Bulletin Column Feb. 18

Colfax fans celebrate after the girls basketball team defeated St. George’s to take the district championship Friday.

These reports are from the previous three 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.

TWO ACCIDENTS ON 26

Ronald J. Smith, Kennewick, was unhurt Monday when he lost control of a 2010 Hyundai Elantra on Highway 26 west of Dusty. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Smith was driving eastbound at 12:10 p.m. when he lost control of the Elantra when it went onto a rumble strip on a curve. The car spun around, crossed into the westbound lane and then went into the ditch where it came to a halt on the driver’s side.

Courtney Wieck, WSU student from Bellevue, was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane for injuries sustained in a one-car accident on Highway 26 east of Washtucna late Friday night. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Wieck was driving a 2007 Acura RDX eastbound at 11:33 p.m. when the Acura went off the highway and rolled several times.

BRINDAMOUR SENT TO STATE PRISON

Andrew Brindamour, 34, Pullman, was sentenced to more than a year in prison followed by a year in drug treatment after he pleaded guilty to two charges of residential burglary. Brindamour was sentenced after nine witnesses testified for and against, sending him to prison.

At issue was whether Brindamour, who has a record of drug-related arrests, should be assigned to a residential drug offender treatment program or to a prison term followed by a drug treatment program.

Brindamour faced a sentencing range of 22 to 29 months in prison after being assigned an offender score of five because of his criminal record. Judge David Frazier, who cited Brindamour’s record of seeking drug treatment options and then reverting to drugs and crimes to feed his drug habit, decided to assign him a term of 25.5 months, with half to be served in a state Department of Corrections prison and the other half to be residential drug treatment under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.

Victims of the residential burglaries, one at a residence on the Airport Road and one in Pullman, were people who were acquainted with Brindamour. He was charged with entering their homes and taking prescription drugs. Residents of both homes asked the court Friday to send Brindamour to prison. They pointed out his entry into their homes violated a trust they once had in him and changed the way they live. One of the residents told the court they now lock themselves inside when they are at home.

Brindamour told the court he was now participating in Oxford House program and would no longer live in this area. His mother, one of those testifying on his behalf, said Brindamour relapsed into drug use after he was prescribed pain killers while in the hospital for treatment of an injury.

Brindamour, who faced burglary and theft charges in 2012, was placed in the court’s drug offender program, but was later removed after required tests showed he could not abstain from using drugs.

He was subsequently removed from the program and sentenced to a year in prison in August of 2014 for the charges pending while he was in drug court. A petition for early release was filed by Brindamour last March and was denied after the state cited his record of prior violations while in drug court. Friday’s sentencing involved burglaries after his release from the prison term.

Witnesses testifying Friday noted Brindamour has reached a “do or die” point in his life if he cannot overcome his addiction to drugs.

SMOKING APARTMENT RESPONSE

A 19-year-old was found unconscious in a smoking apartment at NE Providence Court in the college hill section of Pullman Saturday night after Pullman Fire crews responded to a report of a smoke alarm sounding in the apartment for more than 20 minutes. A neighbor reported the alarm sounding at about 10:30 p.m.

The man was found on the living room floor, removed from the apartment and roused by paramedics. Fire crews discovered a pot of hot dogs on the stove had boiled dry and activated the smoke detector. After the man became more alert he attempted to re-enter the apartment but was prevented from doing so. He was treated for possible intoxication and smoke inhalation at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Pullman Chief Mike Heston said the neighbor’s report of the alarm possibly saved the life of the 19-year-old resident.

COLLISION ON HIGHWAY 27

Drivers involved in a collision on Highway 27 were uninjured Friday afternoon 1.92 miles south of Palouse. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Kassandra L. Woodall, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was driving a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta northbound when she crossed into the oncoming lane and struck a 2002 GMC Savana being driven southbound by Randy L. Lindbo of Colfax. Conditions on the highway were listed as bare and dry. Time of the collision was 12:55 p.m.

COLFAX

VOCALISTS TOP REGIONAL

Colfax High School choir students who placed first at the regional solo and ensemble competition Feb. 5 at Lincoln Middle School in Pullman were Nicole Wiley, alto solo; Wiley and Lauren Claassen, women’s duet, and the women’s ensemble which included Sarah Appel, Wiley, Claassen, Sara Whelchel, Ashley Goebel, Rebekah Huber, Lilly Langlois, Hailey Aase, Breeaunna Byrd, Taylre Sakamoto-Howell and Mackenzie Marker. Judges were from Washington State University and the University of Idaho.

All will perform at the state solo and ensemble competition in April at Central Washington University in April.

TRUCKS

ACCIDENT AT COLFAX

Drivers of two semi-trucks involved in an accident on Highway 195 just north of Colfax were unhurt Feb. 11 at 7:45 p.m. According to the Washington State Patrol report, both trucks had stopped, one in each of the two lanes, a tenth of a mile north of Colfax, behind a state Department of Transportation truck which had stopped with its warning lights flashing to remove a dead animal from the highway. A 2004 Peterbilt truck, driven by William E. Tensfeld, Waverly, which had stopped behind the DOT truck, began to roll backward and the trailer of that truck impacted the passenger side of a 2006 Freightliner which had been stopped by Terry Altavater of Colville.

