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.

911 SERVICE KNOCKED OUT

The Whitcom 911 emergency call service was knocked out for Oakesdale, Rosalia and Malden for about three hours Monday. Frontier Telephone notified the county emergency service office at about 2:40 p.m. that the service was down for the three towns.

The outage was believed to be caused by a line cut between Oakesdale and Rosalia. Service was restored to the three towns by about 5:45 p.m.

OROFINO MAN INJURED

Lawrence C. Skinner, Orofino, sustained neck and back injuries Friday when the car in which he was riding went out of control and went into the ditch on the southbound side of Highway 195 Friday south of Rosalia.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Christina E. Skinner, Orofino, was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Impala southbound at 3:50 p.m. Friday when the sedan drifted onto the shoulder of the roadway. The driver over-corrected and the car slid out of control and into the ditch a half mile north of mile marker 62.

ARREST

AT OAKESDALE

Kraig A. Marple, 58, was booked into the county jail early Saturday morning after being arrested in Oakesdale on probable charges of possession of methamphetamine, driving with a suspended license and on an outstanding district court arrest warrant.

According to the arrest report, a deputy allegedly located the methamphetamine after a search of the vehicle Marple was driving. He stopped the car near the Oakesdale swimming pool after turning off Highway 27.

SPANGLE MAN

SENTENCED

Michael E. Fignani, 41, Spangle, was sentenced to 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of methamphetamine Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. He was credited for time already served in jail and allowed to convert the balance of the sentence to 216 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $1,800 in fines and fees which include a $1,000 fine for drug possession.

Fignani was arrested on Highway 27 Feb. 18 in a traffic stop north of Pullman. The report said a baggie of mehtmaphetamine was found in his watch pocket.

LANDER TRIAL SET AUG. 18

Walter J. Lander, the Colfax resident who was arrested as a suspect in a residential burglary case which deputies allege happened two days after he was released from jail on other charges, pleaded not guilty Friday in superior court to four charges. Lander was scheduled for an Aug. 18 trial.

Lander has been charged with burglarizing a residence on the Glenwood Road. The arrest report said the victim of the alleged burglary noticed some of the items missing from the residence had been included in local listings for Craigslist.

Lander was jailed here earlier after being arrested on the west side of the state for alleged probation violations. Warrants for his arrest were issued in five cases after he reportedly failed to report to the Department of Corrections and failed to undergo drug treatment as ordered in previous cases, including a 2013 check washing case.

He had been allowed release from jail pending a July 11 hearing date on the probation violations.

He was booked back into the jail here June 29 on the new burglary charges. Bail for pre-trial release was set at $100,000.

Colfax THREATS ARREST

Michael Breitenberg, 28, Colfax, was arrested on probable charges of harassment and threatening to kill Friday night in Colfax. The Colfax arrest report said Breitenberg was arrested after he made threats against staff members at Paul’s Place on S. Mill where he resides.

The arrest report said Breitenberg became upset about not being able to purchase cigarettes after he ran out of funds to buy them. Under a standing agreement, he receives a check from a family member, but ran out of cigarettes before funds from the latest check would be placed in his account.

SAND BAGS DOWN

IN CHANNEL

Sand bags have been placed in the channel of the S. Fork of the Palouse River just south of the Island Street bridge to divert water flow to the east side of the concrete river channel. The Island Street bridge is entry point of the channel section that flows under Island and then under Main Street in front of the courthouse. Water flowing under the bridges is normally spread out under the bridges.

Colfax Saturday plans to have the second running of the river festival race down the channel which now has rocks and debris left by last winter’s flooding of the ditch along the Palouse Highway grade.

Some of the rock debris from last winter’s flood had already been cleared from the west side of the channel before the cleaning operation was halted by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

WRONG WAY ARREST

Gary S. Walter, 47, Spokane, was released on his own recognizance Thursday after being arrested in Pullman on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle. According to the arrest report, Pullman police received a report last Wednesday at about 4 p.m. from a man who had been shopping at Palouse Treasures on Nye Street. When he came out of the store he discovered that his car, a 2005 Chevrolet Venture, was missing.

The police report said another Pullman officer shortly after 9 p.m. observed a car traveling the wrong way on Maiden Lane. The car turned out to be a 2005 Venture that matched the description of the missing vehicle. The suspect, Walter, was driving the car.

PRIDE SEEKS TO CLEAR TITLE

LaCrosse Community Pride had filed a quiet title action on six lots in LaCrosse. The action in superior court was filed against the heirs of Alma and Jasper Fagg to clear title to the LaCrosse lots which are located in block 2 where three stone houses are located. The petition said Community Pride has acquired fee simple title to the property.

The court last week approved a motion for Community Pride to notify the defendants in the civil action via publication.

DOUGHERTY WAIVES TRIAL RIGHT

William Dougherty III, who was taken into custody June 9 after failing to attend a readiness hearing prior to a June 16 trial date, waived his speedy trial right Friday in an appearance in Whitman County Superior Court. Deadline under the speedy trial rule is now Oct. 31.

Dougherty asked for the delay to investigate the marijuana charges which have been filed following a raid of an alleged growing operation on Carothers Road west of Pullman last September. Members of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency participated in the raid.

