Bulletin: Aug. 24, 2017

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.

GRAIN

TRUCK

FIRE

Police and fire units responded at about 2:48 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, to a report of a grain truck catching fire on Highway 26 just west of Colfax. The truck's engine failed as it was going up the grade in the westbound lane south of Morley Road.

The 1998 Freightliner tractor trailer was being driven by Robert Germain of Pullman. He stopped the truck on the highway across from the Kevin Doty residence.

Mrs. Doty saw him pull over and noted the truck engine compartment appeared to be on fire. Germain said he grabbed a fire extinguisher out of the truck and asked Mrs. Doty to call the fire department.

Germain said the truck’s engine apparently came apart. A trail of oil was spilled on the highway in the lane where the truck had been climbing the grade.

Traffic on Highway 26 was restricted to one lane, with eastbound traffic detoured at Airport Road and routed to S. Main Street. Colfax Police directed the heavy traffic at the South Main intersection to keep vehicles moving through town. Absorbent was applied to the oil on the highway.

Germain had been hauling a load of grain to Mockonema.

DAYTON FIRM TO PAINT TANK

A bid of $16,017 from Wilbur Fletcher of Dayton to paint the city water tank on Southview at the top of the east hill was approved by the city council Monday night. Public Works Director Matt Hammer reported Fletcher's company installed the 200,000 gallon tank in 1977.

The city issued a call for bids on the project and received three responses with the high bid at $29,962, Hammer said.

The bid call process was patterned after one used by Pullman, and Hammer told the council he expected to use it, possibly in a modified form, for other projects which required bids.

Hammer said paint color will match what was applied on the city's tank located behind Whitman Hospital.

TREJO BOUND FOR EVERETT

Irving Trejo, Colfax Building and Community Development Associate for the past two years, has resigned to join the engineering department for Snohomish County in Everett. City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass told the city council Monday night Trejo's last day with the city will be Sept. 6.

Trejo was credited with doing extra projects for the city during his stay here. One of his added projects was designing the city's website.

Trejo joined the city after graduating from Washington State University with a degree in civil engineering. His new position with Snohomish Public Works department in Everett will provide him with the opportunity to work on an engineering training project which is required to become a certified and licensed engineer in the state.

Trejo, who was raised in Pasco where he graduated from high school, is a devout Cougar fan. He said he still plans to travel to a few select WSU games during the upcoming season.

Snodgrass said the city has started a search for a replacement. He added the city anticipates using county building inspectors to keep the building department going if the need arises.

FUEL SPILL

IN COLFAX

A Colfax fire crew responded to a report of a fuel spill at 6:25 a.m. Tuesday at the Corner Chevron. The spill, estimated at about five gallons, came out of the top of a vehicle when the automatic shutoff switch on the nozzle failed to activate. The driver of the vehicle had gone inside the store at the station while the hose was filling the tank.

Absorbent material was applied to the spill by the fire crew.

WAIVES

EXTRADITION TO CALIFORNIA

Bo Stanley Geary, 34, Lewiston, Monday in superior court waived extradition to Santa Clara County, Calif. Geary was booked into the jail here on a warrant from Santa Clara County, where he allegedly is wanted on a grand theft case. The warrant requested that he be held without bail.

In a hearing Monday, the court ordered Geary to be held here on the warrant for 30 days. If California officials fail to come and get him before that date, he will be released.

Geary was booked into jail here Saturday afternoon.

TRUCKS

COLLIDE ON 26

Two tractor-trailer trucks collided Saturday morning on Highway 26 seven miles west of Colfax. Michael W. Parker, Tallulah, La., was driving a 2006 Volvo eastbound at 9:11 a.m. and attempted a left turn into a private driveway. Parker turned in front of a 1999 Peterbilt tractor-trailer which was being driven westbound. The Peterbilt hit the right side of the rear trailer of the rig being driven by Parker, according to the report by WSP Trooper Michael Murphy.

