Bulletin Column Sept. 1

Smoke signals from Boyer area fire

-Debbie Snell photo

A cloud of smoke rises from a fire which burns across the river from Boyer Park and Marina Friday. Fortunately, this fire did not cross the river as a previous fire recently did, but stayed confined to Garfield County, only the smoke drifting over county lines.

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.

WSU ORDERED TO LIST BAR ‘INCIDENTS’

Washington State University Friday was ordered to produce three years of response documents related to student behavior at Stubblefield’s, the College Hill bar at Adams Mall. The court order was issued on a motion filed by attorneys for David Warner, former WSU faculty member who sustained head injuries in an alleged fight outside of the bar March 30, 2013.

Spokane Attorney William Gilbert sought the order in preparation for the damage suit he has filed against WSU, the owners of Stubblefield’s and the landlord for the bar, Corporate Pointe Development.

In an amended complaint filed April 15, Gilbert alleged “hundreds of assaults” occur at Stubblefield’s every year. He contended the operators of Stubblefield’s failed to correct a situation which prevailed when a previous bar in the building operated as Shakers.

The order required WSU to produce the incident records within a 30-day deadline for each successive year prior to March 30, 2013. It ordered that individual student names and information be redacted from the record of incidents.

In a related decision, the operators of Stubblefield’s, Blind Squirrel, received an order that protects it from having to produce financial records of the bar’s operation or copies of documents it has exchanged with the other two defendants in the suit. The protection order scratched a third request which would have protected the bar operator from turning over personnel records to Warner’s attorney.

TEE FINISHES DRUG

TREATMENT

The sentence for Blaine J. Tee, 38, the Tekoa resident who was convicted May 6 on charges of delivering marijuana and theft of a firearm, was modified Friday in superior court. Defense Attorney Steve Martonick reported Tee has completed residential treatment for drug use and asked for Tee to be released.

Tee’s case began last February when the sheriff’s office began to receive reports that juveniles were visiting at a residence where Tee was living near the Tekoa schools. Informants reported to deputies that Tee was allegedly giving marijuana to juveniles.

Tee was originally charged with delivery of marijuana to a minor Jan. 29. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on bail which was revoked after he was arrested on the charge of taking a pistol which belonged to his mother.

Tee was ordered May 6 to undergo treatment at American Behavioral Systems after pleading guilty to the gun theft charge. Relatives and a neighbor submitted letters to the court asking that Tee be sent for residential treatment under a drug offender alternative sentence.

Tee, who had earlier pleaded guilty to an amended marijuana charge which dropped the delivery to a minor part of the original charge, was also convicted of that charge May 6. He was credited for time spent in jail since his bail was revoked in April.

Martonick told the court Monday that Kevin Edwards, primary counselor at the ABS facility in Spokane Valley, had reported Tee had completed treatment.

Wawawai fire report at Pomeroy

A Whitman County investigation report on the Aug. 2 fire which burned on both sides of the river at Wawawai has been turned over to the prosecutor’s office in Garfield County. The fire is believed to have started at a location where three campers started a campfire on the Garfield County side of the river. High winds blew embers and debris across the river and ignited the north side, in Whitman County, near Granite Point.

The three campers came forward and identified themselves early in the fire battle which led to a state response that brought in approximately 300 firefighters from around the state. Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said an extensive investigation was conducted by deputies on this side of the river. The investigation was probably more extensive than usual for an alleged reckless burning case, but deputies here worked to detail the investigation because of the size of the fire, Myers noted.

Total acreage of the Wawawai fire on both sides of the river was estimated at approximately 11,500 acres. Crops and pasture land were destroyed on each side as the fire moved up from the river banks.

Initial reports on the start of the fire said the campers were observed crossing the river from Whitman County on a raft and camping the previous night. High winds the next day are believed to have rekindled the campfire, and the fire burned about three hours on the Garfield County side of the river before a wind blast blew a cloud of debris and embers to the Whitman County side.

