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.

PAVING PROJECT FINISHED

The Highway 195 paving project in Colfax has been officially finished. Matt Hammer, Colfax Public Works director, said the foreman for the contractor, Poe Asphalt Paving, reported Monday that they had finished in Colfax.

He said Poe anticipates a “punch list” of finish work which normally follows inspection of a project. That will mean some additional work for a short time.

One needed change noted already is the placement of “don’t cross here” signs at intersections which do not have crosswalks on all four corners. The signs were posted too close to the curb and two of them have already been downed by trucks as they turned on to Main Street.

Last round of construction Friday involved painting marks for parking spaces along Main Street by a subcontractor. It should be the last time traffic flow on the downtown lanes was altered to accommodate work on the project.

Councilwoman Jeannette Solimine noted the work was finished in time to accommodate traffic which went through downtown Colfax over the weekend for students who are returning for the fall semester at Washington State University.

WINDOW BUST ARREST

Alex Hinojos, 26, Colfax, was booked into the county jail a 5:55 p.m. Monday on probable charges of felony malicious mischief and driving with a suspended license. The arrest report by Deputy Sgt. Keith Cooper alleged Hinojos broke the right rear window of his squad car with his head while he was in the process of being arrested for driving with a suspended license.

Hinojos was initially stopped near the intersection of North and Main streets in Colfax for allegedly driving a truck which was towing a lawnmower trailer. His employer notified city police that he had been informed Hinojos, who was supposed to go to the Prune Orchard area with another employee driving the truck, had instead drove the truck. The other employee opted to quit his job before the Prune Orchard assignment, the report said.

Cooper’s report noted his squad car has been altered to serve as the county’s K-9 unit, so the broken rear window interrupted that service.

FAIR OFFICE AT MOCKONEMA

The Palouse Empire Fair office has been moved to the fairgrounds at Mockonema where it will be located for the weeks leading up to the fair which will start Sept. 10. The office is located in the Community Building at the fairground.

Because of the addition which is now being constructed along the side of the Community Building, access to the fairgrounds office will be through the front doors of the Community Building, according to Fair Manager Bob Reynolds. Hours are 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m.

WATER BILL

SURCHARGE CHANGE

Complaints about the city’s $20 surcharge for late payment on monthly utility bills brought a change of policy at Monday night’s city council session. The changes were made after Cathy O’Rourke, who recently moved back to Colfax, complained about the $20 fee which had been added to her bill last month.

She said she had sent the bill on the deadline date, the 15th of the month, but learned she faced the surcharge because it arrived after that date at city hall. She also noted nothing on the city’s monthly utility bill notifies residents they can be subject to the $20 late fee, an amount she termed extravagant.

Discussion of the policy includes problems the city has with delays in mail delivery and late bank transfers.

City Clerk Connie Ellis explained the billing card sent by the city has limited space to include notice of the possible $20 surcharge late fine.

The policy change Monday night will allow all payments with a postmark on the 15th regardless of when it arrives at city hall. Also, waivers will be allowed to residents who do miss the deadline if they have established a record of on-time payment for at least 24 months.

At the end of the meeting, Ellis reported 180 surcharges were added to bills for next month after this month’s deadline. She also noted the 24-month on-time payment policy could be flawed because a later arrival of a payment with a 15th postmark will result in an adjustment entry on the city’s software. That adjustment will remain on record and could dent the required 24-months of on-time payments if needed at a future date.

Ellis noted the city this month has introduced an on-line payment policy which could remove some of late pay problems.

Council members said more residents could be encountering late pay problems since the city began sending out utility bills at the end of the month while leaving the 15th deadline date for payment. That cut the turn-around time on the bills in half.

HICKMAN ON

TV FEATURE

Bob Hickman, former Colfax leather shop proprietor, has been scheduled to appear on the “Made in the Northwest” segment on Channel 4 news tonight, Thursday evening. He operated Hickman Boot & Saddle in Colfax before moving his business to Post Falls.

