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.

EVANS SENTENCED TO 4 MONTHS

Sheila Rae Evans was sentenced Friday to four more months in jail after she pleaded guilty in superior court to a charge of second degree burglary. Evans was arrested after deputies learned she was involved in a burglary at State Line Processors which is located at Tilma, east of Tekoa.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the court the only item Evans took from the Stateline entry was a package of toilet paper, but the real factor in Evans’ case was that she was involved in a burglary just days after she was released from jail for her connection with other burglaries. She had been convicted March 21 of burglary and theft charges involving a storage locker at Tekoa.

Evans, 33, was arrested May 3 for the alleged April 24 entry at Tilma. Evans Friday faced a sentencing range of from four to 12 months, and Tracy recommended the minimum.

Judge David Frazier pointed out the Stateline case was a second felony conviction, and a third conviction would automatically lead to a year-long sentence in the department of corrections.

“One more, and she’s gone,” the judge noted.

Evans was also ordered to pay $580 in restitution, which was the value of tools and other items taken from another building at Stateline that night. The items were taken from the seed plant which is on the Idaho side of the border. The case is being investigated by the Benewah County Sheriff’s office.

RADIATOR THEFT

SUSPECT

Derick W. Eickhoff, 32, Clarkston, was arrested on a probable charge of second degree burglary after a warrant search of his residence in a case involving theft of radiators from a rural residence in Steptoe Canyon. Eickhoff was booked into jail here late Friday night.

According to the arrest report, Eickhoff became a suspect when deputies learned he had been selling radiators for recylcing and scrap. A Dodge Dakota crew cab truck fitted with all-terrain tires, which had been driven to the salvage yard in Lewiston by Eickhoff, was the same type of vehicle which had been spotted in the Steptoe Canyon area about 10 days before the property owner last week discovered radiators had been taken. The radiators had been removed from two older Dodge trucks parked at the site.

The arrest report said tracks found at the site also had an all-terrain pattern.

The report said Eickhoff had attempted to sell other radiators at the salvage yard, but they had declined to purchase them.

MAIN STREET RAIL PAVING

A State Department of Transportation crew May 21 applied paving over approaches to the railroad crossing at N. Main north of Four Star Supply.

The paving was also applied over the top of the rails as part of a temporary maintenance plan through this year.

Tom Riebold, maintenance supervisor, said the paving over the rails will be in place until next spring’s resurfacing of Main Street in Colfax.

The state plans to call for bids on the project next December and have the job finished by July 1 of next year.

Riebold said the railroad segment has been red flagged because of the condition of the tracks. The project next year will include a rebuild of the crossing.

Next year’s paving project will include a grind down of the surface on Main Street and new paving. The overall project will extend from approximately where last year’s project ended and will continue north to the Dry Creek intersection on Highway 195.

Wednesday’s paving leaves the freight cars parked at the north end of the Clay Street spur, near Schmuck Park, separated from the operating rail line on the west side of Main Street.

BOATER ESCAPES FIRE

A 20-foot boat operated by Doug Cox of Pullman caught fire May 22 off Wawawai landing in the Snake River. Cox jumped from the boat and managed to swim approximately 50 yards to shore. The boat continued to burn and eventually sank about 1,000 yards downstream from the landing, according to the report by Sheriff Brett Myers.

The sheriff’s initial report said the engine on the 2001 Freedom inboard/outboard boat began to smoke as Cox pushed off from the dock at Wawawai. Cox, who was the only person in the boat, attempted to extinguish the fire but eventually decided to jump overboard and swim for it.

A fire crew from Colton District 14 responded to the scene.

PREWITT

SENTENCED TO 30 DAYS

Lynette Prewitt, 47, Kooskia, Idaho, was sentenced to 30 days in jail Friday morning after she pleaded guilty to assaulting Trooper Bruce Blood Feb. 27 at the Horn School rest stop along Highway 195 south of Rosalia.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Prewitt became upset when Trooper Blood arrested the driver of the vehicle in which she was riding. He said the episode was recorded on video and extended for several minutes as the suspect continued to object to the arrest.

