Bulletin Column March 2

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 WILL MARK 50 YEARS OF RODEO

Palouse Empire Fair board members Monday night approved “Boots, Buckles and Spurs, celebrating 50 years of Rodeo” for the theme of the 2017 fair. The fair plans to invite rodeo royalty from the past 50 years for a special observance, such as a dinner.

Jason Riebold reported to fair board members Monday night that the rodeo association hopes to schedule a bull-riding event on Friday night of the fair. The aim is to boost rodeo entries and crowd interest for the Saturday and Sunday rodeo editions.

Riebold said estimated cost of the bull riding event would be in the range of $4,000, with cost of livestock and prizes accounting for most of the expenses.

NINE MONTHS FOR OFFICER

ASSAULT

Former Colfax resident Robert Crandall, 42, was sentenced to eight months in jail Friday in superior court after he pleaded guilty to two charges of assault of an officer and one count of fourth degree assault. Crandall was arrested Dec. 11 and booked in the county jail after he struggled with officers who had responded to a domestic violence call at a residence in Colfax.

Crandall was charged with twisting the hand of Colfax Officer Jaelene Bryan and spitting on Deputy Randy Zehm, who had gone to the residence to back up Bryan.

The officers had gone to the residence in response to a domestic violence report from Roberta Stone. According to the police report, Crandall had moved Stone away from the door of the residence and blocked entry to the residence.

Crandall told the court Friday he had begun drinking again after approximately 10 years of sobriety. He said everything he had accumulated over those 10 years was subsequently lost as a result of the arrest. He said he and Stone had been engaged to get married. The Colfax arrest report said Stone told officers at the scene she wanted Crandall removed from the residence.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the court Crandall, 42, has a history of fighting with police dating back to a 1998 arrest in Whatcom County and a subsequent arrest in King County.

Crandall said he has been attending AA meetings in Burien and has support from relatives there.

SALE TO

AIRPORT LISTS EMINENT DOMAIN

A record of a sale of land for the Pullman-Moscow Airport realignment project was filed with a notice of eminent domain powers included in the record.

Sale of the land by Sand Road Land Co. of Pullman to the City of Pullman was recorded in a transfer tax affidavit filed Feb. 7 in the county treasurer’s office. Amount of the sale was listed at $2,888,311.

Airport manager Tony Bean said the sale involved two parcels, one for 77 acres and one for 122.4 acres.

Bean explained that under federal regulations the power of eminent domain is cited in all land acquisitions in the project. The Sand Road sale was actually negotiated and an agreement reached, but eminent domain was listed in the transaction record for tax purposes to show the sale was not initiated by the sellers.

Included with the affidavit was a copy of a letter sent to Norman Druffel, managing member of Sand Road Land, by Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson advising eminent domain provisions. The letter included a copy of a City of Moscow resolution June 6 to proceed with eminent domain if necessary.

Bean reported Tuesday that three land acquisitions remain to be completed before the airport has all property needed. Negotiations have reached an advanced stage for sale of WSU property. The other two pending sales include a commercial building on a parcel of land and right-of-way property owned by the state Department of Transportation.

Colfax SCHOOL OUT FRIDAY

Colfax school will be dismissed Friday after a plan for snow makeup days was changed. At their Feb. 13 meeting, Colfax school board members voted to make up one and one-half days of snow cancellations by scheduling a half day of school this Thursday and a full day Friday. Those two days had been slated for vacation days which fall on the dates of state basketball finals in Spokane.

School officials have since learned that they do not have to make up the one full day because a state of emergency was declared by the governor on that date. Under state of emergency provisions, Colfax obtained a waiver from the state’s 180-day school requirement, and that removed the need to make up the day and restoration of Friday’s vacation day, according to Superintendent Jerry Pugh.

School will still be in session for a half day on Thursday to make up the remaining half day of snow closure.

TRIAL SET IN WSU LOGO CASE

An April 17 trial date for Jeffrey Wigen, 35, was scheduled Friday in superior court. Wigen faces a charge of counterfeiting which alleged he sold Cougar shirts outside of two WSU football games last October without obtaining the WSU trademark licensing. Pullman Attorney Robert Rembert has filed a notice he is representing Wigen. He also filed a discovery demand for a list of witnesses the prosecutor plans to call at the trial and for copies of any recordings and statements allegedly made by Wigen in the investigation.

