Bulletin column - Nov. 25, 2010

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.

Claassen hurt in shop fall

Dusty area farmer Wes Claassen was taken to Whitman Hospital late Monday afternoon after sustaining multiple facial fractures in a fall at his Dusty area farm shop. Claassen was transferred by ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center for a precautionary check of his carotid artery. It was not damaged and his condition was much improved Tuesday morning, according to his wife, Jen.

Claassen fell while working on a Challenger tractor in the farm shop. A tool box broke the fall, but he landed on his face on the concrete floor of the shop, his wife said.

Claassen is a member of the male quartet which is featured in the Music Man at CHS, and his accident was announced before the start of Monday's show. Brian Largent, Gary Largent and Corey Aeschliman performed as a trio.

Crash Kills Potlatch Woman

A one-car accident on the Palouse-Potlatch Highway early Sunday morning took the life of Therra Alexander, 22, Potlatch, and left five people injured.

Idaho State Police said the driver Jesse Hewes, 28, Palouse, lost control of the westbound car, a 2010 Mercury Milan, at 3:07 a.m. The car was traveling at excessive speed, failed to negotiate a curve, left the roadway, struck a rock ditch line, hit another ditch line and then went airborne back onto the highway.

Site of the accident was at mile 103.7 of Idaho Highway 6, less than a mile east of the state line.

Jesse Hewes was taken to Gritman Hospital in Moscow. Other passengers were David Erickson, 26, Farmington, who was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Lewiston; Robert Schoepflin, 28, Walla Walla, Gritman; Andrew Arland, 25, Garfield, Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, and Nicholas Hewes, 30, Pullman, Gritman.

The officer's report said alcohol was believed to be involved in the accident. Erickson and Arland remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Inmate surrenders after 24 hours

Ronald A. Rutledge, 29, Whitman County jail inmate who fled from a work party, called and made arrangements to turn himself in at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night to end a 24-hour saga. Rutledge was taken into custody in north Spokane shortly after 9:30 p.m., according to a report by Sheriff Brett Myers.

He is suspected of taking a Nissan pickup truck in Colfax and going to Dayton where he is also suspected of burglarizing a residence. He is also suspected of taking a second vehicle in the Dayton area to travel to Spokane.

Sheriff Myers reported Rutledge had 18 days left to serve on his sentence but could now face additional charges.

An arrest warrant for escape in the first degree was issued for Rutledge after he fled at about 7:45 p.m. Saturday while he was on a work detail outside the jail. He was last seen fleeing north on foot in a black and white jail outfit.

Rutledge was sentenced to four months in jail Sept. 3 for burglarizing a Rosalia mini-storage unit.

Driving hazardous

David J. Larson, 55, Walla Walla, complained of neck and back pain, after he rolled a 1999 Toyota pickup truck into the ditch along Highway 26 about 6.6 miles east of Colfax Sunday night. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Larson was driving eastbound at 4:20 p.m. and lost control on the ice-covered roadway. The truck came to a halt on its roof with water in the ditch.

Forrest W. Lindh, 28, Elmer City, sustained a hand injury at 7:48 p.m. Sunday night on Highway 270 about three miles east of Pullman when he lost control of a 2002 Ford Ranger pickup truck while driving in the snowy conditions. The truck came to a halt on its side in the westbound ditch.

Four other non-injury accidents were logged by WSP troopers Sunday between 4:20 and 9:15 p.m.

Excavator said stolen

Alex R. Medgard, 20, Pullman was booked into the county jail just after midnight Monday in connection with the alleged theft of an excavator in Pullman. Pullman police were notified by an administrator of LMK Supported Living in Pullman that they had learned one of the residents there had taken an excavator.

When officers arrived at the scene near the intersection of Side and Water Streets at Kruegel Park they found two men moving the excavator. The two reportedly told officers where were attempting to return the excavator after they had taken it the previous day.

Medgard was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital where a doctor determined he was competent to undergo incarceration. He was scheduled for a first appearance in court Monday.

City Covers Hullabaloo Bill

Bills of $3,354 left over from the Colfax Hullabaloo celebration will be covered out of a budget account from the city's hotel/motel tax revenue. Chamber of Commerce President Kim De Hart Nov. 15 asked the city council for help in paying the bills and learned enough funds remained in the city's hotel/motel revenue account to cover the bills.

