Bulletin Column March 23

Bridge work

State crews work above and below the Highway 26 spur bridge earlier this week. Metal I-beams can be seen which were installed last year to stabilize the bridge’s slumping sidewalk.

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.

CITY, COUNTY INVESTIGATE ENTRY VIDEOS

Colfax City Police have investigated an entry to St. Ignatius Hospital which was included among videos on a YouTube channel which had been posted by Jeff Torres of Spokane. He was the subject of a front page article March 5 in the Spokesman Review which featured pictures of the interior of unoccupied buildings, some of them in Whitman County.

Publication of the article also generated reports to the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office and launched an investigation by Deputy Sgt. Dan Brown. He said they have identified three buildings in Belmont and two other locations north of Steptoe which have appeared on the YouTube channel postings by Torres.

Colfax Police Chief Rick McNannay said the St. Ignatius video shows a man running up past “no trespassing signs,” going up the fire escape and pulling back plywood over a door. The video also shows interior scenes in the building.

Both the city and the county have made copies of the YouTube videos.

The St. Ignatius scenes do not appear in the newspaper report.

McNannay said the city has contacted Torres and notified him of the investigation which was done by Officer Stephen Perez. He said the YouTube site has apparently been shut down since they contacted the suspect.

The chief said the investigation report has been forwarded to City Prosecutor Mark Monson with a recommendation that a charge of trespassing be filed.

The article and picture captions in the Review article do not specifically give the locations of the sites. The article features photographs of the interior of the buildings. One of the photos describes Torres as approaching “an old building in an abandoned town on the Palouse.” Sgt. Brown said they believe that building is in Belmont.

He said their investigation also indicates that Torres could have been accompanied by others on some of the alleged entries, and they have sent a letter in inquiry to the Review.

McNannay noted one hangup in the city investigation was lack of a time frame when the video of the entry was made at St. Ignatius. He said they have since been able to determine the approximate time. He noted the video does not show the face of the person making the entry, but they have since identified a vehicle which allegedly was traced to Torres.

TEN BANNER ARTISTS

Ten street banners will be painted for Main Street in Colfax in this year’s edition of the Colfax Arts Council competition. Sketch entries by eight adults and two youths were approved to be applied to the street banners which will be put up in early May.

The arts council plans to conduct a workshop next Saturday to show the artists how to transpose sketches to the banners. Sketch entries were done on a 7.5x15 inch scale which will be expended to fit the full banners.

Artists in the youth division will be Ashley Richman of Colfax and Holley Thomas of Lamont.

Adult entrants will be Gabrielle Israel and Don Marshall of Oakesdale, Katie Martin of LaCrosse and Matthew Wysock, Claudia Rollins, Tammy Lewis, Teresa Adams and Jerry Jones of Colfax.

Artists are asked to complete the banner paintings by April 28. They will be mounted along the street May 6 and ballot buckets for the People’s Choice award will be out by May 8. A reception honoring the artists will be May 25.

BLOOMERS SUGGEST

HOUSE BUY

Cherry Alice Van Tine, representing the Colfax Late Bloomers, Monday night suggested the city make an effort to acquire a small house located at the east end of Good Park, which is the small park that runs along Highway 195 as it enters Colfax on the south end. East Poplar Street runs along the other side of the park.

Van Tine said the small house is in poor repair and suggested it could be purchased by the city. She noted the site of the house could serve as the location of a public restroom with easy access for motorists at that end of town.

She pointed out the city restroom at Schmuck Park does not serve motorists driving through town because they normally are not aware of Schmuck Park.

Van Tine said the Bloomers group plans to work in Good Park this year and to also continue to make improvements to Codger Pole Park which they improved last year with hours of volunteer work.

The city also contributed to the Codger Park upgrades by getting the rest of the Codger Pole painted with the use of motel surcharge tax revenue last year.

Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen, who also heads the city’s park board, said acquisition of the house next to Good Park has been previously brought up at council sessions.

SENTENCING SET FOR LAWRENCE

Lewis Lawrence, former Pullman resident who was returned to the jail here for a second trial on three charges of attempted murder, entered guilty pleas Friday to two of the charges and to another charge of assaulting a jail inmate since he has been back in jail here. Lewis had been returned to jail here after the state’s Division Three Appeals Court in Spokane ruled he was mentally incompetent when he represented himself in his own trial here.

