Bulletin Extras

Sewer line

under Fairview

A request for city assistance to repair a broken sewer service line for the T.J. Cornish residence in the 200 block of West Fairview was made to the city council July 21. Cornish said they have learned that the line actually goes beneath Fairview before it joins one of the city mains which serves that area of the south hill.

The city sewer grid does not include a main for Fairview.

Councilwoman Jeanette Solimine noted the service line for the residence is subjected to heavy traffic on the Fairview area of the south hill.

Council members decided to ask the city crews to determine if other houses in the neighborhood are linked to the same lateral line.

Cornish reported their house was constructed in 1892, and he believes the line runs from between 100 and 150 feet. He said he didn’t know if other houses were served by the same line. The point of the break has been located and estimated cost of the repair was in the range of $4,000.

Bail set in kitten case

Bail was set at $5,000 July 22 in a detention hearing for a 15-year-old boy who has been held in custody for allegedly taking a kitten from the Whitman County Humane Society on the Old Moscow Highway out of Pullman. The boy has been charged with burglary, malicious mischief and theft from the break-in which was reported July 10.

The judge ruled the bail requirement will be dropped in the event one of the youth’s parents contacts the court and takes custody and supervision of the youth.

According to the arrest report, staffers at the humane society told officers they found kittens were loose in the building when they arrived July 10 for work. They also found a window broken out in the back of the building.

After rounding up the kittens they determined one kitten was missing. The report said the suspect, who had recently visited the society and expressed an interest in the kitten, was found to have the animal in his possession. The kitten, named Rosalind, had a unique identification feature, seven toes on each of its front feet.

Truck flops in storm

State troopers responded to an accident report involving a box truck which went off the shoulder of Highway 195 and went over on its side when the wind storm hit July 23.

WSP Sgt. Scott Davis said the trucker was northbound when the wind hit. He was driving an empty box cargo truck in the 1.5 ton class.

The driver pulled off the highway because of a lack of vision. Because of the lack of visibility he wasn’t sure if the truck had gone over because of the slant of the shoulder or because the wind actually dumped the empty truck on its side.

Sgt. Davis said the wind was so strong at the location that it was blowing gravel clear across the highway from the opposite shoulder. The direction of the wind was eastbound which was perpendicular to the side of the truck.

Early crash on 27

Tyler Jacobson, Coeur d’Alene, was unhurt July 23 when he lost control of a 2002 Chevrolet Malibu on Highway 27 two miles south of Garfield. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Jacobson was driving southbound at 6 a.m. when the car drifted onto the shoulder of the roadway. He over-corrected and the car went off the roadway to the right and came to a halt on its side.

Library plans

computer upgradeDuring its annual August cleaning and maintenance break next week, Whitman County Library also plans to update its internet system to improve speeds for service at eight different branches. The upgrade is expected to improve internet speed up to 20 times, according to Jim Morasch, system administrator for the library.

All 14 branches of the library will be closed for cleaning and maintenance Aug. 4-11.

A $10,000 federal grant administered through Washington State Library will fund the upgrade project. The improvement will be done in partnership with First Step Internet.

The upgrade will be an extension of a $140 million project for rural areas in the state from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with the Port of Whitman providing local funding and infrastructure for a fiber optic line installation.

With the $10,000 funding and assistance from First Step, the library can finally afford to connect to the fiber optic installation, according to Morasch.

The upgrades will include internet service at Colfax and the branches at Albion, Colton, Garfield, Oakesdale, Palouse, Rosalia and Uniontown.

Trees said hazardTwo trees are slated to be removed on Main Street from in front of the Conoco Station. The city trees committee plans to plant two trees at Schmuck Park to offset the removals from Main Street, according to a report from Councilwoman Whitney Aguilar at the July 21 meeting.

The tree committee report led to discussion of vision problems caused by trees planted along the sidewalk in front of Rosauers. The trees hamper vision for motorists who attempt to turn left out of the Rosauers lot.

Council members noted the short trees were planted in front of the store to replace other trees which had grown to the point where they blocked vision for motorists pulling out of the Rosauers lot in front of the store.

One suggestion was removal of one or two of the short trees from the north end of the line to allow motorists an angle of vision to the northbound lane on Main Street as they attempt to turn left out of the store lot.