Bulletin Column

NEXT CITY

CANDIDATE

Michael Rizzitiello, Economic Development Project Coordinator for the City of Beaverton, Ore., will be the next lead applicant for the Colfax city administrator’s job. Mayor Todd Vanek told city council members Monday night Rizzitiello has been scheduled to visit Colfax for tours and interviews June 2.

Rizzitiello was one of two finalists selected after the city’s second posting of the job. The city opted to interview Kevin Poole of Lewiston who toured the town on April 21. Poole notified Vanek, May 5, that he decided not to make the move from Lewiston, where he is a consulting engineer, to Colfax because of family reasons.

Rizzitiello has held the economic development position at Beaverton since December of 2012. Two years prior to that he was a data consultant for Azavcar Audit Solution in Chicago.

Rizzitiello holds a undergraduate degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in public administration and local administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A second posting for the job was made after Michael Patterson, city administrator for the city of Florence, Colo., also decided not to accept a Colfax job offer for the Colfax city administrator’s position.

The Colfax position has been vacant since last August when Carl Thompson resigned to return to duty at the Colfax Fire Department. Mayor Vanek has served as interim administrator during the hiring search for a replacement.

MAIL DEADLINE

TO ADVANCE

Deadline for posting mail out of Colfax will be advanced 30 minutes starting next Tuesday, May 27. The deadline will be 5:30 on weekdays instead of the present 6 p.m.

Saturday’s mailing deadline will remain at 2 p.m.

Colfax Postmaster Terry Calhoun said the 30 minute advance is aimed at getting the mail truck, which starts at Lewiston, to Spokane earlier in the day for a better dispatch out of Spokane.

The deadline for dropping mail in the outside boxes in front and in back of the post office will remain at 5 p.m. Also, the lobby closing time will remain at 6 p.m. to allow post office box customers time to get their mail.

The deadline advance at Colfax will also mean an earlier deadline for LaCrosse and Endicott. Outgoing mail time from LaCrosse will be advanced 30 minutes to 4:30 p.m. and the deadline at Endicott will be advanced to 4:45 p.m. to allow connection time for the earlier shipment of mail out of Colfax.

COUNTY SUIT RESPONSE

A notice of appearance to the damage suit filed by Michael and Carla Assenberg of Colfax has been filed in superior court by Michael McFarland and Freida Zimmerman on behalf of the county. McFarland and Zimmerman are members of the Spokane firm of Evans, Craven & Lackie.

Assenberg seeks alleged damages for the warrant search and arrest at his residence in Colfax. He contends he was growing the marijuana as a medical provider. The charge against him was dropped in February of last year.

Also listed as a plaintiff in the suit was David Armstrong of Colfax. He was listed as one of the Assenberg patients.

A response within 20 days was required by a summons which was filed with the suit.

The suit was filed against the county, county commissioners, sheriff, sheriff’s department, Quad Cities Drug Task Force, detectives with the task force, and former commissioner Greg Partch. Amount of the alleged damages was not listed in the suit.

NOT GUILTY VERDICTS

A superior court jury Monday found Jared Wold, 28, Endicott, not guilty of charges of burglary and possession of stolen property.

Wold had been charged with taking items from a storage building located on his father’s place at Endicott last June.

The jury returned the verdicts after about 23 minutes of deliberation after they returned to court following lunch.

ARISHI TRIAL DATE SET

A July 21 trial date was set for Adbullatif Arishi, 40, Pullman, after he pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation, child rape and communication with a minor for immoral purposes Friday in superior court. Pullman Police arrested Arishi after an investigation which started with an investigation of an accident on Highway 195 last Feb. 21.

The driver of one of the vehicles in the accident was a 15-year-old Pullman girl who was traveling with Arishi. Officers learned the girl’s mother did not know Arishi, reported owner of the vehicle. The arrest report alleged subsequent investigation led to the discovery that Arishi and the 15-year-old started a relationship via a social network computer site.

COMMITMENT

IN RAPE CASE

A warrant of commitment for Benton Elam, 34, Albion, to the state department of corrections was filed Monday in Superior Court. Elam was sentenced to 36 months in prison after pleading guilty May 1 to two charges of child rape and one charge of assault of a child.

He was allowed credit for 166 days served in jail awaiting trial. A correction in Elam’s sentencing was also filed with the court. He will be required to undergo 24 months of community custody after his release from the Department of Corrections.

The case against Elam alleges sexual encounters with a 14-year-old girl last July and August at Albion.