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.

VOGEL

MEMORIALS EXCEED $5,000

Donations to Whitman County Historical Society in memory of Ken Vogel, former long-time member of the board, have exceeded $5,000, according to the society’s January newsletter. Mr. Vogel, long-time Pullman clothier, died Oct. 6 last year. He and his wife, Sally, made their home at Winlock where they had built a simulated train depot next to the mainline railroad line on the west side of the state.

Vogel joined the WCHS board in 1996 and later served as treasurer and president. Sally Vogel headed efforts to restore the flower beds at the Perkins House.

One of Mr. Vogel’s last efforts on behalf of the society was to organize the 2015 Perkins House Ice Cream Social. Most of the early arrangements were made via telephone from Winlock.

The newsletter includes a thank-you note from Sally Vogel, who noted preservation of local history was one of Ken’s lifelong interests.

The society sent an appreciation plaque to Mrs. Vogel inscribed with one of Ken Vogel’s signature sayings: “The world can never have too much chocolate.”

GONZAGA

STUDENT DIES IN CRASH

A collision involving a small pickup truck and a semi truck took the life of a Gonzaga student Friday morning on Highway 195 south of Rosalia. The victim was identified as Alexander M. Gill, 20, Spokane.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Gill was driving a 1996 Ford Ranger northbound at 10:07 a.m. and lost control, crossed into the southbound lane and collided with a 2014 Western Star semi which was being driven southbound by Michael W. Lee, 57, Orofino. Lee was not injured in the collision.

Highway 195 was fully blocked at the collision scene. Gill was the third college student to die in a collision in Whitman County over the winter.

Site of Friday’s collision was at mile marker 59 near the Rosalia rest stop.

Colfax MAN ARRESTED

Eli Gallegos, 59, Colfax, was arrested on a probable cause of residential burglary Saturday afternoon in Colfax and booked into the county jail by Colfax officer Grant Silver. Gallegos is suspected of breaking into a garage and upstairs living space on the 800 block of S. Lake Street.

According to the report, the occupants returned home and called 911 to report they discovered Gallegos in the garage at 3:48 p.m. The report said the garage door had recently been nailed shut because the residents believed someone had been taking stuff from the building.

Gallegos is also suspected of forcing open the door of an upstairs residential area which had been secured by a metal plate and a padlock. The plate had been forced back and screws removed. A desk was believed to have been opened and cupboards opened in the living area.

According to the arrest report, Gallegos and one of the residents had a confrontation after he was discovered at the scene. Silver reported Gallegos called the residents while he was there, and one of them handed the telephone to him. Gallegos reportedly said he would return to the scene but did not show up, and Officer Silver later located him standing at the corner of Lake and Wawawai streets.

Gallegos was allowed release from jail on his own recognizance Monday after a first appearance in court.

CITY BILLS GO B & W

Colfax city hall staffers reported a mixed reaction from a few residents after city utility bills were mailed out Monday in a new black and white format. The big change was the absence of the red and blue colors on the bills which are mailed out in a post card format.

City Finance Director Chris Mathis told the city council Monday night the change was the result of a city change in software to the BIAS system.

The new system allows the city to print off the 1,200 utility bills on its copy machine with four cards on legal-sized paper. With the former system, the city also printed the bill but had to use the colored card stock which also had four bills on legal-size paper. The paper is perforated, and city staffers separate four cards from each sheet.

Mathis reported Monday night January’s first run on the new system encountered some problems because the weight of the card stock led to problems at the post office.

The software allows other options, including a bill on standard size paper, but that would lead to more handwork. The single sheet format would probably mean the city would have to contract with a specialized mailing firm to send out the bills.

Another format would allow the city to email the bills to residents who wanted that option.

In response to questions from city council members, Mathis said the software could allow the city to offer a billing option which evened out a homeowners utility bills over the course of a year.

CORONER’S DEATH REPORTS

County Coroner Peter Martin Monday reported the cause of death for Alexander M. Gill, 20, the Gonzaga University student who died at the scene of a collision on Highway 195 Friday, was a massive head injury sustained when the pickup truck he was driving crossed the highway and collided with a semi truck. The coroner noted driving conditions were hazardous at the time. Driver of the semi truck, which was a fuel tanker, was uninjured in the accident.

Martin also reported the cause of death for Alex Wayne Dotson, 24, Pullman, who died Jan. 31 at his Pullman residence, was asphyxiation due to inhalation of nitrogen gas. The manner of death was suicide. Martin reported Dotson had a history of severe depression.

