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.

CITY TO SEEK SIDEWALK BIDS

A call for bids on the City of Colfax sidewalk project is expected to go out next week. The project calls for installation of approximately 800 feet of new sidewalk along Third Street and Clay Street.

The city received a $120,000 grant from the small cities sidewalk program of the state Transportation Improvement Board for the project. The city will provide up to $30,000 in matching funds.

Munir Daud of Pullman, engineer for the project, said it was designed to make pedestrian traffic safer for school students and others who walk between the schools and the Park Street residential area.

The Third Street part of the project begins behind the high school on the north side of the street. The sidewalk will cross the railroad lines which serve Spokane Seed on N. Clay.

Daud said design for the Third Street part of the sidewalk will include a 10-foot setback buffer zone from the street. That is a safety alternative because that sidewalk segment will not have a curb along the street.

The Clay Street segment will extend from the end of the present sidewalk on the east side to the intersection with Park Street. The Clay Street segment will have a curb.

Daud said the city also attempted to get grant funds to extend the sidewalk system up Park Street, but that street segment failed to qualify as an arterial board.

One high cost item for extending the street up the Park Street hill would be a retaining wall.

Daud said they plan to have the sidewalk completed before the start of the school year. He expects the contractor who wins the bid will be able to complete the project in a short amount of time.

AUDI HITS ROCK BANK

Shane Black, Juliaetta, Idaho, complained of back and neck pain after the Audi A 6 he was driving crashed into a rock embankment at the Highway 128 intersection on the north side of the Red Wolf Bridge. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Black failed to stop at the sign after crossing the bridge northbound at 3:04 a.m. and collided with the rock embankment along the north side of the T intersection.

MORE TODDLER POOL WORK

Mayor Todd Vanek reported more sealing work will be done this week on the toddler pool at Schmuck Park before it opens for the season. The city crew plans to seal cracks which were discovered in the vault below the pool’s central drain, Vanek told the city council.

A liner was installed in the main drain line of the small pool last week to cover two major holes in the line. The city anticipates opening the toddler pool next week.

Pool Manager Connie Ellis reported season pass sales have been brisk for the first part of the swim season. So far, sales have topped $6,000. That early season mark compares with a normal $12,000 in receipts for the whole season. Ellis said warm June weather was one reason for the heavy early season sales.

ROBBERY REPORT RECANTED

Sheriff Brett Myers Monday reported Friday’s crime report involving a cell phone taken at the Horn School Rest area has been downgraded from a robbery to a theft. Myers said the alleged victim, Aron Taylor of Lewiston, recanted his original version of being robbed of the telephone while the suspect pointed a gun at him. He still insists the cell phone was taken from his vehicle while he was parked at the rest stop at about 7:10 a.m. June 14.

Taylor, 35, told deputies he pursued the robber’s vehicle, believed to be an older model white Pontiac, southbound about five miles on Highway 195 when the car came to a sudden stop and turned to drive northbound.

According to the report, other people were seen in the Pontiac as it was driving southbound, and when the car came to a sudden stop to reverse course, Taylor said he saw one of the occupants of the car thrown forward striking the front window of the car.

Colfax TO ADD TRASH CANS

Fifteen more street trash receptacles will be added to the downtown Colfax area. Additional receptacles will be placed on Main Street and some will be placed along Mill Street. The cans will be similar to the ones placed along Main Street earlier this year. They were provided through a Department of Ecology grant program which is administered by counties. The two-year grant to Whitman County had approximately $10,000 in funds remaining from a two-year funding cycle.

THREE-VEHICLE CRASH

Lane G. Hewett, Juliaetta, Idaho, complained of back and neck pain, and Rachel Robinson, Colfax, complained of a sore neck after a three-vehicle accident Sunday on Highway 195 at the Bill Willson Road intersection.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Dennis E. White, Endicott, was driving a 2008 Chevrolet pickup truck northbound and slowed to make a left turn onto the Willson Road at 5:40 p.m. Robinson, driving a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, slowed behind the pickup truck, and Hewett, driving a 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup truck, was unable to stop in time, hit the back of the Equinox and pushed it into the back of the Chevrolet pickup.

DEATH CAUSE REMAINS UNKNOWN

County Coroner Peter Martin Friday reported results to date are inconclusive on the cause of death of Devin Stanton. The 29-year-old Colfax man was found unconscious early Wednesday, June 12, and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Martin said an autopsy examination determined Stanton had no physical defects which would have caused his death.

Samples have been sent off to the state toxicology lab and results of those tests are normally returned in approximately two weeks.

COACH JACK BAFUS DIES AT 89

Jack Bafus, 89, former Colfax teacher and basketball coach, died at his home last Sunday, June 7, 2013. Mr. Bafus retired in 1979 as athletic director at Spokane Falls Community College. He founded the baseball program at the college in 1965.

Born Oct. 12, 1923, in St. Maries, Idaho, to John and Julia Litzenberger Bafus, he was descended from Volga German immigrants from Saratov Russia. Both sets of his grandparents settled in Endicott.

He served in the US Army in World War II and was on a ship headed for Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped. After receiving his honorable discharge from the service in 1947, he received his teaching degree from Eastern Washington State College in 1951 and came to Colfax where he first taught at the Martha Washington School. He then taught and coached at the then new Jennings Elementary School and later coached basketball four years at Colfax High School. In 1960, he moved to Stanwood.

He later coached baseball for several years at Pasco High before moving to the junior college position in Spokane.

