Bulletin Column Feb. 2

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.

HITS DOT SIGN AT ROSALIA

Christopher Rutz, Spokane, was unhurt early Tuesday morning when the car he was driving slid out of control on Highway 195, went into the ditch and hit a Department of Transportation sign along the Rosalia bypass.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Rutz was driving a 1998 Subaru Legacy station wagon southbound at 5:30 a.m. and lost control in the snow and ice. The Legacy went off the highway and into the ditch on the southbound side where it hit the sign. Site of the accident was milepost 64.7.

LACROSSE POST OFFICE MARKS 125th

LaCrosse Post Office marked its 125th year of operation Feb. 1. Postmaster Bill Corder said the LaCrosse Post Office opened Feb. 1, 1892, with George Taylor as postmaster. The community then was called Dunlor and was not officially an incorporated town. LaCrosse was incorporated 25 years later on Feb. 19, 1917.

RAPE

SENTENCING REMAINS ON TRACK

Sentencing for Joshua J. Lewandowski, 36, Spokane, on a conviction for child rape remained on schedule for Feb. 17 after he made a request for dismissal of his defense attorney and withdrawal of a guilty plea Friday in superior court. Lewandowski had submitted a written request for removal of Steve Martonick, county defense attorney, and withdrawal of the guilty plea he had made in court two weeks earlier.

Judge Gary Libey, who read Lewandowski’s motion aloud in court, suggested the defendant give additional thought about having Martonick removed.

The defendant asked whether his request for an alternative sexual offender sentence would be dropped, and the judge pointed out that would have to be set aside pending the outcome of a trial if Lewandowski decided to follow that course of action, and Lewandowski later dropped the requests.

A pre-sentence investigation and an evaluation of Lewandowski for the alternative sexual offender sentence have been ordered finished before the sentencing.

Lewandowski was charged with raping a four-year-old boy while he was living at a residence in LaCrosse in November.

FISHING WALL OPEN

Access to Little Goose Lock and Dam’s tailrace fishing wall and day-use area reopened to visitors Monday. The bascule bridge crossing the downstream navigation lock approach was temporarily closed to public access Jan. 5 to accommodate contractors moving one of the downstream lock gate leafs out of position to replace its pintle assembly.

PULLLMAN DRIVER HURT ON 27

Richard Carson, Pullman, was transported by Rosalia ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane for treatment of extensive injuries sustained early Monday morning on Highway 27 four miles north of Oakesdale. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Carson was driving a 2001 Dodge Durango northbound on Highway 27 at 6:20 a.m. and failed to negotiate a curve. The truck rolled several times down an embankment before coming to a halt on its wheels.

Carson had to be extricated from the wrecked vehicle. In addition to Rosalia, volunteers responded to the scene from Tekoa, Oakesdale, Garfield and Farmington.

BALLOTS HIT THE MAIL

Whitman County Elections office Friday mailed out 2,137 ballots to voters in districts where special levy measures are on the ballot for the Feb. 14 election. Additional ballots to residents serving in the military were sent by email.

Largest measure on the ballot is a Colton School District proposal for $532,165 for 2018 at an estimated rate of $3.93 per $1,000 of estimated valuation. Rosalia district seeks a $200,000 capital improvement levy for each of three years beginning in 2018, and Lamont district seeks a maintenance and operation levy of $170,000 for each of two years.

Tekoa parks seeks a $75,000 maintenance and operation levy beginning in 2018.

The Town of Rosalia seeks a $69,000 levy for the street fund, and Rosalia Park and Recreation seeks a $72,000 for maintenance and operation of the swim pool.

Postal deadline for return of ballots is the Feb. 14 election day.

TAGO

SENTENCED

TO JAIL

Logan Tago, WSU football player, was sentenced to 60 days in jail with the option of working off half of the sentence with public service after he pleaded guilty in superior court Friday morning to a reduced charge of third degree assault. Tago entered his plea after prosecutor Denis Tracy agreed to reduce the charge against him from second degree robbery to the assault charge.

Tago was charged after Pullman police investigated a June 4 case in which a man who was carrying a six-pack of beer on NE California was confronted by a group of males who demanded he give them the beer. Tago was charged with punching the victim, who was identified by the initials H.G. in the police investigation report. In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Gary Libey described Tago as a bully.

Tago, 19, faced a sentencing range of 30 to 90 days, and Judge Libey sentenced Tago to the full 90 days with 30 suspended.

Tago at first declined to speak after hearing the state’s account, but later, after hearing the sentence, explained he did help the victim up and identified himself to the victim. He said he believed one of the reasons he was pursued by the state was because he had identified himself at the scene.

The Pullman police report alleged H.G. was approached that night by five large males. The report said the victim was treated at Pullman Regional Hospital after he was knocked down and was diagnosed with concussive syndrome.

Tago was ordered to report to the jail by April 1 at the latest. He will be allowed release from jail to attend classes.

Tago had been scheduled for a Jan. 23 trial on the robbery charge, and the date was later extended to Feb. 13. Court records show at least 15 potential witnesses had been called to testify at the trial.

