Bulletin Column: April 5, 2018

Courthouse clock refurbished

The clock at the top of the Whitman County courthouse building is being tended to. Features of the clock's face on each side were pulled off last week by a private crew as part of refurbishing, to continue this week, awaiting better weather. Once finished, the clock will have the same look as before.

“It just takes some tender, loving care every once in awhile,” said Bill Tensfeld, county facilities management director.

BROWN BAIL SET AT $100,000

A $100,000 bond for pre-trial release of Kelly Brown, 35, Rosalia, was set at a first appearance in court Monday after he was arrested and booked into jail Sunday on a probable charge of taking a Rosalia ambulance from the fire station early Sunday morning. Brown, a former member of the Rosalia Fire Department, was booked into jail on probable charges of taking a motor vehicle without permission, burglary and malicious mischief.

Brown was arrested March 15 on charges of burglary and theft at Rosalia and drug possession. He was allowed pre-trial release on his own recognizance after those charges were filed. One of the standard requirements for a defendant allowed pre-trial release is that the suspect avoid additional criminal conduct.

According to an arrest report Monday, Rosalia Fire Chief Bill Tensfeld observed one of the department's ambulances driving southbound on Old Highway 195 while he was driving northbound Sunday morning.

The chief assumed he had missed an ambulance call and contacted a member of the department in town who said he wasn't aware of any call. The fireman went to the station and allegedly observed Brown arrive at the station and back the ambulance into its stall and leave.

The report said surveillance videos from cameras at the station showed a man entering the station at about 1 a.m and driving away in the ambulance. The report said the person on the video was wearing an old fire department coat which Brown was observed wearing when he arrived at the station and parked the ambulance nine hours later.

According to the arrest report, a button code device is used to lock the station, and members of the department enter by using the code.

In the March 15 case, the investigation report alleged equipment discovered missing from the fire station was among items allegedly pawned by Brown in Spokane.

MAYOR COMPARES CITY PAY

Mayor Todd Vanek Monday night presented city council members with a graph which compared Colfax city pay and revenue with those of other cities of the same general size on the east side of the state. The aim was to show how the Colfax city administrator's pay ranked with other cities in the same general size bracket.

Of the 12 towns listed in the same population range, Colfax rated second lowest in pay for the city's top job at $74,000, the annual pay figure set for Dodd Snodgrass who departed in early February.

Vanek believes the pay Colfax offers for the position fails to attract a pool of applicants who can meet the requirements of the job.

Dayton, a county seat city with about 279 fewer residents than Colfax, pays its city administrator $67,800, according to the chart. The highest pay for the 11 towns listed on the chart with an administrator was at $94,224 at Goldendale, which has about 600 more residents than Colfax. Chewelah, which has 200 fewer people than Colfax, ranked second at $93,408.

Vanek noted some of the towns on the list assign various tasks to their administrator positions.

Councilman Blaine Golden said he believes a little bit of luck can be involved in the hiring process. A bump in the pay scale could attract more qualified candidates, but the person hired could also wind up using the Colfax job as a stair step to a higher paying job in another town, he commented.

Councilman Jim Kackman pointed out the city pay has some "internal disparity" with the current pay for the police chief higher than the sum listed for the city administrator.

One number in the line of figures charted for Colfax was an estimated 3.5 percent drop in population over the last seven years.

MARCH RAINFALL LAGS

Precipitation for March at the Colfax NRCS gauge totaled 1.64 inches which is .39 of an inch short of the 2.03 normal for the month. The wettest day for March was .66 of an inch recorded March 19. Other wet days were .27 of an inch March 26 and .25 March 23. The month marked 11 days with precipitation.

WATER BILL BUMP AFTER READ

Colfax utility bills which hit the mail April 3 include sums due for actual water use over the last four months. City crew members conducted a first read of the meters after a four-month shutdown during the winter months.

City utility bills for water last month totaled $46,084 for the basic rate connection fee. After the meter reading of water used for the past four months, the bill total for the basic rate plus water used totals $75,043.

NORTH Rosalia 195 LINK CLOSED

The north Rosalia exit off Highway 195 near the Spokane County line has been closed during the bridge restoration project near the site. The bridge work north of Rosalia is underway on the span over the former Spokane and Inland rail line which came into Rosalia from Spring Valley.

Bridge restoration work is also being done on the 195 bridge just north of Steptoe and on three small bridges just north of the Highway 271 intersection south of Rosalia.

Traffic lights have been placed at the three bridge rehab sites to alternate one-way traffic on one side of the bridge while construction crews work on the opposite side. State reports note work at the bridge sites and at four passing lane sites could add as much as 20 minutes of travel time.

Northbound motorists who are considering using the old 195 route as a detour between Rosalia and Spangle will have to turn off 195 at the Highway 271 intersection (Oakesdale-Rosalia) and drive through Rosalia to access the old 195 route north of Rosalia. The old 195 route connects back to Highway 195 just north of Spangle.

N.A. Degerstrom has the contract for the bridge work at $2.075 million.

HIT & RUN DRIVER SENTENCED

Allison Goss-Goal was sentenced to a year in jail with all but two days suspended after she pleaded guilty Friday in Superior Court to hit and run of an attended vehicle and reckless endangerment. The charges involve the Oct. 26 accident in which she hit Jim Thompson of Colfax who was working for Pullman Disposal.

Goss-Goal had been scheduled for an April 16 trial on a hit and run charge involving an injury accident, a felony offense. The charge was subsequently reduced to the two misdemeanor charges which she admitted Friday.

Court Commissioner David Frazier said Goss-Goal received a break with a plea bargain which dropped the charges to misdemeanors. He said he believed in this case the reduction was justified, but he still ordered the defendant to serve two days in jail.

Thompson was hit on B Street in Pullman near where it intersects with Stadium Way. He had crossed the street to get a garbage can and was hit by the car as he turned to go back across the street. He was taken to Pullman Hospital where it was determined he had sustained a fracture in his leg.

Robert Cossey, Spokane attorney who represented Goss-Goal, said she panicked and drove away after the car she was driving hit Thompson.

The defendant's mother also testified on her behalf. She said her daughter from the start admitted she had caused the accident.

In pronouncing the sentence, Commissioner Frazier suggested Goss-Goal reverse roles in the accident and consider how she would feel after being the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

Goss-Goal, who has left school and is now working, was ordered to pay $250 a month for fines and fees. She was also placed on two years of unsupervised probation.

She was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to Thompson and $700 in costs and fees.

SPANGLE DRIVER INJURED

William R. Crump, 38, Spangle, was flown by Life Flight helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane from the scene of an accident at mile 80 of Highway 195. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Crump was driving a 1986 Nissan pickup truck north at 10:45 p.m. Friday when the truck went off the highway and rolled several times. He was ejected from the vehicle.

SENTENCED TO STATE PRISON

Orville Johnson, 27, was sentenced to 15 months in prison Friday in Superior Court after he admitted charges of trafficking in stolen property and being in possession of stolen property.

Deputy Prosecutor Merritt Decker told the court Johnson's case involved his taking items from the Walmart at Moscow and bringing them to the return desk at the Walmart in Pullman.

Johnson, who was reported to be homeless, had an offender rating of four with three prior burglary convictions, two in Snohomish County and one in Skagit County.

Deputy Tyler Langerfeld, who initially arrested Johnson on an outstanding warrant, reported observing toy pellet rifles and pistols in the vehicle occupied by Johnson. Many of the items were in packaging for shelf displays.

Johnson told the court he was under the influence of drugs at the time. He said he intended to shake his drug habit while serving his time in prison.

A third charge of burglary was dismissed.