Bulletin Column: May 16, 2019

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.

FIRST THURSDAY POSTINGS

Colfax Chamber of Commerce First Thursdays have been scheduled for June 6, Aug. 1 and Oct. 3. Sammy Eubanks will return for the June 6 show with music starting at 6:30 p.m.

The Hankers from Oakesdale will be back to perform for the Aug. 1 edition of First Thursday.

For the Oct. 3 event, the chamber plans to again feature a beer run event which debuted last year. Music will be provided by a D.J.

Other attractions will be late store hours, street vendors and a beer garden which will open at 5:30 p.m.

One unique event June 6 will be a chance to paint one of the Art Council's fish cutouts which will be mounted on the S. Palouse River channel fence along the former UP railroad. The fish painting will take place in The Center.

A First Thursday is not booked for July because of the Fourth of July, which is on the first Thursday of the month this year, and September, because of the Palouse Empire Fair.

DRUG COURT FOR CAR RENTAL SUSPECT

Jessica Reudink, 35, Maple Valley, a suspect who was first booked into jail Oct. 19 for allegedly attempting to rent a car at Enterprise Rentals in Spokane under another person's name, was allowed admission into drug court Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.

Reudink had been arrested April 20 in Pierce County after a warrant for her arrest was issued when she failed to make an appearance in court here. She was booked into jail here May 1.

Reudink was charged with identification theft, possession of a stolen credit card, possession of methamphetamine and making a false statement to an officer.

The Pullman Police investigation report said the woman whose name she had attempted to use to rent the car had reported to police that her garage had previously been burglarized. She said someone was "destroying" her credit by opening new credit card accounts with her identification taken from the garage. The Pullman report said credit cards and checks belonging to others were also found in a search of Reudink's possessions after her arrest at Pullman.

Reudink will be required to attend monthly drug court reporting sessions at the court here, undergo counseling and attend drug treatment sessions. She was also required to provide a treatment report and plan that can be used to determine if she adheres to the program while in drug court.

She was also ordered to pay $200 in reimbursement to the victim of the garage break-in and fraudulent car rental attempt.

Reudink was ordered to return to court Friday for her first monthly review session.

BAYONET CITED IN ASSAULT CASE

One charge of second-degree assault, involving alleged threats with a two-foot bayonet, and three charges of fourth-degree assault were filed Monday in superior court against Uriah Rummer, 20, Albion. The alleged assaults carried domestic violence tags involving family members.

The arrest report by Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Chapman said he responded to the Rummer home in Albion at 10:05 a.m. Friday. Rummer's sister said she was pushed down by the suspect, who vowed to attack her with the bayonet if she attempted to report the assault.

She said she went out of the house with her two small children and called the report in to the sheriff's office. Rummer also allegedly hit his father with a piece of a broken chair and pushed his mother.

He was ordered to surrender any weapons and a permit for a concealed pistol and not contact his sister, father or mother. Bond for pre-trial release was set at $25,000 surety.

BIG ROCK HITS MAIN

A basalt rock which stopped one lane of traffic Monday morning, hit Main Street and blocked the southbound lane next to the curb, according to Colfax Officer Perry Tate. He estimated the rock weighed 300 to 400 pounds.

Tate said the big rock left a 10 to 15-foot skid mark in the lane before it came to a stop about 60 feet north of the Canyon Street intersection. The skid mark indicated the rock had fallen off a truck or trailer.

Colfax city crew removed the rock.

RIVER DRUG ARREST SENTENCE

Steve Wysoki, 21, Moscow, pleaded guilty Friday in superior court to an amended charge of solicitation to possess methamphetamine and was sentenced to 30 days in jail with credit for time already served.

Wysoki was allowed release because he had already served 22 days in jail since he was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear for a court hearing after he was charged.

He was a passenger in a car which was stopped on Wawawai Road along the Snake River downstream from Clarkston. Deputy Tyler Langerfeld in his arrest report said he stopped the car after observing it cross the center line of River Road.

The deputy suspected the presence of drugs in the car which was occupied by two 16-year-olds, the driver who is 17 and Wysoki.

The report said a Calvin Klein glass case found in the car which linked to Wysoki contained a pipe with methamphetamine residue.

