Bulletin: Nov. 9, 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.

POLICE TO DROP 24-HOUR COVERAGE

Cutbacks in the Colfax Police Department will mean an end to 24-hour police coverage at the start of the new year. The 2018 police budget has eliminated one of five patrol officers. That slot has been vacant since the resignation of Officer Grant Silver.

The coverage between 2 and 7 a.m. will be dropped.

Police coverage will be for two shifts beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 2 a.m. Police Chief Rick McNannay said he anticipates the department will also have unfilled shifts during remaining coverage hours when officers take vacation time.

One factor in the round-the-clock coverage loss is the reduction of revenue from the hospital, which had been bolstering the department's payroll with $50,000 over three years payment agreement.

The sum has been reduced to $10,000 on the new contract.

The agreement evolved when the hospital encountered security problems in the emergency room.

Mayor Todd Vanek Monday night noted the original agreement with the hospital involved security training at the hospital, and that goal has been accomplished.

Chief McNannay said many of the overnight responses by the police department are backup calls for ambulance and fire volunteers who are called in the early morning hours. That kind of early morning support can be expected to cease in the new budget year.

The chief told the council he is already assigning priority to requests for police responses. Such calls as dog and noise complaints drop down the priority list when officers get calls for domestic violence and potential felony crimes.

Financial director Chris Mathis said the city is looking at a deficit of approximately $35,000 in the 2018 general fund budget at this point. The parks department has a $20,000 deficit.

She noted the city has projected a drop of about $150,000 in revenue for 2018. Revenue for this year has failed to meet projections, with one of the big drops coming from reduction in traffic fines.

Councilwoman Jeannette Solimine Monday night questioned what the reaction time would be in the event of a 911 call for domestic violence in Colfax if it was received in the early morning hours when an officer is not on duty. McNannay noted the response time could be in the range of 15 to 20 minutes.

One of the related problems is the number of officers on the police force who reside out of town. That situation could lead to a delay in response time for a situation in the early mornings in Colfax.

The city's spending budget for this year totaled $3,664,966 and the revenues were projected at $3,504,929. The budget was balanced with anticipated reserves, according to Mathis. The revenue projection for 2017 is falling short of the projected number.

Earlier in Monday night's council session, City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass pointed out the Colfax school bond proposal, a school levy proposal and the library district proposal to lift the state revenue lid are all expected to be on the ballot in February.

At the previous council session, the council discussed a possible move to generate funds in the park department. Mathis reported the park budget shortages are close to being resolved with some expenses transferred to other departments.

The parks budget has no capital spending listed for next year.

Councilwoman Sarah McKnight suggested the city at some point could be headed down a path followed by Dayton, a town of about the same size. Dayton has merged in city police and fire departments with county and rural departments.

COLFAX

MALICIOUS

MISCHIEF

Kyle B. Nance, 21, Colfax, was booked into jail at 8:15 a.m. Sunday on a charge of malicious mischief. According to the arrest report by Officer Matt Malakowsky, Nance is suspected of damaging fences and a vehicle on S. Mill Street and the 100 block of E. Thorn Street. Total damage estimate was listed at $2,000 in the arrest report.

Sunday morning's arrest followed reports of fences and one real estate sign being damaged. The arrest report said one of the victims reported he had a surveillance video that showed the suspect walking north on Mill Street.

The report said articles of clothing and identification papers were found in the East Wawawai Street neighborhood where Nance resides. Other occupants at the residence said Nance became upset and was raging when he departed the residence. Residents of the neighborhood heard yelling about the time the fences and the signs were damaged.

The report said Nance is also suspected of damaging a car located across from the house where he resided on Wawawai.

Nance was arrested at a house on Park Street where he had apparently spent the night.

He was allowed release on his own recognizance after a first appearance in superior court Monday morning. He was ordered not to have contact with two of the victims listed in the investigation report.

GOULET

TO CHALLENGE MARY DYE

Jennifer Goulet, Pasco Democrat, Monday announced she plans to challenge Ninth District Rep. Mary Dye in the 2018 legislative election race. Goulet is chairwoman of the Franklin County Democrats.

Her news release said she wants to be part of the solution to what she described as the damage extreme partisanship has done to the country, according to a report in the Tuesday Lewiston Tribune.

Goulet received 46 percent of the vote in Whitman County last Nov. when Rep. Dye, who was appointed to office, was on the ballot for a special election term. Dye plans to run for a two-year term in the 2018 general election.

Goulet's 46 percent return in Whitman County, which was the only eastern Washington county to vote on the Democratic side for the presidential election, had the strongest return for her campaign.

WSU

VETERANS CEREMONY

The WSU Student Veterans Committee will host its annual Veterans Day Ceremony on the WSU-Pullman campus today, Nov. 9, starting at 11:50 a.m. at the top of the Terrell Mall, outside of the CUB. A flag procession and bagpipers will lead a procession down the mall to the Veterans Memorial where a short program will be conducted. The ceremony is expected to conclude by 12:30 p.m., according to Blaine Golden of the WSU Office of Veterans Affairs.

