Bulletin: June 29

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.

DRUG LAB

IN ‘94

MUSTANG?

Two suspects arrested late Sunday morning on the Garfield/Farmington Road have been jailed after deputies and a special state team from Olympia have determined they had components for a "fully capable" meth lab in a 1994 Ford Mustang.

In a first appearance in court Monday afternoon, Jesse A. Reyes, 63, Nine Mile Falls, was ordered held on $50,000 bond, and Jennifer Heaton, 44, Spokane, was ordered held on $25,000 bond. They were booked on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine.

According to the arrest report, the case started Sunday at 11:20 a.m. when Palouse Officer Joe Handley stopped a green 1994 Ford Mustang near mile 10 on the Garfield/Farmington Road. Handley initially stopped the car because neither occupant was wearing a seat belt. Palouse Police officers also cover Garfield.

Handley had cause to believe drugs were in the car, and Deputy Sgt. Keith Copper and the department’s K9 dog, Unix, responded to the scene. The dog gave several responses indicating presence of drugs in the car and a warrant was issued to search the car.

Among items found in the car were two fire extinguishers which had been converted to be filled with anhydrous ammonia. The report said at one point during the arrest, Heaton, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs, expressed concern about the two extinguishers exploding in the hot sun and was told by Reyes to keep quiet.

The tanks were later vented at the arrest scene.

Deputies contacted the state meth team in Olympia who processed the evidence allegedly found in the car Monday afternoon.

According to the report Monday by Sheriff Brett Myers, methamphetamine, filters, lithium batteries, hoses, glassware and pseudo-ephedrine pills were among items found in the car.

CITY TO BEGIN ASPHALT PATCHING

Colfax Public Works Director Matt Hammer Tuesday said the city has ordered 20 tons of asphalt mix to patch streets around town. The crew plans to start work at the end of this week or early next week.

Hammer said the plan calls for the county crews to apply an overlay to some of the patched segments in Colfax later in the season. The county crew will be paid on an hourly rate for the work done in Colfax.

PAVING SET FOR 272 UPGRADE

Part of the state work plan for Highway 272 includes a new paving surface for the Palouse Highway grade which descends into Colfax. Grinding of the old surface was done last week from Mill Street on the east side of the intersection next to the Methodist Church to the top of the hill.

The grade surface on the highway has sustained slippage damage from truck traffic over the years. Crews ground off the surface last week. Central Washington Asphalt plans to set up a mixing plant at the Shawnee Rock pit north of town.

Work at the Palouse end of 272 includes removal of two railroad siding crossings where the highway enters Palouse from Colfax. The two crossings and the highway base have been removed. The main railroad line crossing, which was previously replaced by the state, remains.

MEGAN RHUBY CHARGED

Megan K. Rhuby, 20, Steptoe, was charged June 20 with possession of heroin in superior court. Rhuby was booked into jail June 16 after she was arrested at a residence on Parvin Road.

According to the arrest report, the charge against Rhuby stems from a June 9 search of the family residence in Steptoe when deputies went there to arrest Rhuby's brother, Ryan. The report alleges deputies found evidence of drug use in Megan's room at the house on Stevens Street. She was released on $1,000 bond.

Ryan Rhuby was charged June 12 with possession of meth June 9. He has since pleaded not guilty and is now scheduled for a July 17 trial. Another brother, Nicholas Rhuby, 23, was charged June 16 with trafficking in stolen property April 18.

FIRE

RESTRICTIONS IN PARKS

Fire restrictions will be posted at all Whitman County parks as of Monday. Camp fires and smoking will be banned at Kamiak Butte, Elberton and Klemgard parks and the Bill Chipman Trail.

Fire restrictions have been in effect at Wawawai Park as part of the ban posted by Colton-Uniontown Rural Fire District 14 June 10.

Cooking with charcoal, briquettes or a gas grill will be allowed in the parks. Campers are advised to keep a bucket of water and a shovel handy for fire control.

TREE PLANTING HONORS VOGEL

The late Ken Vogel of Pullman, a former president and long-time supporter of the Whitman County Historical Society, was honored Sunday during the annual ice cream social at the Perkins House. One of the "lost" apple tree varieties which was re-discovered by David Benscoter has been planted in the flower garden on the south side lawn of the Perkins House. The planting was sponsored by the Colton School faculty where Vogel's wife, Sally, was a teacher for 29 years.

Heidi Danaher of Colfax, a member of the Colton faculty, made the presentation, and Sally Vogel gave a short talk of appreciation.

Society president Greg Partch credited Mr. Vogel, who retired after operating a clothing store in Pullman, for being the society's number-one person to remind society members to renew their memberships.

The Vogels made their retirement home in Winlock, but they remained active in the society and he headed the ice cream social in 2015. Mr. Vogel died Oct. 6. 2016, at the age of 71.