Wigen has been allowed pre-trial release on his own recognizance. He is now living in Vail, Colo.

HIGHWAY 195 ACCIDENTS

Joseph A. Everman, Marshall, was unhurt Sunday when he lost control of a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Highway 195 1.1 miles north of Pullman. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Everman was driving the pickup northbound at 5:30 a.m. during heavy snow and fog. The truck went off the right side of the highway and rolled on its side.

Betty A. Galbraith, Lewiston, was unhurt Monday morning when she lost control of a 2011 Toyota Rav4 on Highway 195 one mile south of Pullman and collided with a highway sign. The Washington State Patrol report said Galbraith was driving southbound at 10:45 a.m. and left the roadway to the right and hit the sign. The Toyota came to a halt in the southbound ditch.

TREVINO SENT TO PRISON

Mark Trevino, 30, Tekoa resident, was sentenced Friday to 29.75 months in the state prison system for the Oct. 24 break-in at Tekoa City Hall. Trevino was allowed a drug offender sentencing alternative which assigns him half the maximum prison time he faced under the state’s standard sentencing range and requires him to follow a treatment regimen while serving the time.

Trevino, who has an extensive criminal record dating back 10 years with convictions in Grant County, had an offender score of nine on the pre-sentence evaluation prepared by the Department of Corrections.

Trevino earlier pleaded guilty to breaking into Tekoa’s City Hall Oct. 24. He was also charged with taking gas cards and a heavy duty portable laptop computer which is used to read water meters in Tekoa. The state dropped the theft charges in exchange for Trevino’s plea of guilty to the burglary charge.

“I know I need help. I know I need treatment,” Trevino told Court Commissioner Howard Neill in his request for the alternative sentence.

Before assigning the treatment option, Neill reminded Trevino that he could face the total amount of prison time in the event he failed to comply with treatment.

Rosalia STILL SHORT ON LAST COUNT

Rosalia’s $69,000 levy proposal for the town street fund turned out to be the lone measure on the Feb. 14 special election ballot which failed to gain approval from the voters. Five other measures received approval according the the final report from the elections office.

Twenty ballots were disqualified Friday by the election canvass board prior to certification of the election.

Final count on the Rosalia proposal was 99 yes and 78 no for a 55.9 percent approval rate, which was short of the required 60 percent.

Ballots disqualified by the canvass board included two without signatures, 11 returned too late, five with invalid signatures and two which could not be delivered.

Ballot total for the election was 1,008 returned of 2,214 sent to voters for a response of 45.5 percent. The measures approved were Colton School District proposal for $532,165 for 2018, 250 yes, 112 no for 69 percent; Lamont School District maintenance and operation levy of $170,000 for each of two years, 27 yes, 20 no for 57.4 percent; Rosalia School District, $200,000 capital improvements levy for each of three years beginning in 2018, 211 yes, 112 no for 62.4 percent; Tekoa Parks, $75,000 for maintenance and operation levy beginning in 2018, 188 yes 71 no for 72.6 percent; Rosalia Parks, $72,000 for maintenance and operation for swim pool, 210 yes, 130 no for 61.7 percent.

TOYOTA FOUND ABANDONED

A 1996 Toyota 4Runner was found abandoned Saturday at the scene of an accident at the intersection of Highways 195 and 271 south of Rosalia. The Toyota was registered to a Colville resident. According to the Washington State Patrol report, the Toyota struck the bank along the side of Highway 271 after coming down the ramp from the southbound lane of Highway 195.

—According to Washington State Patrol report on a Friday night accident along Highway 26, Michael A. Walker, Pullman, was unhurt when the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic he was driving collided with a guardrail. Walker was driving eastbound at 8:18 p.m. when he left the roadway to the right and struck the guardrail along the eastbound lane at mile marker 115 west of Dusty.

POOL TO GET NEW HEATER

Installation of a new heating unit for the Colfax city pool will be done before the start of swim season. The new installation is expected to cost in the range of $40,000.

City councilman Al Vorderbrueggen reported the decision to install the boiler was made at the monthly meeting of the Colfax Park Board which was conducted prior to the Feb. 21 city council meeting. Vorderbrueggen also chairs the park board.

Colfax swim pool last summer operated with one of two heating units out of commission. The second unit also sustained problems and was not expected to be available for another season.

