Bulletin Column: March 14, 2019

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.

COUNTY WILL RESPOND TO L&C BOARD

Whitman County will now respond to notices from the state Liquor and Cannabis Board about license applications for proposed sites in the county. The policy change follows Monday's approval of a six-month moratorium on issuance of cannabis growing or processing operations in the county.

The county has been granted a stay on comment on the application to the state board to transfer a license from Chelan County to Whitman County.

The proposed license transfer was part of a plan by Selway Holdings, LLC and Dewey Scientific to locate a growing and processing site on Selway property at the intersection of Country Club and Flat roads.

Commissioner Dean Kinzer noted the county had followed a practice of not responding to state board notifications of license applicants because the county lacked any formal policy on locating sites here. Now that the moratorium is in place, the county will respond to any notifications with notice that the county has passed the moratorium. It is now scheduled to remain in effect until Sept. 3, 2019.

WALMART ARREST NETS PRISON

Zavior McBride, 27, Pullman resident who has been in jail here since Nov. 3 after a stormy arrest at Walmart in Pullman, was sentenced to a year-and-a-day in jail Friday morning after pleading guilty to amended charges of burglary and third degree assault. The sentence means McBride will be sent to a state institution to finish the assigned time.

McBride faced up to 16 months in jail, and the state asked the court for a 14-month sentence, but Court Commissioner Howard Neill opted for the year-and-a-day term.

McBride was arrested at Walmart after Pullman officers responded to a report of a man who was "freaking out" and throwing items in the store. Among other items, cases of Coors beer were thrown and bottles broken.

The other charge in the conviction related to an assault on the first officer who arrived on the scene. The report noted McBride attempted to grab the radio microphone off the officer's uniform and eventually damaged the radio.

McBride was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital and other struggles took place there before he was subdued.

McBride originally faced nine charges, but the other six against him were dropped.

Defense Attorney Steve Martonick said McBride had pre-existing conditions which were aggravated by substance abuse. He reported McBride formerly played professional basketball in Finland, and didn't get into any trouble until he returned here and took up drugs.

McBride apologized to the court for his behavior.

As part of the plea bargain, charges pending in Latah County were also dismissed. He will be on one year of probation after release by the state. He was also ordered to pay $712 restitution to Walmart and $57 to the Pullman Police department for repairs to the officer's radio.

REPS PLAN TELE TOWN HALL

Ninth District State Representatives Joe Schmick of Colfax and Mary Dye of Pomeroy have scheduled a telephonic town hall meeting for Thursday, March 21. District residents can participate by calling 1-800-610-6290. Residents who call in will be able to hear the representatives give an update on what is happening in the legislature. The current session is scheduled to end April 28.

EXTORTION CHARGES FILED

Five charges of extortion with sexual motivation were filed March 5 in Whitman County Superior Court against Kyle W. Gaumnitz, 24, Pullman. They were filed by Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau. The charges allege Gaumnitz threatened female victims with dissemination of intimate photos unless they complied with his requests.

The WSU Police report by Officer Jeff Olmstead alleged investigation into initial complaints led to discovery of 27 other victims. All victims in the report were listed by their initials. Many of the victims were believed to be college or high school classmates, acquaintances, co-workers or lab partners of the defendant, the report said. The investigation alleged victims resided in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California, the report said.

It alleged the investigation began when two WSU students reported they had been contacted by the defendant via the Tinder internet site, and they complied with his request to send him intimate photos of themselves via Snapchat. The reports were logged Sept. 14 and Nov. 13 of 2017.

The report said the suspect later requested more photos and threatened to disseminate the photos they had already sent to him if they failed to meet his requests.

The defendant allegedly used other names when he contacted the victims, but he was identified by tracking the IP registration on a computer.

The report said statements like "I want you to be my love slave," "you're funeral" and "I'm going to hurt you" were among those made in the threats.

The report said officers made a warrant search of the defendant's apartment in February of 2018 and seized desktop and laptop computers and cell phones.

Investigation of the contents of the items seized at the residence led to discovery of the 27 other alleged victims, the arrest report said.

Most of the 27 alleged victims listed by their initials in the arrest report told officers they did not comply with the defendant's initial requests to send him intimate photos.

Omstead's report said in most cases, the extent of threats allegedly made by the suspect were less when the women refused to comply and cut off contact.

The report also alleged the campus police during the investigation learned Pullman Police were also investigating the suspect for alleged similar threats he had made to women residing in the Grove Apartments in Pullman.

Gaumnitz has been summoned to appear in court March 29 on the five formal charges filed Monday.

EAGLE GOES TO THE RAPTOR CLUB

An injured eagle which was found along the South Fork of the Palouse River by Roxanna Scholz March 5 has been taken to Washington State University. The bird had sustained a broken right wing.

Scholz said she was driving eastbound on the river road at about 3 p.m. when she saw the bird struggling in a field on the north side of the river road east of its intersection with Chicken Ranch Road.

The injured eagle appeared to be calling for its mate which was in the same area.

Scholz said she threw a blanket over the downed bird and called a state game agent. When he arrived she picked the bird up in the blanket up and carried it to agent's truck and put it in the back seat. The truck is fitted with a separation screen between the front and back seats.

The eagle was taken to WSU and placed into custody with the WSU raptor club.

Its mate has remained in the area along the river road.

THAW SAID ON THE WAY

Temperature predictions in the 40s and even up to the 50s at the end of the week point to a big melt. A prediction of possibly four inches of snow for Tuesday turned out to be mostly snow and rain with a reading of 40 degrees on the PNF Co-op's downtown sign at 7 a.m.

Solid snowfall was reported by commuters from the north side of the county.

The reading compares with a nine-degree reading at the same time Saturday.

Ice covers the channel of the North Fork of the Palouse River above the Sixth Street bridge, but the ice ends in the channel at about the McDonald Park baseball field, which makes it shorter than buildups in past seasons.

Flow of the North Palouse River at Potlatch was at 103.4 cubic feet per second at 7 a.m. compared to a 25 percent of median flow of 267 cfs.

The flow of the Palouse River at the USGS station at Hooper was at 496 cubic feet per second compared to 898 cfs for 25 percent of median.