Partch and Theresa Dale, Perkins house coordinator, also presented a framed letter written by the late Norma McGregor on the founding of the society 45 years ago. The letter was presented to Alex McGregor who attended with other family members. He also read two of his mother's notes related to events in the first years of the society.

BRUSH FIRE ON MCNEILLY ROAD

Fire crews from Colfax, Steptoe and Diamond responded to a report of a brush fire along McNeilly Road Saturday at 12:15 p.m. The fire was ignited from a bonfire which had been burning at the residence. Crews were on the scene for approximately two hours.

SEMI DRIVER REPORTS

SEMI HIT

The driver of a semi truck and trailer reported to city police Friday at approximately 4 p.m. that he was side-swiped by another semi truck while driving northbound on the north end of Main Street. The contact knocked the side view mirror off the truck, according to the city police report.

The driver of the damaged truck continued north on Highway 195 and managed to park in the area of the Cedar Street intersection to call in the accident. The other semi was believed to be a May Company moving van, according to Colfax Chief Rick McNannay.

The driver did not stop.

TWO HURT IN ROLLOVER CRASH

Two people were injured Sunday in a one-car accident in the S curves area south of Colfax. Colfax ambulance crews responded to the scene and both victims were transported to Whitman Hospital.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Tyler E. Overton, 21, Seattle, was driving a 2003 Honda CR-V southbound at 2:41 p.m. when he fell asleep at the wheel. The Honda crossed the centerline and northbound lanes and rolled into the ditch on the northbound side of the road.

Site of the accident was listed as near mile marker 35.

Taylor A. Adams, 20, Pullman, a passenger in the Honda, was the other person injured in the accident.

CITY TO BEGIN CHECKING HYDRANTS

Colfax fire crews will begin making their annual check of fire hydrants to check for flow. The city has more than 200 hydrants, and duty officers will be stopping at each one in the coming weeks. They plan to begin with stops at meters located in the outer areas of Colfax and gradually work toward the downtown area.

HICKS ENTERS GUILTY PLEA

Daniel K. Hicks, 22, Colfax, pleaded guilty Friday in superior court to charges of second-degree assault and violation of a no-contact order. Hicks was arrested and jailed early May 28 after Colfax police responded to a report of an assault. Hicks reportedly had gone to the residence of a former girlfriend on West Street in violation of the no-contact order which had been issued last September. He reportedly put his hands around her throat and made threats that he was going to kill her.

Sentencing in the case was delayed until the end of this week. Maximum sentence under the the state's guidelines for a first offender is nine months in jail.

BRUYA HIRED FOR CITY POST

Lexi Bruya of Steptoe has been hired as an administrative assistant for the city of Colfax. The appointment was announced at Monday's city council session by Chris Mathis, city finance director.

She will begin work for the city July 10.

Bruya completed studies for a degree in information technology and administrative management at Central Washington University this spring and has been working at Fonk's Coffee shop.

A graduate of Odessa High School, she is the daughter of Ted Bruya and Kelly Johnson. Her grandparents are Jim and Lynne Bruya and Mike and Karen Johnson, all of Colfax.

Bruya will do some of the job assignments previously done by former city clerk Connie Ellis, who resigned in January and is now working for the Pullman office of district court. Ellis also served as clerk for the city court, and that part of the job is now done by Kris Thompson, district court clerk who works for Colfax city court on Tuesdays, her day off during the week from district court.

LAZCANO FILES MOTION

A court motion filed from the state penitentiary in Walla Walla by Daniel Lazcano, one of the defendants in the murder of Marcus Schur at Malden in December of 2011, was placed on the court docket Friday. Lazcano, now 26, filed a motion for the court to dismiss $6,245 in fines and fees he was ordered to pay as part of his January 2014 sentence for shooting Schur in an alley in Malden.

The seven-page motion, printed by hand, was filed with the court here May 8. Lazcano contends that under state law inmates cannot be ordered to pay fines and fees if they do not have the ability to do so.

He was sentenced Jan. 31, 2014, to 324 months in the state prison on a conviction of first degree murder and unlawful disposal of a body.

Testimony at the trial revealed Lazcano shot Schur with a rifle after Schur ran out the back of a house in Malden where he had been attending a holiday gathering. Daniel and his brother Frank Lazcano subsequently dropped Schur's body into Bonnie Lake.

Topping the list of fines Lazcano was ordered to pay was $5,474 designated to go into a victims' compensation fund.

The motion had been scheduled for a hearing Friday in court, but Prosecutor Denis Tracy filed a motion to continue the hearing until Aug. 11. Tracy said Lazcano failed to serve the prosecutor's office with a notice that his motion had been filed in court. The prosector requested the court to continue the hearing to allow time to prepare a response.