Bulletin Column

Colfax cheerleaders run into the Reardan gym Saturday before the start of the Colfax-Reardan girls game. Colfax posted a 59-34 victory over Reardan to take the team into the semi-final round Monday, where the team posted another win, 41-40, against Davenport.

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.

SIX ENTER DYW COMPETITION

Six Colfax High School junior girls have entered the Distinguished Young Woman contest. This will be the 61st year of the event which was formerly known as Junior Miss.

This year’s program is scheduled for March 19, and the theme will be “One Enchanted Evening,” according to Joanne Eng who is heading the program this year.

The contestants are Taylor Garcia, whose parents are James Lohr and Linda Garcia and Dean and Connie Ellis; Madelyne Avila, granddaughter of Craig and Denise Culbertson; Annie Larkin, daughter of Steve Larkin and Alison Larkin; Alexis Maki, daughter of Chad and Marne Maki; Sarah Kraut, daughter of Amy Kraut and the late Richard Kraut, and Lauren Claassen, daughter of Weston and Jennifer Claassen.

The Claassen family resides in the Dusty area and the LaCrosse ZIP code area, so Claassen will actually compete for the LaCrosse DYW title. Eng said Claassen will be required to attain a certain level of certification points at the Colfax event to qualify for the state competition next summer in Pullman.

SUA NOW FACES TWO CHARGES

Formal charges against Ualesi Chester Sua, 23, Pullman, of residential burglary and possession of stolen property, were filed Friday in superior court. The Pullman Police report said Sua was arrested by Pullman Police officers after they investigated a Feb. 3 report of a burglary of an apartment on Terre View.

Sua is the former WSU football player who was arrested Jan. 29 on a charge of illegal possession of a prescription drug. In a first appearance in court later that day, Judge David Frazier allowed Sua pre-trial release on the pending drug charge. Sua was formerly charged with illegal possession of a prescription drug, Xanax, Feb. 1.

After he allowed Sua pre-trial release during the Jan. 29 session, Judge Frazier said he doubted if Sua would be able to comply with the court order to remain out of trouble and refrain from possession of alcohol or drugs. When Sua appeared in court Feb. 4 on the new charges, the judge revoked the pre-trial release he had ordered earlier on the drug charge.

Sua last September was allowed early release on a one-year sentence for a burglary conviction after he was credited with extensive work hours. Much of the work was done at the Palouse Empire Fairground in preparation for the fair. Sua at that time said he had one year of college football eligibility left and planned to enroll at another school.

In his Jan. 29 court appearance, he said he had dropped plans to play out his last year of eligibility and decided to try out for professional football.

LIGHTS SEEN AT ST. IGNATIUS

Colfax Officer Perry Tate Saturday responded to a report of possible trespassers in the St. Ignatius Hospital building on the south hill. Police had received a report at 7:10 p.m. that flashlights were seen shining out of third story windows of the building. Also, boards over one of the entrances to the building had been removed. Tate parked his city squad car in the lot at St. Patrick’s Church and walked over to the St. Ignatius building, but he did not find anyone in the structure, according to the police report.

PORN CASE NETS ONE YEAR IN PRISON

James R. Acord, 46, Pullman, was sentenced to a year-and-a-day in jail, a term which will put him in a state prison, after he pleaded guilty in Whitman County Superior Court Friday to a reduced charge of possession of sexually explicit pictures of a minor in the second degree.

Acord last June was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor between April 28 and June 28 of last year. The Pullman Police report said Acord had convinced a juvenile girl to send nude selfie photos to him with her phone.

Standard sentencing range for the conviction Friday was three to nine months, but the court opted to assign an exceptional sentence and sent Acord to the state department of corrections.

TEXAS DUO’S TALLY TOPS HALF MILLION

The five purchases of Main Street buildings over the past three weeks by a couple in Texas totaled $384,400, according to transfer tax affidavits which were filed in the treasurer’s office through Feb. 3. They also purchased a residence in the N. 100 block of West Street for $130,300 to put the overall purchase total over one-half million.

The transfer tax affidavits were filed between Jan. 13 and Feb. 3.

First public indication of a series of sales surfaced last Monday when the owners of Peak Fitness, John and Sandra Brabb, announced they were closing down their business. John Brabb later reported he had sold the building, once the site of the Rose Theatre, on Main Street.

The Peak Fitness building sale was later identified as one of five sales of buildings along Main Street in a Gazette article last week by Kara McMurray, who contacted the buyer, Kim Nguyen, in Rockport, Texas. Nguyen said she became interested in Colfax real estate after seeing an internet article on the history of the former Rose Theatre building, and that evolved into the series of purchases conducted through Carmen Bruya of Team Washington Real Estate. Sale price of the Peak building was $85,150, according to the tax affidavit filed Jan. 29 in the county treasurer’s office, with Nguyen and her husband, Phong, listed as buyers.