De Hart explained the C of C this year had to cover costs of its tourism directory. In addition to producing the directory, the chamber this year opted to hire services of a distributor to insure the directory is placed in locations where it will likely get a response.

City Treasurer Mark Clinton said the city normally receives $10,000 to $12,000 per year from the state hotel/motel tax program which aims at increasing tourism. Approximately 75 percent of the city fund goes to the Chamber of Commerce

Next chamber-sponsored event will be the Santa Parade and fireworks Dec. 2.

Councilman Dave Nails suggested the chamber consider a return to sponsoring some type of a summer event. He said he had heard comments on the lack of a summer event in Colfax.

Chase crash suspect sentenced

John Taylor Hamre, 41, the Spokane man who was the object of a police chase which ended with a crash last August off the John Wayne trail on the west side of Rosalia, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Nov. 12 in Whitman County Superior Court.

Hamre was convicted of attempting to elude a police vehicle while threatening injury and malicious mischief in the second degree.

State Trooper Doug Power Aug. 3 chased the Chevrolet Cavalier Hamre was driving off Highway 195 and south on Old 195 near Thornton. The trooper reported Hamre turned the Chevrolet around and drove toward the trooper's car, then headed back north. He turned off 195 at the 291 intersection, then onto the Malden Road and then onto the John Wayne trail.

Hamre at sentencing had an offender score of two because his record included a 2008 Spokane County conviction for possession of stolen property.

Home burglary sentence

Jeffrey Lee Mallory, 31, Boise resident who was arrested for entering a residence on the Dry Creek Road, was sentenced to eight months in jail Nov. 12 after he was convicted of residential burglary by a jury Nov. 8. Mallory was arrested Sept. 5 after he was spotted by Game Agent Bob Weaver in the yard of the residence. Mallory attempted to hide as the agent drove past. Weaver turned around, and discovered the door of the residence had been opened. When Mallory was located, bologna and pita bread were among food items found in his pack. Mallory had been released from the jail two days earlier.

Colfax man left no will

A petition to appoint Leona Conrad and Virginia Morgan as personal representatives of the estate of Elmer Schluneger of Colfax was filed in probate court last week. Mr. Schluneger, who died Oct. 24 in Colfax, left no will.

The co-representatives are surviving sisters of the deceased. They, a surviving brother, and children of his deceased brothers are listed as heirs-at-law for the estate.

Bulletin founder in SR

Jim Stack, the legendary founder of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax, made the news last Wednesday in Spokane when one of his earliest exploits in the publishing business was related by Jim Kershner in his 100 years ago column in the Spokesman Review. The account started by noting "Jimmy" Stack, then 14, proved he was an "honest newsy" as a result of a mix-up while he was selling papers at the corner of Washington and Main in downtown Spokane.

The account notes Stack made change for a street customer who handed him what he thought was 50 cents to buy a paper for a penny. When making his count that night, young Stack discovered the customer had actually handed him a $10 coin, then known as a shiny eagle. He turned the coin over to his supervisor and the 1910 Review reported it could be claimed by the owner at the office.

Kershner's column was noted by Bulletin readers in Colfax who suspected Jimmy Stack, the 1910 newsboy in Spokane, was the same Jim Stack, publisher of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax from 1935 until he sold it in 1964 shortly before his death.

Mel Hatley of Colfax, who purchased Stack's commercial printing business shortly before Stack died, said he is certain the SR item is about Stack who was 68 when he died Sept. 16, 1964. Hatley noted Stack lived his younger days in Spokane and started his long career in the newspaper business as a newsboy in Spokane.

In fact, Stack was a contemporary of Bing Crosby, who was also raised on the north side of Spokane at the start of the last century. Hatley recalls when Crosby re-married after the death of his first wife, Stack took a wheelchair out of the Bulletin office basement and sent it to Crosby with a note saying he thought the crooner might need it after exchanging vows with a young bride.

Crosby responded to his boyhood friend in Colfax with a warm thank you note, Hatley said.

Christmas shop will run to Nov. 30

Thrifty Grandmothers temporary Christmas Shop will operate until the end of the month. The temporary shop has been set up in the former Sandbagger Building. It has been stocked with Christmas decorations which have been donated to the grandmothers. Many of the items have been in storage above the regular shop.

Items not sold in the temporary shop will be offered at the regular shop through the balance of the Christmas season.