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 OKAYS RAILROAD OFFER

A negotiated purchase of railroad right-of-way under Railroad Ave. in north Colfax was approved by the Colfax City Council Monday night. The city has negotiated purchase of the Railroad Ave. right-of-way and two blocks of siding right-of-way between Last and Island streets for $10,000. The city will also be required to pay closing fees and other costs estimated at $2,000, according to City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello.

He said the railroad company, Watco, initially quoted a price of $36,000 for the Railroad Ave. property which amounted to about $3 per square foot.

The negotiated agreement, which includes more property at a reduced price, works out to about 27 cents per square foot, Rizzitiello said.

The purchase of the right-of-way has been sought since early planning of a real estate project now being developed by Scott Ackerman on property along the South Fork of the Palouse River where it meets the North Fork.

Ackerman earlier this year reported plans for the project were hampered by the discovery that the riverside development site lacked publicly owned access to the city’s street system.

In early rounds of checking out the status of the property, the city had to determine whether the right-of-way was owned by the state, which purchased the Watco right-of-way on the main line, or Watco.

The city purchase also will provide official public access to Bellinger Street which was linked to Main Street via Railroad Ave.

The purchase of Watco property between Island and Last streets involves railroad sidings and a strip of property on the east side of the corridor.

The railroad mainline property, the line which is closest to Ells Park, belongs to the state. The city has discussed purchase of the segment of the state mainline along the west side of the S. Palouse channel which now ends where the south Main crossing was removed as part of the highway construction project two years ago.

Watco still owns the property under the rail spur which extends to the North Clay Street area and as far as Schmuck Park.

Funds for the $12,000 cost of the purchase, which was not in the budget at the start of the year, will come out of the city’s share of real estate excise taxes.

REPORT WINERY BREAK-IN

Jedidiah D. Adams, 25, Pullman, was arrested Monday morning on probable charges of attempted burglary, malicious mischief and vehicle prowl. According to a report from Sheriff Brett Myers, Adams was arrested after deputies responded to an early morning report of a burglary in progress at Wawawai Canyon Winery on the Moscow-Pullman Highway.

The property owner, who was present when the front door was shattered, gave a description of the suspect and deputies contacted Adams who was located outside of his residence about a half mile from the winery.

During the weekend, deputies had contacted Adams on three separate occasions. He was the driver of a 1993 Dodge Dakota truck which was involved in a rollover accident on the Wawawai Road about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Approximately 13 hours before the accident, Adams had been taken into protective custody when he was found prone in the middle of Highway 270. He was taken to the hospital for mental evaluation.

DEER CRASH NEAR DUSTY

Jordan T. Janga, Covington, was uninjured early Sunday morning when the 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup he was driving collided with a deer while he was driving eastbound on Highway 26, 16.3 miles west of Colfax, according to a Washington State Patrol report.

ILLIA DUNES NOW OPEN

Illia Dunes beach, across the Snake River from Almota, was reopened for public use late last week after it had been closed because of water conditions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the beach Aug. 15, when tests showed that fecal bacteria exceeded levels considered safe for people. Subsequent test results indicated the water conditions are now safe for public use.

Illia Dunes parking is restricted to two nearby Corps parking lots. Due to the size, configuration of available space and limited maneuverability for larger vehicles, buses are not allowed in these lots. The two lots hold a total of about 120 cars.

Public parking is not allowed on the adjacent 50-mph speed limit Almota Ferry Road. “No Parking” signs have been placed along the roadway.

POOL TO CLOSE SUNDAY

Sunday will be the last day of operation for the Colfax swim pool staff. The pool crew now totals six lifeguards who will work shifts to the last day according to Connie Ellis, pool manager.

OTHER SUSPECT GETS 3 YEARS

Teshome G. Malle, 18, Seattle, the other suspect in the home invasion robbery in Pullman last November, was sentenced to three years in jail Aug. 21 in superior court. He pleaded guilty to amended charges of burglary in the first degree and residential burglary.

He was also ordered to pay $1,900 in fines and fees which included restitution of $1,100 to the victim who resided on N.E. Michigan Street in Pullman.

The other suspect in the robbery, Daraaraa A. Waquo, 23, Seattle, was sentenced to four years in prison July 25 after he pleaded guilty to charges of robbery, residential burglary and second degree theft.

At Waquo’s sentencing, Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Waquo pointed a pistol at the woman who resided at the residence and told her to get down on her knees. The suspects reportedly had knocked on doors in the neighborhood to determine whether or not they were occupied and broke into the victim’s residence when she didn’t hear them knock on the door. They left with a laptop computer, wallet and credit card.

The two suspects were apprehended later the same day at WalMart in Pullman where they had attempted to use a credit card stolen from the residence to purchase gift cards.

BAIRD

SENTENCED TO 3 MONTHS

Amy Baird, 43, Oakesdale, was sentenced to three months in jail Friday after she admitted charges of forgery and possession of methamphetamine. The forgery charge involved a false report which was submitted by Baird to document public service work hours as part of her sentence on a previous conviction. Baird had submitted a report stating she had worked 92 hours of volunteer time at the Benewah County Senior Center in Plummer.

The manager, whose alleged signature was on the work report, told court officials she did not know Baird.

The methamphetamine charge related to a June 5 stop of a van in which deputies found needles and methamphetamine which were traced to Baird.

Judge David Frazier told Baird Friday drug use appeared to be at the root of her problems with the law. Baird told the court she hasn’t done drugs in quite a while.

