Bulletin Column

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.

CAR THEFT NETS PRISON TERM

Loran Thomas Bacon, Jr., 20, Spokane, was sentenced to 26 months in the state prison system Friday after he pleaded guilty in superior court to taking a motor vehicle without permission. A pre-sentence report included a long list of prior convictions in Spokane County, and Bacon was assigned an offender score of 10, which means he faced a sentencing range of 22 to 29 months.

Spokane County records were listed back to 2014, when he was convicted of car theft.

Bacon was arrested Aug. 18 after taking a 1995 Buick Regal from the parking lot at Safeway in Pullman. The missing Buick was spotted by Colfax Officer Perry Tate as it went through Colfax, and he and state troopers pulled the car over north of Colfax.

Bacon's father spoke on behalf of his son during the court session, but the judge decided to impose the 26-month sentence sought by the prosecutor's office.

LACROSSE DRIVER HITS DEER

Kathleen Parker, LaCrosse, was injured Saturday at 8:40 p.m. when the 2013 Toyota Corolla she was driving collided with a deer on Highway 195 12.2 miles north of Colfax. According to the report by Trooper Rob Aucutt, Parker was driving southbound and collided with the deer in the southbound lane.

BOOK FAIR UNDERWAY

Colfax Parent Teacher Organization is conducting its annual book fair this week in the library at Jennings Elementary. Hours will be 10:05 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and tonight, Thursday, from 6 to 8 p.m.

THIRTEEN ARTISTS ENTER

Thirteen local artists submitted a total of 33 entries for the "Inspired Palouse" competition by the Oct. 1 deadline, according to Debbie Stinson, president of the Colfax Arts Council. The entries will be juried this week and qualified works will go on exhibit at The Center in Colfax Oct. 21 through Nov. 17.

Most of the artists submitted entries in the final weeks leading up to the contest deadline.

The jury for the show includes Ryan Hardesty, WSU art museum coordinator; Carrie Vielle, Colfax Arts Council member and WSU art instructor, and Henry Stinson, Colfax artist and part-time art teacher at Colfax High School.

Artists were allowed to enter up to the three pieces that depict the Palouse region for the plein air-inspired exhibit. Artists were allowed to use all types of medium.

The Arts Council will award prizes of $300 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third. People attending the exhibit will be able to vote for the People's Choice winner, who will also receive a $100 prize.

A formal artists reception will be Nov. 17, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with an awards presentation starting at 6 p.m.

CITY REVISES ZONING CODE

Colfax city council members Monday night approved a project to correct an oversight which had been in the city's zone classifications for 22 years. The problem stems from the city council's move in 1996 to officially drop a designated service zone from the list on the city code books.

Councilman Jim Kackman explained Colfax, like most cities, uses a pyramid zone designation with the most restrictive zone, R-1 residential, at the top. The code then works down though subsequent zones with each zone allowing more uses. The lower zone designations include land uses which are cited for zones higher on the pyramid.

The flaw in the Colfax codes came when the city permitted uses for the commercial zone, and ones beneath it, that were first listed in the service zone which was no longer on the code books.

One example was the former Arby's, which was allowed in a commercial zone and approved for uses cited in the expunged service zone.

Monday night's action calls for permitted uses which have been cited from the long-gone service zone to be incorporated into described uses in the commercial zone.

Saturday's Paint the Town Pink golf tournament at the Colfax Golf Course raised $2,500, Police Chief Rick McNannay reported to the city council last night. Proceeds will go toward providing mammograms for women in need.

The tournament was sponsored by the Colfax Police Officers Association.

Colfax city crew members Monday painted pink ribbons at downtown street intersections, and pink flags have been mounted on the city light standards along Main Street.

WSU STUDENTS ON PROJECT TOUR

Eight WSU landscape architecture students toured Colfax Monday for the first part of a semester-long community improvement project. They will tour Colfax for approximately three hours starting at 1:30 p.m.

The students have slated a public meeting session Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon in Room A of the Public Service Building to hear ideas on community improvement. The Lake Street Greenway, trail connections, downtown revitalization, and parks improvements are among possible topics.

Bob Krikac, WSU associate design professor from Colfax who is active in the Downtown Association, can be contacted for additional information.

rkrikac@wssj.edu

WORK ZONE HOURS ON 195

Working hours on the Highway 195 passing lane projects are now Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., according to the weekly project report from the state Department of Transportation's district office in Spokane. The one project located in Whitman County is the Trestle Creek passing lane on the northbound side. That work zone on the south end starts at the Ralph Henning Road intersection at Thornton.

Other zones are in Spokane County north of the Babb Road overpass and in the Plaza area.

TRUCK ROBBERY CONVICTON

Anthony A. Henare, 24, was sentenced to six months in jail Friday morning in superior court after he pleaded guilty to a robbery conviction involving a truck at a grain elevator in Pullman. The charge against Henares was reduced from attempted robbery to robbery in the second degree.

According to the Pullman arrest report, an officer responded Aug. 18 to a reported theft of a grain truck at NE Park and NE State streets. The driver of the truck, Zarn Clausen, told the officer he was near the back of the truck when he heard the gears grinding. He discovered a man in the cab of the truck attempting to drive it.

Clausen said he reached into the truck to turn off the engine and was punched by the man in the cab, later identified as Henare. The suspect ran from the truck and was later found hiding next to a highway bank and arrested.

The report said Clausen received five stitches at the Pullman Hospital, where he was treated for an injury sustained resulting from the punch.

Henare was visiting the area from Jonesborough, Ga., and plans to return there. He was ordered to pay fines and fees plus $2,000 in restitution to Clausen.