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.

TACOMA DRIVER HURT

Driver of the Ford Fusion which rolled off Highway 26 Friday night was Lisa M. Love, Tacoma. She was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital for treatment of injuries.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Love was driving eastbound at 9:36 p.m. Friday when she lost control of the 2008 Fusion and over-corrected. The car rolled and came to a stop facing west in the eastbound ditch 11.5 miles west of Colfax.

CITY APPROVES POLICE PAY

After noting some of their concerns at the previous meeting, Colfax City Council members Monday night approved a three-year contract with the four-member Police Guild. The contract provides for an annual pay increase of three percent.

Councilman Jim Kackman said he still has concerns about the city’s ability to sustain continued pay hikes but noted it probably will be sustainable over the three-year term of the new contract.

Assistant Chief Dave Szambelan again said the officers’ guild is aware of the revenue restraints the city faces.

SEVEN DAY

SENTENCE

Gabriel Means, 21, was ordered to serve seven days in jail after he pleaded guilty Friday to an amended charge of trespassing and third degree theft. Means was arrested when he was found in a residence at the 900 block of NE Monroe Aug. 24 in Pullman. He was holding a half gallon of liquor which belonged to the owner of the residence.

Means told the court Friday the arrest was the result of an episode of heavy drinking. He said he blacked out and didn’t remember most of the details of that night.

A WSU student who is also working, he was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but seven suspended and ordered to pay $1,450 in fines and fees. He was allowed to complete the jail term before the end of the month. He was ordered to refrain from drinking alcohol as a condition for the suspended 357 days of the sentence.

CROP MOISTURE BELOW HALF

Precipitation for the first three months of the crop year is less than half of the normal amounts, according to David Jones at the NRCS office at Colfax. The precipitation records for the first three months has totaled 3.18 inches. Normal accumulated total for the three months is 6.68 inches.

Jones reported December precipitation totaled just .8 of an inch. The station at the NRCS office measured precipitation on just five days in December. The largest single day was for the Dec. 20 snowstorm which measured out at four inches of snow. That converted to .40 inches of precipitation for half to the total for the month.

Monthly totals for the crop year included .43 for October, 1.95 for November and the .80 for December.

Normal precipitation total for those months are 1.20 for October, 2.55 for November and 2.93 for December.

Normal annual precipitation through Sept. 30 at the Colfax station is 20.04 inches with the fall months normally delivering a third of that total.

PLEA DATE SET FOR PREECE

A court date for entry of a plea by Judson Preece, 50, Pullman, has been scheduled for Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. Preece had been scheduled for a Jan. 13 trial after he pleaded not guilty Nov. 22 to an amended charge involving two allegations of child molestation.

The amended information added a second charge of child molestation. The second charge involved a different victim. Ages of the alleged victims are 13 and 10 years with respective charges of second and first degree molestation.

Also Friday, the court ordered the defendant’s medical and psychological records sealed. The records were included in a report to the court dated Dec. 12.

BERNTGEN

SENTENCED

Brian Berntgen, 23, Oakesdale, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 30 suspended Friday after he pleaded guilty to an amended charge of solicitation to obtain a controlled substance.

Berntgen was allowed an option to complete up to 240 hours of community service instead of serving the time in jail. He told the court Friday he had been off drugs for the last seven months and is now residing with his parents at home.

According to the arrest report, a deputy was called June 24 to the residence of Berntgen’s parents where a small container was found in a coffee table drawer. Berntgen’s mother said her son had been arrested earlier for violating a no contact order and she believed he had placed the container in the coffee table before deputies removed him from the residence.

Judge David Frazier Friday also ordered Berntgen to pay $800 with fines and fees. The judge slated a June 20 date for review to determine whether Berntgen has completed terms of the sentence.

ANOTHER

SUSPECT

ARRESTED

William P. McBride, 50, Oakesdale, was arrested Dec.31 on probable charges of burglary, possession of stolen property and theft. McBride made a first appearance in court Friday and bail for pre-trial release was set at $25,000.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau said McBride was a co-defendant with Kenneth Himes who was arrested in connection with burglaries at Tekoa earlier in the month of December.

In asking the court to set the high bail, LeBeau said McBride had a long criminal history which involved six felony convictions from prior burglaries and theft cases. He told the court McBride’s prior cases involve a total of 17 arrest warrants.

The arrest report filed with the court said McBride was implicated in two of the burglaries when deputies interviewed Himes after his arrest. The report alleges McBride took part in a break-in of a rented unit at J & B Storage in Tekoa.

They also said McBride was implicated in a theft of two motorcycles at Rosalia late last year.

Tools and other items reported stolen from the storage unit were allegedly recovered at a Tekoa residence where Himes was arrested Dec. 28. The report said deputies conducted a warrant search at the McBride residence in Oakesdale and located a metal-frame backpack believed to have been taken from the Tekoa storage unit.

The report said McBride denied having anything to do with the theft of two motorcycles from Rosalia.

COUCH

SENTENCED

TO 90 DAYS

Evan Couch, 22, Oakesdale, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday morning in superior court after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possession of methamphetamine. Couch faced a sentence of up to six months on the conviction.

Couch was charged after a controlled purchase of methamphetamine was arranged by the Quad Cities Drug Task Force last April at Colfax. The arrest report said the controlled buy was done after agents received reports that Couch was selling the drug in Colfax.

Judge David Frazier noted Couch could have faced a much more severe sentence if he had been convicted of the original charge of delivery of the methamphetamine.

Couch was also ordered to pay $2,550 in fines and fees.

‘OUR PALOUSE’ EXHIBIT RETURNS

Photos from the “Our Palouse” exhibit, which was featured at last summer’s Concrete River Festival, returned for a month-long run on the main floor of the library. The exhibit’s official start was Sunday.

It features the work of 10 photographers who donated one or more of their photos to the library’s permanent collection.

Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick said last summer’s exhibit started with a Palouse country photography tour which was led by Otto Stevens of Spokane. A former president of the camera club in Spokane, Stevens has also donated a collection of slides of photographs he has taken of the Palouse over the past 25 years.

Photographers who participated on the tour contributed photos for this summer’s Concrete River Festival display at the library. This month’s exhibit features the pictures that were subsequently donated to the library.

DUST CAUSES ALARM

A Colfax fire crew and ambulance responded to Paul’s Place on S. Mill at about 1 p.m. Dec. 31 after a fire alarm activated. They determined the automatic alarm had been triggered by dust which came from a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum was being used in one of the basement shops in the building. Fire and ambulance units were logged back 30 minutes after the alarm.

Auditor reports

‘failure to report’

Audit summaries issued by the State Auditor’s office Monday noted two park and recreation districts in the county failed to provide financial and other information required by law in order for the state to conduct an audit.

The two park districts were Tekoa District Number 6, and Oakesdale District Number 4.