Bulletin Column

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.

GRANDSTAND PLAN STARTS

The Palouse Empire Fair Foundation intends to develop a plan for the type of grandstand to replace the structure now used at the fair. Brian Jacobs, foundation member, told the fair board Monday night the group wants to get an idea of the needs and specifications for a new grandstand. Replacing the structure is one of the top goals of the foundation, which for the previous two years headed the remodeling and expansion of the fair’s events center.

Jacobs told fair board members the group plans to develop a proposal which could be used for grant applications and planning for the new structure.

The present grandstand structure features steel bleachers which were purchased from the Spokane Grand Prix after that event folded more than 30 years ago. The bleachers were purchased after voters turned down a levy proposal to finance a new grandstand.

Top use of the grandstand each year is for the Palouse Empire Rodeo events.

Monday night in his report on the rodeo operation, Stan Riebold noted the rodeo earned $3,000 from the sale of box seats during the rodeo. The box seat section of the grandstand actually dates back to the original wooden grandstand structure and fronts the bleachers obtained from the grand prix.

Asked by Jacobs if the rodeo organization had any specific requests for the kind of structure they would like to see on the grounds, Riebold said they would probably like to see a larger structure.

Fair manager Bob Reynolds said the fair still has the plans which were prepared for the levy proposal which failed to get voter approval. He also noted a WSU engineering class at one time conducted a study of the grandstand which was part of a final term project and the fair has a copy of that report.

The fair’s policy of allowing fairgoers to attend the rodeo without an additional admission fee was discussed briefly. Riebold said added admission was charged at one time, but fair board members later decided it was easier to bump the fair’s general gate admission slightly and do away with the costs of adding an additional fee for getting into the rodeo.

CHURCH

RAISES $800 FOR FIRE

VICTIMS

Colfax Church of the Nazarene Sunday raised approximately $800 for three residents of the East Street Apartments who were displaced by last Sunday’s fire. The funds will assist John and Bethany Huntwork and Andrew Vorhees. Bethany Huntwork attended the church as a youngster and now attends young adult meetings. Vorhees has been attending the church.

Pastor Don Moore said church members hope to take the fire victims on a shopping trip.

NINTH STREET BANNER LAUNCH

Colfax Art Council plans to launch its annual street banner contest with the distribution of entry applications at the start of February, according to Emily Adams, head of the project for the council. This will be the ninth year for the contest which has resulted in a collection of 80 of the street banners.

Last year’s banner creations are posted along Main Street, and a few from previous years hang from the front wall at Rosauers. The council made plans for the contest at its annual meeting Jan. 10. Sketch entries will be due March 10, and finalists will be announced March 17 with a workshop session at the library March 25.

Banners painted by the finalists will be due April 28 and posted along Main Street in the first week of May. Entry fees will again be $20 for adults and $10 for youngsters through high school age. Proceeds from the entry fees are used to purchase the banners and other supplies.

Adams said in an effort to attract more entries from around the county, they plan to have application forms available at all Whitman County Library branches around the county.

The council again will conduct people’s choice award balloting and also present a best artist award. The council plans a reception to honor the artists at the library May 25.

NURSES GET TOP SCORE

Nurses at Whitman Hospital in Colfax had the top state score for nurse-patient communication in a national standards survey conducted through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. The standard survey is known as the Hospital Consumers Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.

For Whitman Hospital, 87 percent of the patients responded to the standard survey that the nurses always communicated well. For Washington state, the average patient response was 78 percent for the survey of 39 critical access hospitals in the state. The survey results posted are from a compilation of 2015 patient surveys. The other top five hospitals in the state for nurse-patient communication are Jefferson Healthcare at Port Townsend - 85 percent, Pullman Regional Hospital and Kittitas Valley Community Hospital at Ellensburg - both 84 percent, and Lincoln Hospital at Davenport - 83 percent.

ACCIDENT ON HILTY ROAD

Schylr Caston, 26, Clarkston, was taken by Colfax ambulance to Whitman Hospital for a check of possible injuries after she lost control of a pickup truck on Hilty Road east of Colfax Sunday. Deputy Bryce Nebe said Caston lost control of the pickup truck she was driving at 3:25 p.m. The pickup went over on its side about 1.5 miles from the Hilty Road intersection with Highway 272.

