. Total admission revenue was $57,685 with the royalty candidates accounting for $16,030 through advanced sales.

Reynolds said the advanced ticket sales for the second straight year marked an increase of approximately $2,000 from the previous year.

The fair’s share of income from the carnival rides was $10,800.

“Any time that’s over $10,000 we consider it a good year,” Reynolds commented.

He estimated $8,000 to $9,000 more revenue will arrive in the fair coffers with vendors and others making payments.

Reynolds said fair officials have completed about 25 percent of the processing required on exhibitor points which determine the numbers for premium checks.

Overall revenue for the fair, including rental and other income from off-season activity is at $151,000 which is about 93 percent of budgeted revenue. Added income from post-fair billings is expected to allow the fair to meet its budgeted income figure.

In other business Monday, the fair approved increasing rental fees on the community building and the Jones School building. Both facilities have been upgraded, and Reynolds said the rates need to be set for people making reservations in advance. The rate increases will begin next year.

Rental rates for the community building were increased from $500 for a three-day span to $750. The fair rents the building for three-day segments to accommodate weddings which require decoration and cleanup.

Reynolds reported they have determined the fair actually operated at a loss at the $500 rate when the building was used during cold weather.

Rental for the school building was increased from $50 per day to $150. However, the $50 daily rate will remain available for use of the building up to four hours. Birthday parties and meetings usually can be accomplished in the four-hour span.

RAIL SPIKE SUSPECT SENTENCED

David Vincent Reed, who was arrested after Pullman police Aug. 11 responded to a report of a man who appeared to be pulling spikes along the railroad line north of Pullman, was sentenced to two months in jail after he pleaded guilty Monday to possession of heroin. Reed, 43, Port Angeles, was also sentenced to 364 days, all suspended, for third-degree theft. He was ordered to pay $2,800 in fines and fees.

He was allowed credit for time served since his arrest.

According to the arrest report, Reed told Pullman officers he was pulling the railroad spikes to sell as scrap iron. The report said officers walked south from the railroad crossing at Kitzmiller Road and located 27 spikes which had been pulled from the rails. Reed reportedly was carrying a pry bar, other equipment and the heroin.

A railroad officials estimated cost of replacing the spikes would be in the range of $1,500. Reed was initially charged with malicious mischief of railroad property. He had also been disciplined with suspension of privileges for fighting while in jail, according to the report from the jail.

CANYON FIRE SAID ARSON

Arson is the suspected cause of a fire in Wawawai Canyon which started late Friday night. Chief Jim Dahmen of Rural District 14 said residue from flares was found Saturday at two sites along the Wawawai Canyon Road. The flare remains were found about a quarter of a mile apart about three miles up the canyon road.

Dahmen said they received the alarm at 10:30 Friday. The fire burned on the east side of the road up the hill to Power Line Road.

Between 60 and 80 acres of rangeland on the steep canyon grade were burned. Dahmen estimated between 20 and 25 volunteers were on the scene until the 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Fire crews from Pullman Rural District and Palouse also responded.

Chief Dahmen said a deputy started the search for an ignition point Saturday. He added this is the third fire over a four-year span when fires have been ignited in the same area by flares.

TRUCK THEFT SUSPECT ARRESTED

Todd M. Sines, 50, Plummer, was booked into the county jail early Saturday morning after being arrested in Oakesdale on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle. According to the arrest report, Sines has been a suspect in a case involving the theft of a 1983 pickup truck from a shop at an unoccupied farm east of Oakesdale last May.

The truck was located by Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police July 11. The truck reportedly had been burned out.

The deputy’s report said Sines had been known to be visiting in the Oakesdale area and was observed earlier this summer driving the missing truck.

Bail for pre-trial release was set at $10,000 in a first appearance in court Monday.

EVENSEN HEARING SET

A court date for scheduling the trial of Ben Evensen has been delayed until Oct. 11. The Evensen case involves charges for his alleged participation in burglary and theft of the liquor store at Rosalia March 23, 2012.

Evensen has been one of the key witnesses for the state in the Lazcano trials this year. Also, copies of a plea bargain offer from the state to Evensen in his case have been presented by the defense attorney in the Daniel Lazcano trials. The offers were presented in an attempt to show jurors Evensen’s reasons for cooperating with the state in the Lazcano trials.