SCHOOL START APPROACHES

First day of school at Colfax will be next Tuesday. The schedule begins with an all-staff meeting Monday. A school open house will begin Monday at 5:30 at Jennings and at 6:30 p.m. at Colfax High School and Junior High.

First school holiday will be Labor Day, Sept. 4, and a 12:30 p.m. early dismissal will be Sept. 8 for the Palouse Empire Fair.

REPORT PIT BULL ATTACK

A sheriff's deputy was assigned Saturday to investigate a report of an alleged pit bull bite sustained by a man on Scholz Road. The report of the animal bite was relayed to the sheriff's office at 11:12 a.m. by Whitman Hospital and Medical Center, where a man was undergoing treatment for the dog attack.

CRASH AT WORK SITE

A 16-year-old girl from Lewiston was injured on Highway 195 six miles north of Colfax Monday. Driving a 2012 Toyota Corolla northbound at 2:25 p.m., the girl collided with the back of a 2005 Subaru Legacy which had stopped on the highway for a construction flagger. Driver of the Legacy, Austin B. Petterson, East Wenatchee, was unhurt.

PASSING LANE PROJECT HOURS

In the week's listing of traffic cautions from the Department of Transportation District, the entry for the passing lanes project at Steptoe notes work hours now extend from 6 a.m until 6 p.m. Work is being done for the northbound lane north of Steptoe and the southbound lane south of Steptoe. Drivers are asked to be alert for pilot cars in the work zone.

FALL FROM CAR PROVES FATAL

A Lewiston man died early Sunday morning after he fell out the window of a vehicle while traveling along the Snake River near Blyton Landing. According to the report by Sheriff Brett Myers, John W. Ludwig, 46, Lewiston, was pronounced dead while he was being transported to St. Joseph's Regional Hospital in Lewiston.

Deputies and an ambulance crew responded at approximately 12:30 a.m. Sunday to the scene after receiving a report. The driver stopped after Ludwig fell out, called 911 and then attempted to revive him.

The vehicle was near Blyton Landing at the time of the fall, according to the Sheriff's report.

Ludwig is believed to have died of massive head injuries sustained when he went out the window and hit the roadway.

Ludwig was believed to be heavily intoxicated at the time he went out the window, according to the sheriff's report.

Sheriff Myers said the driver of the car was not believed to be impaired or driving recklessly when Ludwig fell out the window. The driver was not cited.

Family members have been notified of Ludwig’s death.

PULLMAN BYPASS

COLLISION

Drivers were unhurt in a collision Sunday afternoon at the Pullman bypass north of Pullman. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Ryan K. Gering, Kent, driving southbound in a 2002 Ford Explorer, turned into the left turn lane at the bypass and then turned left across the highway in the path of a 2011 GMC Yukon which was being driven northbound on Highway 195 by Valory Cillay, Pullman.

The Yukon hit the passenger side of the Explorer. Time of the accident was 1:30 p.m.

THREE IN

FAMILY BOOKED OVER WEEKEND

Three members of the Rhuby family at Steptoe were booked into jail over the weekend on pending charges. Megan Rhuby, 20, and Nicholas Rhuby, 23, were booked Sunday. Megan was arrested at Stevens Street in Steptoe and booked at 7:07 p.m. on a district court warrant issued for failure to appear on a third-degree theft charge. Bail amount for her was set at $5,050.

Nicholas Rhuby was booked on a district court warrant at 8 p.m. for failing to appear on a charge of rendering criminal assistance. Bail on that arrest was set at $2,550.

Colleen K. Rhuby, 53, was arrested Friday at Steptoe and booked at 7:14 p.m. on two district court warrants. One was failure to appear on a charge of driving while under the influence, and the second warrant was issued for failure to appear on a charge of driving with a suspended license. Total bail on those charges was set at $6,600.

Another family member, Ryan Rhuby, 30, is now serving a sentence in the jail on a conviction of driving while under the influence.