The prosecutor said Prewitt and the driver of the vehicle were very intoxicated at the time. He added Trooper Blood at one point became concerned when Prewitt threatened to “blow his head off” and he made an effort to ascertain that she did not have access to a firearm.

Defense Attorney Steve Martonick credited Trooper Blood with acting professionally under the circumstances. He said Prewitt did not want to look at the video recording made at the arrest scene.

Prewitt told the judge she started drinking again that day after a period of abstinence. She said she actually did not remember the episode which led to the charge and didn’t want to look at the video recording.

She was ordered to pay $800 in fines and fees.

Prewitt turned herself in to the sheriff’s May 9 after a warrant had been issued for her arrest March 17 for failing to appear in court. The court exonerated the original bond after determining the bond company played a role in getting her to turn herself in to the sheriff’s office.

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CITY TO CHECK

UTV STATUS

Colfax City Council members May 19 night discussed the legal standing for use of utility-type vehicles on public streets. The topic hit the agenda after Councilman Jim Kackman said he was questioned about whether or not the city needed some type of ordinance for the use of UTVs on city streets.

Kackman said some of the larger double-wide UTVs are now qualified to be licensed vehicles in the state.

Chief Rick McNannay May 22 explained the state has authorized side-by-side utility vehicles to be licensed and driven on roads with speed limits up to 35 mph. However, local entities are required to officially extend the authorization to roads and streets in their jurisdictions and that will have to be considered by the city council.

McNannay said one of the problems here is that county roads and state roads linked into the Colfax road system all have speed limits in excess of 35 mph and that would limit where the side-by-sides can go outside of the city limits.

One exception, if the city council sanctions the state requirement, would be the North Palouse River Road which is now inside the city limits and posted at 25 mph .

McNannay noted under the state provisions roads which are not posted with speed limits are considered to have 50 mph limits by the state. That would make the county’s seasonal farm roads technically off limits to the utility vehicles.

McNannay said in his report at the next council session he will also note the possibility of a golf cart zone, probably for the North Flat section of town. Such zones are possible under specified conditions which would probably apply to the North Flat area, he said.

McNannay stressed the utility vehicles have to have a state license which requires head lights, brake lights and other features required of other licensed vehicles. Drivers also have to be licensed.

At Monday’s county commission meeting, Public Works Director Mark Storey reported the City of Palouse has requested 35 mph posting for the county roads along the North Palouse River to go along with authorization of the ATV zone inside of Palouse.

CHARGE WORK HOUR FORGERY

A formal charge of forgery, which involves alleged false work hour credits submitted to the court, was filed May 21 in superior court against Amy A. Baird, 43, Farmington. She has been summoned to appear in court June 13 to respond to the filing.

The charge alleges Baird turned in a false report that she had put in 92 hours of public service work at the Benewah County Senior Center in Plummer. The report said court officials had checked with the center director who said she had not signed the report and did not know Baird.

The report said an officer interviewed Baird and she reported she actually did the work at a junk yard on Zurcher Mountain in Benewah County. She told the officer she arranged with a relative of the Plummer Center director to credit the hours of work at the center, which is a non-profit agency.

A deputy’s followup report with the center director said she reported she hadn’t had contact with the relative mentioned in Baird’s account for several years. She also noted the center has stopped providing volunteer hours because they have found people under court orders generally have a poor work ethic.

One of the options often extended by the court during sentencing is to allow defendants to convert fines and fees to volunteer service time at a standard per hour rate.

Baird March 21 was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with credit for time already served, for failing to make court ordered payments and completing the work hours required in a 2010 drug conviction involving methamphetamine. The court also ruled her work hour report was false. She was denied work release while serving the 60 days.

The March 21 court order followed issuance of an arrest warrant which was sought because Baird had failed to appear for a compliance hearing to pay fines and fees which were ordered to be paid in the 2010 drug charge.