Bulletin Column: MAY 11

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.

FIRE PLEAS WAIVED AT POMEROY

Speedy trial arraignment for three suspects charged with starting the Aug. 2 Snake River fire at Wawawai was waived Thursday, May 4, in Garfield County district court at Pomeroy. The three suspects, all from Pullman, are Blake Rogers, Isaiah W. Weber and Johnathan D. Whitley. Each has been charged with a misdemeanor offense of reckless burning in the second degree.

The next court date at Pomeroy has been set for June 1 when an attempt will be made to resolve the charges.

Garfield Prosecutor Matt Newberg’s office plans to have an estimate of damages sustained by the fire, which reportedly covered more than 11,000 acres in Whitman County and Garfield County on the south side of the river.

An investigation conducted by the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office alleges the three suspects swam with a raft across the Snake River Aug. 1 of last year and camped on the south side across from Granite Point. The investigation report said they were reminded of the fire ban and advised not to camp on the south side of the river which is made up of private property and easement property for the Army Corps of Engineers project.

The report said the trio admitted to starting a fire the evening of Aug. 1 and again the next morning. They said they poured water on the fires and threw some of the wood pieces in the river.

High winds the morning of Aug. 2 blew embers across the river and ignited the Whitman County side in the area of Granite Point. Clarkston Attorney Gary Carpenter was appointed by the Pomeroy court May 4 to represent Rogers. The other two defendants have hired their attorneys.

DAM PLUG KILLS YOUNG SALMON

A juvenile bypass system orifice at Little Goose Lock and Dam became plugged early May 4 because of abnormally high seasonal debris from the lower Snake River, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials. The inadvertent orifice plugging caused an estimated 2,240 juvenile salmon and steelhead to perish. Millions of juvenile fish migrate downstream this time of year at Little Goose.

The plugged orifice was discovered at about 7 a.m. During the juvenile fish migration the Corps periodically checks the juvenile bypass system on a 24-hour-a-day basis, including orifice inspections, for operational compliance.

Once the problem was discovered, the orifice was immediately back flushed to remove debris, and fish resumed their passage downstream.

The juvenile bypass system routes juvenile fish around the dam for sampling, barging or release back into the river. Little Goose Dam’s juvenile bypass system contains 36 orifices.

To help prevent future similar incidents, the Corps will monitor the orifices every two hours, 24 hours per day, to keep them free of debris.

JAZZ BAND PLACES

SECOND

Colfax High School jazz band placed second in its division Saturday at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival in Gresham, Ore. Vancouver School of Arts and Academics topped the division which totaled seven bands.

This is the second year in a row that the band has placed in the top two in its division at the Mt. Hood Festival.

Outstanding musician awards went to AJ Miller on the trumpet, Maddy Avila on the trombone and Lauren Claassen on the alto sax. Claassen plays the featured solo in the band’s ballad number, “Samantha.” The other two numbers in the competition set are “Blues in the Two Percent,” and “Spain.”

The jazz band will perform its final concert of the year today, Thursday, May 11, at 7 p.m. in the CHS auditorium. This will be the final concert for 11 seniors in the band. They are Miller, Claassen, Maddy Avila, Sam Bryson, Jayden Burt, Trevin Kennedy, Sarah Kraut, Sarah Pugh, Cigne Reynolds, Alexie Smith and Terren Torgeson.

CHECK WRITING ARREST

Karen V. Beatty, 65, Rosalia, was booked in jail here Saturday on probable charges of theft in the first degree. The investigation report alleges Beatty wrote and cashed more than $12,000 in checks written on her mother’s account between October of last year and April of this year. The checks were written after her mother came to live at the Beatty residence under an agreement in which the mother would pay $400 per month.

The checks on the account were written to Karen Beatty or her spouse, but she told deputies her husband had nothing to do with the alleged theft. The report by Deputy Bryce Nebe said that, in an interview at the sheriff’s office, Beatty looked at the checks and acknowledged she had written some of them. She allegedly told the deputy she wrote some of the checks and deposited them in her husband’s account to cover withdrawals he had made to cover gambling expenses at Northern Quest Casino.

Beatty was released on her own recognizance Monday in a first appearance in court. Formal charges have not been filed.

ASTHMA SAID DEATH CAUSE

County Coroner Pete Martin May 1 in a cause of death report said Maximus George Ornelas, 15, LaCrosse, died of status asthmaticus with respiratory failure. The youth died at Whitman Hospital in Colfax Feb. 26, 2017. His death was investigated by the coroner because he died within 24 hours after being admitted to the hospital. The manner of death was determined to be natural. Ornelas had a history of chronic asthma.

CITY PATROL CAR HIT

A Colfax police car sustained extensive damage when it was hit Friday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 26 and the Airport Road. According to the report by the sheriff’s office, the front of the squad car was hit by a car which was attempting to turn off Highway 26 onto the Airport Road.

Officer Joe Handley was stopped on the Airport Road waiting to turn onto Highway 26 when the westbound car failed to negotiate a right turn and struck the left front of the patrol car. The patrol car was actually parked behind another vehicle which was waiting at the intersection.

According to the investigation by the sheriff’s office, the driver of the other vehicle was Gayathri Krismanoorthy, 21, Pullman. She was cited for negligent driving and not having a driver’s license on her person.

The squad car is one of the 2013 Ford Interceptors which the police department purchased from a dealer in the Kennewick area. Handley, who is a member of the Palouse Police Department, works police shifts at Colfax.

