Bulletin Column March 31

Egg-thusiasm

Energetic early risers Saturday rush down a frozen food aisle of Rosauers in Colfax not for great deals, but for the offering of Easter eggs strewn liberally around the store.

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.

FAIR CENTER PROJECT ADVANCES

Work on finishing the floor is one of the key items on the finish list for the Palouse Empire Fair Events Center project. Chad Startin, head of the fair foundation, reported to the fair board Monday night a sample section of the floor in the building has been dyed to check the color after the floor in the building has been ground down for new surfacing. Curing time on the floor, once it is dyed, will be one of the key factors in determining when the building can go into operation.

The first big event slated at the fairground will be the plowing bee, scheduled for April 16-17.

Food service for participants and spectators of the bee is normally served in the events building, but curing of the floor surface might not be complete by then.

Fair Manager Bob Reynolds said the fair’s Jones School building and the new patio area, part of the center project, could be used to provide for the bee’s food service in case the Events Center could not be open at that time.

In other business, Reynolds reported an email canvass of board members who were absent from last month’s session approved motions on changing the Miss Palouse Empire Fair contest to an open entry format and advancing stock judges’ pay.

The two motions were sent out to board members to vote because last month’s meeting did not have a quorum.

The change in the royalty contest entry format means girls can enter the competition without qualifying through a local royalty event. One of the reasons for the change was the decline in the number of royalty competitions in towns around the county.

SUA ENTERS PLEA TO

BURGLARY

Ualesi Chester Sua, 22, Pullman, entered a plea of guilty to second degree burglary Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. Sua attempted to enter the plea last week, but Judge David Frazier noted Sua seemed to be uncertain about his responses in court and declined to accept it at that time. Sua pleaded guilty to burglarizing an apartment on Terre View Drive.

A second charge, possession of a controlled substance, was dismissed as part of the plea bargain agreement. Sentencing was slated for April 15, and a petition to be sentenced under a drug offender alternative will be considered at that time.

DOG LICENSE DEADLINE

Colfax dog owners have until Thursday to renew city licenses on their dogs. The fee is $10 for spayed and neutered dogs and $20 otherwise. Applicants are required to show proof their dogs have been vaccinated for rabies. The town has approximately 193 dogs with tags this year.

SANDERS POSTS BIG WIN IN COUNTY

Whitman County Democrats booked a strong win for Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, 109 to 27, in caucuses Saturday morning around the county. The results here followed a state trend in which Sanders was reported to be taking 72 percent of the votes in the precinct caucuses.

Turnout was strong at many sites around the county, with one precinct in Pullman having 125 people present.

Ann Parks, county Democratic chairwoman, said the overall turnout in the county totaled 1,636 people. She noted that at Pullman High School, where 10 precincts convened, more than 1,000 people attended.

Sanders supporters around the county appeared to be better organized and that accounted for the big win in the area, she noted. Parks said in the Spokane area an indication of the organization of the Sanders backers was their ability to get the candidate to make two stops in Spokane during the week before the state caucus.

Sander’s appeal to younger voters was believed to be one of the reasons for his strong win in the county. Parks said at Pullman High, where she attended, all individual precinct returns appeared to favor Sanders.

The number of delegates allowed for each precinct in the county was determined by the number of registered voters in the precinct.

Parks said some of the precincts in the county did not caucus. Washington state has 118 delegates assigned to the national Democratic convention, and 101 of those are required to follow the proportions reflected in the returns from Saturday’s caucuses. The other 17 state delegates seats go to “super” delegates who are elected officials and party officials in the state and not locked to Saturday’s preferences.

The next step for the local Democrats will be the county convention which has been scheduled for May 1 at Gladish Center in Pullman.

Whitman County’s return of 109-27 marked a win of more than 80 percent for Sanders which exceeded the 72 percent reported for the state margin over Clinton.

Parks said, as far as she could determine, all of the caucus sites around the county conducted business in a cordial manner, as requested.

Colfax DEMS FAVOR SANDERS

Between 40 and 45 people attended the caucus sessions for Democrats at the the Public Service Building in Colfax Saturday. The caucus sessions included four Colfax precincts, two rural Colfax precincts and the Dusty and Wilcox rural precincts, according to Jack McBride, one of the designated leaders.

McBride said the precinct votes here followed the county pattern with about 70 percent of the votes going for Bernie Sanders and the balance for Hillary Clinton.

McBride and Fred Hunt of Colfax were designated leaders for two of the six Colfax precincts, and other attendees were recruited to represent the other precincts which conducted a vote.