ASSAULT

SUSPECTS JAILED

Jennifer Charawell, 28, alleged driver of a truck involved in a hit-and-run case, remains in jail here after an appearance in court Friday. Charawell’s earlier release on a drug case was revoked after the court found probable cause that she had committed criminal offenses while awaiting sentencing on the drug convictions.

Charawell had been scheduled for sentencing Friday, but the sentencing date was reset for Aug. 28.

Two other suspects who were arrested Aug. 13 on probable charges of assault were each ordered held on $5,000 bail. They are Kirk D. Lee, 24, Pullman, and Joshua James Worl, 35, Albion.

Formal charges had not been filed on the three suspects at the time of their first appearances. The $5,000 bail and other conditions of release for Lee and Worl will be dropped in the event formal charges were not filed by Wednesday under the 72-hour rule.

Charawell was convicted on two charges of delivery of methamphetamine and two charges of possession of drugs after she pleaded guilty to the charges July 10. She had been allowed release prior to sentencing.

According to the arrest report Charawell was driving a Dodge pickup truck which hit Cody Rohrich, 23, Colfax, on Upper Union Flat Creek Road at approximately 5 a.m. Aug. 13.

Arrest reports on the three suspects said they and Rohrich were in the pickup traveling from Albion to Colfax when they stopped on the road near its intersection with Hamilton Road.

Rohrich alleged Charawell was driving the truck. He told investigators Lee and Worl assaulted him after she stopped the truck. He said after Lee and Worl got back in the truck, Charawell began to drive away, then made a U-turn and intentionally hit him with the front of the truck.

The report said tracks at the scene indicated the truck had gone off the roadway when it hit Rohrich. The report said Rohrich was bleeding from the mouth while he was being treated by Colfax EMTs at the scene when the first deputy arrived.

The report also said blood smears were later found on the front of the truck when the suspects were arrested at Albion. It also said one of Rohrich’s shoes, which had been missing, was recovered at the scene.

He was transported to Whitman Hospital in Colfax for treatment. The sheriff’s report described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

The report said when deputies went to Albion, Lee was located in a crawl space under the house. When asked, Lee said he decided to hide in the crawl space because he felt the morning’s episode was pretty serious.

ROHRICH ORDERED TO JAIL

Cody Rohrich, the alleged victim of the Thursday morning hit-and-run case, was ordered Friday to serve 60 days in jail as a court sanction for failing to make payments ordered last February as part of a conviction for trespassing and malicious mischief. Rohrich had been ordered to pay $400 in restitution for damage to the door of a Pullman apartment after he entered guilty pleas Feb. 24.

Rohrich had been ordered to appear in court July 10 and show cause why he had failed to make $50 payments for the restitution and other fees due.

The court ordered the 60-day term to begin Oct. 2 unless Rohrich makes payments.

PISTOL CITED IN Rosalia ARREST

Ryan T. Larsen, 26, Rosalia, pleaded not guilty to second degree assault Friday and a trial was scheduled for Oct. 12. According to the arrest report, the alleged victim, Delbert Irish, said Larsen pointed a .357 Magnum pistol at him from an upstairs window of a residence on East Seventh late Saturday morning Aug. 8. Irish told officers he was walking his dog in the neighborhood at Rosalia and the dog, which was not on a leash, went into the yard were Larsen resided. He told officers he started to go into the yard to clean up after his dog pooped in the yard and Larsen pointed the gun at him from the window and ordered him to get off the property.

Larsen was allowed release on his own recognizance after a first appearance in court.

TRIAL SET FOR Endicott MAN

Justin Taylor, 42, Endicott, pleaded not guilty Friday in superior court to charges of second degree assault and felony harassment, and a trial date was set for Oct. 14. A formal charge was filed by the prosecutor’s office Aug. 12.

