Bulletin Column Nov. 5

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.

PARK BOARD SETS SPECIAL MEETING

Colfax Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen, who also chairs the city’s park board, reported the park board has slated a Dec. 2 meeting at 5:30 p.m.

to get residents’ opinions on how to address the problems of funding the city pool operation.

The park board again is facing a revenue deficit in projected pool operations for next year.

Vorderbrueggen, who chaired a long park board session before the start of the city council meeting, told the council that pool operations for next year are expected to cost $76,348 and revenue is projected at $19,822, or 26 percent of the cost.

The difference comes out of city funding for the park board.

He added the gap between pool revenue and pool expenses keeps growing every year.

Another factor in the pool budget is an anticipated $29,000 cost of getting the pool up and running for next year. Figured in those costs are installation of a new furnace, more caulking of the pool seams and repairs to the outlet drain system which goes into the North Fork of the Palouse River. The outlet drain into the river led to a mandate from the state Department of Ecology last year before the start of pool operations and caulking was applied to the pool to reduce water loss.

The park board at a previous meeting voted to recommend closing the pool on Sundays next summer as a means of cutting down expenses.

Vorderbrueggen said the special Dec. 2 meeting at city hall was set to get ideas and comments from the public before the city closes out its budgeting process for next year. The Dec. 2 session would be followed by a Dec. 7 park session in advance of the council meeting on that date when the budgeting process is expected to close.

Colfax APPROVES TAX BUMP

Colfax city council Monday night approved a one percent increase in tax revenue for next year. The increase in revenue is expected to bring in an additional $4,006 for next year or an average of $1.39 per resident. Colfax is also expected to receive a revenue bump of $1,539 in taxes on new construction.

The decision on a revenue increase is required each year during budgeting sessions. The revenue increase proposal received unanimous approval from the council’s seven members. Councilwoman Jeannette Solomine said city budgeting sessions last week pointed to an increased need for revenue to sustain Colfax operations at the present level, and the revenue from the one percent increase will be needed.

City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello Monday night submitted a 78-page report on city capital improvement needs extending out until 2021. The report was compiled in conjunction with city department heads to rank priorities. Proposed projects linked to mandates from other agencies, such at the State Department of Health, gained priority.

The report was described as a “wish list” and subject to available funding.

Assessed value for Colfax, which is used to figure the tax rate, has not been posted for the city for next year. County Assessor Joe Reynolds said he is now waiting for state valuations on public utilities before he sends out notices of assessed value. He hopes to get the report out by the end of the month.

Last year, the assessed value of property in Colfax was $159,468,809.

OCTOBER RAIN SHORT

October rainfall total fell short of the norm, but weekend rain helped close the gap. The reading Monday morning at the NRCS station at Colfax was .56 of an inch, a total which includes rainfall after Friday’s reading plus Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Most of Monday’s reading was attributed to Oct. 31 when heavy rainfall covered most of the eastern part of the county.

Prior to the reading, October had lagged far below its norm with a total of .34 inches for readings on four days of the month. Lumped in with Monday’s total, the October total was .90 inches.

Normal average rainfall for October here is 1.2 inches. October marks the start of compilation of moisture for the crop year because it corresponds with planting of winter wheat crops. This crop year begins after last year’s total lagged 3.72 behind the normal at the Sept. 30 finish.

TOY BOX

REGISTRATION

Families who wish to participate in the annual Colfax Firefighters’ Toy Box Drive are asked to register by Nov. 30. They can call 509-553-2398 or email [email protected]. The firefighters receive donations of cash and toys and put them out for selection by families who have registered in advance. Donations to the drive can be made any time of the year.

The registration deadline has been set for Nov. 30 so organizers will have an idea of how many toys they have to purchase with donated funds. The Toy Box days at the fire station will be Dec. 14, 15 and 16, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, according to Erin Young, a member of the committee.

The program benefits children from all over the county.

CHS GUN CASE YOUTH FACES NEW CHARGES

A 16-year-old Colfax juvenile, who was convicted last year of bringing a gun into Colfax High School May 30, 2014, has been summoned to juvenile court Nov. 12 on a new set of charges related to an arrest at Pullman.

According to a Sept. 21 report filed with charges last week, he and a 17-year-old Pullman youth were apprehended after they were allegedly spotted tipping over a porta potty at the Pullman playfield Sept. 20.

The Pullman Police report said a clanking noise was detected from the Colfax youth’s pack when he stood up and two bottles of liquor were found in the pack.

He has been charged with malicious mischief and being a minor exhibiting the effects of consuming liquor.

The other youth has been charged with being a minor in possession.

As part of his conviction for the 2014 case involving the gun at Colfax, the youth was ordered to not go on Colfax school property. Former CHS Principal Buck Marsh confronted the youth and confiscated what turned out to be a BB pistol after he learned that day that a student had brought a gun to school.