Another affidavit listed sale of the building at 124 N. Main to the Nguyens by David and Lori Nails for $130,350. That building houses Colfax Computer Services and the Edward Jones office. The building at 115 N. Main, which houses the state grain inspection office, was sold by Steve and Deborah Warwick for $100,250. The building next to it, a former beauty shop which now houses Main Street Books, was sold for $30,300 by Karen Shaw, Trudi Allenbach, Scott Aeschliman and James Allenbach.

First Colfax sale to the Nguyens was the office building at 114 S. Main, which was filed Jan. 13 for $38,350. That sale was made by Jerry Moss, former Colfax accountant who moved to Yantis, Texas. An affidavit listing the house sale on West Street by Tom and Margaret Chambers was filed Feb. 3.

DRIVER FACES DEER HERD

ON 26

Ruth Keeney, Palouse, was unhurt Saturday morning when the 2003 Subaru Forester she was driving collided with a deer on Highway 26 near the LaCrosse turnoff. The deer was among a herd Keeney encountered in the highway as she was driving eastbound at 10:25 a.m. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she slowed in an attempt to avoid the herd, but one of the deer struck the driver’s side of the Forester.

Anthony Plese, Spokane Valley, was unhurt Saturday when he lost control of a 2014 Chevrolet Equinox 8.7 miles south of Colfax on Highway 195, went into the ditch and struck a light pole near the Carothers Road intersection. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Plese was driving northbound at 1:20 p.m. when the Equinox drifted off the highway onto the northbound shoulder, went into the westbound ditch and then came to a halt in a field.

A trooper Sunday responded to a report of an accident on Highway 272 Saturday just after midnight. A 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup was found in the westbound ditch 1.1 miles west of Colfax. The driver of the truck had left the scene.

PULLMAN SHOOTING

SUSPECT

James Gray, 55, Pullman, was booked into the jail here Saturday after Pullman Police responded to a report of a shooting at Sevey’s Trailer Park on NW Fisk in Pullman. According to the report by Commander Chris Tennant, officers responded Saturday at 8:19 p.m. and contacted Gray, who allegedly said he had shot another male after having an argument. Officers located a .32 revolver which was believed to be used in the assault.

The victim returned to the scene and had sustained a wound to his face. He was treated at the scene by EMTs, transported to Pullman Regional Hospital and later transferred to Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane. His injuries were reported to be non-life threatening in the report from Tennant.

The victim was identified as Aaron Sola, 34, in an arrest report filed in court Monday morning.

RAPE TRIAL ENDS WITH HUNG JURY

The jury of seven women and four men for the trial of the second degree rape charge against Sean P. Heaney, 23, reported they were unable to reach a verdict late Feb. 4 after approximately five hours of deliberation. Heaney was charged with second degree rape of a woman at his apartment in Pullman July 23, 2014, and the charge was filed against him Oct. 20, 2015.

The trial started Feb. 2 and concluded with final arguments at about noon Feb. 4 before being assigned to the jury.

Nine witnesses, including the alleged victim, testified for the state, and three witnesses, including the defendant, testified for the defense.

Palouse CASE ENDS IN PLEA

Gary W. Wilson, 42, Palouse, pleaded guilty in superior court Friday to an amended charge of felony harassment and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Wilson was credited with time served in jail since his arrest and has been scheduled to undergo treatment for drug addiction at Sundown Ranch in Yakima.

Wilson was originally charged with two counts of assault, unlawful display of a deadly weapon and aiming a firearm. The Palouse Police case report alleges Wilson, Jan. 10, attempted to hit his spouse and another person with a pickup truck while they were walking along a city street in Palouse. His spouse was the victim in the amended harassment charge.

Wilson was convicted under a first offender option which requires him to seek evaluation through the department of corrections and undergo any treatment recommended. Family members have arranged for him to go to Sundown Ranch, and Judge David Frazier Friday morning said he expects the state will accept that course of action as treatment for Wilson.

Wilson was placed on one year of community custody, ordered to have no contact with his spouse and refrain from use of alcohol or drugs.

Wilson was arrested in Latah County where he has been jailed for most of the time since the report at Palouse. Defense Attorney Mark Monson said Wilson also faces a charge of marijuana possession in Latah County, but they expect to complete a plea agreement which will allow Wilson to commence the drug treatment program.

Wilson’s spouse has filed a petition for divorce and a preliminary civil hearing was conducted prior to the plea and sentencing on the reduced criminal charge.

TRIO TO PLAY AT HILL RAY

Saturday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m., the Harmonica String Trio will perform at Hill Ray Plaza in Colfax in one of the programs provided for seniors by Whitman Library in partnership with the Empire Health Foundation.

INTERIM

OFFICER HIRED

Officer Jake Spitzer has been hired as an interim officer for the Colfax Police Department. Spitzer formerly worked for the Spokane Sheriff’s Department and is now in the process of being hired by the WSU Police Department. He has been hired here to help fill in for two officers who are undergoing the state’s basic Law Enforcement Academy training in Spokane. The academy course extends over 19 weeks, with graduation slated for June.

Chief Rick McNannay said some of the shift work at Colfax is also being performed by Pullman officers who work a shift here on their days off from duty in Pullman.