Bulletin Column March 24

Three hurt on Highway 195

Colfax ambulances Monday transported three people from the scene of a rear-end collision near the intersection of Highway 195 and Babbitt Road 7.6 miles south of Colfax. The driver of a 2009 Ford Escape, a 17-year-old girl from Garfield, had to be extricated from the vehicle which ran into the back of a 2010 Ford box truck driven by Roy D. Munn of Moscow. She was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital.

Munn and a passenger in the truck, Steven Carter, Moscow, were also transported to Pullman in a separate ambulance. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Munn had stopped the van in the northbound lane in an attempt to make a left turn onto Babbitt Road, and the Escort driven by the juvenile struck the rear of the truck at 2:24 p.m.

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.

HIGHWAYS 26-195 PLAN ADVANCES

Colfax City Council members Monday night were informed that a plan for reconstruction of the intersection of Highway 26 and 195 at the north end of Colfax has been moved up on the state ratings with a plan for a federal grant application in the works. Asked to designate what they had in mind for a re-do of the intersection, the council rejected one preliminary proposal, installation of a traffic roundabout at the intersection.

Councilman Steve Holberg pointed out the amount of truck traffic which goes through the intersection and noted truckers do not like to negotiate traffic circles. He said the constriction at the site could lead to a lot of truckers hitting curbs for any type of traffic circle.

City Councilman Jim Kackman also objected to the concept of a traffic circle.

City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello said state concern about the bridges at the intersection has moved the project up on the Department of Transportation priority list. He said the project will be submitted for a federal Transportation Incentives Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. The project now tops the state list for a four-county area, he added.

Rizzitiello said the proposal calls for removal of the Highway 26 bridge. The rebuild of the intersection would also call for relocation of the Corner Chevron station, possibly with some type of consolidation to the CFN fuel plaza which is located on the west side of the Highway 26 spur bridge. Rizzitiello said Busch Distributors, which operates both businesses, has been part of the discussion of the pending changes.

Also, Avista has been advised of the project because of its natural gas main which runs under the Highway 26 spur bridge. Concern for the Avista gas main was one of the key factors in work done by state crews last year when they installed support beams under the sidewalk of the spur bride.

Council members Monday night said they preferred a basic T configuration for a new intersection and construction of a new four-lane bridge to accommodate both highways. The Highway 26 bridge would be removed. They also suggested a traffic light be installed at the intersection.

Cost of the reconstruction has been estimated in the $7 million range. Rizzitiello told the council a TIGER grant, if approved by the Highway Administration, could be issued without a requirement for state matching funds. He also noted the state DOT does have matching funds which could be used for the project if required. A federal grant could get the project underway as early as the next construction year, he added.

DEMOCRATIC PRECINCTS VACANT

A posting of precincts for Saturday’s Democratic caucuses in the county lists 34 of the 55 precincts in the county without a precinct committee officer or leader. Only 13 of the precincts list a precinct committee officer and the eight remaining precincts list leaders.

Both Colfax rural precincts and two of the four Colfax City precincts are listed without a leader or PCO. Fred and Melissa Hunt are listed as leaders in precinct 139, and Jack McBride is listed as a leader for precinct 141.

The caucus site for Colfax precincts along with Wilcox, Dusty, Hay and Hooper will be the Public Service Building starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. The four county precincts are also listed without a leader or a PCO.

County organizer Carolyn Cress said packets will be prepared for all precincts, and residents who arrive from a precinct without a leader or PCO can follow instructions in the packet.

Chief task of the caucus sessions will be selection of delegates to the county convention, set for May 1, and listing proposed platform planks.

CITY OKAYS REVISED METRO PARK VOTE

Colfax city council Monday night voted 4-1 to approve a resolution to put a proposal for formation of a metropolitan park district on the ballot for the next general election. The district, if approved, would combine Colfax and the Colfax School District in a new metro park district to operate parks in Colfax.

The revised approach drops a petition step in the process which was described at the last city council session. City Administrator Mike Rizzitiello said additional research led him to an alternate approach used at Port Angeles. That requires the city council and the county commissioners to each approve the resolution to place the measure on the ballot.

The resolution drafted by the city will now go before the county commissioners for a vote on whether to put the measure on the ballot for voters in the county portion of Colfax School District.

Rizzitiello said the Port Angeles approach calls for a panel to oversee the district which would consist of two representatives from the county and two from the city. A fifth representative would come from the school district.

A separate proposal would have to ask voters to approve a levy amount. At the maximum allowed of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the new metro district would generate an estimated $275,000 of annual income.

Councilman Jim Kackman said he could see where the county commissioners would have reservations about advancing the resolution to a vote for district residents who live in the county. He noted the county could also attach a condition that the metro district also provide for county parks in the new district. That would include the Colfax Trail and Klemgard Park.

The council also had the option of creating a metro district just inside the city limits. A 50 cent levy on the new district would generate approximately $60,000 less than a metro district with both the city and school district on the tax roll.