She was fined $2,000 on the drug conviction along with fees and costs of $800 on each conviction.

Baird was allowed a week’s delay in reporting for jail to attend to a family medical procedure.

DAM OPEN ON LABOR DAY

The Army Corps of Engineers reports Lower Granite Dam will be open for vehicle crossing on Labor Day, Sept. 1. Crossing times have been extended from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Summer season crossing hours will end after the Labor Day weekend. Hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams will be closed for crossing on Labor Day under federal regulations which call for closures on federal holidays. The opening at Lower Granite on Labor Day is an exception to the standard policy.

KNOTT AGREES TO PLEA

Robert Knott, the Winona area rancher who contended his arrest was unconstitutional in a hearing last June, entered a plea of guilty to a charge of driving while under the influence Friday morning in superior court. The plea was entered after the prosecutor’s office agreed to drop a second charge of attempting to elude.

Knott was scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 19. Defense attorney Will Ferguson, who waived entering a statement Friday morning, said additional information on Knott’s arrest will be presented to the court at the time of sentencing.

Judge David Frazier noted the court was aware of the account of the Knott arrest from the hearing in June on the defense motion to suppress the evidence.

Deputy Prosecutor Merritt Decker read a brief review of the case including results of breathalyzer tests which indicated Knott’s blood alcohol content after the Jan. 18 arrest was more than twice the .08 level for legal intoxication.

The plea came after formal findings and conclusions of law from the hearing were filed the week before. Although Judge Frazier denied Knott’s motion to suppress at the July 1 ruling, he did disqualify segments of evidence from the arrest process which were described in the formal findings.

Knott had been scheduled for trial Sept. 2 and witnesses have been subpoenaed to testify. The formal findings disqualified two segments of evidence in the arrest process. The judge ruled anything Knott said immediately after he was stopped by Deputy Michael Jordan and before he was advised of his Miranda rights could not be used. The judge noted Jordan approached Knott’s truck with emergency lights activated and gun drawn and “asked questions designed to elicit an incriminating response.”

Jordan subsequently holstered his gun and advised Knott of his Miranda Rights. Responses to questions after that time would have been allowed at trial. Knott was subsequently transported to the Whitman County Jail and later requested to talk with an attorney. The court found after Knott talked with an attorney on the telephone about five minutes, Jordan resumed questioning without again advising Knott of his rights, as required. Any evidence from that segment of the arrest also would have been suppressed at trial.

Knott had contended his arrest Jan. 18 should be suppressed because the arresting officer had received information that Knott had been drinking in Endicott. The information allegedly originated from Knott’s girlfriend who reportedly wanted Knott arrested because of what she believed was a drinking problem. The motion contended the subsequent arrest on the Winona-South Road near Knott’s residence was done under a pretext which made it unconstitutional.

FINAL PRIMARY COUNT

Final count of ballots for the Aug. 5 primary resulted in disqualification of 128 ballots returned to the elections office. The final tally for the election was 6,865 votes for a final voter turnout rate of 33.95 percent of the county’s 20,219 registered ballots.

Certification and review of ballots was done Monday.

The results were 1,578 ballots which were scratched because they were returned to the elections office because the voter did not live at the address, 33 ballots were rejected because the voter did not sign the ballot and 66 were rejected because they were post marked later than the Aug. 5 election date.

Signature matches on 59 of the ballots were challenged and 24 of the ballots were rejected with the other 35 approved. Five of seven other ballots that were challenged for miscellaneous reasons were also rejected.

COCHRAN WINS PRECINCT

Larry Cochran won the lone primary contest for Precinct Committee Officer. Cochran received 48 votes for the Republican PCO seat in precinct 136 which is the North Colfax Rural Precinct. Michelle Beckmann received 25 votes.

Six uncontested Republicans and one Democrat were elected to PCO positions in the primary. The county has a total of 69 precincts.

REPORT POSSIBLE ARSON

Deputies and Palouse Police Aug. 20 responded to a report of a possible arson along Highway 27 near the Estes Road intersection south of Palouse. A witness reported seeing a vehicle stop and throw what appeared to be some type of burning material into a field along the road. The report said the vehicle involved appeared to be some type of jeep which was green.

A green vehicle matching the description was stopped by Palouse Police as it entered town north of the fire site, but it turned out not to be the vehicle reportedly seen at the fire scene.

The fire ignited a relatively green area along the highway which burned just a small area before it was extinguished by District 4 volunteers from Palouse.

VEHICULAR ASSAULT CHARGE

A charge of vehicular assault relating to an accident two years ago on Highway 194 was filed Aug. 18 against Shelby Leigh Welch, 23, Wenatchee. She has been summoned to appear in superior court Friday.

A Washington State Patrol report filed with the charge said investigators have determined Holly A Osborn, driver of the other vehicle in the Aug. 25, 2012, accident, had sustained injuries which amounted to substantial bodily harm in the accident.

The report said Osborn declined to be transported by ambulance from the scene of the accident but later went to Whitman Hospital in Colfax and was treated in the emergency room. The report said she was treated for a bulging disk in her spine and a fractured left foot. Medical records of the treatment were cited in the report.

The report said Welch was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe eastbound on Highway 194 and collided with a 2008 Jeep Wrangler driven by Osborn about seven miles from Boyer Park. It alleges Welch crossed a solid yellow line while she passed on a curve and struck the Wrangler on the driver’s side.

The report alleges a portable breathalyzer test administered on Welch indicated presence of alcohol but it was below the .08 level of blood alcohol content to be considered legally intoxicated.