Bulletin Column

Emergency crews and passers-by assist Larry Harris who was hit by a vehicle on Main Street in Colfax Friday. Story below.

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.

ONE-WAY SET WEDNESDAY

Conversion of one block of Spring Street, between Main and Mill streets, to one-way traffic will be done Wednesday when diagonal parking slots will be marked with white paint.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer said the street conversion would be an experimental project which will be in place through the summer.

City crew members May 5 marked both blocks of Spring Street for the one-way street experiment, but the other block, between Main and the west alley, will not be converted, Hammer told the city council Monday night. He explained one of the problems was that the property where the alley is located could be privately owned.

The aim of the project is to gain parking spaces and eliminate two-way traffic on the narrow streets. The city had also proposed to convert Wall Street, located one block north of Spring, to one way in the opposite direction at some time in the future. Spring Street traffic will be one-way eastbound.

City council members complained about not being informed of the conversion plan, which was announced by Police Chief Rick McNannay. They noted the plan was reported in the Bulletin one day after the May 4 council session when the project was not included on the agenda.

The one-way eastbound street with diagonal parking will be across Main Street from the planned site of the Colfax Farmers’ Market, which is scheduled to begin weekly Friday sessions May 29 from 3 to 7 p.m. The market site had previously been located at Eells Park.

CASH THEFT CONVICTION

James Louthan, 21, Pullman, was sentenced to 10 days in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty in superior court to reduced charges of unlawful trespassing and third degree theft. Louthan was originally charged with burglary and theft. He was ordered to pay $700 in fines and fees and pay $50 in restitution to Cartridge World on S. Grand in Pullman.

According to the Pullman Police report, Louthan was observed on surveillance tapes entering the business Feb. 27 after hours and taking money from the cash register. The report said he had been fired from the business prior to that date and became a suspect because he had not turned in a key.

FFA DONATES PLANTS TO CITY

Colfax FFA has donated plants to the Main Street flower pot project this year. Thirty-two pots were placed along Main Street Wednesday next to the trees on Main Street curbouts, according to Steve Larkin, city parks superintendent.

Main Street businesses are asked to supply water to the planter pots. They are also to be located along the highway approach to Colfax and at the Codger Pole.

The FFA has also donated tomato, pepper and bean plants to the community garden project in the planters behind the Peace Lutheran Church.

The flowers and plants are leftovers from the annual FFA plant sale.

STREET PROJECT STARTS JUNE 15

A June 15 start is planned for a grind down and paving project in Colfax, Public Works Director Matt Hammer reported to the city council Monday night. Hammer reported on a pre-construction briefing for the project. Poe Asphalt Paving of Clarkston was awarded the contract for the project on a bid of $2,028,765. The project will extend from the Cooper Street Bridge on S. Main in Colfax to the Dry Creek Road intersection.

The contract has a 40 day limit for completion.

Work for the Main Street section, between Cooper and Harrison, is scheduled to be done in night shifts. North of the Harrison intersection, the work is scheduled to be done in two shifts with traffic controls and a bypass system planned with the use of the Highway 26 spur bridge.

Hammer reported the paving will not include the spur bridge for Highway 26, which was the object of a rebuild of a sagging sidewalk earlier this spring.

The contract also calls for Poe to extend slope approaches to the railroad crossing between Tyler and Harrison to provide better vision for motorists. Length of the slope extension will be limited by the intersections on each side.

HE DOESN’T LIVE HERE

A Colfax man who resides in the 200 block of N. West Street reported to city police that two men entered his house at approximately 1 a.m. Saturday morning. The two men reported they had been dropped off in front of the residence by a driver who incorrectly informed them that was where their friend resided. The resident told police the two men apologized for the misunderstanding and left.

—Officer Matt Malakowsky Friday afternoon responded to a call from a resident on S. East Street who said she was unable to open the door of her apartment to leave. After checking the faulty door mechanism from the outside, Malakowsky was able to enter the apartment from an exterior balcony and remove the hinge pins to open the door.

PLYMOUTH CHURCH TO GET ROOF

Dallas Cook, proprietor of Dalco Construction of Plummer, Idaho, has applied for a Colfax building permit to undertake a $30,000 roofing project at Plymouth Congregational-UCC Church. The church plans to install a metal roof to the building. Pettit Construction of Pullman has been hired as a sub-contractor to remove the asphalt shingles from the church at 323 S. Main.

DEER COLLISION ON 195

Ezekiel D. Juel, Selah, was unhurt when the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier he was driving collided with a deer on Highway 195 about five miles south of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Juel was driving southbound at 9:07 p.m. May 12 when the deer ran onto the roadway and collided with the Chevrolet at mile marker 32.

