Bulletin Column: Sept. 21, 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.

CITY BUYS

FIRE TRUCK

Colfax Fire Department has purchased a 1994 Pierce fire truck from the City of Keizer, Ore. Chief Craig Corbeill reported to the city council Monday night that the truck has already been placed on duty.

The truck replaces the 1980 four-wheel drive truck which has been the city's backup truck. That truck has failed to meet pumping pressure requirements and was one of the drawbacks in the city's fire rating .

Corbeill told the city council the Pierce truck from Keizer is close to a model match for the city's 2006 Pierce, which is the city's number one truck. That means equipment pieces and parts match up for the two trucks.

Corbeill said he saw the truck advertised in a newsletter which is mailed out to chiefs. The truck was purchased for $32,500 which came out of a reserve account that the department has been building up to purchase new equipment. Advertised price for the truck was $40,000, but Corbeill, who went to Keizer to check out the truck, learned the department there was allowed to sell down to $32,500 and made that cash offer which was accepted.

The Oregon truck is painted Colfax High School colors, yellow with wide blue stripes, and the department is considering adding a Bulldog logo design to one of the back equipment panels.

The truck already joined in responses last week to a deck fire on Upper A Street and a grease spill fire on Lake Street.

The department expects to sell the 1980 truck, possibly via auction, Corbeill reported. The truck was originally purchased jointly by Colfax and Rural Fire District 11, but the rural district board has since waived its ownership interest, Corbeill said.

STATE TO TRY AGAIN FOR

195-26

FUNDING

City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass told the city council Monday night that the state will try again for a federal TIGER grant to fund a redo of the intersection of Highways 26 and 195 at the north end of Colfax. The project proposal failed to land a grant in the last funding cycle, but the Eastern Washington District of the Department of Transportation plans to submit another application.

The prior state proposal sought $6 million in TIGER funding to combine with $2 million in state highway funds.

TIGER stands for Transportation Improvement Grant for Economic Recovery.

Snodgrass said it was his understanding three grants will be awarded in each of two classifications, urban and rural.

Mayor Todd Vanek told the council he believes the state stands a better chance of gaining approval on its grant after competing in the previous round of applicants.

The poor condition of the two bridges at the intersection is a factor in the funding application. Rehab work which had been scheduled to be done this year was delayed by the DOT until next year.

Revision of the intersection into a straight T configuration with one bridge has been proposed. Also, DOT officials at a workshop earlier this year reported a traffic circle pattern, also using one bridge to link with Main Street, has been considered for the intersection.

THREE DRUG SUSPECTS JAILED

Three drug suspects were arrested on drug charges by Colfax Police Thursday morning. Chief Rick McNannay said officers were advised that the trio had left drug use debris in the room where they had stayed at the Siesta Motel. They were stopped by Officer Joe Handley as they were backing out of a parking space at the motel.

Arrested and jailed were Demsey White, 20, Nicole Patton, 19, and Mitchel Jim, 45, all of Toppenish.

During the arrest, White ran across Main Street from the motel but was later arrested at Ace Hardware. The report said a syringe with methamphetamine was found during a search of White.

Jim was arrested after he allegedly threw a baggie, which was later found to contain meth, out of the car in the parking lot.

Patton allegedly was found with a bag of crystal shards in the back seat.

According to the report, White and Patton said Jim was enroute to Kamiah to sell meth. The report said he had supplied them with the meth they allegedly had in their possession.

Formal charges have not been filed as of Monday.

WHEELCHAIR MISHAP SAID FATAL

A fractured spine caused by a wheelchair mishap was the cause of death of Frances Irene Winters, 96, Pullman, according to a finding issued Thursday by Coroner Peter Martin. Winters died June 15 at Pullman Regional Hospital after being injured while she was being transported in a specially equipped van from Bishop Place to the hospital.

The wheelchair became unsecured, and Winters fell backwards and struck her head and neck causing a fractured C spine with a spinal cord contusion. Martin said she died at the hospital five days after she was injured in the van.

The manner of death was determined to be accidental.

DRUG ARREST IN COLFAX

Two Spokane men were arrested early Thursday, Sept. 14, by Colfax Officer Cory Alcantar and deputies who responded to a report of two suspicious males at Cougar Food Mart. Arrested were Thandean Hammel, 27, and Randall S. MacLeod, 34, both on probable charges of possession of heroin.

According to Alcantar's arrest report, he was called to the mart at 1:49 a.m. by the store clerk. The two men had made a lengthy stop at the store and left a 1994 Saturn parked at one of the pumps.

The report said the two consented to a search of the vehicle and a heroin kit was found on the passenger side where Hammel had been sitting. MacLeod allegedly handed over two drug pipes, one with methamphetamine residue and one with heroin residue.

Bond for release of Hammel was set at $25,000, and bond for MacLeod was set at $10,000.

ALLEGED CAR THEFT AT TEKOA

Patricia D. Frost, 21, Spokane, has been summoned to appear in court Sept. 29 after charges of taking a vehicle without permission were filed against her by the prosector's office. The deputy's investigation report said Elissa Hardison of Post Falls reported a 2000 Volkswagen Passat which she owned was taken from a residence in Tekoa last May 22 and is believed to have been driven to Spokane by Frost. The car's owner said the Passat was being used by another Tekoa resident.

The report alleged Frost left a note which said she was going to get cigarettes and never returned.

According to the account, Frost was believed to have struck a garage building in Tekoa at the time she departed.

The account said deputies received a tip that Frost had driven the Passat to Madras, Ore., but police there were unable to locate it. The car was eventually found Aug. 16 in an alley in Spokane. The car had been stripped.

DRUG DEATH FINDING

Acute drug intoxication was listed as the cause for the death of Kristin Joy Coe-Dotts, 30, Garfield, in a report issued Sept. 14 by Coroner Peter Martin. She died June 6 at her residence in Garfield.

The report said the intoxication was due to the combined effects of methamphetamine, fluoxetine, paroxetine and diphenhydramine. The report said Coe-Dotts had a history of drug use.

The manner of death was determined to be accidental.

THREE TOWNS RECEIVE

BLOCK GRANTS

Three Whitman County towns were among 23 recipients listed Monday by the State Department of Commerce to receive Community Development Block Grants for 2017. La Crosse was awarded $24,000 for a water system improvement plan; Rosalia $734,665 for water mains, service lines, and meter boxes, and Tekoa $750,000 for wastewater lift station improvements.