Bulletin Column: July 18, 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.

CITY STOP LIGHT REVIEW

Downtown stoplights turned out to become one of the impromptu topics at Monday night's Colfax city council session. Councilwoman Crystal Christopherson asked if the automatic sensor controls to switch the traffic light at Main and Canyon no longer functioned.

She posed the question after a Richland truck driver who was descending the Canyon Street hill into Colfax in a runaway semi tractor and trailer reported the traffic light was red when he approached the intersection. Driver Ken Melhorn opted to roll across Main and turned into the west alley where the runaway truck came to a stop with the trailer on is side.

City council members noted the state had removed the automatic signal system which had been part of a state move to improve safety at the intersection below the Palouse Highway grade entry into Colfax.

Another change was installation of a pullout lane at the top of the hill east of the Cemetery Road intersection where truckers are advised to pull over and check their brakes.

State DOT officials asked the city for a comment on a plan to remove the automatic senors, and the city replied they wanted to keep them, but left it up to the state to decide and they were subsequently removed.

Melhorn after the early morning accident said he considered turning the runaway load of hay onto Main Street, but couldn't be sure about what traffic might be approaching the intersection.

City council members Monday night also expressed surprise that the two masked stoplights over the west segment of Spring Street had been removed by the state DOT. The lights had been masked when the city opted to convert the east block on Spring Street to a one-way street eastbound. That eliminated the need for the traffic lights to control westbound traffic.

Council members noted that the city has asked the DOT to keep the lights in place in the event they decided to convert Spring Street back to a two-way street.

WHO OWNS SOUTH F STREET?

Status of the short section of south F Street, which intersects with the south side of Highway 195 as it enters Colfax, was discussed at Monday night's Colfax City Council session. Ben Miller, who uses F Street for access to his residence, contends the street belongs to the city and repairs should be made.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer presented council members with a 1940 plat map which has F marked as vacated. Hammer later said since he began working for the city in 1997 city crews have regarded F street as vacated.

Miller said nothing in the legal description of his property includes a strip of what would be F Street.

Hammer and Interim City Manager Chris Mathis reported on extensive research undertaken to determine whether the street was ever formally vacated.

Councilman Jim Kackman noted city action to vacate a street might not be subsequently picked up in the official descriptions of properties adjoining the street.

Council members decided to review legal descriptions of other adjoining properties to determine if they might include portions of F Street which have been vacated.

Miller said one big reason F Street has deteriorated is settling of earth which was placed over a water line which was installed by the city.

Miller and Sarina Roberts are candidates for city council seat five which is being vacated by Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen, They will be on the November election ballot.

COWS, CHICKENS EYE MAIN

Faces of cows and chickens look out from the windows of the PNW storage building in the 600 block of N. Main Street for the next edition of Jim Fitzgerald's photography collages being placed on buildings facing Main St. Keith Becker of PNW made the space available for the display.

Two more windows at the Rose Theater have also been completed as a feature for the Perkins House Museum.

Colfax building owners who are interested in this project are encouraged to contact Fitzgerald.

WHILE HE WAS IN JAIL

Virginia B. Merguerin, 40, Pullman, was sentenced to three months in jail Friday after pleading guilty to one charge of forgery and one charge of making false statement to a public official.

According to an investigation report, Merguerin was charged with forging a $500 check Nov., 8 last year on the account of Charlie Mertel who formerly resided with her in Pullman. Mertel had been in jail after he was arrested Nov. 2 on a allegation of harassment which was reported by Merguerin. He was convicted in district court.

The officer's investigation report said he accompanied Mertel on a civil standby after he was released from jail to recover Mertel's 2005 Nissan Pathfinder and personal property from the residence.

The report said Mertel couldn't find the car at Merguerin's residence and it was later located when they searched locations where she was known to visit.

The report said later officers learned Merguerin attempted to change the title of the Pathfinder with false emails Nov. 30 that indicated Mertel had turned the car over to her.