LACROSSE DRIVER HURT

Maria Libby, LaCrosse, was taken by Colfax ambulance to Whitman Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained Monday morning in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 26 eight miles east of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Libby was driving a 2001 Dodge Durango westbound at 7 a.m. when it slid on the ice-covered highway, crossed the highway and went into the ditch on the eastbound side of the highway. Location of the accident was west of the twin bridges crossing at Union Flat Creek just west of mile marker 125.

ADVANCE LIBRARY BOARD MEET

In observance of President’s Day, the February meeting of the Whitman County Library Board of Trustees has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m. in the Colfax Library. The meetings are open to the public, and residents are encouraged to attend.

COUGAR

COUNTERFEIT CHARGE

A charge of counterfeiting, involving sales of WSU shirts without a license to use the Cougar trademark, was filed Friday in Whitman County Superior Court against Jeffrey D. Wigen, 35, Rockford. The WSU Police investigation report said the shirts were confiscated from Wigen at an RV parking lot on campus on the day of the Oct. 15 football game last year.

Wigen has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 24 for a first appearance.

According to the report, WSU officials had been tipped off by other vendors that a man was selling the shirts. The report said Wigen had a camper in the RV lot which is located behind the WSU indoor practice facility.

According to the report, officers confiscated 742 shirts and 17 hooded sweatshirts from a SUV where Wigen was keeping them. Value of the shirts, based on the price Wigen was asking for them, was $15,520.

The report noted WSU’s manager for trademark logos actually went to Wigen’s location during the day and made a purchase of three of the shirts.

THREE ON ST. IGNATIUS ROOF

Colfax Officer Perry Tate at about noon Sunday responded to a report of three juveniles who were seen on the roof of the former St. Ignatius Hospital building on the south hill. They were believed to be attempting entry to the building by kicking in the window of an entry door on the roof.

The youths had departed the scene, possibly by using a fire escape, by the time the officer arrived.

ICE STORM CAUSES

ACCIDENTS

A Colfax ambulance crew responded to four different accidents late Friday afternoon when freezing ice hit the area after about 4:20 p.m. The first call was to report an accident on Highway 195 just north of Colfax. While crews were responding to that call, a second ambulance was dispatched to another accident scene on Highway 195 near the Babbitt Road intersection.

Crews then received a report of two accidents on Highway 26 west of Colfax. The first ambulance crew, which turned out not to be needed at Colfax, went out on 26 to check on the accidents there.

Neither one of those accidents involved an injury.

LaCrosse ambulance crews responded to two accidents near the Highway 26 intersection with the LaCrosse Airport road west of LaCrosse.

Kendrin E. Dick, Lacey, was injured when she lost control of a 2000 Honda Civic while driving westbound on Highway 26 at mile marker 102.5 west of LaCrosse. The Civic went into the westbound ditch and struck an embankment. She was transported by the LaCrosse volunteers.

The two accidents near LaCrosse made a total of four along Highway 26 in the wake of the ice storm.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Amos T. Schalk, Airway Heights, was the driver injured when he lost control of a 2002 Toyota pickup truck while driving north on Highway 195 at 5:05 p.m. 8.61 miles south of Colfax. The report said he attempted a pass, lost control of the pickup on the ice-covered highway and rolled it into a field on the northbound side of the highway.

OREGON MAN ARRESTED

A Clackamas, Ore., man who told deputies he had stopped in a driveway along Highway 195 south of Colfax to look at goats, was booked into jail here Saturday on probable charges of attempted residential burglary, second-degree burglary, vehicle prowling and possession of methamphetamine. He was identified as William Williams, 49, of Clackamas.

According to the report by Deputy Sgt. Keith Cooper, deputies responded to a report at about 5 p.m. Saturday of the driver of a vehicle, possibly intoxicated, parked at the residence south of Colfax.

The owner of the residence had returned home to find a pickup truck, which he had left in the driveway, had been entered with its door still open and dome light on. He observed a car, which turned out to be occupied by Williams, parked behind a barn at the residence.

Officers located Williams at the scene. He reported he was feeling sick and was transported by ambulance to Whitman Hospital. Before he was transported, deputies took a photo of the boots Williams was wearing, and tracks left by the boots led them to believe he had kicked the front door of the residence and entered out buildings.

A subsequent search resulted in the alleged discovery of several ounces of methamphetamine, the report said.

Formal charges were filed Tuesday morning in superior court. Williams has been charged with possession of methamphetamine, attempted residential burglary and first degree criminal trespass.

Bail for pre-trial release was set at $100,000.

CHARGES CITE JAIL VIOLENCE

Charges of assault and harassment were cited in a second new criminal charge filed against Lewis Lawrence, 28, former Pullman resident. Lawrence has been scheduled for arraignment Feb. 10 on the two charges.

