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.

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STATE TRUST LISTS ST. IGNATIUS

The Washington State Trust for Historic Preservation approved a listing for the St. Ignatius Hospital building on the south hill as one of the state’s 10 most threatened historic buildings. Approval of the listing was issued last weekend at a meeting of the state board at Bellingham.

City Administrator Mike Rizzitiello reported 12 loads of debris were hauled from the grounds over two weekends of work along with a dumpster which was filled at the site.

City volunteers and the Explorer Scouts in the new Colfax post participated in the cleanup.

The city administrator reported he has had contact with two developers who are interested in some type of project for the building.

“It does have a lot of market life left,” Rizzitiello commented.

ALBION WOMAN DIES OF WOUND

Ursula Siedman, 42, Albion, was pronounced dead Saturday, May 9, 2015, in Spokane at Providence Sacred Heart Hospital where she had been flown by helicopter after being found with a head wound at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday near the intersection of Shawnee and Collins Road northwest of Albion.

Deputies first responded to the scene after getting a report of an abandoned pickup truck and later found Siedman.

An investigation by the Spokane County Coroner determined the wound was self-inflicted and the manner of death was suicide.

BULL CALL AT LAMONT

A sheriff’s deputy responded to a report at about 10 a.m. Saturday of a bull running loose on Spokane Street in Lamont. The bull was contained until the owner could be located and came to take custody of the animal.

DeCREMER SENTENCED TO 64 DAYS

Terry DeCremer, 28, Pullman resident who was charged with arson after police reported he attempted to light a car on fire last Jan. 23, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 64 suspended Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. DeCremer, a former Colfax resident, pleaded guilty to amended charges of reckless burning and malicious mischief, both gross misdemeanors.

He was placed on two years of probation and ordered to absolutely abstain from drinking and any use of drugs. DeCremer told the court he became upset with himself last January after he reverted to drinking after being sober for a year. The arrest report said DeCremer had been intoxicated after he drank two Steel Reserve beers.

Pullman officers responded to a report from SW Shirley Street where DeCremer reportedly threw articles around his residence and then left in his wife’s 2006 Buick, which he drove off the roadway and through a patch of trees and a yard. After the car came to a halt, he reportedly stuck a rag into the gas tank of the car and ignited it. The fire was quickly extinguished.

DeCremer told the court Friday he has been undergoing treatment since his arrest. He was allowed to return home and then report to jail to begin serving his sentence May 15. He requested the delay to assist his wife with a newborn infant. She told the court Friday they now have five children in the home.

WRIT ISSUED ON FRATERNITY

A writ of restitution was issued Wednesday following an April 24 judgment against WSU Delta Chi Alumni and 16 occupants of the fraternity. The sheriff was directed to serve the writ on the defendants.

The judgment for $82,539 was awarded to Boyu Lu of Pullman on his suit to collect overdue rent and payment of taxes and costs required under terms of the lease. The judgment authorized issue of the restitution writ.

SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS RULING

A Washington State Supreme Court mandate filed May 4 in superior court reported a motion for reconsideration of the water use suit filed by Scott Corneilus against WSU was denied. The mandate reported the motion was denied in an opinion issued by the high court Feb. 12 and became final April 26.

The state’s high court affirmed lower court rulings that said WSU’s use of more water based on the Department of Ecology’s amended use of historical WSU water rights was lawful. Other defendants in the suit were the Department of Ecology and the Washington Pollution Control Board, which denied the Cornelius petition in April of 2008.

Co-petitioners with Cornelius were the Palouse Water Conservation Network and the Sierra Club Palouse Group.

Colfax LOGO REJECTED

A design proposal for a new Colfax City logo failed to get a stamp of approval at the May 4 night’s city council session. Most of the design drew comments of approval by the council, but a three-colored capital C on the front of Colfax drew negative reviews. The logo was projected on a screen which has been mounted in back of the city council table.

Council member Tom Huntwork said the design for the capital C reminded him of a toilet seat.

Other features of the design included a roof line background depicting features of the downtown skyline and a single stalk of wheat on the right hand side.

ACADEMY PHOTO IN ‘BUNCHGRASS’

The spring edition of the Bunchgrass Historian includes a photo section on St. John’s Academy which is located on the south hill of Colfax. St. Patrick Parish received a request in 1913 to build the school and construction began in 1914. The school opened in September of 1915 and it operated until 1966.

Ed Garretson of Uniontown, editor of the Bunchgrass, said the pictures of the academy are from the society’s collection. He noted some of the pictures were donated from the 2012 all class reunion of the academy.

One of the photos shows a bridge which spanned a drainage channel between St. Patrick’s Church and the academy building. St. Ignatius Hospital is shown in the background.

The academy building now serves as a parish hall for St. Patrick’s Church.

The Bunchgrass is the quarterly publication of the Whitman County Historical Society.

EYE DIAGONAL PARKING

Conversion of city side streets to one-way traffic and marking diagonal parking spaces began Thursday morning. Police Chief Rick McNannay said the overall plan calls for conversion of Spring Street to one way for eastbound and Wall Street to one way westbound traffic.

Traffic cones with no parking notices were placed along both blocks on Spring Street May 6 and city crew members were marking spaces for diagonal parking.

McNannay said the aim of the plan is to provide more parking spaces.

Traffic flow on the narrow sides streets is congested with two-way traffic and parallel parking on each side of the street.

The one-way traffic would mean motorists turning off Main will be required to be alert to not turn the wrong way into the converted one-way streets.

Southbound motorists, for example, will not be able to turn right onto Spring and northbound motorists will not be able to turn right on Wall Street.

BATTERIES SAID STOLEN

Colfax Police late May 5 received a report of the theft of two vehicle batteries which were taken off the porch of a residence in the 600 block of Meadow. The batteries were being stored on the porch. The resident reported he heard noise on the porch before he discovered the batteries were missing.

Police Wednesday afternoon received a report of juveniles trespassing around an unoccupied residence near the end of S. Mill Street, past the St. Ignatius Hospital building. The youngsters departed when an officer arrived on the scene.