Among survivors are his wife of 50 years, the former Venita Houk. They met while both were teachers in Pasco.

In accordance with his request, a funeral service was not conducted. The family suggests memorial contributions in his name go to Operation Spokane Heroes, Greater Spokane Inc., 801 W. Riverside, Spokane 99201.

ICE CREAM SOCIAL JUNE 30

The Whitman County Historical Society has announced plans for the 41st edition of its ice cream social at the Perkins House June 30 from 1 to 4 p.m.

RANGE FIRE NEAR HAY

A range fire in the breaks along the Snake River Wednesday, June 12, destroyed pasture land and corrals on the Jack and Viv Denny place on Ridpath Road in the Hay area. The fire is believed to have started from a railroad work site along the river. A ranch house at the place was hit by sparks, but it had a metal roof and did not ignite.

PIZZA HEIST

SENTENCE

Leo F. Fesili, 21, was placed on 12 months of probation last Friday in Whitman County Superior Court after being convicted of two counts of third degree theft. Fesili was sentenced to 364 days in jail on each count with credit for three days already served in jail and the rest suspended. He was also fined $5,000 on each count and the fines were suspended.

According to the arrest report, Fesili and another suspect were arrested early last year when they were observed walking along NE Colorado Street carrying Domino’s Pizza boxes and eating pizza. Pullman officers had been notified earlier that the pizza shop had been advised a stolen credit card was being used to make a purchase.

The officer’s arrest report said the owner of the card noticed it was missing from her car, and when she called to advise the bank they reported it was in use at the pizza shop when she filed the report.

A warrant for Fesili’s arrest was issued after he failed to make a first appearance in court last November and he was arrested Feb. 2 in King County.

CHICKENS ON PLANNING AGENDA

A Colfax planning commission meeting to discuss the Colfax animal ordinance has been scheduled for June 24 at 6:30 p.m. The planning commission has been requested by Mayor Todd Vanek to review city zoning as it might apply to allowing chickens to be raised in Colfax. Chickens are allowed only in the city’s rural residential zone along the North Fork of the Palouse River.

Colfax City Council last year rejected requests to lift the city ban on raising chickens within the city limits. Among those opposing the ordinance was now-retired Police Chief Bill Hickman who said he believed a chicken ordinance would consume a lot of enforcement time for city officers.

After declining to lift the city ban, city council members vowed to take another look at the proposal at a later date. Mayor Vanek reported to the city council at the May 20 meeting that he had requested the planning commission to look at the chickens proposal from a zoning perspective.

DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE

SENTENCE

Paul T. Anderson, 25, was sentenced June 7 to 60 days in jail with credit for time served after pleading guilty to charges of unlawful imprisonment and fourth degree assault, both involving domestic violence. The charges stem from an April 24 police response to the Timothy Apartments in Pullman.

Witnesses at the apartment said they had seen a man on the top of a car hood. Anderson was later seen holding his spouse around the neck and restraining her from leaving the building, according to the arrest report.

He was ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $1,000 and restitution for repairs to the car in an amount to be determined.

A domestic violence no contact order was issued by the court while the case was pending. His spouse has asked the court to rescind the order because they are expecting a child. A hearing on the petition has been set for this week.

STOP SIGN ACCIDENT

Drivers of two cars involved in an accident at the Highway 195 stop sign south of Pullman were unhurt at 5 p.m. June 11. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Christina Kearney, Colfax, had stopped a 1994 Nissan Sentra at the sign which is located where Highway 195 intersects with Highway 27. Rose M. Perry of Endicott stopped a 2013 Ford Escape behind the Sentra. Both drivers were waiting to turn left.

A northbound semi truck began a left-hand turn at the intersection. Kearney began to back up to allow more room for the turning truck, and the Sentra hit the front of the Ford Escape.

LAZCANO

WITNESS TALLY: 43

The number of witnesses in the second Daniel Lazcano trial totaled 43 according to the roster kept by the court clerk. The state called 37 witnesses to present its case, and the defense called six witnesses with the defendant included on the list.

The list of exhibits presented by the state total 83, and the list of exhibits presented by the defense totaled 10.

DEACON TINNEL MARKS 90TH

Don (Deacon) Tinnel, a member of the Colfax class of 1942, celebrated his 90th birthday June 12. Tinnel, a former long-time resident of Moses Lake, now resides with a daughter in Coeur d’Alene.

Tinnel was among the Colfax grads who returned here in 1988 to play in the Codger Bowl, and he is one of the Colfax team members depicted on the Codger Pole.

He was a CHS senior in the fall of 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he was among a group of 1942 class members who signed up for military service after graduation. During his high school years, Tinnel played on Colfax football, basketball, track and boxing teams.

Tinnel served as a diver with the Navy Seals in the Pacific until he was discharged in 1946. For many years he was a general contractor in Moses Lake.

CITY POSTS DOG IMPOUND FEES

Colfax city has posted a fee schedule for dog impounds with the rate increasing for repeat offenders. The rate includes a flat impound fee plus a $5 per day charge. Fee for a second-time offender within a year will be $50 and third-time offender will be $100.

Also, a $20 fee will be added to registration of unlicensed dogs.

SWIM LESSONS SESSIONS SET

Swim lessons for the Colfax pool will be offered the weeks of July 8-12, July 15-19, and July 22-26, and July 29-Aug. 2. Registration for each session will be during the week prior to the session with the first sign up week starting July 1.

Fee for the lessons is $20 per child. Children must be four or over or 42 inches tall.