Dougherty was remanded to custody of the jail June 9 for failing to attend the readiness hearing and also for failing to recognize the court’s jurisdiction in the case. He was escorted out of the courtroom by deputies.

Dougherty was later released from jail after a family member posted $25,000 bail June 19.

Judge David Frazier Friday set an Aug. 29 status hearing to schedule a new trial date. Dougherty faces charges of manufacturing marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The charges were filed here after an initial plan to charge him in U.S. District Court was dropped.

In the charges filed here the state included notice of intent to seek an exceptional sentence because of the alleged high degree of sophistication and planning which they believe went into development of the Carothers Road growing operation which allegedly included temporary greenhouse structures.

POLICE EXTEND HOURS

Colfax hours for on-duty police coverage have now been extended to 24 hours under an agreement with Whitman Community Hospital. Mayor Todd Vanek reported to the city council Monday night, July 7, that an officer will now be on duty from 2 to 7 a.m. The time slot is now being filled with part-time officers.

Vanek said the officers will be stationed at the hospital but will also make patrols around town and respond to calls as needed. Around-the-clock coverage has been requested by the hospital because of increased security concerns for hospital staffers and patients, particularly in the emergency room.

Police Chief Rick McNannay said wages for the coverage will be paid by the hospital.

Vanek said the on-duty officer will be able to write reports and do other work at the hospital during the overnight hours.

Colfax Police coverage during the early morning hours has been done with one officer assigned to on-call status to respond. Normally that status can slow response time.

Vanek said staffing for the five-hour morning slot could become a problem in the future because the city at present is depending on part-time officers.

BOHLMANN PLEADS

R. Mike Bohlmann, 50, pleaded not guilty in superior court Friday morning to three charges of assault. Formal charges against Bohlmann were filed after he was arrested at his residence on Sumner Street in Colfax June 24.

Police responded to the area of Morton and Sumner streets after receiving reports of a man yelling, driving erratically and threatening people with a gun.

Alleged victims in the formal assault charges are Holly Herne and two juvenile boys listed in the charge by their initials.

An Aug. 18 trial date was set. Bond for Bohlmann’s pretrial release has been set at $500,000. Colfax Police have also confiscated 92 guns from Bohlmann’s residence and are holding them as possible evidence.

CITY

ORDINANCE CHANGES

Two revisions to Colfax ordinances were approved July 7 by the city council. The changes were made to bring the ordinances in alignment with personnel policy changes in the fire department which were approved by the council earlier in the year.

The ordinance removes the fire chief position from the city staff and adds a fire administrator which will be a non civil service position.

The council earlier had approved a lineup change which calls for the chief’s position to be filled by the volunteers with the new fire administrator position to be filled by the city. The fire administrator position, now filled by Carl Thompson, will not be a civil service position.

MAGERISON

SENTENCE:

14-PLUS YEARS

David Scott Magerison, 31, Pasco, who pleaded guilty June 13 to two rape charges, was sentenced to 171 months in prison July 9 after a stormy session in Whitman County Superior Court. Judge David Frazier ordered the sentence after Magerison had to be removed from the courtroom during an outburst earlier in the hearing.

He was escorted out of the courtroom by three deputies after making derogatory statements about the attorneys, the judge and one of the victims who was present. Magerison stated the court could finish without him. After the judge allowed a cooling off period, the defendant declined to return to the courtroom where he was entitled to make a statement before sentencing.

The victim, a 44-year-old Clarkston woman who had initially been subpoenaed to testify at the trial, later gave a statement in court.

The Magerison case included the 42-second “rat video” which he had taken of the Clarkston woman prior to the rape in the back of Magerison’s car near Granite Point along the Snake river. The video had been found on one of four cell phones which drug agents seized and searched after the arrest in a case which initially involved alleged drugs sales by Magerison in Clarkston.

The sentence, 14 years and three months, is the time Margerison will be in prison before the goes before an Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board.

The 42-second video of the victim had been the object of a pre-trial hearing after Defense Attorney Steve Martonick unsuccessfully petitioned to have it suppressed as evidence.

The video was part of the state’s contention that Magerison, who had marked “rat” on the victim’s head, was threatening her because he believed she had assisted Lewiston officers in an unrelated drug case. The “rat” video depicted a pistol being placed in the victim’s mouth.

Magerison June 13 pleaded guilty to the charges of first and second degree rape under a plea bargain agreement in which the state dropped three other charges, kidnapping, assault, and intimidation of a witness. The victim in the other rape case was a 16-year-old Asotin County girl who was shown the “rat” video by Magerison before he raped her in Asotin county last Halloween. The Asotin county case was transferred here as part of the plea bargain agreement.

During the June 13 arraignment, Judge Frazier told Magerison the two rape convictions were two strikes. The state’s three strikes law results in life in prison without parole if convicted of a third strike offense.

Colfax ON ‘HOG’ ROUTE

Colfax residents can expect to see more than 200 motorcycle riders roll through town the last weekend in July. The riders will be part of the Pacific Northwest Hog Rally which will be July 24 and 27. The police department has been advised Colfax can expect two different groups to roll through town July 25 and 26.

The riders will be on a loop route from Spokane. They will continue south on Highway 195 to the Wawawai Road (Highway 194) intersection west of Pullman. They plan to ride down the Wawawai grade and then along the river road to Clarkston and Lewiston.