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.

POWER OUTAGE IN COLFAX

Residents in the east and southeast areas of Colfax report electrical service had been knocked out as of 10:16 a.m. Tuesdsay. One of the residents who called Avista said they reported power had gone out for 350 customers. The company expected service to be restored at about 2:30 p.m.

The power outage stopped fans and air conditioners with temperature readings at the Pacific Northwest Farmer Cooperative board just before noon at 95 degrees on Tuesday, two degrees below the 97 booked Monday at noon. Reading on the Columbia Bank sign was 98, down from Monday’s 102.

SKATEBOARD PARK PROJECT

Sam Korslund, who serves as kids’ pastor at Catalyst Church in Colfax, introduced a plan at Monday night’s city council to refurbish the skateboard area at Schmuck Park. He said it would be undertaken as a faith in action project for the youth group. Korslund said members of the church group and others will provide labor for the project, but he asked the city to consider supplying materials.

He said the aim would be to return the park to a family place.

City officials noted the skate park was constructed 11 years ago by parents and others who wanted to provide a place for youngsters to use their skateboards. The development of the park was a combined effort. Now, most of the youngsters who were debut skaters at the park have graduated and gone on to other interests.

Projects on the improvement list would include filling a large concrete segment gap which runs the length of the park, removing graffiti, remove shoes hanging from wires over the park and painting all metal surfaces with a clear anti-graffiti coating.

Korslund was scheduled to meet with the park board prior to the next council session, and the result of that meeting will be reported to the council.

COMMISSIONERS SET

STRATEGY MEET

Whitman County commissioners Monday approved a two-day special meeting of the commission July 30 and 31 from 8 to 10 a.m. each day in the Sacajawea Room at the Clarkston Quality Inn. The purpose of the meeting is to develop long range planning for the county.

RULING ON COUNTY

INSURANCE

Judge John Strohmaier of Davenport has ruled Whitman County’s liability for damages sustained by a county deputy sheriff who was involved in an accident with an under-insured motorist is limited to $1 million provided in the county’s insurance pool arrangement.

The Lincoln County judge’s memorandum opinion was filed last week in Whitman County Superior Court.

Judge Strohmaier said the Washington Small Cities Insurance Pool cannot be considered an insurance company and therefore is not subject to liability coverage standards required of insurance companies.

The suit was filed against the insurance pool by Jodene Hamilton-Young, a Whitman County deputy who was seriously injured in a collision at the intersection of Endicott Road and Fairground Cutoff Road just north of the fairgrounds.

Judge Strohmaier said the central issue of the suit was whether the county’s under-insured motorist coverage would be $1 million, the limit for the insurance pool, or $15 million which is equal to the amount of liability coverage.

The judge ruled the small cities insurance pool is a self-insured entity which is not subject to liability requirements of insurance companies. He said under the pool’s arrangement for self insurance, Whitman County would pay $2,500 of a claim, the pool would pay $47,500 and the balance of a claim would be paid up to the $1 million limit of a re-insurance coverage held by the pool.

Judge Strohmaier denied a motion by attorneys for Richard Lee-Waddell, the driver of the other car in the accident. They had asked for the decision to be delayed until the charges against Lee-Waddell are resolved in criminal court. Judge Strohmaier ruled the facts of the accident do not affect consideration of the insurance coverage.

Lee-Waddell’s trial has now been scheduled for Oct. 28.

Endicott MAN

ARRESTED

Jared Wold, 26, Endicott, was arrested on a bench warrant Monday and booked into the county jail. The court issued the warrant after Wold failed to appear at a compliance hearing involving a conviction last year of possession of stolen property.

A report on the hearing said Wold now owes $3,450 which was ordered paid by the court after he was convicted. Bond amount set on the bench warrant was $5,000.

NINETY DAY

SENTENCE

Pamela Rogers, 41, former LaCrosse resident, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday for possession of marijuana. Rogers was credited with eight days served in jail while awaiting resolution of the case. She had been arrested in Spokane on a bench warrant which was issued for her arrest after she failed to appear for an arraignment May 10.

Rogers pleaded guilty to the marijuana charge Friday in superior court.