JUNE TRIAL SET IN KNIFE CASE

A June 15 trial date was scheduled Friday for Timothy Thomas who pleaded not guilty to two charges of assault in the second degree and one count of assault in the fourth degree.

Thomas, 26, Beaverton, Ore., was booked in jail early May 10 after he was arrested outside of Stubblefield’s Bar at Adams Mall in Pullman.

The arrest report alleges Thomas pulled out a knife as he was being escorted out of the college hill bar.

Victims of the second degree assault charge are alleged to be two members of the Stubblefield’s staff who escorted him out of the bar. The Pullman Police report on the case said one of the bouncers sustained a wound on his right tricep and the other bouncer was cut on his right hand.

The arrest report said Thomas also cut himself in the struggle.

Thomas is also charged with fourth-degree assault involving a third member of the staff.

Colfax FFA TEAM PLACES

Colfax FFA Rituals team placed eighth at state convention in Pullman last weekend. Members of the team were Kyle Appel, Abbie Miller, Brett Kincaid, Chase Baerlocher, Caleb Berquist and Josie Riebold.

Appel placed second in creed speaking.

Colfax MAN HIT ON MAIN

Larry Harris, 80, Colfax, was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital Friday morning after being hit while crossing Main Street. He was checked over in the emergency room at the hospital. The ambulance crew was then called back to the hospital, and Harris was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Colfax police and ambulance crews were called to the scene at 9:27 a.m. According to Colfax officer Matt Malakowsky, Harris was crossing Main Street from west to east at the Upton Street intersection. He had crossed one lane and was struck by a 2004 Buick which was being driven southbound by R. Paul Cocking, 91, also of Colfax.

Monday, family members reported Harris remained in the intensive care unit at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Harris sustained a broken pelvis, broken leg and fractures to his eye socket, cheek and nose.

SENTENCED IN RIFLE CASE

Andrew Davidson, 21, a WSU student who was arrested when police responded to a report of a man walking in Pullman with a rifle on Super Bowl Sunday, was sentenced to two days in jail Friday morning after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of third degree theft. Davidson was ordered to also complete 75 hours of community service.

Defense Attorney Robert Rembert of Pullman told the court Davidson had been to a Super Bowl party and became highly intoxicated. He then decided to take a rifle that was in the basement of the residence. He said after returning to his residence with the rifle, Davidson had second thoughts and decided to return the rifle to the owner’s residence. He was arrested when Pullman officers responded to a report of a man walking with a rifle.

Davidson was actually sentenced to 180 days in jail with 178 days suspended. Judge Frazier, who noted Davidson had a prior arrest for being a minor in possession, ordered him to refrain from drinking as a condition of the 178 days of the suspended sentence.

POWER OUTAGES HIT Endicott, steptoe

Power outages were reported last Thursday morning, May 11, in the Endicott and Steptoe areas. The outages were logged as being at Colfax on the Avista posting.

An outage for 612 customers was reported at 7:36 and restored at 10:29 a.m. Those times correspond with reports received here from Endicott residents. The outage included the Endicott School which remained in session.

Another outage of 382 customers was reported at 7:36 a.m. and restored at 11:10 a.m. Those times correspond with reports received here from Steptoe residents.

Cause of the outage on the Avista log was listed as “substation.” Motorists reported Avista trucks at work early that morning at the substation at the Huntley Road intersection along the Colfax-Endicott Road.

CHARGES CITE ‘ISIS’ THREAT

Kalid Airu Mahammed, 28, a WSU student from Seattle, was booked into the jail May 12 on charges of making threats against a WSU faculty member. Formal charges of harassment with a threat to kill and harassment have been filed against him in superior court.

According to the arrest report filed in the court, Mahammed is charged with making threats against a professor during a meeting which involved a charge that he had cheated on a final chemistry examination May 4. The officers reported after getting the information they went to Mahammed’s apartment on Merman Drive.

The report said Mahammed at first denied making threats in the meeting with the professor, but later admitted a “heated argument” took place.

According to the professor’s report, Mahammed said he would “be on him like ISIS” after being confronted about the alleged cheating on the exam. The arrest report said Mahammed later told the officers he had made a list of names of people and “intended to make it right before he leaves Pullman.”

Statements filed with the arrest report allege a teaching assistant for the chemistry class observed Mahammed looking at notes during the examination. The report noted he had previously been suspected of cheating in the department.

Bond amount for pre-trial release was set at $50,000.

RETAINING WALL REPAIRS

A building permit was issued May 12 to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church for repair of a retaining wall. The wall is located behind the St. John’s Academy building. Estimated cost of the project, which will be done by volunteers, was $4,000.