Now 24, Evensen originally pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in August of 2012.

ZIMMERMAN SENTENCED

TO 90 DAYS

Carla A. Zimmerman, 27, Colfax, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday, Sept. 19, for taking a motor vehicle without permission. She was also sentenced to 364 days in jail on the reckless driving charge. The 364-day sentence was suspended, but she was placed on one year of unsupervised probation.

Zimmerman was ordered to report to the state probation officer in Clarkston after she completes the 90-day jail sentence on the motor vehicle conviction. During the probation term she was ordered to refrain from using drugs, including marijuana, and drinking alcoholic beverages.

Zimmerman pleaded guilty to the two charges July 12. She was originally scheduled for sentencing Aug. 16, but it was postponed until Sept. 19.

The charges followed a Pullman police response to a report of an accident last Feb. 22 on Davis Way near Olson Street. Zimmerman was reported to be driving a Honda Accord which was involved in an accident with a Subaru Outback.

The investigation report said Zimmerman at the scene appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant. She was originally charged with driving under the influence, but that charge was reduced to reckless driving.

The police report said Zimmerman told officers she took the Honda Accord from the UPS parking lot in Pullman.

She was ordered to pay $2,050 in fines and fees including $1,250 to two victims of the accident. She was ordered to pay $1,000 to the owner of the Honda and $250 to a passenger who was in the Outback involved in the collision. The passenger was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital after the accident.

CHASTITY BILDERBACK SENTENCED

Chastity Bilderback, who lived with Bobby Bilderback at Malden, pleaded guilty in superior court Sept. 19 to a reduced charge of rendering criminal assistance related to the death of Donavin Stapert, 17, from a drug overdose. Prosecutor Denis Tracy said the state had decided to reduce the charge because Chastity Bilderback eventually decided to cooperate in the investigation and had a key role in the conviction of Bobby Bilderback of controlled substance homicide.

The charge of rendering criminal assistance alleged Chastity Bilderback repeatedly lied to deputies over a two-week time when officers were looking for the Stapert boy after he had been reported missing. Tracy said the lies continued even after she was initially arrested until she eventually decided to tell the truth.

The Stapert boy’s body was located in a grave north of Chatteroy after deputies learned he had died of an overdose of methamphetamine the night of March 6-7 at the Bilderback house.

Tracy told the court Chastity Bilderback’s eventual cooperation helped officers here and in Spokane locate the boy’s body.

“I was a coward,” she said in a brief statement to the court. She said Bobby Bilderback was very controlling and she was intimidated. As an example, the Bilderback house was actually fitted with digital door locks which limited her ability to move about the interior.

“Bob was terrifying,” she told the court.

Bobby Bilderback pleaded guilty to a charge of controlled substance homicide just before his trial Aug. 26 and was sentenced to 68 months in prison five days later.

Defense Attorney Mark Monson said when he first met with Chastity Bilderback after her arrest she had extensive bruises on her arms that were inflicted by Bobby Bilderback.

The judge followed the recommendation of the attorneys and sentenced Chastity to 364 days in jail with 320 days suspended and credit allowed for 31 days already served. With added credit for “good time”, she will not return to jail.

She was ordered to pay $3,200 in fines and fees.

Monson said she plans to return to her home area in Alabama.

DRIVER SUSTAINS SEIZURE ON MAIN

Colfax police and ambulance and fire units were called out at about noon Wednesday, Sept. 18, to transport a St. John resident to the hospital after she sustained a seizure while driving southbound on Main Street. Police Chief Rick McNannay said the driver’s husband was able to grab the wheel of the Mitsubishi and turn it onto S. East Street. He was able to stop the car by shifting the transmission into park.

The driver said the last thing she remembered was passing Arby’s. The car hit an upright banner which was mounted on concrete blocks at Ace Hardware on the west side of Main and then veered across oncoming traffic lanes onto Thorn where it traveled a block before it was stopped.

Deputy Justin DeRosier, who was driving into town followed the erratically driven car onto Thorn Street and was able to alert motorists after the vehicle came to a stop.