Lawrence, who was determined to be competent to stand trial again on the charges, pleaded not guilty Jan. 6 by reason of insanity at the time of the alleged crime which involved Lawrence blasting a shotgun into a Pullman apartment March 17, 2009, exactly eight years before the date of his conviction.

Victims were Michael Fuaau and Yuteson Fuaau. Among testimony at his trial here in 2010, jurors learned Lawrence had become upset with the Fuaau brothers after he was asked to bring a bag of rice for his contribution for a group dinner.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy, in a memorandum on the pleas, told the court he plans to recommend a sentence of 25 years for the convictions.

Judge William Acey, who was appointed to preside at Lawrence’s first trial, sentenced him to a total of 900 months in prison. The court was required to order consecutive sentences on each of the three convictions.

In Friday’s plea agreement, Tracy dropped one of the attempted murder charges, involving a third victim. He also dropped three of the four counts involved in two new charges filed against Lawrence since he has been returned to jail here. He pleaded guilty on a fourth count of assaulting another inmate, Jeff Williams, Nov. 16 with a mop handle.

Two counts of harassment and one of keeping makeshift weapons in his cell were dropped.

DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH

County Coroner Pete Martin Wednesday reported an investigation on another unattended death of a WSU student determined the cause of death to be an overdose of fentanyl with respiratory failure. Fentanyl is a synthetic pain opioid medication. The final determination was announced on the coroner’s investigation of the death of Nader Yaser Shilaadeh, 25, a WSU student from Wilmette, Ill. He died Nov. 26 at his apartment in Pullman.

BARBER PLEADS NOT GUILTY

A May 15 trial date was scheduled for Robert Barber in superior court Monday morning after he pleaded not guilty to second degree assault. Barber, who has completed his WSU football career, was charged in connection with the July 23 fight which broke out at a residence on Oak Street in Pullman.

Barber was represented in court by Stephen Graham, the Spokane attorney who also represented Barber here in his civil case when he challenged the student conduct hearing process at WSU which led to his suspension on campus. Barber and Graham prevailed in that appeal and the suspension was removed.

The May 15 trial date was requested in court Monday morning because most of the witnesses who will be scheduled to testify in the case are WSU students who will possibly be out of the area at the end of the spring semester.

A group of Samoans from the west side of the state again attended the arraignment in support of Barber.

RIVER ROAD BLOCKED OFF

The North Palouse River Road was posted closed at both ends because of water over the roadway late last week. The posting was made after the road was checked out. Water from the river went over the roadway at the corner downstream from the Glenwood Bridge.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer said signs are posted at McDonald Park on the Colfax end and at the Glenwood Road intersection on the east end.

TCM CHARTS OSBORNE WEEKEND

Turner Classic Movies last weekend featured a 48-hour marathon tribute to Robert Osborne, a native of Colfax who was host for TCM for more than 20 years. Mr. Osborne died March 6 at the age of 84. TCM ran a revolving schedule of highlights of Mr. Osborne’s programs.

Among the programs was a series of “Private Screenings” interviews with film celebrities which were conducted by Osborne for the show. The subject of the first Private Screening was Osborne, who was interviewed by Alec Baldwin, one of his long-time friends. Topic of that interview is Osborne’s life and career.

Osborne’s friends from his school days here believe his last visit to Colfax was the 50-year reunion in 2000 for the class of 1950. Osborne over the years attended several class reunions, but he missed the 60-year reunion, possibly because he did not receive notice of the event.

Osborne did not actually graduate with the class in 1950 because his family moved to Everett. His father, Robert, Sr., served as superintendent of the Colfax School District when the family resided here.

Class members here said Osborne used to make a stop to visit his mother and sister in the Spokane area and then attend reunions. His sister, Joan, was a member of the Colfax High School class of 1946, and his mother, Jo, resided there in later years.

Janet Olsen Girtz, Spokane Valley, said Osborne attended reunions simply as a member of the class and always seemed like the small town boy he was when he grew up here. Her husband, Dick Girtz, was also a member of the class.

David and Virgina Schluneger Morgan are also members of the class and friends of Osborne.

Osborne’s teen status in town was heightened because he worked at the Rose Theatre, then one of the top entertainment stops in Colfax. Even then Osborne showed extra interest in the movie business and began collecting playbills which were displayed at the entrance to the theater.

Janet Girtz noted Osborne over the years sent Christmas cards and responded to letters. She said he was also very prompt about responding to emails up until about 18 months ago, and she became concerned. She eventually inquired about his health and received a cordial paragraph as a response, but that was the last time she heard from him.