The investigation report filed with the charges cites two alleged early morning assaults Nov. 16 which were recorded on the jail’s video camera. One case alleged Lawrence assaulted fellow inmate Keenan Keller. The report said Lawrence picked up Keller and threw him on the concrete floor of the jail. Keller was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital.

The second incident alleges Lawrence struck inmate Jeffrey Williams multiple times with a mop handle. It said the video shows Lawrence approaching Williams from behind and striking him with the mop handle after Williams was shoved out of a chair by another inmate.

The harassment charge alleges Lawrence threatened to get Williams “on the outside” during the attack.

Lawrence Jan. 6 pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to three charges of attempted first degree murder. Those charges were filed again after a 2009 conviction of Lawrence was overturned on appeal and sent back to the court here for re-trial.

Lawrence has also been charged with having makeshift weapons in his jail cell.

PULLMAN MAN FACES CHARGES

A charge of violation of a protection order and two charges of harassment were filed Feb. 1 in superior court against Xavier E. Roberts, 20, Pullman. The charges were filed after Pullman Police Sunday responded to a report of domestic violence involving the suspect and a female victim at an apartment on N. Grand Street.

The report said officers heard the shouting when they arrived on the scene and saw Roberts through the window of the apartment. The report said Roberts yelled through the window that he hadn’t done anything and went into a back bedroom of the apartment. It said officers kicked in the front door of the apartment and then kicked in the bedroom door to take Roberts into custody.

The protection charge alleges Roberts violated an order issued by the City of Cheney, and the harassment charges included a felony charge involving an alleged threat to kill and a misdemeanor harassment charge.

ATHOL MAN FOUND AFTER SEARCH

A resident of Athol, Idaho, was found at approximately 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, east of Albion after a search which began shortly after 8 a.m. The missing man was identified as Jeremy Rogers, 37. He was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital due to his exposure to the cold during the night.

The search began after the sheriff’s office received a report of a vehicle in the ditch near the intersection of the Albion Road and the Old Albion Road, which is located about a half mile east of Albion. When deputies arrived at the scene they discovered a 2000 Toyota 4Runner which was unoccupied. They found a cell phone number for the registered owner, Rachel Rogers, who said the vehicle was in possession of her brother.

She provided the cell phone number of her brother, and deputies were able to call him. He reported he had been walking since the accident the previous night and could not describe his location at that time. Contact with his phone was lost, according to the report by Undersheriff Ron Rockness.

State troopers, a Life flight helicopter and Albion and Pullman rural firefighters participated in the search for Rogers. Rural district volunteers from Colfax also responded to the scene.

The volunteers followed his tracks in the snow on a snowmobile, and he was located about a quarter of a mile east of Albion.

Rogers’ tracks showed he had walked across fields after he departed the accident scene.

Deputies determined Rogers’ Idaho driver license had been suspended, Rockness said.

OFFICER SAID HIT & RUN

VICTIM

Formal charges of hit and run and driving under the influence were filed Feb. 1 in superior court against Jocelyn L. Louthan, 22, who was arrested early Jan. 21 after the car she was driving allegedly struck a Pullman police officer. Louthan, who was released after her arrest, has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 17.

According to the Pullman Police report, the mirror on the passenger side of the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier Louthan was driving struck the hip of Pullman Officer Alex Gordon, who was standing on a snow berm along Colorado street next to the ATO fraternity. Officer Gordon reportedly was talking to individuals at the scene and had his back turned to the street.

The report by Pullman Officer Ruben Harris said he observed the car’s mirror strike Gordon. He said he followed the Cavalier, and after he stopped Louthan she said she panicked after hearing her car hit something and kept driving.

Officer Gordon later reported to Harris that he felt pain when he was hit but did not sustain any injuries.

Louthan reportedly told the officer she had been driving home from Mike’s, which is a campus term for Stubblefield’s bar on College Hill.

The report said Louthan appeared to be lethargic and did submit to a field sobriety tests. It said she also later consented to a breathalyzer test. The drunken driving charge alleges results from the breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol content in excess of .15 percent.

TALENT SHOW ISSUES CALL

Colfax vocal director Cary Cammack has issued his annual call for talent acts to perform in the Colfax High School annual talent and variety show. They are looking for piano players, dancers, instrumentalists and vocalists to perform in the show which has been scheduled for Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

Proceeds from the talent show are used to fund the annual spring tour by the CHS choir.

Those interested in performing are asked to contact Cammack at the school by Feb. 13 at the latest to arrange an audition date. Auditions will be conducted between Feb. 8 and Feb. 17.