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.

CITY SWEEPER CRUNCHED

The number-one Colfax street sweeper has sustained extensive damage in a mishap during an early morning sweeping operation, Public Works Director Matt Hammer reported to the city council Monday night. The sweeper dump box sustained an estimated $60,000 in damage.

Hammer also noted the city had previously dropped collision insurance coverage on the machine, and the street department will have to cover the loss.

The sweeper was damaged when the operator failed to lower the box after depositing swept materials in the area of the city sewer lagoons along Highway 26. Hammer said the elevated box hit the underside of the Highway 26 bridge approach to the Palouse River.

The damaged sweeper is a 2004 Tymco model, which is the lead machine in the department. The city also has a 1988 Athey sweeper which will now see more use.

Hammer said the department is now considering purchasing a used sweeper which has been priced in the $27,000 range rather than attempt to repair the Tymco.

Public works has been budgeted for a $30,000 purchase of a dump truck and those funds could now go for the purchase of a replacement sweeper.

Hammer noted city crews conduct sweeps on Main Street in the early morning hours when traffic on Main Street is almost non-existent. The Tymco sweeper with its suction system marked an upgrade to the city crew's ability to get streets clean.

STILL NOT IN COMPLIANCE

Chris Mathis reported to the city council Monday night that the house at S. 211 Cromwell, Colfax, is still not in compliance with the city's nuisance code. Mathis, who has been appointed interim city administrator, said she has visited the location approximately twice a week to check on the progress made on cleaning up the site.

The house on Cromwell again surfaced on the city's agenda when neighbors attended the May 7 city council session and pointed out the litter around the house had not been cleaned up. One of the neighbors, Milton Groom, noted his records show they first complained about litter at the residence 16 years ago.

Mathis reported progress has been made in removing debris from around the residence, but she added some piles remain.

She said she has taken pictures to mark the progress and compared them with photos taken by Officer Matt Malakowsky who investigated after complaints about the residence surfaced.

Malakowsky has since resigned from the Colfax Police Department to join the Clarkston Police Department.

Mathis said she has also visited with the neighbors who complained. She told the city council they would like to see a timeline on the city's enforcement action against the residence.

The first citation against the residence by Malakowsky required the residents to compile a list of measures they would take to remove the debris and a timeline for getting it accomplished.

Mathis said the work has not been finished, and she strongly recommended that a second- stage infraction citation, one that carries a fine, be issued.

PULLMAN RR CROSSING TO GO

Removal of an unused railroad crossing in Pullman has been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, according to the district project report issued by the Department of Transportation. The crossing is located on Grand in downtown Pullman. The crossing site will be paved over after the rails and ties have been removed.

The district also plans to have paving crews at work on patching along Highway 27 from its intersection with Highway 195 south of Pullman to the Albion Road intersection north of Pullman.

The railroad crossing to be removed is the former Union Pacific crossing which served downtown Pullman. The crossing at one time was part of the system which delivered coal to the campus steam plant.

Umpqua Bank is now located in the former UP station building at Pullman which is west of the Grand Ave. crossing.

Crews recently removed the crossing structures which have remained in place since the railroad shut down.

Paving crews are also expected to be at work on the short segment of Highway 274 between Tekoa and the Idaho State Line.

The Union Pacific link between Colfax and Pullman essentially shut down when the S. Palouse River fire took out the trestle which crosses the river east of Colfax.

Top customer for the UP was the WSU power plant which later converted to natural gas.

VANDALISM NETS JAIL STAY

Kyle B. Nance, Colfax, was sentenced to seven days in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty in superior court to a charge of malicious mischief in the second degree. Nance was arrested in connection with vandalism at the Siesta Motel in Colfax last Nov. 4.

According to the arrest report by Colfax Officer Jaelene Leeson, Nance was identified as a person seen on surveillance videos of the incident.

Nance reportedly damaged a rose bush on the south side of the building and pulled down siding and cut two large branches off a tree on the northwest corner of the building.

The arrest report said the surveillance video shows a male carrying a tool with long handles and shiny ends. The report said the person in the video wore a type of hoodie jacket which resembled one known to be worn around town by Nance.

Nance was allowed to start serving the seven days in jail next Friday. He was also ordered to pay $2,319 restitution to the proprietors of the motel along with $800 in fines and fees.

Nance was also ordered to undergo an evaluation for alcohol abuse and follow any recommendations for treatment listed in the evaluation.

COURT OKAYS Palouse SITE

A petition to remove lots which were dedicated as part of the Greenwood Cemetery in Palouse was approved Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. The petition requested the lots be removed from cemetery designation so they could be used as part of a water system plan to improve pressure for residents in the south hill area of Palouse.

Construction of a tower reservoir has been proposed for the lots.

Judge Gary Libey ruled the City of Palouse gave proper notice for the hearing. The lots, located in Robard's addition, do not contain human remains.

TWO HURT IN CRASH NEAR ROSALIA

Two people were hurt late Friday in a one-car accident on the Pine City-Malden road west of Rosalia. The driver of the car, Colleen Pinter, 46, Potlatch, sustained serious injuries and was flown by helicopter to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, according to the report by Sheriff Brett Myers.

Pinter's son, Timothy Bennett, 23, Spokane, was a passenger in the vehicle. He was taken by Rosalia ambulance to Sacred Heart.

Pinter was driving a 1998 Pontiac Grand Am westbound at 10:40 a.m. when she failed to negotiate a curve near the Boozer Road intersection about one-and-one-half miles west of Rosalia.

Pinter was not wearing a seatbelt and she was thrown from the car which rolled at least one time. Sheriff Brett Myers said alcohol was a factor in the accident, and he expects a driving under the influence charge could be filed against the driver.

THOMAS SET FOR SENTENCING

Rebecca Thomas, 22, Colfax, pleaded guilty Friday in superior court to an amended charge of third degree assault, which involved an accident a year ago in which she intentionally steered the car she was driving across Highway 195 and collided with a pickup truck nine miles north of Colfax. The driver of the pickup, Martin G. Alejos, Spokane Valley, was the victim of the assault.

Thomas initially had been charged last September with vehicular assault.

According to the Washington State Patrol investigation report, Thomas was believed to have been attempting to take her own life by steering the 1997 Buick LeSabre she was driving southbound across the highway and colliding with a GMC pickup which was being driven northbound by Alejos June 10, 2017, at 10 p.m.

The accident report said troopers learned Thomas had sent a text message to her boyfriend shortly before the accident reporting of her intent to take her own life.

The accident report said Alejos attempted to avoid a collision by driving onto the northbound shoulder of the highway but was unsuccessful. Martin was towing a 1992 Toyota pickup truck. He and a passenger, Misaell Samayo, 52, Spokane, sustained minor injuries in the collision but were not taken to the hospital. Samayo was the owner of the Toyota truck.

Thomas, who at one time had been scheduled for a trial which would have started Monday, has been scheduled for sentencing June 28.