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.

JAZZ AWARDS

TO DAILEY, BECKER

Sam Dailey and Brent Becker each won outstanding soloist awards at the Columbia Basin College Jazz Festival Saturday. They played with the Colfax High School jazz band which made the trip to Pasco to start their spring concert season.

The band placed fourth in the A division competition, according to Director Mike Morgan. He noted the band had to get on the bus and head for Pasco Saturday after not playing during spring vacation week.

Dailey, who has played trumpet with the band in the past, won an outstanding soloist honor for piano performance, and Becker won his award for trombone. Both are seniors.

Both of the awards were presented for their parts in the band’s opening number, “Aaron’s Blues.” The Colfax band also played “I Remember Clifford” by Benny Golson and “Body Snatchers,” a Radio Head arrangement they obtained from the EWU band.

Senior Kasey Johnson played the trumpet solo in “I Remember Clifford,” the ballad segment of the band’s entry.

The band also won a best section award that went to the trombone players.

Colfax music fans will get a chance to hear the jazz performance April 27 during the spring band concert which will feature bands from the fifth grade through high school. The jazz band will be the last group to perform that night.

They will also compete May 9 at the Mt. Hood competition in Gresham, Ore., and then wrap up their season with a jazz band concert here on a date that has not yet been determined.

PORN FOUND

ON WSU

COMPUTER

Michael M. Severns, 51, Potlatch, has been summoned to court April 24, after four child pornography charges were filed against him Friday in Whitman County superior court. According to the investigation report, Severns was charged with having child pornography on a computer that was assigned to him as part of his employment at Washington State University.

He has been charged with one count of dealing in child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography.

According to the investigation report, the charges evolved from an investigation which began with a detective who was able to identify computers in an on-line group which allegedly shares child pornography.

One of the computer identification numbers was traced through the American Registry of Internet Numbers to a computer which had been assigned to the housing and dining services at Streit Hall for use by Severns, the report stated.

COCAINE SAID

IN ‘AJAX’ CAN

A report on the arrest of a Colton resident last Friday near Rosalia said what started as a stop for speeding ended up with a search of a pickup truck in the basement of the sheriff’s office which led to the discovery of four bags of cocaine contained in a simulated Ajax Bleach can with a screw off bottom. The report said each of the packages contained 3.5 grams of cocaine which are commonly known as 8 balls.

Melanie S. Puddy-Weis, 60, was booked into the jail at 2:34 a.m. Saturday. According to the arrest report, the pickup truck she was driving recorded a 76 mph reading on a radar unit on a sheriff’s patrol vehicle. The deputy turned his car around and stopped the pickup at mile marker 61 near Rosalia.

The driver seemed confused during the stop, and after initial sobriety tests she allowed a search of the truck. That search led to discovery of a packet of cocaine in her purse. After that she opted to stop the search, and the deputies later obtained a warrant and located the simulated Ajax can in a backpack in the pickup. Prescription drugs, $945 in cash and a digital scale were also found in the truck, the report said.

According to the report, the suspect said she had purchased the cocaine in Othello after inquiring at a bar there about where she could make a purchase. Bond for pre-trial release was set at $5,000 in a first appearance in court Monday.

SENTENCED

FOR BURGLARY

Derick W. Eickhoff, 33, who admitted burglarizing a building along Steptoe Canyon Road last May, was sentenced to 30 days in jail Friday in superior court. He was allowed to work off 20 days of the sentence with public service and allowed to serve the remaining 10 days on off days from his job as long as he has it done by July 3.

The court ordered the public service option after learning that Eickhoff was already participating in a Nez Perce County drug court program and residing at a Lewiston halfway house where he is under supervision while being employed.

Eickhoff was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution to the victim of the burglary, Toby Uhlenkott of Lewiston.

Uhlenkott reported early last May 22 that entry had been made to a farm building on the Steptoe Canyon Road. Radiators on two pickup trucks and welding equipment had been taken. A door was removed from one of the buildings at the site.

Uhlenkott told the deputy he had seen a Dodge Dakota pickup truck mounted with mud terrain tires stopped along the road 12 days earlier and the driver appeared to be looking over the property. The truck drove away but later came back down the road, and Uhlenkott was able to stop the driver and talk with him for a short time.

The deputy’s report said he checked with a salvage yard in Lewiston, and when he described the suspected pickup truck, the salvage yard operator was familiar with the truck and driver who regularly brought in radiators and other items.

Friday Judge David Frazier ordered Eickhoff to report for a review hearing Dec. 18 to show he had completed the 160 hours of public service work for the other 20 days of the sentence. He also ordered Eickhoff to pay $600 in fines and fees.

A charge of theft in the third degree was dismissed as part of the plea bargain agreement.

The judge told Eickhoff if he failed to complete the public service work or failed to make $100 monthly payments toward the restitution he would be back in the jail here during Christmas.

TRIAL SET

IN Rosalia CASE

A June 15 trial date for Scott Cahill, 43, Rosalia, was set Friday after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault of a child in the second degree. Cahill posted a $5,000 bond for pretrial release following his arrest Sunday, April 5.

The charge alleges he assaulted his stepson who allegedly arrived at school with an injury and was subsequently the subject of a Child Protective Services investigation.

SENTENCED TO STATE PRISON

Kye Allery, 25, was sentenced to a year in the state prison system after entering a plea in superior court April 3 to a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. Allery entered the plea to a reduced charge on condition he agree to be sentenced to the state prison system.

He was sentenced to 366 days, which is over the 364 day maximum for a term in the county jail.

This was Allery’s fourth conviction on a failure to register charge. He was charged after Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Chapman, during a routine review of sex offender location listings, discovered Allery had not resided at his registered location for several weeks.

Judge David Frazier asked Allery why he continued to violate the registration requirement for sex offenders, and Allery said because of his record he has found it hard to find employment. He said without a job he couldn’t afford to get a place to live. He added in some instances he was required to reside in a car.

Allery’s registered address at one point had been a garage along Highway 195 near Colfax.

He was credited for time served in jail here which will mean his actual stay in the state prison system will be under the 366-day term. He was also ordered to pay $800 in fees and costs.