According to the arrest report, two deputies and a trooper responded to a domestic violence report Saturday, Aug. 8, at 2:25 p.m. Taylor, who was arrested, is alleged to have choked the woman who was residing with him at the residence and threatening to kill her. A domestic violence no contact order was also issued by the court Aug. 10 in a first appearance in court. He was later allowed release from jail prior to his arraignment Friday.

CATTLE TRUCK SPILLS LOAD

A cattle semi truck which was loaded with 125 head of calves went onto its side and spilled its load last Thursday morning just south of Winona. Six animals were killed in the accident and the other animals in the load were rounded up and placed in a nearby corral.

The driver of the truck and double decker trailer, Raul Gonzalez, 29, Mesa, was not injured in the accident.

According to the report from the sheriff’s office, Gonzalez was driving southbound and lost control of the truck eight tenths of a mile south of Winona. The truck went over on its side in the ditch. Gonzalez reportedly told deputies he became distracted when he started to put down a cup of coffee.

Owned by Scott English, the truck was a new Western Star.

Two deputies from the sheriff’s office and a state Department of Agriculture representative went to the scene.

BBC REPORTS ON PHOTO APPEAL

Jack Lien, Colfax area resident who operates Four Seasons Photo Tours here, relayed a report which was done on the topic by the British Broadcast Corporation. Lien said he believes most residents of the area are unaware of how well the Palouse is recognized world wide as one of the top hot spots for photographers and the fiscal impact it has on towns in the area.

The report by Amanda Castleman for BBC Travel described the Palouse as a “little-known region the size of Hawaii that spills across the border of north central Idaho into southeastern Washington State.” It noted photographers come here for “the taste of classic Americana, looking for 19th century pioneer barns that dot the farmland.”

LIVESTOCK

SUPPORT LETTER

Colfax Livestock Supporters have mailed out a letter to seek funding for FFA and 4H members who will be selling animals at the Palouse Empire Fair’s market animal auction Sept. 12. The letter notes the group’s funds are used as a backup so all of the youths in the auction receive a bid for their animals.

The brochure points out typical costs of getting a young steer to the market can total $1,475 and that figure does not include the five to six months of work which go into raising the animal for showing at the fair.

Residents can buy an animal, join a support group or make a donation. Buyers have the option of having the animal processed for a freezer. They can also designate the animal be turned, which means it goes to the livestock buyer at the designated floor price.

Donations can be sent to the Colfax Livestock Supporters in care of Jerry or Susie Hennigar, 101 Steiger Road, Colfax, 99111.

FIRE SPREADS

TO TREES

--photos courtesy Bill Carroll

Fire trucks and men have a skirmish with a wildfire on Bixler Road Aug. 12. The fire was believed to have started off a combine.

Colfax, Steptoe and Diamond fire crews responded to a report of a fire south of Steptoe Aug. 12 at about 4:16 p.m. Colfax volunteer Jim Krouse said the fire was believed to have started off a combine. The fire burned one to two acres of crops, and possibly an acre of stubble on land farmed by Nicholas Haugerud.

Krouse said the fire went onto a field eyebrow and most of the fire response involved putting out pine trees which were growing on the eyebrow.

The fire was reported on Bixler Road which intersects Danaher Road north of Colfax. Crews negotiated a dirt field road to get to the fire scene.

POLE FIRE BLOCKS

HIGHWAY 195

A pole fire south of Colton Aug. 12 along Highway 195 partially blocked traffic on the highway and knocked out power. Traffic flow was detoured at one point and later alternated on the highway past the site for about five hours while an Avista crew replaced the pole.

An Avista report said power was restored at 7:20 p.m. The outage affected 334 Avista customers.

BALLOT BOX TAPED

The county elections drop box on Paradise Street in Pullman has been temporarily taped shut after the primary election. County Auditor Eunice Coker said she was unable to lock the box at the 8 p.m. deadline on election night. The box had recently been moved back to the site after being knocked over, but the lock failed to work at shutdown time.

It will be put in working order before the general election, she said.