Sheriff Myers said the investigation here determined the trio actually swam across the river and used the raft to float their supplies and equipment to the south side of the river. The sheriff said the three campers, described as college-age males, are originally from the western part of the state.

The sheriff said the fire case went to Garfield County because that is believed to be the place the fire originated. He added a charge could be filed in Whitman County, but only one charge can be filed in what is essentially the same criminal investigation. A review of the investigation began Aug. 24 by Garfield County Prosecutor Matt Newberg.

LIBRARY SIGN-UP MONTH

September is library card sign-up month. As a special incentive, those signing up for a library card in September will get a chance to participate in a drawing for a $25 gift certificate which has been donated by the Friends of Whitman County Library. For more information on how to sign up for a library card, visit any library branch or visit online: http://www.whitco.lib.wa.us.

JW TRAIL TOWN COUNT AT 29

A list of towns which have passed resolutions in support of the John Wayne Trail now totals 29, according to Ted Blazak, head of the Tekoa Trail & Trestle committee. Palouse was the lone new Whitman County town added to the list.

Six Whitman County towns already on the list are Tekoa, Pullman, Rosalia, Garfield, Oakesdale and Colfax. Other new towns which have been added to the list of supporters are Spokane, Cle Elem, Royal City, Lind, Fairfield, Rosyln, Port Townsend and Sequim.

Blazak has sent the expanded list to Sen. Mark Schoesler and Reps. Joe Schmick and Mary Dye.

SEATTLE

DRIVER UNHURT

IN CRASH

Alea Friel, Seattle, was unhurt in a one-car accident Friday west of Colfax on Highway 26. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Friel was driving a 2002 Saab eastbound at 6:05 p.m. when the car drifted onto the gravel shoulder of the highway. She overcorrected, and the Saab crossed the centerline, but then went back across the eastbound lane and came to a stop in the eastbound ditch.

NOVAK

SENTENCING DELAYED

After an hour-long hearing Friday morning in Whitman County Superior Court, sentencing of Michael Novak, 47, was postponed until Sept. 16. Judge David Frazier said he would allow the extra time for the defense to present witnesses and other evidence on Novak’s mental condition.

Novak was scheduled for sentencing on charges of assault, voyeurism and indecent liberties which related to his secretly taking pictures of visitors to his residence in the Wilcox area.

Judge David Frazier said as of Friday an alternative sexual offender sentencing was not supported by evidence presented to the court. He noted the evaluation report, which was presented by Defense Attorney Roger Sandberg, failed to recommend that Novak undergo sexual offender treatment. The judge, who took time to read the report during the sentencing, pointed out the evaluations reported Novak was not amenable to treatment.

At the start of the hearing, Sandberg confirmed that Novak would not withdraw the guilty pleas he made on the three charges May 6. The status of the pleas came under question because Novak later requested and was granted an examination to determine his competency at the time he entered the pleas.

The judge ruled the results of that examination determined Novak was competent to stand trial.

In announcing his decision, Judge Frazier said Novak will receive a big break by sticking with the guilty pleas and not opting to go to trial before a jury.

“I’d love to hear you try to convince a jury,” the judge commented. He said Novak’s account that he was taking the secret videos because he was attempting to document alleged drug use by people at his residence would be difficult to prove to a jury.

The judge also questioned Novak about an alleged 60 different videos which were recorded on the camera video card which was taken from Novak’s camera.

The assault charge in the case involves Novak’s shooting a pistol when he was attempting to get the video card back from two of the victims who had discovered the camera and confiscated the memory chip.

Sandberg told the court he believed through his contact with Novak that he had mental problems.

Novak’s father, brother and wife all told the court they believed the defendant was having mental problems and charges against him did not reflect his normal character.

His father, John Novak, noted Michael had been kept in lockdown status at the jail for several days.

“He’s not a piece of garbage, and I love him,” he stated.