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.

Rocks, branches and various debris pile up on the grate along the Palouse Highway near Mill Street. The highway flooded again last week. See stories on flood and clean-up below.

GUN NETS PRISON TERM

Joseph Hopkins, 30, Albion, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. The sentencing report noted Hopkins has a record of four convictions, including a robbery in Spokane County in 2001. The length of the Friday sentence means he will be committed to the state corrections system.

His conviction Friday dates back to Aug. 6, 2012, when police responded to a report that a man, later identified as Hopkins, had pulled out a gun at the Adams Mall on college hill. The report said Hopkins became upset and pulled a pistol out of his waistband.

The alleged victim said he ran from the scene and was hurt when he dove to the ground after hearing what he believed to be the sound of Hopkins “racking” the pistol to fire it.

Hopkins was also ordered to pay $1,550 in fines and fees.

SPOKANITE ROLLS SUBARU

Michael S. Terhune, Spokane, was unhurt Monday afternoon when he lost control of a 2003 Subaru Legacy on the Pullman/Moscow Highway just west of the Pullman city limits. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Terhune was driving the Subaru Legacy eastbound at 4:18 p.m. when it went off the right side of the highway. He over-corrected, and the car rolled and came to a stop on its wheels.

GRADING

PERMIT FOR HOUSE

Steve Trump of S & S Construction in Colfax obtained a city building permit for grading on property he has purchased in the southwest part of town which is located west of Hillcrest Drive. The grading will be to prepare a site for a house which has been planned with a daylight basement. Palouse River Rock will be contractor for the grading.

PREECE PLEA DELAYED 2 WEEKS

A court date for entry of a plea by Judson Preece, 50, Pullman, was re-scheduled from last Friday to Jan. 24 in Whitman County Superior Court. Preece pleaded guilty Nov. 22 to an amended charge involving two allegations of child molestation. The amended information added a second charge of child molestation which involved a different victim. Ages of the alleged victims are 13 and 10 years with respective charges of second and first degree molestation.

POLICE

INVESTIGATE

VANDALISM

Colfax Police Saturday investigated a report of vandalism to a car parked in the 500 block of Deanway. The trunk of the 1994 Honda Accord sustained damage from keying to the trunk lid and the rear quarter panel on the driver’s side.

FIRE AT

MARRIOTT SITE

Pullman firefighters responded just before 2 p.m. Sunday to a report of smoke coming out of the construction site for the new Marriott Residence Inn on NE Fairway on the WSU campus. The construction project is on the north side of campus near the Palouse Ridge Golf Course.

Amy Winsor, who was walking her dog, was credited with spotting smoke coming out of the unfinished hotel. Flames were spotted coming out of the building by the time the first WSU officer arrived on the scene.

The blaze was confined to some wood surrounding the temporary exhaust pipe next to a natural gas heater placed in the stairwell by a construction crew.

The exhaust pipe was believed to have vibrated loose causing the heated exhaust to blow directly at the studs in the building, according to Fire Lt. Rudy Fisher. Two heaters had been left operating in the building.

The fire was on the third floor of the 131-room hotel which has been scheduled to open in June. Damage to the structure was estimated at $2,000.

Colfax UTILITY HIKE

Colfax utility bills will be sent out with a slight increase which started with the new year. The increase in rates is part of a five-year plan for utility bill increases which started in 2011.

The city sends out approximately 1,200 bills for water and sewer service with the next billing going out at the end of this week.

A residence consuming 500 cubic feet of water will see a hike of $1.57 in the overall rate. The hikes include an additional 60 cents for the base rate on water to $23.70 and three cents per 100 cubic feet on consumption to 70 cents.

The base rate for sewer increases 70 cents to $25.40 and four cents per 100 cubic feet to $2.11. The sewer base rate includes the first 200 cubic feet.

PICKUP CRASH ON ICE

Christa M. Diets, Crestview, Fla., was unhurt Thursday morning, Jan. 9, when she lost control of a 1996 Ford 150 pickup truck on Highway 194 near mile marker 19. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving eastbound at 8:30 a.m. when the truck slid out of control, crossed the centerline, and struck a concrete retaining wall. The truck came to a stop against a power pole facing southwest.