ST. IGNATIUS SALE FILED

Official close of the trustee's sale of the former St. Ignatius Hospital building back to its previous owners was logged last Tuesday in the county treasurer's office. Elizabeth Tellessen, attorney for the Spokane law firm of Winston and Cashatt, filed the affidavit which listed return of the hospital and grounds to Anthony Girges and Marianne Salib of Downey, Calif. Amount listed was $128,718, the sum said due to creditors under terms of the sale agreement. The amount was cited as the amount sought for a minimum bid at the public auction at the courthouse here April 12.

Girges and Salib sold the building and grounds in May of 2017 to Derrick Fincher, 48, Spokane Valley. The sale was placed with the Spokane law firm serving as trustee.

Fincher was convicted in federal court in Spokane last Sept. 13 of swindling more then $2 million from three investors.

The trustee's filing here indicated Fincher had made payments under terms of the sale, but fell behind with $90,000 said due on the sale agreement at the time the trustee filed notice of sale. Interest and penalties plus costs incurred by the trustee were included in the sum due.

The $128,718 was cited as the minimum bid for the April 12 public sale, but the property failed to get a bid from the small group of spectators which showed up for the sale.

COLLEGE HILL CHASE NETS JAIL

Gabriel Dombrique, 25, Pullman, was sentenced to a week in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty in superior court to a charge of attempting to elude an officer March 23 on College Hill in Pullman. Dombrique was credited with the two days he was in jail after his arrest.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy originally added an enhancement factor to the charges which alleged the short chase on College Hill endangered one or more people other than the suspect and the pursuing officer. The arrest report noted pedestrians are numerous late at night in the residential section of Pullman.

In his arrest report, Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Langerfeld said he had stopped facing westbound on Colorado Street at the intersection with Opal Street. He reported he observed a vehicle driving eastbound with taillights that did not work.

Langerfeld said he turned his patrol car around in an attempt to make a stop, but the the car instead sped up. The vehicle made a turn onto Monroe Street at approximately 40 miles-an-hour and then turned onto Linden, a one-way street. The car was headed in the wrong direction. The suspect's vehicle stopped facing a vehicle which had been driving the right way on Linden. Dombrique underwent a breathalyzer test during the arrest and returned a reading of .05 blood alcohol content which is below the level for intoxication.

Defense attorney Michael Pettit of Pullman said Dombrique is a graduate of Washington State University and is now employed by the university. Dombrique told the court the whole episode had given him renewed respect for the law and he promised to make an effort to be a better citizen.

He was allowed to serve the remaining five days of his sentence on weekends.

SKUNK ASSIST AT PARK

Colfax Officer Corey Alcantar responded at 7:50 a.m. Friday to a report of a skunk which was walking along Park Street with its head stuck in a jar. Alcantar later reported he had located the skunk and requested the assistance of a state game officer to deal with the situation.

Whitcom later reported the request had been relayed to the Washington State Patrol, but Alcantar called back and advised the jar had been removed from the skunk's head.

Alcantar said he used a raincoat for protection and herded the animal.

He credited neighborhood residents Ben Davis and Dean Ellis with assisting at the scene, which was at the wide parking area at the top end of Park Street.

He reported the skunk appeared to be tired and moving slowly,

The vision-impaired skunk went under a car and then came out, and Davis was able to reach around the front of the car and pull the mayonnaise jar off the skunk's head. The rescue trio reported the skunk appeared to be too tuckered to spray them.

NEW CHARGE AGAINST NOEL GREEN

Ashley Noel Green, 25, the Pullman woman who reportedly left a container of heroin in another female inmate's cell before departing the jail on pre-trial release, was back in court Friday to face a new charge related to the incident. Noel Green was charged May 1 with delivery of heroin at the jail April 26.

Prior to the alleged jail incident, she had been allowed pre-trial release to be placed in the custody of her mother. Judge Gary Libey Friday allowed Noel Green to be released on $1,000 cash bond and to reside with her mother in Pullman.

Judge Libey noted Noel Green now faces three charges in court here in a pattern of behavior which indicates drug addiction.

He pointed out the $1,000 bail, which the defendant expects to be posted by her mother, will be forfeited if she violates conditions of pre-trial release.

APRIL RAINS CLOSE GAP

Heavy rains at the start of April closed the gap on the precipitation lag for the year with more than double the normal rainfall for the month. April finished with a total of 3.37 inches of precipitation, compared to a monthly average of 1.56.

The 1.87 gain offset a 2.13 shortage in precipitation after the first quarter of the year.

The NRCS chart shows April's comeback month was actually logged in the first half of the month with only .19 inches recorded in the last two weeks of the month.

The last four months of 2018 finished with a 2.45 total shortage in precipitation.