Chief Rick McNannay said he expects the car will be totaled because of extensive damage to the front quarter.

The city has moved a Ford Crown Victoria back on line for use by the department.

DRUG SEARCH AT STEPTOE

Meagan Rhuby, 20, Steptoe, and Wyatt Schmidt, 19, Colfax, were arrested over the weekend after a search of a residence on Stevens Street in Steptoe. According to a report by Sheriff Brett Myers, deputies served a search warrant at the residence late Thursday after receiving information about possible narcotics trafficking. Neither of the suspects was at the residence at the time the warrant was served.

Drug paraphernalia, hydrocodone pills and small amounts of heroin and methamphetamine were found at the residence. Rhuby was booked into the jail Saturday at 8:28 p.m.

She was located in the passenger seat of a vehicle which was being driven by Schmidt on Highway 23 west of Steptoe and booked into the jail at 8:28 a.m. Saturday morning. Schmidt was not jailed.

TRIAL SET FOR CHASE

SUSPECT

Benjamin E. Garfield, 28, Quincy, one of the suspects arrested in the April 20 car chase through Palouse, pleaded not guilty in superior court Friday to charges of theft of a motor vehicle and attempting to elude.

Garfield and Richard Glenn, 39, also of Quincy, were arrested after allegedly taking a car from the employees’ parking lot at J.E. Love Co. in Garfield and leading Palouse Police on a chase through town after they were intercepted at Palouse. Garfield was reported to be the driver of the car which at different times during the pursuit went across fields after departing Palouse.

Glenn, April 28, pleaded not guilty to charges of taking a motor vehicle and possession of methamphetamine. He was also scheduled for a June 12 trial.

BOND SET AT $500,000

Formal charges of first degree burglary and second degree assault were filed Friday in superior court against Juan A. Mendoza-Ortiz who was booked into jail early Friday after being arrested in Pullman. Bond for pre-trial release was set at $500,000 Friday in a first appearance in court.

Mendoza-Ortiz was arrested for allegedly forcing his way into a Pullman woman’s apartment and attempting to choke her. According to the Pullman Police Department report, the alleged victim told officers she believed the suspect had been following her. She said when she went into her residence, she felt resistance as she attempted to close the door, and the suspect forced his way into the residence and began to choke her. She said the attacker was short and she was able to break loose, put the attacker in a headlock and punch him. She said the attacker yelled “okay, okay” and fled the scene.

Pullman Police located Mendoza-Ortiz, and the victim identified him. The report said Mendoza-Ortiz was bleeding at the time he was apprehended.

THIRD SUSPECT

PLEADS NOT GUILTY

A June 12 trial date was set Friday morning in superior court after Richard P. Hoffman, 41, Deer Park, entered not guilty pleas to charges stemming from the reported entry Nov. 23 at the Larry Hood residence along Highway 195 south of Pullman. Hoffman pleaded not guilty to first degree charges of burglary, robbery and kidnapping. He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted burglary of a building on Third Street in Colfax the same night.

A June 12 trial date was also assigned to Alvord Verley, 31, Spokane, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last Friday in superior court.

A third suspect in the case, Heather Halseth, 34, Spokane, pleaded not guilty Feb. 24. She had been scheduled for an April 17 trial, but later waived her speedy trial rights and extended the trial date to attempt to negotiate a plea bargain.

JORDAN

CIRCUS WILL RETURN

Jordan World Circus has booked a return performance at the Palouse Empire Fairground. The three-ring circus will be here Tuesday, June 13, at 7 p.m. Spokesman Esteban Fassio said the two-hour performance will include acts to thrill circus fans of all ages. The circus also includes tigers and elephants.

ABDUCTION REPORT

FICTITIOUS

A 12-year-old Colfax boy admitted to Colfax Police last Thursday morning his after-school account of being abducted by a masked man driving a van the previous day was made up. The youth apparently made up the story because he had failed to report home about his whereabouts after school was dismissed at Jennings Elementary at 2:25 Wednesday, May 3. He gave the abduction account when he returned home at about 6 p.m., and officers began investigating after the boy and his father went to the police station at about 6:30 p.m.

Police Chief Rick McNannay said as many as three officers investigated the report at different times through the night. Police also filed a “we need your help” appeal on Facebook with an account of the report.

The youth said he had been abducted near the Sixth Street bridge, at the north end of Jennings, by a thin male who was driving an older SUV with a black body. The man was reported to be wearing a mask with cut out eye holes. The youth said he had been taken to a nearby house and managed to escape.

McNannay noted after the social media posting the department received a stream of calls from reporters and others in search of more information. Television news accounts Thursday night included the abduction account.

Officer Jaelene Bryan confronted the youth Thursday morning after she had learned the boy had been “hanging out” with friends after school, and he confessed that he had made up the story.

McNannay said the department will recommend a charge of false reporting be filed against the boy in juvenile court.

COUNTY PHONES FIXED

County Commissioner Art Swannack reported early May 4 that Century Link Wednesday night. May 3, had fixed the malfunction which had left the county without telephone service for three days. He added the county is researching possible installation of a backup system for the county’s landline telephone system.

Calls to courthouse offices for the first three days of the week were met with a busy signal on landline telephones.

One footnote: At the start of a pre-trial hearing Wednesday afternoon on a pre-trial motion in the Robert Barber case, the court was informed Barber had waived his right to be present at the hearing. Judge Gary Libey noted the court had the ability to call the defendant in the event he needed to be contacted during the hearing. The judge noted, however, that a cell phone would be needed to make the call.