Bulletin Column: Jan. 4, 2018

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.

N. FLAT PROJECT HIKES BUDGET

A major street, water and sewer project for Cedar and Oak streets this year is reflected in the Colfax 2018 budget. The bottom line for the 2018 budget is $5,207,279, compared to $3,703,386 for the year just finished.

The reason for the big increase is the plans for the North Flat streets. Cost of the project will include the street work, water line installations and the sewer line work.

The project will involve the length of Oak Street and Cedar Street from 7th to 11th Street.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer said he expects the bid call for the project to go out in March and work on the project is expected to take most of the summer.

City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass said the city has received a grant of $965,418 from the state Transportation Improvement Board to undertake the project.

Two other pieces of the project funding include $335,000 in sewer line work and $292,000 for water line work. The city has applied for a long-term loan from the Department of Ecology to finance the sewer line work, and the water line part of the project will come out of capital reserves built up in the city water fund.

Snodgrass noted the city this year is expected to make a final $14,390 payment on another long-term loan and that will allow room in the sewer budget to make payments on a new loan with the DOE.

In sessions before the final approval of the budget, the city had discussed cutbacks for police coverage and a possible shutdown of the swim pool for next year. The pool decision, which calls for an injection of $32,000 in "outside funding" before the pool can operate this year, was based on the lack of reserves in the city’s park fund.

The parks and police budgets are part of the city's general operation fund which accounts for $1,420,376 of the overall city budget.

The city's street fund for 2018 actually exceeds the general fund at $1,436,382. The water fund budget totals $1,026,970, and the sewer fund budget totals $993,727.

VIETZ MAKES SHOP MOVE

Colfax barber Terry Vietz over the weekend made a two-door move of his shop from 213 N Main to his former location at 209 N Main. For the past 18 months he has been located in half of the front of a building which for years housed the Gazette print shop and later a restaurant. The building has changed owners, and Vietz moved back to his former site to accommodate a new tenant at 213.

He will now rent shop space from Kim Nguyen, who acquired the former barber shop space with her purchase of the Masonic Building.

Vietz had been at the 209 location for two years.

Before moving to Main Street, Vietz was located for 19 years in a shop on Wall Street.

CHARGES IN CAMPUS LSD CASE

Four charges related to an investigation of an alleged LSD case at Washington State University were filed Friday in Whitman County Superior Court against Jacob Grant Campbell. He has been charged with two counts of tampering with a witness, one count of making a false statement to an officer and one count of obstructing.

According to the Pullman Police report, the charges stem from a response by Pullman Police and fire crews last Feb. 4 to a report of a suicide attempt involving a leap from the overpass from Gannon Hall over Stadium Way.

Officers found a young female sitting on the curb beneath the bridge who said she had attempted to take her life by jumping off the overpass. She had sustained cuts to her face.

She told officers at the scene that she had been on an acid trip involving LSD the previous day.

Police embarked on an investigation to determine the source of the LSD and several witnesses were identified. The charges against Campbell relate to his alleged interaction with others involved in the investigation.

Campbell has been summoned to make a first appearance in court Jan 19.

RAIN TURNS S. Palouse RIVER GAUGE

Thawing temperatures and rain marked a sudden turn in the USGS gauge for the South Fork of the Palouse River at Pullman. River flow had been down to eight cubic-feet-per-second as of the Dec. 28 reading, but took a sharp turn up and was at 497 cubic feet as of this morning.

Water flow also marked a turn on the USGS gauge at Potlatch. The river had been in its winter mode with flows down to 40 cubic-feet-a-second on Christmas Eve day, but it made a strong turn Dec. 27 with the warmer temperatures and rain. The flow was approaching the 220 cubic-feet-a-second Dec. 28.

DROPS MUSICAL ARTS SOCIETY

A proposal to launch the Paradise Creek Musical Arts Society has been dropped by JD Gilkey. He said the idea was to start a non-profit inter-denominational group to serve the area with four concerts a year.

Gilkey reported Dec. 28 he has decided to drop the proposal due to lack of funding, no interest from residents and his own health problems.

Gilkey, who has resided in Moscow for the past seven years, said he had hoped to produce the "Messiah" again before he became too old to do so. He is now 80.

FACES NEW VIOLATION CHARGE

A formal charge of violation of a no contact order involving domestic violence was filed Friday in superior court against Tony Lee Boyer, 47, Colfax. The charge alleges Boyer violated the order between Dec. 7 and 17.

Boyer was released from jail Dec. 7 after serving a sentence on a prior conviction of harassment and violation of a protection order.

The latest charge follows an investigation by the Colfax Police Department on allegations Boyer again tried to contact the same victim.

Boyer was sentenced to five months in jail Oct. 6 after he pleaded guilty to harassment and two charges of violation of a protection order.

The conviction evolved from a response to a report that he had assaulted his ex-wife at a residence on Parvin Road. The arrest report said he had dragged the victim in the gravel driveway, threw her cell phone in a field and stomped on her.

Charges of assault and malicious mischief were also filed against him, but those were not included in the conviction.

SOIL ACIDITY WORKSHOP

Washington State University will host a soil acidity workshop featuring top experts in the region today, Thursday, Jan. 4, beginning at 8 a.m. at Banyan's Pavilion in Pullman. The event will cover several aspects of liming, the effects of low pH on soil health, managing nitrogen to reduce acidification and other topics.

A panel discussion will cover microbes, herbicides and agronomy of low pH soils.

Speakers will be from WSU, the University of Idaho, USDA and the Latah Conservation District.

A continental breakfast, buffet lunch and snacks will be included with registration for the day.

The workshop has been approved for eight Certified Crop Advisor credits.

Registration is available on the WSU small grains website: http://extension.wsu.edu/palouse-soil-acidity/

FIRE STARTED AT SERVICE BOX

Pullman Fire Inspector Tony Nuttman reported the Dec 23 fire that caused extensive damage to a house at the end of the 700 block on south Main Street started at the electrical service box at the back of the house. The service box was located on the outside of the house.

In his preliminary report to Fire Chief Craig Corbeill, Nuttman said he has been unable to determine why the fire started at the service box.

The fire was first discovered burning at the back corner of the building where the service box was located. It had spread to a side porch in that part of the house.

Nuttman conducted his investigation Dec. 24 at the scene and did follow-up work Dec. 26.

The most extensive damage in the house was at the back closest to the point of origin. The kitchen and upstairs bedroom over the kitchen were gutted by the blaze. The bedroom floor over the kitchen collapsed.

‘COSMO’RESUSCITATED AT FIRE

One of the footnotes to the Dec. 23 house fire on Main Street in Colfax was the rescue of Cosmo, a pet cat which firefighters found in the burning house. The cat was discovered in the basement of the house about an hour after fire crews arrived at the scene.

It had been singed and was having difficulty breathing. Jessi McCleary, a volunteer with the Albion Fire Department and a veterinary technician staffer at WSU's veterinary hospital, administered oxygen to the cat and placed him in an ambulance to keep him warm. The cat was later checked out at the vet hospital and returned to Colfax where it has been housed by A.J. Garcia who resides in an apartment next to the house.

The cat was found in the house by Colfax firefighter David Buckley.

Chief Craig Corbeill said Buckley also found two pet turtles in the house which were also rescued. The turtles were reported to be cold, but managed to recover.