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.

HUNTER

DIES FROM

MUZZLELOADER SHOT

A hunting accident in the Glenwood area Saturday took the life of Nicholas Nava-Farias, 31, Kennewick. He was believed to have been accidentally struck by a single round from a muzzleloader rifle which was discharged by a member of the hunting party, according to a report from Sheriff Brett Myers. Sheriff’s deputies and local emergency crews were notified of the accident at about 7:50 a.m. from the Glenwood area about four miles east of Colfax.

The sheriff’s report said responders initially had difficulty locating the hunting party and dispatchers from Whitcom in Pullman relayed information on administering CPR to the hunting party via cell phone. When responders made contact with the hunters they reported the victim was deceased.

The scene was located up a draw approximately a mile south of Glenwood. The Colfax ambulance crew drove down the former Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way on the south side of the river about a mile, and the first EMT reached the scene on a motorcycle. It was approximately a mile up the draw from the former railroad right-of-way.

A MedStar helicopter was called to the scene and directed EMTs on the ground. The helicopter landed in a field above the site but did not transfer the deceased.

Steptoe volunteers also assisted in the response to the scene.

The Whitman County coroner is assisting in the investigation.

The sheriff’s report said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct the remainder of the followup investigation. The sheriff’s department determined the cause of death accidental. Sgt. Chris Chapman headed the investigation, and deputies spent most of Saturday on the scene. Mr. Nava-Farias was hit in the chest.

The sheriff said Nava-Farias was among four hunters who were in the group. Last weekend was designated as a special hunt in the area for muzzleloaders with the general rifle season opening next weekend.

BALLOTS GO OUT FRIDAY

Whitman County Elections office Friday will mail out more than 20,327 ballots to voters for the general election. The ballot mailing is required to be done at least two weeks before the Nov. 3 general election date. In addition to the contested races for the Ninth District Representative and the mayoral races in Colfax and Palouse, the ballot contains candidates for fire, hospital, school and cemetery districts.

The ballot mailing list includes 1,712 for Colfax, 10,495 for Pullman and 671 for Palouse. Those numbers will change slightly as more ballots are processed this week.

Residents new to the state and first-time voters have until Oct. 26, eight days before the election, to be added to the rolls. They are required to register in person at the election office in Colfax or at Pullman City Hall. The deadline to change precinct registration was Oct. 5, 30 days before the election.

JAIL TERM KICKS IN

Kelsey Davis, 23, was ordered to serve a 14-day jail sentence Friday after the court determined she had failed to complete community service or make payments for restitution which had been ordered when she was sentenced last Feb. 27. An arrest warrant had been issued for Davis, who formerly lived in Colfax, after she failed to appear July 24 for a court hearing to determine whether or not she had complied with terms of the sentence. She was arrested Sept. 30 in Spokane County.

Davis Friday told the court she had completed some of the public service work at Moscow, but had not supplied verification to the court. She also told the court she had gone through two months of drug treatment following the conviction and has since been attempting to find employment.

Davis pleaded guilty Feb. 27 to a charge of third degree theft. The charge had been reduced from second degree to third degree. The conviction involved a Pullman Police investigation of a shoplifting report from Pullman Walmart security officers. A television set and iPads were reported stolen from the store on two different dates a year earlier.

Judge David Frazier told Davis he would credit her with the public service hours she had completed if she could document that the work had actually been done. He noted Davis initially had been given a break in the case when the charge against her was reduced from a felony, second-degree theft, to a gross misdemeanor, third degree theft.

A warrant has also been issued for a co-defendant in the case who allegedly also faced the same sentence and failed to appear at the July compliance review hearing.

MOOSE

COLLISION NEAR

STEPTOE

Two youngsters sustained minor injuries Friday when a 2001 BMW driven by Melissa A. Cosens, Four Lakes, collided with a moose at about 7 p.m. on Highway 23 four miles west of Steptoe. According to the Washington State Patrol, Cosens was driving northbound when the moose ran in front of the vehicle and she was unable to avoid hitting the animal.

The moose expired at the scene, according to the WSP report.

JAIL LISTS LUDEN INFRACTIONS

A summary of jail infractions by Erik Luden, the former Pullman resident who is charged with the second-degree murder of his father in Pullman, was filed in superior court Friday. The report filed by jail commander Scotty Anderson noted jail staffers had not filed infraction reports on Luden prior to Sept. 6, and the 34 infractions filed in the reports took place between Sept. 6 and Oct. 2.

Luden was arrested May 30 after police responded to a report that his father, Virgil C. Luden, had been knocked unconscious at the apartment where Erik Luden resided in Pullman. His father was later determined to be deceased.

Anderson’s report said Luden, 24, has continued a pattern of behavior in which he has attempted to harm himself, and the conduct endangered him and jail staff members when they worked to subdue him.

Luden is now at Eastern State Hospital where he is undergoing a mental competency examination, which was ordered Sept. 11 after he appeared in court beneath a blanket and failed to respond to questions from the judge.

WORK RESUMES

ON CENTER

Construction work has resumed on The Center project at the library. Steve Bravard of Rattlesnake Breaks Construction has been hired to finish applying siding to the front exterior of the building. Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick said the $20,000 project will be done with approximately $15,000 from a .09 grant through the county and $5,000 in donations. She added Colfax Thrifty Grandmothers has been a strong donor for the project. Donations to the project go through the Whitman County Library Foundation.

Kirkpatrick said they now have another grant application in the works to the Inland Northwest Foundation. The application has advanced through the first round of qualification, and representatives of Inland are expected to review the status of The Center project here.