Merguerin on Friday was sentenced to three months on the forgery conviction and 364 days on the making false statement conviction. The 364 days were suspended pending good behavior after she was released from jail.

She was ordered to report to begin serving the sentence by noon Friday.

CONE THROWER SOUGHT

Drivers on Main Street have become unknowing victims of a traffic cone thrower, or throwers. City traffic cones, which have been placed on Main Street, have been removed and thrown into the S. Fork of the Palouse River channel.

One of the key sites for the thrower, or throwers, has been at the intersection of Island and Main. The city has posted a sign and traffic cones to alert motorists to a bump dip in the southbound lane next to the curb, and the cones have been tossed over the concrete railing of the courthouse bridge into the channel. At last count, seven cones are in the channel with six on the south side of Island and one south of North Street.

FRATERNITY ARSON NETS YEAR IN JAIL

Isaac DePaolo, 23, Cheney, was sentenced to a year in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree arson and reckless burning at the Theta Chi fraternity on College Hill last Sept. 16.

DePaolo had originally be charged with first degree arson.

According to the report by Pullman Detective Chris Engle, DePaolo was arrested at his residence in Cheney after surveillance cameras showed him at the fire scene. Photos at the scene were matched up with driver's license photos.

The arrest report said a large deck on the west side of the fraternity was destroyed by the fire. A Pullman Fire Department detector located two areas in the deck remains which showed combustibles had been used at the scene.

The report noted fire crews responded to the fire at 5:15 a.m that morning and approximately 12 males had exited the fraternity.

Police and fire crews had responded approximately an hour earlier to a fire behind the Tau Kappa Epsilon house.

Engle's report said he found two other locations at the Theta house where attempts had be made to start a fire.

Engle's report said after DePaolo was arrested he said he couldn't recall any motive for setting fire to the fraternity, but he believes he might have been upset because he had been kicked out of the house earlier in the night. He said he was intoxicated at the time.

The one-year sentence was at the top of the sentencing range for a conviction on second-degree arson. DePaolo had initially pleaded not guilty to the initial charge of first degree arson, and at one time he had been scheduled for a jury trial on that charge Dec. 17.

Judge Gary Libey ruled Friday DePaolo will not be allowed any credit for the time he was under house arrest while on pre-trial release on bail which was set at $25,000.

DePaolo's jail release date, with credit for good time, will be March 7. He was ordered to be on community supervision for 12 months after he is released from jail.

He was represented by Spokane Attorney Carl Oreskovich.

PULLMAN GAS LINE BREAK

Ten people were evacuated from eight houses on Church Street on Sunnyside Hill in Pullman Friday after a contractor crew cut into a gas pipe in the area of SW Church Street, according to a report by Pullman Assistant Chief Ryan Scharnhorst.

Pullman firefighters were notified at approximately 3:30 p.m. of the smell of gas in the area of 200 SW Church Street and determined the severity of the leak after they arrived on the scene.

The account said a contractor using an excavator discovered a metal pipe which they did not believe to be a gas main. They began to cut the metal pipe and discovered it housed a four-inch plastic gas main.

Avista crews responded to the scene, and heavy equipment from Avista arrived at 5:30.

Fire crews as a precaution put down a water hose in case it was needed.

Gas service was cut off to three homes in the neighborhood.

LAW NOW REQUIRES CYCLE COVERAGE

A change in state law will require motorcycle owners to carry liability insurance and keep a copy of the coverage with them on their cycles, according to a report from Pullman Police Commander Chris Tennant.

Motorcycles have been exempt from the state law which required liability insurance on other vehicles in the state. Owners were required to get the coverage and keep proof in the vehicles.

The long-standing motorcycle exemption was removed by the legislature during the last session and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee April 19. It will go into effect July 28, according to Tennant's report.

He noted most motorcycle owners already carry liability insurance because it is required by vendors when they finance the purchase of the machines.

The new law exempts mopeds which have engines under 50 cubic inches. All terrain vehicles are also exempt.