Tago was suspended indefinitely from the WSU football team after his conviction. The suspension was announced by WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos after Tago was sentenced Friday morning.

TWO WSU ARRESTS STILL UNDER REVIEW

The cases of Robert Barber and Toso Fehoko, two WSU football players who were arrested last September on probable assault charges by the Pullman Police Department, remain under review at the prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Denis Tracy Monday morning said they have completed a first-round review of the extensive investigation report done by Pullman officers and requested a follow-up review on certain parts of the case report before making a charging decision.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel LeBeau is expected to review the results of the follow up review, meet with families of the alleged victims and then announce the decisions. Prosecutor Tracy said he anticipates decisions on the two cases will be made before the end of February.

The initial arrest of Barber and Fehoko was announced last Sept. 16 during a news conference called by Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins at Pullman City Hall. Jenkins and WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos conducted a joint conference.

The news conference was called to report on an investigation of an early-morning fight July 23 at a party house on NE Oak Street in Pullman. Witnesses estimated 80 to 100 people were present at the party, and police identified 65 potential witnesses. Two males were transported from the party for treatment at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Of the 61 witnesses interviewed, 22 were WSU football players.

Barber was subsequently suspended from the team under a WSU conduct board decision, but the suspension was subsequently invalidated on a civil review appeal to the court here, and Barber returned to the team for the balance of the season. During the civil review hearing, Barber was reported to be just one class short of finishing his degree studies at WSU.

Fehoko was a member of the Cougar practice squad.

TWO HURT

IN COLFAX

COLLISION

Two women were transported by ambulance to Whitman Hospital Thursday night, Jan. 26. from the scene of a two-car collision eight-tenths of a mile north of Colfax on Highway 195. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Megan McCoy, Sandpoint, Idaho, driver of one of the cars, and a passenger in the car, Katrina J. Janis, Lynnwood, were transported.

The report said Michael Anderson, Rathdrum, Idaho, was driving a 2012 Nissan southbound at 6:40 p.m. on Highway 195 and went into the oncoming lane while rounding a curve at the top of the grade. The 2012 Nissan collided with a 2006 Nissan which was being driven northbound by McCoy.

CALL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

Colfax Fire Chief Steven Thime, as a footnote to his East Street fire report, reminded residents to call 911 for any emergencies. The chief noted any use of fire department business numbers or other old numbers can actually delay a response by emergency crews.

He said staffers at Whitcom are trained to ask appropriate questions of 911 callers while simultaneously dispatching response crews.

Endicott MAN AIDED DEPUTY

An arrest report filed after formal charges were filed Jan. 24 against Raymond Sloan, the Lewiston man who was jailed after a struggle with a deputy late Jan. 21 at Endicott, noted an Endicott resident assisted Deputy Tim Cox when he attempted to get Sloan under control.

Sloan has been charged with assaulting Deputy Cox and resisting arrest.

According to the report, Cox began to struggle with Sloan, 28, after he was stopped on an alleged charge of driving with a suspended license. Sloan had already been listed on an officer’s advisory after a previous arrest in Colfax.

As the struggle began, Cox discovered his portable radio had failed to work and spotted Ronald Kincade on a porch at a residence along Third Street near the scene of the arrest. Cox asked Kincade to call 911 to report his situation and request more officers at the scene. The report said Cox observed Kincade was carrying a pistol while he made the 911 call.

The report said at one point Sloan asked Kincade to watch his car for him, and Kincade told Sloan to listen to what Deputy Cox was trying to tell him. Deputy Michael Jordan arrived on the scene to assist as a result of the 911 call made by Kincade.

The report said after Cox stopped Sloan, the suspect repeatedly refused to get out of the car when asked to do so by Cox. He eventually complied with a request to get out of the car, but he refused to hand over the keys. Cox pulled Sloan away from the car and then put him on the ground, but had to wrestle him in an attempt to roll him over on his stomach. During the scuffle Sloan was able to hit the deputy’s shoulder with one of his knees.

Cox sustained an injured knee and elbow in the struggle. The report said Sloan also complained that he was injured but declined treatment and told deputies to go ahead and lock him up.

Sloan, who was reported to be homeless, is now being held at the jail under a $10,000 bond. He was also required to provide a place of residence and allow deputies to get his fingerprints, something he allegedly refused to do when he was booked into the jail, in the event he qualifies for pre-trial release.

TRUCK

ACCIDENT

AT PULLMAN JUNCTION

Drivers in a three-vehicle accident at the Highway 195 turnoff northwest of Pullman were unhurt Jan. 23. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Jesse Harrelson, Oroville, was driving a 2004 Freightliner tractor-trailer westbound out of Pullman and stopped at the 195 junction sign in preparation for turning south. Harrelson started to make a left turn southbound onto 195, and Michael Steel, Kent, driving a 2016 Ford moving van northbound on 195, struck the rear wheels of the Freightliner’s trailer. That caused a tire to dislodge. David Hafsos, Naches, was driving a 2016 Isuzu northbound behind Steel, and he struck the trailer tire which landed in the northbound lane.