Golden, who resides in Colfax, is one of four unopposed candidates for Colfax City Council on the current general election ballot.

INJURY

ACCIDENT IN SNOWSTORM

Elizabeth Rawls, Garfield, was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital from the scene of an accident at the intersection of Airport Road and Highway 26 west of Colfax in snowing conditions Saturday at 8:25 p.m.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Isle E. Raftery, Seattle, was driving a 2001 Subaru Legacy on Airport Road approaching the Highway 26 intersection. The Legacy entered the intersection and struck the passenger side of a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse which was being driven eastbound by Lawrence K. Rawls of Garfield.

--Saturday, Sheriff's deputies responded to two accidents on Hume Road. One was reported at the Scholz Road intersection at 3:51 p.m. and the second accident was at the Imler Road intersection at 4:47 p.m.

An ambulance crew responded to both accidents, but neither turned out to involve an injury.

--A Colfax ambulance crew responded at 7:22 Monday morning to an accident south of the S curves on Highway 195 near the Hinnenkamp access road. A pickup truck slid off the highway and came to a halt on its side down an embankment. The driver was not hurt.

--A sheriff's deputy at 5:38 p.m. Saturday responded to a report of an injured deer which was on Buck Canyon grade north of Colfax. The deer was dispatched.

BROWN JOINS Colfax FIRE

DEPARTMENT

David Brown of Spokane has been hired to fill one of the openings in the Colfax Fire Department. Brown is a graduate of the fire science program at Spokane Community College and has served as a volunteer with the Deer Park Fire Department. He is a member of the 2012 class of Shadle Park High School.

DENNIS COX

SENTENCED

TO 51 MONTHS

Dennis E. Cox, 59, Pullman, was sentenced to 51 months Friday afternoon on a conviction for third degree rape of a child, child molestation and incest. Cox pleaded guilty to the three charges and was remanded to the jail at that time.

The charges were among seven listed in amended information which was filed with the court.

The charges related to alleged incidents which occurred between Dec. 1 of last year and July 24 of this year.

Cox was the former proprietor of Baskin-Robbins in Pullman.

INMATE RELEASED TO GRANDMA

Dempsey White, 20, Toppenish resident who was arrested Sept. 14 in a drug arrest in Colfax, was released to the custody of his grandparents after he pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of possession of methamphetamine. White was sentenced to 50 days in jail with credit for time served since his arrest and allowed to go home with his grandparents.

He was ordered to undergo evaluation for drug addiction and comply with treatment recommendations. A second charge of obstructing was dropped as part of a plea bargain agreement.

White's grandmother said the Yakama Tribe has a drug treatment program and vowed she would see that he enrolls. She said White was raised in the tribe's culture, but somehow got off the track. She said they traveled from Yakima to the court session here to show White they have a lot of love for him and support him.

She said in the days before White was arrested she cautioned him not to travel with the other suspects in the case.

Defense Attorney John Hart said White's case was another example of somebody being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

White was one of three people arrested Sept. 14 in Colfax after drug debris was found in the room where they had been staying at the Siesta Motel. The arrest report said a needle loaded with methamphetamine was found on his person during a pat down search.

A second charge of obstructing against White was dropped Friday as part of a plea bargain agreement. Arrest reports said White at the time ran away from the arrest scene, but was later apprehended at a shop across Main Street near Ace Hardware.

Mitchel Jim, 45, who was a passenger in the car which White was driving and departed from the motel when officers arrived on the scene, was convicted of assault of an officer and possession of methamphetamine. Jim, who has an extensive criminal record, was sentenced to 22 months in prison.

A compliance review for White was scheduled for March 16.

SCHOOL

VETERANS’ ASSEMBLY

All veterans and their families are invited to the Colfax school assembly today, Thursday, Nov. 9, at 9 a.m. in the Colfax High School gymnasium. The program will be open to the public.

HOW MUCH CAME THROUGH

THE DOOR

Whitman County Treasurer Mark Clinton reported a total of $2,352,764 in taxes was paid on the Oct. 31 deadline. The county has collected $45,384,091 of its tax billings for the year.

Clinton noted $6,631,276 of the year's tax bill remains uncollected.

After Oct. 31, a one percent fee is added for late payment through November, and after November an eight percent penalty is attached to overdue tax payments.

Clinton noted the $6,631,276 in unpaid taxes after the Oct. 31 deadline is actually below what is normally outstanding as of the deadline.

OCTOBER RAIN ABOVE

NORMAL

Records at the Colfax NRCS office show precipitation for October totaled 2.17 inches. Top day for precipitation during the month was 1.08 recorded on Oct. 13.

The last day of rain for the month was Oct. 23, with .64 before the string of sunny days that closed out the month. Other days of recorded precipitation were .08 on Oct. 4, .12 on Oct. 10, .06 on Oct. 12, .14 on Oct. 19 and .05 on Oct. 20.

The 2.17 exceeds the l.52 average of October precipitation.