TRIALS SET IN Rosalia CASE

Devin Petersen, 37, and Dustin Litchfield, 33, each pleaded not guilty Friday in superior court to charges stemming from the alleged burglaries last week in Rosalia. Petersen, Rosalia, pleaded not guilty to formal charges of second degree burglary and possession of stolen property. He was charged with burglarizing the Budding Rose Gallery in Rosalia and being in possession of food items which were allegedly taken from a storage unit behind the Brass Rail Tavern on the same night.

The investigation report alleges deputies found food items belonging to the Brass Rail when they searched Petersen’s residence on Eighth Street in Rosalia.

Litchfield was charged with one count of burglary. Each has been scheduled for a Dec. 14 trial date.

TEN MONTHS FOR Malden BOY

Chris Thornton, 16, the Malden youth who pleaded guilty to a reduced list of four charges, will serve a sentence of 10 months in a state juvenile facility. The court ruled a manifest injustice was committed by Thornton, who left Malden in a stolen car Aug. 22 and went on a three-state crime spree which involved vehicle thefts and high speed chases.

A formal order on the court’s finding will be prepared by the state and presented to the court Nov. 19. Thornton has been kept at Martin Hall since he was returned here from Pend Oreille County. He was originally charged with 11 counts related to the plea, but pleaded guilty Oct. 15 to two charges of vehicle theft, a burglary in Malden and eluding an officer.

Thornton is expected to be transferred from Martin Hall to a facility in the state corrections system.

Ashley Varner, who accompanied Thornton on the trip, was sentenced to 90 days after pleading guilty to three charges Oct. 15 in juvenile court. She was credited with 45 days already served at Martin Hall.

Thornton will also be scheduled for a restitution hearing.

NEW CHARGES AGAINST

SUSPECT

Xavier McBride, 23, Pullman resident who has faced two other charges this year in superior court, was booked into the jail here Wednesday on probable charges of second and third degree theft and being in possession of stolen property. The arrest involves a Pullman Police investigation of alleged thefts from the same victim.

The probable cause report said Oct. 10 police responded to a report of a Pullman resident who said he had hosted a party at his apartment and asked guests to leave when he decided to go to bed at about 3 a.m. He reported when he got up the next morning he found his phone and wallet were missing from where he had placed them before going to sleep. He checked the status of his credit card and found three purchases had been made in Moscow. Surveillance of one of the purchases led to identification of McBride, who Pullman officers recognized from previous episodes this year.

Two weeks later police received a report from the same victim who said he had gone to a party at McBride’s apartment and decided to sleep over there. When he woke up, he found his keys had been misplaced. He later determined his car had been entered and cash which had been in the console of the car had been taken.

McBride July 2 was sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of cocaine. Other drug charges in superior court were dismissed Oct. 7 after he was convicted in district court of a related charge of driving under the influence.

REPORT

ON STUDENT DEATH

County Coroner Pete Martin Monday issued a report on finding of the unattended death of Matthew C. Townland, 20, a WSU student from Wenatchee who died Oct. 18 at his residence in Pullman. Cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation due to hanging, and the manner of death was suicide. The student had a history of suicidal behavior, according to the report.

LUDEN

TO UNDERGO TRIAL

Erik Luden, 24, who has been jailed since he was arrested in Pullman May 30 and later charged with the second-degree murder of his father, was scheduled for a trial Dec. 14 after the court determined an examination at Eastern State Hospital found he did not have a mental disease or defect and has the capacity to understand the proceedings against him. The court Oct. 28 also issued an order that the examination report be sealed because it contained sensitive personal information. The prosecutor’s office was ordered not to disseminate copies of the report without obtaining permission of the court.

Luden has been charged with murdering his father, Virgil Clifford Luden, May 30 at his apartment in Pullman. Erik Luden is alleged to have struck his father in the head, possibly with a pot. Police reports at the time said Virgil Luden had traveled to Pullman from Sammamish to assist his son in moving back to that side of the state.

IS THAT

THE FIRST HOSPITAL?

The Oct. 27 Bulletin account of the first Colfax Hospital, a wooden building located behind the St. Ignatius Hospital building, was questioned by Allen McSweeney, who believes an apartment house he owns on Mill Street was actually the first hospital in Colfax. McSweeney noted an April 19, 1889, news account reports Drs. Harvey and Pocock were opening a Colfax Hospital on Mill Street in Colfax. That building is still standing and has been operated for years as an apartment by McSweeney.

The account in the Oct. 27 Bulletin related to a wooden building which served as a hospital prior to the completion of the St. Ignatius building which went into operation in 1893.

McSweeney said a Gazette “Good Old Days” column in 1989 repeated the 1889 article in the Palouse Gazette which heralded the opening of the hospital on Mill Street. It noted J.H. Leiter and his wife would be caring for patients in the hospital under the supervision of the two doctors.

McSweeney reported several years ago descendants of one of the doctors came to town, and he led them on a tour of the building. The hospital subsequently came to be known as the Watson house, and was later owned by the Myer family, who converted it to a four-unit apartment. McSweeney said ceilings in the four apartment units were lowered years ago, but he has seen the original ceilings and walls while doing repairs and fan installations in the house. He added it is his understanding that the Mill Street hospital operated for a very short time before the building behind St. Ignatius went into operation prior to the hospital opening in 1893.