Funding from the grant would be used to finish the two front sections of The Center and the community room, which is located in the north half of the building adjoining the library.

The Center Sunday will be the scene for “Soiree for the Center,” a dinner auction fund raising event. The Soiree has been moved to The Center after the event sold out with 110 expected. The auction will feature 22 items on the auction bill.

Residents have the rest of this week to purchase tickets for the Whitman Samplers quilt, with the drawing of the lucky ticket set for the auction night.

DRUFFEL PROMOTED TO MAJOR

Bill Druffel, chief deputy prosecutor for Whitman County, has been promoted to major in the US Army reserve. A ceremony for the promotion was Friday in the Lewis Alumni Center on the WSU campus. Druffel has been a member of the prosecutor’s staff for the past nine years.

He joined the reserve via a direct commission in 2008. Druffel served duty stints in Iraq in 2009-10 and at Ft. Bragg, N.C., last year.

A graduate of Colton High School and WSU, he received his law degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

WCHS BOOKS APPLE DETECTIVE

David Benscoter of Chatteroy, Whitman County’s apple detective, will be the featured speaker at the general membership meeting of the Whitman County Historical Society Sunday, Oct. 18, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Jones Schoolhouse at the Palouse Empire Fairground. Benscoter will talk on the importance of the apple in the early economy of the Palouse country. He has made an extended search for long-ago varieties of apples which have been found in abandoned orchards around the county.

FLOOD WALL GETS

CONCRETE COATING

A 175-foot length of basalt rock wall, part of the original flood control channel in Colfax, was stabilized last weekend with a concrete spray application which was applied by Ragged Ridge Concrete Placing of Newman Lake. Public Works Director Matt Hammer told the council the application was made to firm up the wall which had been showing signs of deterioration. Cost of the project was $14,750.

Hammer noted the flood project has another basalt rock section which remains in relatively stable condition. That portion of the flood wall is located on the east wall, south of the courthouse bridge. In both locations, the Army Corps of Engineers incorporated the basalt rock segments into the channel project which was constructed in Colfax 50 years ago. Hammer reported the city also has segments of the concrete channel missing from the N. Fork of the Palouse River channel downstream from Jennings Elementary and repairs on those segments are expected to be done next year.

PATKOOTAS WILL RUN AGAIN

Joe Pakootas, who challenged Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the last congressional election, has announced his candidacy to launch another bid for Congress in 2016. Pakootas is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Nez Perce Tribe. Pakootas said he now has a campaign team of 300 members.

The campaign announcement claims his implementation of sustainable business practices for the Colville Tribal Corporation secured a multi-million dollar revenue stream to help improve the lives of nearly 10,000 members of the 12 tribal bands across three states.

In the 2014 November general election in Whitman County, Pakootas received more than 42 percents of the vote. Election night count was 3,705 for McMorris-Rodgers and 2,699 for Pakootas.

AIRPORT STUDY FUND NIXED

A request for a $5,000 entry in next year’s city budget which would have been used as matching funds for a grant to study development feasibility at the area around the Colfax Airport was declined at the Oct. 5 city council session. In making the request, Mayor Todd Vanek said the airport area was one place which has been recognized for potential development for Colfax, possibly as an industrial area.

City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello said the $5,000 would be used as matching funds to apply for a Community Economic Revitalization Board grant to conduct a feasibility study.

Councilman Jim Kackman said he believed the city’s budgeting sessions are not likely to come up with an excess $5,000 which could be used for the grant application match. He pointed out the city faced other capital improvement needs such as the swimming pool and Glenwood water line repairs, which he would rate first before funding the grant application.

Port of Whitman, which now oversees the airport, has declined to advance the $5,000 for a grant, Rizzitiello reported.

One of the problems at the airport is low water supply, and a possible topic of the CERB feasibility study could involve possibly extending city water service to the area which could also be supplied by the Port. The city council Monday scheduled its budgeting sessions for Oct. 27 and Oct. 29 at city hall.

DV PLEA NETS EIGHT MONTHS

Keith Kimball, 48, Garfield, was sentenced to eight months in jail Oct. 2 after pleading guilty to a charge of domestic violence by violating a no-contact order with his former spouse. Kimball was charged with making repeated telephone contact with his ex-wife in violation of a court protection order.

The state had asked the court to order a one-year jail sentence because the charge cited in the conviction was one of a series of alleged violations. The district court probation officer testified that Kimball has been unable to abide by conditions of the no-contact order or take responsibility for his actions.

Adams County Judge Steven Dixon sentenced Kimball. He presided because the defendant applied to the court for a change of judges. After hearing an extended statement from Kimball, Judge Dixon said he believed a mental health factor was involved in the case.

Defense Attorney Steve Martonick argued none of the calls made by Kimball involved any threat of violence.

As part of a plea bargain agreement, a subsequent related charge against Kimball was dismissed.

ASSAULT NETS 30 DAYS

Nikko Thorne, 23, former Pullman resident, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 30 suspended after he pleaded guilty in superior court Oct. 2 to a charge of fourth degree assault. He was also placed on 24 months of supervised probation and ordered to pay $700 in fines and fees.

Thorne was originally charged with second degree assault involving strangulation and fourth degree assault.

The charges followed a Pullman Police response Sept. 2 to an apartment on NE Valley Road after neighbors reported hearing loud noises and screaming coming from an apartment.

The alleged victim in the case was Thorne’s spouse, who has since filed for dissolution of marriage.