Bulletin Column March 3

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.

DOT SEEKS INPUT ON

PASSING LANES

Much of Wednesday night’s meeting on the proposed Highway 195 passing lane project was to seek residents’ ideas on where the lanes should be located, Al Gilson, DOT district spokesman, reported Tuesday.

Gilson said up to six passing lanes are in the works for construction along 195 between Spangle and Colfax next year.

He noted district engineers have not made any firm plans on locating the passing lanes, but they will present some of their ideas. “People might be surprised on some of the angles we might be taking,” Gilson noted. As an example, he pointed out Cashup Flat could be considered a prime location for a passing lane, but it already offers a long straight for passing, and perhaps the funds for one of the passing lanes could be spent at another strategic location.

Gilson said one point the district engineers want to stress is how expensive construction of the passing lanes can be.

Comments will also be sought for Highway 26, although that project is not planned for next year.

Highway 195 between the end of the four lanes at Spangle and Colfax now has two passing lane sites, both on the southbound side. One is actually the southbound entry from the Rosalia Highway 271 intersection, and the other is on the grade southbound from the Trestle Creek Road intersection.

Gilson said no decision has been made on how many passing lanes should be located on each side of the highway.

“That’s another good reason for people who are interested to show up,” Gilson commented.

The meeting was set to start at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

COURT DEBT SAID UNPAID

An order to appear in court March 11 and show cause why he has not made monthly payment of fines and fees ordered on a 2013 conviction for theft of grain was filed Feb. 23 against James Hughes, Endicott. The request for the order alleges Hughes has failed to comply with the court’s order to make $100 monthly payments from September through January.

Hughes was fined $20,000 as part of a conviction after pleading guilty to four counts of theft for taking loads of grain from the Whitgro cooperative and unloading them at river terminals under his own name.

The show cause petition noted Hughes now owes $24,895 on the unpaid balance. Court debts carry a 12 percent interest load. Hughes was also ordered to pay $73,186 in restitution to Whitgro, and that sum was paid at the time of sentencing.

Rosalia STOPS SEWAGE SPILL

Rosalia Mayor Nan Konishi Saturday afternoon issued an email call for volunteers to fill sand bags to counter a sewage spill. The mayor reported Monday they mustered enough volunteers to stop the sewage spill which went onto Eighth Street from Josephine Street. Sand bags were filled with shovels and a loader, and the volunteers were able to halt the spread of the sewage down the street. A manhole lid, which had been paved over years ago, was excavated and opened to drain the spill back into the town’s sewage collection system.

Big Sky Industrial was called in from Spokane to clear the blocked main beneath Josephine Street. Rosalia crews Monday were washing down the spill area, the mayor reported.

She reported extra sand bags were filled and will be stored for use in the event of future emergencies.

YOUTH FOOTBALL IN LIMBO

The Colfax Youth Football program is now in limbo after meetings with Colfax High School coaches, parents and other participants. Following a trend which has included towns in the NE League, Colfax has opted to discourage tackle football for the youth teams in the third through sixth grades. The program has been conducted by an organization of parents and volunteers which is not connected to the school district.

Tom Fowler, who has been coordinator for the Colfax program since it started 14 years ago, has decided to step down. He noted interest in the third-fourth program has declined in recent years as concerns about concussions increased.

Fowler said the youth program does have funds remaining in its treasury for use by parents and other volunteers to keep the program going with an anticipated conversion to flag football. The youth football program normally had 25 to 30 players on the fifth and sixth grade team and up to 20 on the third and fourth grade team.

CHS football coach Mike Morgan said tackle football for grade school youngsters has been on the decline around the state in recent years. He said Reardan and Ritzville are among towns in the NE league which have ceased tackle football programs at the grade school level.

The two Colfax youth teams normally played a schedule of six games during the fall season.

WINDSOR TRIAL SET MAY 16

An early May trial date was been scheduled for Sierra Windsor, 21, Pullman, after she entered pleas of not guilty Friday in superior court to two charges of delivery of cocaine. She was allowed release on her own recognizance Feb. 17 after her arrest the previous day by agents of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force.

Windsor is charged with two drug counts which allegedly stem from sales of cocaine to a task force informant in January. According to the report by Sheriff Brett Myers, commander of the task force, she was believed to be in the process of making another drug transaction when she was arrested Feb. 16 behind the sorority house on College Hill where she resided.

Defense attorney Michael Pettit Friday told the court there is some question about whether Windsor will be allowed to remain a WSU student and asked the court to allow her to travel out-of-state to return to her home in Hood River, Ore., if she needs to do so. Permission was granted.

SGT. EASTEP EARNS VALOR MEDAL

Cheney Police Sgt. Chad Eastep, a member of the 1990 class of Colfax High School, has been awarded with the medal of valor from the National Chiefs of Police Association for his response to an apartment fire last December in Cheney. The medal presentation was reported in Saturday’s edition of the Cheney Free Press.

Cheney Police Chief John Hensley presented the award.

Eastep was cited for responding to an early morning fire at an apartment on Third Street in Cheney.

He arrived at the burning apartment before Cheney firefighters and found black smoke was pouring out of one unit at the apartment.

Eastep used a fire extinguisher from his patrol car to knock down flames and ascertain that no residents remained in the burning apartment.