Tone of the session was described as cordial, and participants here pledged to “stick together” regardless of who gets the party’s nomination for the presidential race, McBride reported.

REPORTED

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

Colfax Police received a report of a burglary of a residence in the 800 block of N. Morton. Entry was apparently made into the house in the early morning hours Sunday when the residents were sleeping. An iPhone and a digital camera were among items missing from the house. Officers did not find any evidence of forced entry, according to Police Chief Rick McNannay.

BANNER ARTISTS RETURN

A lineup of past entrants will be creating posters for the H’Art of the Palouse street poster contest this year. All 11 entries which were submitted to the Colfax Arts Council last week have been accepted as finalists for this year’s competition. Poster entries were submitted March 14.

Ashley Richman of Colfax is the lone juvenile entrant. Her father, Mark Richman, has also entered this year.

Sara Yates of LaCrosse and Angela Senter of Palouse will be out-of-town entrants in the event this year. Yates, who won the artists award in the last banner contest two years ago with a rodeo painting, has subsequently gone on to paint several wall murals in LaCrosse.

Carol Gay of Colfax, who previously won the People’s Choice trophy with a “Farming on the Palouse” banner, has also submitted another entry this year.

Other Colfax former banner artists who have submitted entries are Loretta Paulson, Dick Gebhardt, Jerry Jones and Emily Adams. Lanette Ring of Colfax has also entered this year.

The artists will take part in a workshop at the Library Saturday, April 2, and will receive the street banners at that time. The workshop will allow them an opportunity to transfer the banner designs onto the full-scale banners.

The Arts Council plans to have the banners up along Main Street on May 14.

Voting for the People’s Choice award will begin May 16, and the winner will be announced at an artists’ reception June 2 at the library.

START ALL OVER AGAIN

Austin G. Gershmel, 22, who was charged with possession of amphetamine three years ago after a police search of his WSU room in the Stephenson South residence hall, was ordered to start the drug court program all over again last Friday in superior court.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau asked the court to order Gershmel to start again on the program after Gershmel failed to appear for a monthly report, and the prosecutor’s office subsequently learned he had been placed in a drug treatment program.

Gershmel was accepted into the drug program in August of 2014 and participated with monthly appearances in court. The program includes participation in treatment and counseling and monthly checks for drug use.

The restart essentially erases more than 16 months of participation in the program which allows participants to clear their record after two years of participation.

Gershmel’s dorm room was searched Feb. 21, 2013, and officers reported they found 78 capsules of amphetamines in two bottles. Also discovered were 11 bottles of vodka.

A formal charge of possession of amphetamine was filed April 29, 2014, and Gershmel was admitted to the drug program as an alternative to conviction in August of that year.

CODGER POLE ON LIST

City Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen reported Monday one summer project for the parks department will be painting the rest of the Codger Pole on Main Street. The Codger Pole is actually a cluster of six poles which were inverted and buried at what is now Codger Park.

The top Codger and three of the carved poles were painted last year. Vorderbrueggen, who headed the park board session prior to the city council meeting, said after the remaining three poles on the back side are painted this year, sealer will be applied to the whole cluster of poles. Estimated cost of the project is in the $11,000 range, he noted.

Funds for painting have been generated by the added tax for motel room reservations.

Last year’s start on the project was the first preservation work on the carved poles since fire department volunteers applied a sealer with the use of their ladder truck several years ago.

The Codger Pole has been in place since 1991 when it was installed to commemorate the 1988 Codger Bowl game, a rematch of Colfax and St. John football teams 50 years after they originally played.

The street at the park was named after the late John Crawford, a member of the Colfax team who organized the 50-year rematch. A long-time Hollywood actor, Crawford was raised in Colfax. His real name was Cleve Richardson.

CITY LANDS WATER STUDY GRANT

Colfax City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello reported to the Colfax City Council March 21 that the city has received a $30,000 grant for an engineering study to replace the city’s aging water line from the artesian wells at Glenwood to the city. The condition of the aging water line, which follows the same route as the North Fork of the Palouse River, is among one of the top concerns of the city. The engineering grant was awarded by the Community Economic Revitalization Board of the Washington State Department of Commerce.

The grant study will also include possible installation of a supply line from the hospital hill area to the airport, now the location of the Port of Whitman Business Air Center.

Rizzitiello reported after the meeting that replacement of the Glenwood supply line has been estimated to cost in the $3.5 million range. The line carries water from two artesian wells at Glenwood to the city pump station where it is pumped up to the reservoir on the east hill.

A prior state CERB grant in Whitman County last November provided $48,113 for development of a plan for updating the wastewater treatment plant at Palouse.