The charge dates back to a May 11, 2012, warrant search at a residence in LaCrosse where neighbors said they suspected drug activity.

DRIVELINE

COLLISION

ON 195

Marijane L. Garcia, Clarkston, complained of back pain after the car in which she was riding struck a driveline which had fallen off a truck on Highway 195 about four miles north of Pullman.

According to the Washington State Patrol accident report, Eric R. Gibson, Pullman, was driving a 2010 Peterbilt garbage truck northbound at 8:20 a.m. when the driveline fell off the truck. He pulled onto the shoulder, and the driver of a car in the northbound lane stuck the driveline. The driver of that car came to a halt in front of the truck, but then drove off. Nicole Bedell, Lewiston, driving a 2006 Toyota Corolla northbound, then struck the driveline. Garcia was a passenger in the Toyota.

APARTMENT FIRE AT

PULLMAN

Pullman fire crews responded to a report of a fire in the Terre View Crossings on NE Merman Drive at 11:43 a.m. Saturday. The fire was believed to have started from a box which had been left on a stove by new residents who were moving into the apartment. They believed they bumped a switch which turned on the stove, according to a fire department report.

A neighbor who smelled smoke was credited by firefighters for discovering the fire. When firefighters entered the apartment they found it was filled with smoke and flames in the kitchen area.

SENTENCED TO

A DAY IN JAIL

Shelly Lamance, 51, Pullman, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but one day suspended Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.

She was ordered to serve the one remaining day before Aug. 1. Lamance was charged after officers initially went to her residence with a warrant related to a missing pistol investigation. During the search they found one hydrocodone pill.

Lamance told the court she had been given two of the pills to relieve pain and had ingested one of them. She said she could not afford to get a prescription.

The arrest report said police originally sought a warrant for the residence in an attempt to locate a pistol which allegedly had been given to her son. The pistol was one of two reported stolen in Minnesota and brought to Pullman by a friend of her son. The friend asked her son to keep the pistol.

LAZCANO

HEARING NOW SET FOR JULY 12

A hearing on the status of Daniel Lazcano was continued for two weeks Friday morning in Whitman County Superior Court. Lazcano had been ordered to report back to court Friday, June 28, after he was allowed release June 10. His release was ordered after the jury in his second trial reported they were unable to agree on a verdict. The verdict ended a 10-day trial which began with two days of jury selection.

The jury in his first trial also was unable to reach a verdict on the kidnapping and murder charges. After that trial, Lazcano was remanded back to the jail where he remained until the finish of his second trial.

His release ended a jail stay which began with his arrest in Spokane March 30, 2012, five days after the body of Marcus Schur of Rosalia was found in the outlet creek of Bonnie Lake at Hole-in-the-Ground.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy asked the court to set the July 12 hearing. Lazcano was not present. Tracy later said he and Lazcano’s attorney are conducting settlement negotiations and he hopes to have a resolution to report to the court in two weeks.

At present, Lazcano still faces the kidnapping and murder charges related to the shooting death of Schur Dec. 27, 2011, at Malden.

Daniel Lazcano’s brother, Frank Lazcano, was convicted of felony murder by the jury in his trial and is now serving a 25-year term with the Department of Corrections.

TRIAL SET FOR WHITCOM GUILD CASE

A Sept. 16 trial has been scheduled for Emily Kirk of Pullman after she entered pleas of not guilty June 28 in superior court to felony charges of first degree theft, money laundering and forgery.

The charges filed against Kirk involve funds discovered missing by the Whitcom 911 Employee Guild fund in Pullman. The state contends Kirk, who served as treasurer for the guild, took funds from the account and conducted other cash withdrawals for her personal use. The forgery charges allege she signed the name of guild president William Brinken to the withdrawals.

The report alleges Brinken became aware of the unexplained low balances in the guild fund account last August.

The charges allege the funds were taken from the account between June of 2011 and August of 2012.

The Whitcom case was investigated by the Washington State Patrol and the probable cause report submitted by WSP Detective Mark Fehler. Assistant Attorney General Scott Marlow represented the state at the Friday, June 28, arraignment.

Kirk was represented by Roger Sandberg of Pullman.