Bulletin Column: Dec. 21, 2017

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.

RESIDENT QUESTIONS POLICE CUT

Dennis Gransbery of Colfax Monday night questioned city council members on the decision to cut out police coverage in Colfax between 2 and 7 a.m. He said as a citizen and proprietor of the Siesta Motel, he was very concerned about the gap in coverage. He noted a lot of criminal activity can happen in the early morning hours when an officer will not be on shift.

One factor, he noted, was a shutdown of the bars at 2 a.m.

Mayor Todd Vanek said the city moved to reduce staffing in the police department by not filling the vacancy after Officer Grant Silver resigned. He noted the city lost some income for the police department when most of the revenue from a coverage agreement with Whitman Hospital ended this year.

The mayor added the city will still have a response to a police call in the 2-7 a.m. time frame.

"In my opinion, it's not heading in the right direction," Gransbery commented.

Police Chief Rick McNannay said the city will have an officer on call, and the response will depend on the nature of the call.

Councilman Jim Kackman said one of the city's problems with funding a police department is that it acts as a supplier of officers to other agencies. He said Colfax can hire an officer, pay to send him to the police academy and then subsequently lose the officer when he gets hired away by another agency. Kackman noted costs for police tops any other department in the city budget by approximately $200,000.

Crystn Guenthner, one of the newly-elected members of the council who will take office after the first of the year, said she didn't think it was wise for the city to let the news out that police would cease shifts during the early morning time period.

SNOWSTORM ACCIDENT LOG

Friday's first snowstorm brought a total of 16 accident reports to the Washington State Patrol office here. Troopers responded to one injury accident, five reportable accidents, seven accidents where the damage sustained was below the reportable level and three accidents which they were unable to locate.

Lacey A. Crane, Kamiah, Idaho, was injured at 6:30 p.m. Friday in a one-car accident on Highway 26. She was driving a 2003 Ford Focus westbound in snowing conditions, slid sideways and went into the westbound ditch just past mile marker 116.

A trooper at 4:30 p.m. Friday responded to the Central Ferry area where Erich Halen, Holiday, Fla., lost control of a 2012 Ford utility truck on a curve in the snow and slid across Highway 127, stuck a dirt bank and went over on its right side. He was not hurt.

TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS

BOW OUT

Monday night's city council session, the final meeting of the year, saw two members of the city council wrap up their careers. Jeannette Solimine will leave the council after 12 years of service, and Whitney Aguilar will depart after four years of service. Both opted not to seek another term on the council at filing time for the 2017 election.

Certificates of appreciation were presented to both by Mayor Todd Vanek.

Solimine marked her last meeting by again bringing a tray of Christmas goodies and passing them out to council members, city officials and spectators who attended the meeting.

NANCE

ARRESTED AGAIN

Kyle Nance, 21, Colfax, who was arrested and jailed Nov. 5 on probable charges of malicious mischief, was jailed again Sunday on similar probable charges. Nance was arrested by Officer Joe Handley and booked into the jail at 9:54 p.m. Sunday on probable charges of domestic violence and malicious mischief.

Nance was arrested Nov. 5 after police said he had damaged fences, a vehicle and a real estate sign. That was reportedly the latest episode in the neighborhood of E. Wawawai Street and the 700 block of S. Mill Street.

Nance was apprehended when police were assisted by a surveillance video at the residence of one of the victims.

Sunday's episode again started with loud yelling in the neighborhood. Nance was alleged to have become upset after getting into an argument with his brother at their residence in the 200 block of E. Wawawai.

Nance was again released from jail Monday.

The allegations listed in his first arrest are now scheduled to be heard in city court, according to Chief Rick McNannay.

CREWS DEBUT SALT SYSTEM

Colfax Public Works Director Matt Hammer reported to the city council Monday night that the city used its new salt distribution system in the first snow battle. The city has built a salt shack storage building and filled it with 15 tons of bulk salt which is now loaded into the mix on sander trucks.

Hammer said the bulk salt application appeared to have good results for treating the grades in the city's street system.

Previously, the city purchased salt in bags and spread it by hand.

Hammer noted the bulk salt system will also be less expensive.

HIMES FACES PRISON TERM

Kenneth L. Himes, 38, Tekoa, is expected to be sentenced to the State Department of Corrections for an extended term after he pleaded guilty Friday in superior court to an amended charge of possession of stolen property. The plea Friday actually wraps up two pending cases filed against Himes in court.

Himes Friday agreed to enter the plea which will give him an offender score of nine-plus on the state schedule. A defendant with a score at that level will fall into a state sentencing range of between 43 and 57 months.

Deputy Prosecutor Merritt Decker in his plea offer noted the offender score plea will list 10 prior convictions for Himes.

The stolen property included in the conviction was a Troy-Bilt riding mower which was taken from a Latah resident. Deputies received the report of the missing lawnmower and later received a tip from a Palouse resident that it had been taken by Himes. The Palouse resident, who said he had been asked by Himes to sell spraying equipment which had been on the mower, returned the equipment to the owner.

The lawnmower was eventually located under a railroad trestle along Seabury Road in the Tekoa area.

The report notes the lawnmower had actually appeared in a video that a deputy had made earlier during a search at the Himes residence on Railroad Avenue in Tekoa. The deputy at that time was looking for other items reported stolen and had not been aware that the mower had been reported stolen in Latah. The other items were not located at the Himes residence.

As part of the plea bargain agreement, Decker agreed to drop charges in a second case which had been filed against Himes. That was filed after deputies responded to a report from a Tekoa resident who said Himes had thrown rocks at him and later broke out windows on his pickup.

Other conditions in the plea bargain call for Himes to make restitution payments of $2,880 to the Latah owner of the mower who also had other items stolen in the theft, and $800 to the Tekoa resident who had the windows broken out of his truck in the case which was dismissed.

Himes has been scheduled for sentencing Jan. 5.

TRUCK SPILL BLOCKS HIGHWAY 26

Driver of the semi truck which rolled and blocked Highway 26 at LaCrosse early the morning of Dec. 14 was Andreas Dirscherl of Spokane Valley. According to the report by Trooper Rob Aucut, Dirscherl was driving a 2012 Kenworth tractor trailer westbound on Highway 26 at 6:05 a.m. Thursday and drifted onto the westbound shoulder in a curve. He overcorrected, and the truck rolled.

The tractor trailer and cargo box came to a halt in the ditch on the west side of the highway, and the trailer came to a halt across both lanes of the highway.

The accident site was at mile 102.5, which is between Pampa Pond and the LaCrosse Airport Road intersections with Highway 26. This effectively blocked the highway which was shut down for approximately two-and-one-half hours.