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 HIRES

RIZZITIELLO

Michael Rizzitiello of Beaverton, Ore., has been hired as the new Colfax City Administrator and is scheduled to report for work here July 14, Mayor Todd Vanek reported at Monday night’s city council session. He noted the hiring concludes a year-long search for a city administrator after Carl Thompson resigned the job to return to the fire department.

Rizzitiello’s hiring follows two earlier hiring rounds when the city post was offered to lead candidates but a signing could not be concluded.

Rizzitiello is currently Economic Development Coordinator for the City of Beaverton. He visited Colfax two weeks ago for a tour of the city and attended a long June 2 city council session.

The new city administrator reported he was raised in South Chicago. He holds a masters degree in public administration from the University of lllinois at Chicago and an undergraduate degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mayor Vanek noted earlier that one of the big tasks ahead for the new city administrator will be filling vacancies for the city which is expected to have five employees retiring over the coming months. One of the top vacancies will be the spot vacated by the retirement of Public Works Director Andy Rogers in August.

Rizzitiello was hired at a salary of $5,816 per month.

Malden ASKS TO DROP SUIT

An Aug. 12 hearing was set last week on a motion to dismiss a civil suit which has been filed against the town of Malden. The motion, filed by Spokane attorney Brian Christensen, contends no material issue of fact is involved in the suit which was filed by two former Malden residents. A response to each of 16 charges in the civil suit was included in the affidavit.

Kathy Condon and Bart Blackburn filed the suit against Malden Mayor Ted Maxwell and Malden. The suit seeks damages for tortuous conduct, malicious harassment and other allegations. The suit did not state a specific amount for the alleged damages. Subsequent filings in the civil suit list Condon as residing in Shoreline.

After the filing of the suit last January, the court issued an order for the plaintiff to reduce the number of documents and reports which were ruled to be excessive to commence court action on the alleged violations cited in the complaint. The number of documents were deemed confusing and unmanageable under court rules.

In a statement filed last week in support of the motion for dismissal, Mayor Maxwell said he was taking action to enforce a town ordinance that limits the length of time people can reside in a travel trailer in town to 14 days. He said a vacation notice was served on the plaintiffs who were residing in a travel trailer on a lot next to the city fire station.

The mayor’s statement said after he and county officers served the notice Blackburn became upset. Also, after the notice a man he recognized as Blackburn stopped a white pickup truck in front of his house and made a hand gesture which simulated shooting of a pistol.

Blackburn’s conduct led Maxwell to report Blackburn for harassment. Blackburn was subsequently arrested but the case was later dropped.

CHANNEL CLEANUP COST:

$19 TO $20 K

A request for state assistance in cleaning out the flood control channel seeks $19,000 to $20,000 Mayor Todd Vanek reported to the Colfax City Council Monday night. He said the request was sent to Keith Metcalf, Department of Transportation Regional Administrator at Spokane. He has not received a response.

The mayor said the letter recognized the DOT was not accepting responsibility for the rocks which have washed into the flood control channel of the South Fork of the Palouse River from the state’s ill-fated culvert project last fall along Highway 272. He said the letter also noted Colfax will not accept responsibility for the rocks and debris landing in the river.

A request for an inspection of the channel by the Army Corps of Engineers and the approaching date of another Concrete River Festival run down the channel has increased the need to get the rocks cleared out of the channel, the mayor noted.

The City of Colfax and the Colfax Downtown Association are sponsoring the run down the channel this year. The first run of the channel was one of the highlights of the festival which debuted in Colfax last year.

Race entrants last year slid down the channel bank next to the S. Main Bridge and went downstream to an entry road at Railroad Ave. where they exited the channel.

KAUTZMAN

SENTENCED

Keith Kautzman, 48, Thornton, was sentenced to 45 days in jail after he pleaded guilty Friday in superior court to one charge of possession of a stolen vehicle. Kautzman was arrested at his residence on Sunset Road near Thornton May 15 after deputies reported a search had turned up stolen trailers and other items on the property.

Under terms of a plea bargain agreement, two other charges against Kautzman were dropped. They were possession of stolen property and being in possession of burglary tools. The stolen vehicle charge involved a 250cc Suzuki motorcycle.

The state also agreed not to file a fourth charge involving a dune buggy. It also called for Kautzman to file a written stipulation that he was not responsible for other stolen items found on the property.

Kautzman was initially sought on an active felony warrant from Spokane County for possession of stolen property. A pre-sentence report listed six prior convictions in Spokane County dating back to 1985. The last conviction dated back to 2006.

ACCIDENTS

ON 26, 272

Ann W. Mukua, Auburn, was unhurt last Saturday night in a one-car accident on Highway 26 near the LaCrosse Road turnoff. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving a 2005 Toyota Scion eastbound at 10:50 p.m. and lost control while passing another vehicle. The Scion came to a halt in the ditch along the westbound side of the highway.

