Bulletin Column: Nov. 1, 2018

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.

INSPIRED Palouse ART WINNERS

Prize winners for the Inspired Palouse exhibit, now on display at The Center in Colfax, were announced Monday. The entrants in the Colfax Arts Council contest were rated by a panel of judges.

The $300 first place prize went to Gayle Havercroft of Spokane, who entered a block print and watercolor wash. The $200 second-place prize went to Mike Herpel of Pullman, with a wall sculpture made of driftwood, and the $100 third-place prize went to Kristin Repp of LaCrosse, for a photograph of a winter scene.

Winner of the People's Choice award will be announced at a reception for the artists Nov. 17 from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at The Center. Viewers of the exhibit can list their nominee for the award over the next two weeks.

ALBION MAN DIES IN CRASH

Friday at approximately 7 a.m., Whitman County deputies and EMS personnel from Fire District 12 and crews from Pullman Fire responded to a single vehicle accident on Pullman-Albion Road just west of Brayton Road. Once on scene, crews located the vehicle, a 2005 Honda Accord, down a ravine off the westbound side of the roadway. It was determined that the driver of the vehicle, identified as Drake Monetenegro, 19, Albion, was deceased, according to a report from Sheriff Brett Myers.

Investigators believe Monetenegro was traveling westbound on Albion Road during the overnight hours when the vehicle left the roadway and collided with a power pole.

Whitman County Coroner Annie Pillers Monday issued a cause which said Montenegro sustained massive head and chest injuries.

Manner of death was ruled accidental.

TWO DEER ACCIDENTS

Bobby J. Chason, Jr., Lewiston, was unhurt Friday when the 2002 Honda Accord he was driving collided with a deer one mile north of Colton on Highway 195. He was driving northbound at 7:23 a.m. when the deer ran into the northbound lane of the highway.

--Robert Mason, Oakesdale, was unhurt when the 2015 Chevrolet Cruse he was driving collided with a deer Oct. 23 on Highway 195, 6.9 miles south of Colfax. He was driving southbound at 9:37 p.m. when the deer ran into the southbound lane of traffic.

NANCE FAILS TO COMPLY

Kyle Nance, 24, Colfax resident who was convicted June 15 for vandalism outside the Siesta Motel on Main Street, was assigned a 60-day suspended jail sentence Friday in superior court after he admitted he has failed to comply with terms of his original sentence. Nance was jailed Oct. 19 after he was arrested on a warrant which was issued after he failed to appear for a Sept. 26 compliance hearing.

Nance was sentenced to seven days in jail last June. He said after the jail term he lost his place of residence and was unable to find a job.

Nance was ordered last June to pay $2,319 in restitution to the motel plus fines and fees as part of a conviction for malicious mischief outside the motel last November.

Friday he also admitted he failed to undergo an evaluation for alcoholism which was ordered last June.

Judge Gary Libey credited Nance for $88 a day for last week's stay in jail and ordered him to get the alcoholism evaluation done by the end of the year. The judge also reduced the monthly rate of his payments to $25 a month.

Nance was convicted of damaging a rose bush and siding at the motel and was apprehended after he was identified on surveillance video taken at the scene.

WSU FOOTBALL LORE ON MAIN

The WSU football flag display in front of Colfax Body Repair on Main Street is mounted on the former rolling cage which once housed a live Butch the Cougar on the Washington State University campus.

At one time, the university actually housed a live cougar on the campus near the present location of the Butch statue outside Martin Stadium.

On game days, Butch was transferred into the trailer, and he was towed around the stadium by the WSU Butchmen after Cougar touchdowns.

Al Kirkpatrick of Colfax, a 1975 WSU grad, served as one of the Butchmen and at one time helped care for the animal. He believes the live Butch remained on campus for three to four years after he departed.

The unused trailer was purchased by Gary Libey and restored and stored by Scott Pittman of Colfax Body Repair.

Pittman noted he actually has a Cougar which was stuffed by a taxidermist, but it is too big to place inside the cage. At one time he placed the stuffed Cougar on top of the cage, and that generated a lot of attention on Main Street.

TWO WRECKS ON CF GRADE

Marlene Vargas de Leon, College Place, sustained a possible injury Sunday morning when she lost control of a 1998 Toyota Corolla that rolled into the ditch along Highway 127 about a mile up the Central Ferry grade on Highway 127.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving southbound at 10:30 a.m. when the Corolla went into a rotational slide and when off the highway to the right and rolled. It came to a halt on the passenger side.

--Taylor R. Prince, Pomeroy, was unhurt last Thursday when he lost control of a 2000 Toyota Avalon on Highway 127 on the grade. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Prince was driving southbound down the grade at 8:52 p.m. and lost control of the Avalon while rounding a curve. The Avalon slid sideways across the oncoming lane and went over an embankment before coming to a stop on its wheels near mile 15, approximately three miles up the grade.

INVITATION TO VETERANS

All veterans and their families are invited to Jennings Elementary to participate in an assembly to honor veterans on Friday, Nov. 9, at 9 a.m. in the JES old gymnasium. The public is also invited. The invitation is extended by the student leadership team.

BALLOT RETURNS AT SIX PERCENT

Return ballot count for the general election as of Oct. 24 totaled 1,564 or approximately six percent of the 25,085 reportedly issued in the mail Oct. 19. The elections office will receive ballots up until the official close of the polls at 8 p.m. Nov. 6.

Ballots are being processed for the first count which will be issued after the polls close.