Council members Whitney Aguilar, Jeannette Solimine, Steve Bretveld, Albert Vorderbrueggen and Kackman voted in favor, and Steve Holberg voted no. Councilman Tom Huntwork was absent.

GARCIA WINS DYW TITLE

Taylor Garcia Saturday night won the Colfax Distinguished Young Woman title to top five other entrants for the two-hour competition in the CHS auditorium. Sarah Kraut was named first alternate, and Madelyne Avila was named second alternate.

Lauren Claassen qualified to represent LaCrosse in the state competition in August in Pullman. She was also presented a $350 scholarship prize for her participation in the event. Claassen is a junior at Colfax, but her residence is listed as LaCrosse.

Garcia won the fitness and self expression segments of the competition and placed second in the interview, scholastic, ticket sales and talent events. Her talent performance was a Lucy Van Pelt monologue from the Peanuts comic strip.

Kraut won the scholastic event, placed second in the self expression and won the ticket sales competition.

Avila topped the interviews, and Annie Larkin topped the talent event by singing “Not Like the Movies” and accompanying herself on the piano.

Co-winners of the spirit award, which is determined by a vote of the entrants, were Alexis Maki and Claassen.

Emcee Terry Asbjornsen reported donations for the event totaled $2,665, and that revenue, combined with ticket sales, allowed organizers to award $200 prizes for girls who placed second in each event. The 61st edition of the competition included a farewell for 2015 winners Sarah Appel, Olivia Mellor and Pearl Griffiths. Escorts for the entrants were Jon Klaveano, Caleb Brown and Chris Aspenwall.

Top awards were $1,100 to the winner, $700 for first alternate and $500 to second alternate. First place prizes for events included $350 for scholarship and interview, $300 for talent and spirit awards and $250 for self expression and fitness. Awards were presented as scholarships.

SUA PLEA REJECTED

A proposed guilty plea by Ualesi Chester Sua, 23, Pullman, was rejected Friday in superior court by Judge David Frazier, who said he was not satisfied that Sua was aware of the circumstances involved in making the plea. The judge made an extended explanation of the rights Sua would have been forfeiting with a guilty plea to the charge and said he was not satisfied with Sua’s responses when he was asked if he understood.

The judge did approve a motion to have Sua undergo a Drug Offender Sentence Alternative evaluation.

Defense Attorney Steve Martonick said Sua intended to apply for the DOSA sentence which could convert part of the jail time to patient treatment time.

Sua, a former WSU football player, was convicted last May and sentenced to a year on a burglary conviction. He was allowed early release from the one-year sentence last September after he was credited with work time. At that time, he told the court he planned to go to California to play out one year of eligibility he has remaining to play college ball.

The judge Friday informed Sua he now has an offender score of four which would mean he would be sentenced to a state Department of Corrections term if he was convicted of the burglary charge he now faces.

PULLMAN

OFFICER HURT

Pullman Police Officer Heidi Lambley was injured Sunday in an two-car accident on Highway 26 near LaCrosse. According to a Washington State Patrol report, Lambley was driving a 2015 Ford Explorer, a Pullman Police vehicle, westbound on Highway 26 west of mile marker 104, activated its emergency lights and pulled onto the shoulder to make a U-turn.

As she turned, she struck the side of a 2007 BMW 335 which was being driven westbound by Cameron R. Hoskins, Federal Way. She was taken by the LaCrosse ambulance to Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax.

Officer Lambley was participating in an emphasis patrol on Highway 26 at the time of the accident.

NOVAK

ARRESTED FOR VOYEURISM

Michael A. Novak, 47, was booked into jail here Friday night on probable charges of indecent liberties, voyeurism and first degree assault. The assault charge relates to allegations Novak threatened alleged victims in the case with a firearm and actually discharged the weapon, believed to be a .22 revolver. According to the arrest report, the victims said they had confronted Novak after they became aware that he had been taking the alleged pictures.

According to a report from Sheriff Brett Myers, deputies had received a report earlier Friday that Novak allegedly was recording friends and acquaintances who were using his restroom and bedroom at his rural residence on Klaus Road southwest of Colfax in the Wilcox area.

A search warrant was served at the the residence on Klaus Road, and several items of evidence were allegedly located to support the reports of witnesses.

Initial bail on Novak was set at $100,000 by District Court Judge Doug Robinson when he issued the warrant. The bail sum was kept at that amount in a first appearance in Superior Court Monday.

TRUCKER UNHURT IN CRASH

The truck driver in the March 15 slide-off accident on Highway 195 in the S curves south of Colfax was unhurt. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Daniel E. Martin, La Grande, Ore., was driving northbound at 5:05 a.m. when he lost control on the icy highway. The truck jackknifed and slid off the northbound side of the highway into the pasture.

The location was just north of the 45 mph speed reduction sign on the highway. Flares were posted along the roadway to notify motorists, and flaggers were used to control traffic.

The highway had to be shut down briefly when the 2015 Freightliner and trailer were pulled back onto the highway at about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, according the report by Washington State Patrol Trooper Bruce Blood.