McBRIDE TRIAL DATE SET

A Feb. 28 trial date for William P. McBride, 50, Oakesdale, was set Friday after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of second degree burglary. A formal charge was filed against McBride Wednesday, Jan. 8. He is charged with burglarizing a rental unit at J & B Storage on Ramsey Street in Tekoa Dec. 16.

The arrest report on McBride alleges he was implicated in the storage unit burglary by Kenneth Himes, the first identified suspect in the case, when he was interviewed. The arrest report noted items listed missing from the storage unit were recovered from the Tekoa residence where Himes was arrested Dec. 28.

SCHOOL

FOUNDATION APPEAL

Colfax Schools Foundation has mailed out a letter seeking donations for the coming year to residents in the district. The letter notes since the CSF was formed in 2003, the foundation has awarded scholarships to 255 Colfax High graduates with a total of $174,675.

Donations to the foundation can be sent to 233 N. Main in Colfax. Residents are asked to send donations by March 15.

The foundation’s board of directors includes Jane Aune, Marsha Binder, Terry Eng, Steve Larkin, Bob Lothspeich, Barb McIntosh, Michael Morgan, Del Teade and Mary Ann Wigen.

VORDERBRUEGGEN

PRO-TEM

Colfax Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen was named Colfax Mayor pro-tem at the end of Monday night’s city council organizational meeting. Vorderbrueggen will follow Councilman Jim Kackman in the assignment. The mayor pro-tem presides at city council sessions when the mayor is absent.

Council members Monday also made committee assignments for the upcoming year. Committees will include finance with Vorderbrueggen as chair, Steve Bretveld and Tom Huntwork; public safety with Jeannette Solomine as chair, Steve Holberg and Whitney Aguilar; public works with Kackman as chair, Bretveld and Solomine, and personnel with Huntwork as chair, Aguilar and Holberg.

CHURCH FILES TO CLEAR TITLE

A suit to quiet the title of Uniontown Community Church has been filed in superior court. The action has been filed against the former Union Church of Uniontown and descendants of the Schwenne family.

The suit notes records of ownership of the church property prior to 1940 are missing.

According to the filing, the Union Church of Uniontown was formed in about 1890 and was active until approximately 1925 when it became affiliated with the American Sunday School Union. The present Uniontown Community Church was descended from the American Sunday School Union, according to the suit.

HIGHWAY FLOODS AGAIN

State and city crew members again were called to the Palouse Highway grade into Colfax Jan. 9 when runoff water again jumped the banks and spread mud and debris across the road.

One-way traffic control was posted on the highway while crews worked on the site.

State crews were hauling in loads of rock for fill in places where gravel and rock had been washed away from the top of the culvert which was installed as part of the rebuild project last fall.

The city backhoe was in use to clear rock and debris from the culvert which also jammed Dec. 23 when debris in runoff water blocked the culvert which was installed at the lowest driveway entry across the channel along the highway.

The culvert size beneath the crossing was reduced during the construction project along the channel this summer. Also, grates placed over the upstream end of the culvert, which is slanted, have caused debris to gather and clog the culvert.

DOT TO CLEAN DRAIN

In a public works report to the city council Monday night, Jan. 6, Mayor Todd Vanek said state Department of Transportation officials have agreed to clean out the street drain and the flood channel from debris left by the Dec. 23 overflow flood on the Palouse Highway grade. He said the DOT expects to report on the project plan in approximately two weeks.

Vanek said that DOT officials were adamant that the revised drain system along the Palouse Highway grade which was installed this fall was adequate to handle runoff.

Water and debris from the flood, which included runoff from fields above the highway grade, were washed out of the channel and onto the highway.

Mayor Vanek noted the city has agreed to be responsible for clearing the grate cover over the culvert drain inlet next to the United Methodist Church. He said any blockage of runoff water at that point leads to debris spilled onto city streets. The Dec. 23 flood left debris on Mill Street when the water went down the hill.

State DOT will work to clear the culvert, which runs from the inlet next to the church to the S. Palouse flood channel.

Vanek said work in clearing the drain culvert and the rocks which were dropped in the flood channel is expected to be done later in the year when low water will allow access to the channel.

SLUSH SPIN-OFF ON 27

A Dodge Ram pickup driven by a 17-year-old juvenile went out of control 4.3 miles north of Palouse Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 8:10 a.m. According to the Washington State Patrol report, the youth was driving southbound on the slush-covered highway, crossed the centerline and went into the ditch on the opposite side of the road. The northbound lane of the highway was blocked.