SPEED CHASE ARREST

Brandon M. Kramer, 21, Lewiston, was arrested and jailed early Friday morning after a high speed chase on Highway 195 which began in downtown Colfax. Kramer was arrested after deputies threw out a spike strip to slow his southbound car. According to the arrest report, the car continued south for two miles after hitting the spike strip before coming to a halt south of the Wawawai Road intersection.

The arrest report by Deputy Christopher Olin, said he spotted a car, which turned out to be driven by Kramer, headed northbound on Main Street in Colfax just before 1 a.m. He started pursuit of the car after noting a back light was out.

The car turned right on Tyler, went north on Morton, went into a driveway and came back southbound on Morton. Olin’s report said the car’s speed reached 55 mph as it headed southbound on Main. Another deputy and a Pullman officer joined the chase, and the spike strip was thrown down at Harlow’s dip near the Armstrong Road intersection. The report said oncoming traffic in several instances had to pull off onto the shoulder for the speeding car.

Olin’s report said items were thrown out of the speeding car in the Prune Orchard area, and evidence of drug use was found after the car was stopped.

SECOND ARREST IN CHASE CASE

A second suspect was arrested after the early-morning chase of a car Friday which started on Main Street in Colfax and ended after the car hit a spike strip at Harlow’s dip north of Pullman on Highway 195 and came to a stop near the Highway 194 intersection. Driver Brandon Kramer, 21, Lewiston, was arrested on charges of attempting to elude.

A passenger in the car, Sydnie Weibert, 21, Orofino, was booked into jail later Friday on probable drug charges.

The arrest report said Weibert told deputies she was the owner of the car, a 2013 Hyundai Elantra, which was driven by Kramer.

She also said a hypodermic needle found in the front passenger seat belonged to her, and she was the person in the car who threw alleged drug evidence out of the car during the chase.

The arrest report by Deputy Chris Olin said he observed items being thrown out of the passenger side of the car as he pursued it near Prune Orchard Road south of Colfax.

Weibert was allowed release on her own recognizance after a first appearance in court Monday.

Formal charges have not been filed.

Kramer was formally charged with attempting to elude Friday.

His bond for pre-trial release was set at $50,000.

Kramer is also wanted on a warrant from Lewiston and a hearing on extradition is set for Friday.

DEPUTY SAID HURT IN

STRUGGLE

Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Cox sustained minor injuries to his right knee and elbow late Saturday in a struggle to arrest a suspect in Endicott. The suspect, Raymond Sloan III, 28, Lewiston, was booked into jail at 11 p.m. and was expected to make a first appearance in court Monday morning.

According to the arrest report, Cox stopped a gray Ford sedan in Endicott at 5:48 p.m. Sloan, who had previously been arrested in Colfax, was suspected of driving with a license which had been suspended in Alaska.

According to the arrest report, Sloan refused to get out of the car. When he was finally removed from the car and handcuffed by Cox, he refused to hand over the keys to the car. Cox took Sloan down on the ground and at one point in the struggle Sloan hit the deputy’s arm with his knee.

Deputy Michael Jordan arrived on the scene to assist. Colfax Officer Perry Tate also responded to a call for assistance, but the two deputies managed to get Sloan under control before Tate arrived at the scene.

Cox said in his report that his right knee was bloodied in the struggle with the suspect and his right elbow was injured. Sloan’s address was listed as a motel in Lewiston, but deputies believed he had been residing in the sedan.

EIGHT

MONTHS FOR HARASSMENT

Dale N. Nanik, 55, was sentenced to eight months in jail, the maximum under the state’s standard range, Friday after he pleaded guilty a week earlier to two charges of harassment. Retired Judge David Frazier, serving as court commissioner, ordered the maximum sentence after telling Nanik he was “a monster.” The judge said the maximum term was the only option he could use in an effort to keep Nanik from causing additional harm to his victims.

Nanik was originally charged with four counts of harassment, and the Pullman Police report listed additional victims.

The conviction stemmed from a Facebook posting by Nanik which listed residents in Pullman who “shall not live” in the event Nanik was prohibited from moving back in with his wife at an apartment complex in Pullman.