The citation noted Eastep actually entered the burning apartment twice with the extinguisher after tenants of other apartment units said someone might still be in the apartment.

The occupants were later located outside of the unit.

Eastep’s response with the extinguisher was credited with giving fire crews an early jump on containing the fire.

The award of valor was believed to be the first received by a member of the Cheney Police Department.

Eastep is pictured in the Cheney paper with his wife Courtnee receiving the honor at Tuesday’s Cheney City Council session. They have one daughter, Harlee. Eastep also has two daughters, Courtney and Hailey, by a prior marriage.

Eastep received his police training at Spokane Community College and has been a member of the Cheney department for five years. He was named officer of the year in 2012 and promoted to sergeant in 2014.

He is the son of Connie Pace, Spokane, and Larry Eastep, now of Blanchard, Idaho.

YOUTUBE ALIBI BUMPED

A recording of an alleged confrontation in Rosalia, which was posted on YouTube as a suspect’s version of the dispute, has been discounted and formal charges of felony harassment with a threat to kill were filed Feb. 23 against the suspect, Colin Cortner, 29, Moscow.

According to the arrest account filed with the charge by Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Chapman, the alleged victims resided next to Cortner’s father in Rosalia.

They notified police Feb. 2 that Cortner had come to their residence and threatened to kill them. Cortner was upset because he believed the alleged victims owed his father $60 which had been given to them to purchase a cannabis oil smoking pipe for him.

Chapman’s report said Cortner called him two days later after learning he was a suspect and said he had initially felt uneasy about confronting the Rosalia couple and recorded the visit on his iPhone. He said he posted the recorded call on YouTube and provided Chapman a link via text message. The YouTube version of the meeting did not show Cortner making any threats.

Chapman’s report said he again talked to the victims and they subsequently reported the Feb. 2 visit when Cortner allegedly made the threats was actually the second time he had been to their residence. They said they believed the YouTube version was made of the first visit which was about two weeks earlier.

Chapman’s report said the Feb. 2 confrontation started with the female of the household greeting Cortner at the door, and the YouTube version began with a male greeting Cortner at the door as he did when Cortner made the first visit.

Cortner has been summoned to court March 18 for a first appearance.

CHILD

PORNOGRAPHY SENTENCE

Joseph Benson, 53, Pullman, was sentenced to nine months in jail Feb. 24 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of photos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The nine-month sentence was the maximum he could have received under the state’s standard sentencing range. He was allowed jail release once a week to undergo treatment in Pullman.

Benson was also ordered to undergo one year of supervision after his release from jail and undergo treatment for child pornography addiction and not possess pornography.

An amended filing against Benson charged him with one count of child pornography in the first degree and nine charges of possession of child pornography in the second degree. All of the offenses listed March 18 of last year, the date officers confiscated a Gateway computer from Benson’s residence in Pullman.

According to the report filed with the charges, investigation started when a former Moscow officer traced identification of Benson’s computer to one of those used by an internet pornography sharing site. The report lists subsequent downloading of files going to the computer before it was confiscated last March.

Benson was also ordered to pay fines and fees of $800.

BAIL KEPT AT $25,000

Court commissioner Gary Libey Friday morning kept the required bail for pre-trial release at $25,000 after the arraignment of Binyam Afrasa, 18-year-old Seattle resident who allegedly pulled a pistol at an apartment in Pullman early Saturday morning. Afrasa’s attorney had requested the bail amount be reduced to $5,000, but Prosecutor Denis Tracy asked to keep the amount at $25,000 out of concern for public safety. Tracy also reported two warrants for Afrasa’s arrest had been issued out of Seattle.

Afrasa was arrested early Saturday morning after Pullman officers responded to a report of a fight in an apartment on NE Merman Way.

According to the report, Afrasa became upset in a dispute with a female at the party and was asked to leave by one of the residents of the apartment. The report said he pulled out a pistol and placed it under the resident’s nose. It said Afrasa’s friends grabbed him and the pistol and took him out of the apartment but he later returned. He pleaded not guilty Friday morning to a formal charge of first degree burglary and his trial date was scheduled for April 11.

FAIR PROJECT IN FINAL STAGE

The Palouse Empire Fair’s remodeling project on the community building is in the final stages and expected to be finished at the end of March. Fair Manager Bob Reynolds reported to the fair board Feb. 22 the last big item on the work list will be grinding off the top of the community building floor and applying a new surface. Reynolds said over the years the floor surface has sustained a buildup of material which needs to be removed before a new surface can be applied. He said as much as a quarter inch will be shaved off the surface of the floor of the building. The grinding crew is expected to conduct a test to determine how deep the grinding should be.

Reynolds said the floor will be dyed as part of the application of a new surface.

Painting and trim work also remain to be done to finish out the project which includes a 20-foot addition along the north side of the building for a new kitchen and office space.

The building has been shut down since the fair closed in September. The fair anticipates getting the building back on line in order to offer it for rental to families and other groups starting in the spring. Fall rental revenue was stopped when the remodeling project began.

Reynolds also reported Monday work will begin on locating sites for additional restrooms for the barn and RV park area. The fair has received a health and safety grant for $10,000 for the project which is estimated to cost $26,000. The plan calls for installation of men’s and women’s waterless restrooms with holding tanks that will be periodically pumped out.