Failure of the water heating system and costs of stopping water loss from the pool led to public sessions last summer to discuss a long-range solution to the problems with the aging pool.

Matt Hammer, public works director, said the park board’s decision to install just one heating unit will leave the city without a backup in the event the heater fails during the swim season. The funding for the project will come from a capital fund entry for the city’s park department.

BARBER FACES ASSAULT CHARGE

Robert Barber, 22, former WSU football player who was allowed to play out the rest of last season after he had been arrested and released on a pending assault charge, has been summoned to appear in court March 17 on a charge of second degree assault. The charge was filed against him Feb. 24 in superior court by Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau.

The charge stems from the July 23 melee at a house in the 400 block of NE Oak Street on College Hill in Pullman. When police arrived on the scene they found one male unconscious and a second male bleeding from the mouth. Both were taken to Pullman Regional Hospital. The fight broke out at the house after fireworks were reportedly ignited in the back yard.

Barber and Toso Fehoko, 19, another WSU student and football player, were arrested by Pullman police Sept. 16, taken into custody at the Pullman police station and later allowed release. The Pullman investigation report was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office where a charging decision was pending until Feb. 23.

Fehoko, who reportedly has left WSU, was not charged. Barber is charged with assaulting Jackson Raney, 24, a WSU student who was knocked unconscious at the party and taken to Pullman Regional hospital.

A seven-page probable cause affidavit by Pullman Officer Scott Patrick was filed with the assault charge Feb. 23. Patrick’s report said witness accounts reported fights broke out at the Oak Street house after residents yelled for everybody to clear out. They were believed to have made the decision after fireworks were ignited in the backyard at the residence.

Patrick’s affidavit lists two witnesses at the party who said they saw Barber hit Raney. Two other witnesses who viewed phone videos of the party subsequently identified Barber. Witness accounts alleged Barber hit Raney and knocked him down, then hit him again when Raney attempted to get up.

The affidavit reports Barber was interviewed by police. The account alleged Barber told police he saw pushing and shoving begin in front of him and felt threatened after he was pushed and possibly punched. It alleged Barber, who was accompanied by attorney John Hart during the questioning, admitted punching Raney and knocking him down and punching him again when Raney attempted to get up.The affidavit includes a list of witness accounts from WSU football players.

On the same day Barber and Fehoko were arrested, Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins conducted a city hall news conference to report on the investigation. He reported police were able to interview 61 of 65 identified witnesses at the party, including 22 WSU football players. Among evidence collected were two cell phone videos with approximately 19 seconds of recordings of the fight at the party.

In a civil judgment hearing here Nov. 16, Barber prevailed on his court appeal of his one-year suspension Oct. 17 by the WSU conduct board. Judge David Frazier ruled the suspension became invalid after WSU officials disposed of questions that had been submitted by Barber for presentation to the conduct board. The judge in his stay order ruled the disposal of Barber’s questions amounted to destruction of the board’s hearing record and left the court unable to confirm or dismiss Barber’s contention that his questions had not been properly presented to the conduct board.

A group of Samoan residents from the west side of the state attended the Nov. 16 court session after making an early morning trip across the state in a van. They congratulated Barber, and Spokane attorney Stephen Graham, after judge Frazier issued the stay order.

Barber was allowed to continue to play on the WSU football team through the end of the season, which wrapped up with the Holiday Bowl.

After Barber prevailed in his civil action against the university’s conduct board, a subsequent state appeals ruling on a 2014 WSU suspension held the the conduct board’s procedure did not provide full adjudication to the graduate student who faced extensive loss when the board ruled against him. The Division III appeals ruling at Spokane led WSU President Kirk Schultz to call for a review of the student conduct process.

WORK STARTS ON ATM SITE

Construction started last week on the ATM station which will be installed by Freedom Northwest Credit Union of Kamiah, Idaho, in the 600 block of N. Main Street. Cost of the installation is listed at $112,000 on the Colfax building permit.

Contractor Barry Roark of Stage LLC at Kamiah said the aim is to have the project completed by Memorial Day. He said he expects to have a crew of up to 15 working on the project, which includes a drive-through roadway with a kiosk for the ATM, landscaping and fencing. Site of the project is on the east side of N. Main between Kroll Machinery and the Dreamworks office.

Roark said the Idaho Stage name of his construction company derives from actual stage lines which were operated in Idaho by earlier generations of his family.