Joshua Ackley, Boise, was unhurt when he lost control of a 2003 Ford van on Highway 272 east of Colfax. According to the WSP report, he was westbound at 10:20 p.m. and failed to negotiate a curve. The van went off the roadway at the Hilty Road intersection, came back across both lanes and went into the ditch along the eastbound side of the highway.

SENTENCED TO 20 MONTHS

Roy Singh Benipal, 23, Bothell, was sentenced to 20 months in prison June 12 after he was convicted on two charges of selling drugs in Pullman in 2011. Benipal pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Jan. 31, and his sentencing was delayed until he underwent evaluation for a possible Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative. Since his plea in January, Benipal has failed to appear in court for subsequent hearings.

According to the investigation report, Benipal was arrested as the result of drug purchases made by an informant who was working with the Quad Cities Drug Task Force. He was originally charged with four counts of selling drugs, but that was reduced to two counts, selling oxycodone and heroin, Sept. 8 and Oct. 11 in 2011. The report noted the informant who made the drug purchases for the task force had also been a suspect in drug cases in Pullman and had reported on sources of drugs in the area.

Benipal at the time was attending Washington State University. He was subsequently expelled from WSU and has undergone recovery treatment sessions in King County.

In addition to the jail time he was ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $1,800.

RESPONSE TO BANK ALARM

A Colfax Fire crew responded to an alarm at the Bank of Fairfield building at 402 S. Main Monday morning at about 8:32 a.m. The alarm was determined to be caused by a technician who was working on the alarm system at the bank.

A fire crew Saturday responded to a car fire report at about 7 p.m. on Crestview. The owner reported smoke appeared to be coming out of the engine compartment, but the crew determined the car was not on fire and checked out other possible causes.

THIRD COVER ON 195 VAULT

A crew from AT&T June 12 installed a new cover and surfacing around the cover of a service vault which is located on the southbound side of Highway 195 where the highway turns toward Pullman at Firemen’s Volunteer Park. A temporary cover was placed on the service vault earlier this year to replace a faulty cover which had been broken. The faulty cover over the vault was actually rocking and banging when trucks and other traffic crossed it.

Colfax NATIONAL

QUALIFIERS

Colfax eighth graders Tayler Napier and Mackenzie Rummer have qualified as finalists of the Fine Arts Foundation competition which is conducted under the auspices of the Assembly of God Church. They performed a duet and each performed a solo at the district competition in Tacoma.

Napier sang “A Beautiful Day” and Rummer sang “Beautiful, Beautiful.” For their duet they sang “Hope Now.”

The competition will be July 26-Aug. 1 at Columbus, Ohio. The foundation competition, which draws more than 65,000 initial competitors, involves several divisions in the fine arts.

FLY-IN SET

FOR COLFAX

The Lewiston chapter for the Experimental Aircraft Association has scheduled a fly-in at the Colfax Airport for June 28. The fly-in will be based at Barney Buckley’s hangar at 707 Flight Line Drive.

The Buckleys last year hosted an informal gathering for area pilots, and this year’s scheduled event is expected to bring in more airplanes and other participants. Buckley stressed the fly-in is open to the public and residents are encouraged to come out and see the airplanes and displays.

Colfax Rotary Club will serve breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m.

The Civil Air Patrol plans to display a flight simulator and MedStar plans to have a display with the Colfax Fire Department participating. Washington Pilots Association, Flying Farmers and the Port of Whitman, which now operates the airport, are also planning to have displays.

An awards presentation will be at 10:30 a.m. Awards will be presented for people’s choice, best production airplane, best experimental plane, oldest and youngest pilot, and pilot traveling the greatest distance.

GRAD AWARDS TOP $206,000

The tally for awards and scholarships listed on the commencement program at Colfax High School Saturday totaled more than $206,819.

The awards listing included value of scholarships and other awards over the duration of college studies.

SCREAM MASK ASSAULT

A Pullman assault case which started on Halloween night over comments about a “Scream” mask being worn in the college hill section of Pullman concluded June 9 with the sentencing of Kevin M. Newman, 23, Centralia. Newman was sentenced after he entered a plea of guilty to a reduced charge of fourth degree assault. He was sentenced to 364 days in jail with 343 suspended and ordered to pay fines and fees of $700.

The restitution hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15. According to the Pullman Police investigation, the victim of the assault, Matthew Burbank, sustained head fractures after he was hit by Newman and had to undergo surgery which required metal plates to be installed in his face.

The arrest report said Burbank was hit by Newman near Colorado and Ruby streets on Halloween night. Newman, who was wearing the Scream mask, was walking past Burbank and two others when a comment was made about the mask. That led to an exchange of words and Newman hit Burbank in the head.

The report said the other two males with Burbank tackled Newman after Burbank was hit. The report said the police department later viewed a CT examination photo showing the injuries sustained by Burbank who was treated at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Newman June 9 was also ordered to have no contact with the victim and placed on 12 months of probation.