According to the Pullman Police account, Nanik sent the Facebook posting last October. The posting was reportedly sent by Nanik while he was having coffee at a Jack in the Box in Lewiston. Nanik used the name of “Nau Nau Pau Pau” in the posted threats, according to the investigation report.

One of the victims, a Pullman property manager, testified at the sentencing hearing, and two of the victims sent written comments. One of them opted to send a written account because she did not want to be in the presence of Nanik who has been jailed since his arrest Oct. 7.

One of the written statements listed a series of sexual harassment postings Nanik had sent to the same victim in 2015 which led the victim to obtain a no-contact order from the court. Defense Attorney Steve Martonick told the court Nanik, who is an Iraqi war veteran and had been residing in a storage unit in Clarkston, sent the postings to a Facebook friend and not directly to the victims, who became aware of it because it was a public posting. He said Nanik’s behavior was caused when he reversed the order for taking of his medications.

The judge pointed out Nanik was aware of what would result if he reversed the order of his medications and did it anyway. He added Nanik’s victims were people who had been trying to assist him.

CITY

EMPLOYMENT REPORT

Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek told the city council Jan. 17 the city is now preparing a job description before starting the hiring process for a new city clerk. He said over the years tasks assigned to the position have become unclear, and the city wants to prepare a clear statement of what the position entails before starting the hiring process for a new city clerk.

Connie Ellis, who has served as clerk for 16 years, resigned the post before the end of last year and plans to depart as of the end of this month.

Vanek reported Kris Thompson has been employed part-time to serve as clerk for the city court on Tuesdays. Thompson is employed by Whitman County District Court, but she is able to assist the city because she does not work that day for the county court.

In other employment business, city council members learned the City Police Guild has rejected the city’s latest offer in negotiations for a new employment contract. The offer was the second made by the city in the negotiations which are now expected to go into mediation. The process could eventually lead to binding arbitration.

Guild members are now working without a contract following the expiration of their three-year agreement which called for three percent pay increases for each year.

Vanek also reported the city had not made much progress in filling the vacant city administrator’s position which was resigned by Michael Rizzitiello in early November. The city has not received applications from people who fit the required qualifications.

ENTERS PLEA FROM IDAHO PRISON

Joe E. Parks, 36, former resident of Harvard, Idaho, was sentenced to six months in jail Friday morning in Whitman County Superior Court on a reduced charge of third degree theft. Parks entered his guilty plea by telephone from a prison in Idaho. He told the court he was currently serving an eight-year sentence.

Friday’s plea stems from a case which started in December of 2015 when a resident on Brayton Road outside of Pullman reported items were taken from two jewelry boxes in the residence. The victim suspected the items had been taken by members of a painting crew which were in the residence when the occupants were not present.

The investigation report said Parks, who was a member of the painting crew, was later identified when jewelry which was pawned in Spokane was traced to him.

Court Commissioner David Frazier allowed Parks to serve the time concurrently with the sentence he is now serving in Idaho. He also waived ordering Parks to pay fines and fees because of the length of time Parks is expected to be locked up in Idaho.

Parks vowed by telephone that he planned a life of lawful behavior after his release.

“Idaho broke me,” he stated on the phone.

CITY FLOOD PREP REPORT

In his report at the Jan. 17 city council session, Public Works Director Matt Hammer noted city crews have already logged 108 hours of overtime as of the 17th of the month. He said crew members are getting a little weary of the winter battle.

Hammer said potential flooding has been the top concern for the start of the week. Crews worked to clear street drains in advance of the thawing weather.

Chief concerns have been the Palouse Highway grade entry into Colfax and the Clay Street area which has been subjected to floods in the past.

Hammer said one of the key problems along Main Street was the two to three feet of ice buildup between the traffic lanes and the street drain grates which are located next to the curb.

Many of the drains have been cleared by business and office staffs located along the street.

The public works director said a lot of city crew time had gone into repairing pipelines which fail with the freezing and thawing. He said Monday night crews were called to a break which was pouring water into a residence along Thorn Street. The pipe break was on the city segment of the line. Repair work extended until 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.