BOGUS

BMW SALE CONVICTION

Kimara McCants, 20, Pullman, was sentenced to 30 days in jail with credit for time served after pleading guilty in superior court Friday morning to charges of theft in the second degree and giving false and misleading information to an officer. McCants was arrested and jailed after Pullman Police investigated a report that she had sold a 2004 BMW, which she had taken off a car lot in Portland, to a Pullman resident for $4,000 in cash. The report said she had listed the BMW on Craigslist and sold it for cash.

Under provisions of Friday’s sentence she agreed to make four $1,000 payments, with the last one on May 5, to the victim. Her defense attorney said she had $1,000 remaining from the sale of the BMW and also planned to sell a car she had purchased in Lewiston with proceeds from the BMW sale.

The false information charge stemmed from a report that prior to her arrest on the theft case she had been stopped by another Pullman officer because she had failed to get the BMW licensed. The report said at that stop she had identified herself as her sister. She was sentenced to 364 days in jail, all suspended, on the false information conviction.

McCants told the court she is no longer a WSU student.

Tekoa DRUG BUST

Two Tekoa residents were booked into the county jail Tuesday night, Feb. 8, on probable drug charges after a raid on a residence in Tekoa. Arrested were Blaine J. Tee, 27, and Kristie R. Disney, 37, both of Tekoa.

Bond for pre-trial release for Tee was set at $25,000, and bond for Disney was set at $5,000 in a preliminary appearance Feb. 9.

The report Feb. 9 from Sheriff Brett Myers said the residents of Tekoa had complained that juveniles were going to the Tee residence in the 200 block of N. Howard and smoking marijuana.

An arrest affidavit filed with the court said Tekoa residents were angry about the alleged activity at the house, which is located across the street from Tekoa Elementary School and a block from Tekoa High School.

The arrest report said deputies had earlier contact with one of the juveniles who had been in the house and reported marijuana was smoked from a large blue bong with the use of an oversize pipe.

Tee faces a probable charge of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of methamphetamine, which the affidavit alleges was found in the residence.

The affidavit said Disney had been identified as the person who had provided marijuana to Tee. Officers were unable to locate Disney, who reportedly resides at a residence on N. Washington Street in Tekoa, at the time they conducted a warrant search of Tee’s residence. She was later arrested and booked into the jail here about an hour after Tee.

Sheriff Brett Myers said the duo could face enhanced charges because of the proximity of the house to the Tekoa schools.

Two other people were at the residence Feb. 8 when deputies arrived to conduct their search.

NUISANCE CODE BRIEFING

The Feb. 10 information session on city procedures for enforcement of the city nuisance code brought about 10 residents. The session was conducted by Irving Trejo, Colfax Building and Community Development Associate, in the city council chambers. Trejo said the aim of the session was to describe the procedure for enforcement of the new nuisance ordinance. Trejo said some of the people present, after the meeting, relayed complaints about yards, vehicles and buildings which they consider a nuisance.

In addition to the Feb. 10 public session, the city has conducted two “mock” sessions with the Board of Adjustment, the panel which will hear appeals filed by residences who are served with citations for violating the code.

Trejo said the city still aims to work with people to remove rubbish or other materials which bring a complaint from neighbors. The first step for enforcement will be reaching a compliance agreement under which a resident would be given a set amount of time to remove the rubbish or otherwise clear the nuisance. Failure to comply would lead to a citation, and at that point, a resident could file an appeal with the Board of Adjustment. If the adjustment board denies the appeal, the violator will be required to pay the fine and will still be responsible for removing the violation.

The code carries an abatement provision under which the city can remove the nuisance at the expense of the resident.

Police Chief Rick McNannay noted the process also involves removal of junk cars. He said there are five or six junk vehicles which could be the subject of city action under the nuisance code.

DAYTON, WAITSBURG MERGE FOOTBALL

School boards at Dayton and Waitsburg have approved a proposal to merge their football programs, according to a report in this week’s Dayton Chronicle. The new combined team will compete in the 2B division, but will play schools in the Central Washington 2B League with road trips as far as Kittitas, Lyle/Wishram and Mabton.

The Dayton/Waitsburg merger is the latest event in the saga of 2B football in the Southeast District, which is District Nine on the WIAA charts. Dayton’s enrollments placed it in the 2B division, but the school last year opted to play in the 1B division and waive entry in the state playoffs.

Lack of opponents in the SE district was one of the factors cited by Asotin when it petitioned to transfer to the NE 2B division. Asotin, which stopped Colfax in the NE-SE crossover round of the playoffs last November, will be one of the regular league opponents for Colfax next year.

Dayton/Waitsburg, DeSales and Tri-Cities Prep will all play in the Central Washington District.

BULLPUPS

SECOND AT JENIFER

Colfax Junior High wrestlers placed second in a nine-team tournament at Jenifer Middle School in Lewiston Feb. 6. Kameron Greenhalgh, one of the St. John wrestlers competing with the team, won the heavyweight division. Koby Sisk, Nolan Burrill and Austin Couch placed second. The team also had three third-place finishers and two fourth-place finishers.