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.

JUDGE TO DECIDE JUNK VEHICLE NOTICES

Colfax Police Chief Bill Hickman reported disputes on the city’s junk vehicle notices will go before City Judge Scott Bergstedt in municipal court. Two recipients of the letter have indicated they will protest the notices which inform residents that vehicles on their property have been classified as junk and should be removed. The civil code hearings have been slated in the June 5 court docket.

City Council members Monday night discussed the city’s attempt to enforce the ordinance and the responses from property owners.

Chief Hickman in a report to the city council pointed out the definition of a junk vehicle was taken from the state code. He said the form letter which was sent out to property owners was the same one the city has used for as long as he can remember. He also reminded council members that enforcement action is taken only when the department receives a complaint about possible violation of the ordinance.

The city has received a letter from Peggy Barney in protest of the enforcement letter which has been sent to them regarding vehicles parked along upper Deanway. The council learned Monday night that Deanway is only 16 feet wide and the Barney vehicles are not on public right-of-way. Barney was listed on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting, but she did not appear.

SEEK HOTEL/MOTEL TAX HIKE

Mayor Todd Vanek reported Monday night the city has received a request from Thomas Denlea, manager of the Best Western Wheatland Inn, to increase the tourism tax amount to four percent which is charged to guests at the motel. The city now collects a tourism tax of two percent from the two motels in Colfax and one bed and breakfast.

Under state law, towns can collect up to four percent over the room rate for the tax. In Colfax, the city allows up to 75 percent of the revenue to go to the Chamber of Commerce to promote tourism.

City Attorney Bruce Ensley suggested the city check out the proposal with the two other businesses which are now collecting the tax.

Colfax DRUG ARREST

Antonio D. Lightner, 26, was booked into the county jail early Saturday on a probable charge of possession of marijuana after a warrant search of his apartment at S. 600 Main. The arrest report said officers initially went to the apartment after getting a noise complaint and detected the smell of marijuana when the suspect came to the door. They later obtained a search warrant and located marijuana in the apartment.

DEER COLLISION:

Thomas A. Atwood, 53, Kennewick, was unhurt Friday when the 2011 Lexus he was driving collided with a deer on Highway 195 south of Rosalia. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Atwood was driving southbound at 9 p.m. when a deer ran onto the highway at mile 59.4.

FIRST DRUG TREATMENT GRAD

Grant W. Duchesne, 21, Tacoma, became the first graduate of the new Whitman County Drug Court Friday. Judge David Frazier Friday presented Duchesne a certificate of completion and congratulated him. Duchesne thanked the court for allowing him to participate in the program which allows defendants facing felony charges to undergo a rehab program that can lead to dismissal of charges.

The program requires participants to undergo evaluation and treatment and submit monthly monitoring reports for compliance. They are also required to post $600 to pay for the expenses of the program.

Duchesne told the court he felt the drug court allowed him to turn his whole life around. Four more defendants are now participating in the program.

Duchesne faced drug possession charges after he was arrested in October of 2009. He was arrested after officers said they observed him carrying an open beer container on NE Campus in Pullman. Marijuana and cocaine were later found on his person during searches after the arrest, according to the reports.

PULLMAN TEENS ARRESTED

Two Pullman teens were arrested late last week after members of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force conducted warrant searches of two residences. Arrested were Ciaran Keogh, 18, and Paul Gillentine, 19.

The task force report alleged black tar heroin, scales, needles and other items of drug paraphernalia associated with trafficking and use of illegal narcotics were found.

Keogh was booked into jail on probable charges of delivery of a controlled substance and two counts of delivery of a schedule-one narcotic. In a first appearance in court Friday Keogh was released on his own recognizance in custody of his parents. The arrest report noted he is a Pullman High School student.

Gillentine was booked later Friday with probable charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver and possession of a firearm. Officers said they found a loaded 9 mm firearm in an end table at the apartment where Gillentine was residing. Bond for pre-trail release was set at $10,000.

An arrest report on Keogh said investigation began when informants told officers possibly five people in the Pullman area were involved in a drug sales operation.

HUGHES PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Endicott farmer James Hughes entered not guilty pleas to 19 charges of first degree theft Friday morning in superior court. His trial date has been scheduled for July 16. The charges allege theft of grain from Whitgro while Hughes was working as a contract trucker for the cooperative.

Hughes was summoned to appear in court Friday. He was represented in court by his attorney, Steven Graham of Republic.

MOSES LAKE FIRM GETS CONTRACT

Central Washington Asphalt, Inc., Moses Lake, has been awarded the contract for the state project for Highway 195 south of Colfax. The firm bid the job at just under $2 million, according to Thomas Brasch, assistant project engineer for the DOT office in Spokane.

Brasch said that Central was the low bidder on the project. Poe Asphalt of Pullman was the only other bidder with an offer which was over the $2 million level, he reported.

The project calls for a rebuild of 600 feet of S. Main Street in Colfax. Brasch said the segment in Colfax amounts to the part of Main Street which was not done more than 10 years ago when Colfax Main Street was rebuilt through the downtown area. That project that year ended at the S. Main bridge over the S. Fork of the Palouse River.

The project also calls for resurfacing of Highway 195 south from Colfax to mile 29.14 which is near the intersection of Babbitt Road.

Brasch reported the status of the S. Main railroad crossing remains unresolved at this point. The contract now calls for the work to be done up to the crossing on each side.

He said they intend to get a firm decision from the DOT railroad division on what they intend to do about the crossing. The crossing, which now obligates commercial drivers to halt for the markings, has been out of use for normal rail traffic since the 2006 S. Palouse River fire which destroyed the trestle across the river east of Risbeck about three miles east of town. The fire also destroyed the Risbeck elevator.

Brasch said the DOT expects a construction start in late June. The project is expected to continue for six to eight weeks.

CIVIL RIGHTS CHARGE ADDED

An alleged violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act has been added to the sexual harassment suit filed by Brenda Arthur of Colfax against the county and County Assessor Joe Reynolds. Spokane Attorney James McPhee filed an amended suit after the court granted his motion to make the addition.

McPhee in his motion said they have received notice from Equal Emplyment Opportunity Commission that they would not pursue a federal civil right case because of the timing involved. The EEOC notice extended permission for Arthur to sue in state court. The notices are issued without comment on the merits of the claim.

Arthur’s suit contends Assessor Joe Reynolds made a series of inappropriate comments and touching after she became a member of the staff in his office in 2000. Her suit, which does not list a specific damage amount, also contends remedial action was never taken by the county after Reynolds was required to undergo anti-harassment training as the result of previous complaints.

Colfax FFA WINS $5,000

Colfax delegates to the 82nd FFA convention last week in Pullman returned with a $5,000 award for first place in the Nutrients for Life Program. The chapter won with their FFA Ag Day project which was judged against similar programs from other chapters around the state.

Also, the chapter’s F.A.R.M. team won a $500 first place prize.

Ysabeaux Ng placed second in the creed contest, and the Colfax rituals teams placed fifth in state competition.

Kyle Largent, a 2011 CHS graduate, concluded his year of service as state FFA secretary. He was elected to the state office at last year’s FFA conference.