Bulletin Column: August 1, 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.

MANNING ROAD FIRE

Rural fire district crews responded to a report of a wildland fire along the Manning Road near the Morgan ranch at 2:39 p.m. Monday. The fire was believed to have been ignited off a truck which backfired.

Crews from Colfax, Diamond and Steptoe also responded to the scene, and Albion brought a tanker to the scene.

Colfax crews logged back at the station at 4:06 p.m.

UNATTENDED DEATH IN COLFAX

Colfax Police Officer Perry Tate responded at 4:24 p.m. Monday to an initial report of an unconscious male at the River View Apartments in the 600 S. Main. The 61-year-old man was determined to be deceased. County Coroner Annie Pillers was called in to conduct a cause of death investigation which is now underway. The man was believed to have died of natural causes.

RUTGERS RIDERS IN GREAT FALLS

The 11 bicycle riders from Rutgers University who are expected to stay overnight Aug. 7 in LaCrosse for a stop on their 3,500-mile cross country ride are now in Great Falls, Mont., where they will do volunteer work. The seven women and four men are making the ride to raise awareness of the hunger problem in the United States.

Their base coordinator in New Jersey said the group plans to cross the Idaho panhandle in a day and ride the Centennial Trail from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane where they plan to do another volunteer stop.

Their Spokane to LaCrosse ride Aug. 7 will take them out the Fish Lake Trail to Cheney and the Columbia Plateau Trail through the Turnbull Wildlife Preserve.

They plan to continue south via Highway 23 and county roads to Winona and then head for LaCrosse on the Winona South Road.

Plans in LaCrosse for the Aug. 7 stop include a fire siren alert 30 minutes in advance of the group's estimated time of arrival. Residents will gather at the park and then go to Leslie Road to meet the riders. A greeting potluck picnic is planned in the park, and the LaCrosse swim pool will be made available.

LaCrosse began plans to host the riders after they received a request to use the LaCrosse Park to camp overnight Aug. 7, according to Lana Myers, one of the organizers of next Wednesday's reception.

The group will depart for their west coast destination, Portland, the next day.

COUGAR COUNTRY TO RETURN

Cougar Country Drive-in in Pullman, a fixture on N. Grand which has been closed for the last six months, has been purchased by Mike and Terry Wagoner of Pullman and is expected to return to operation in about three weeks.

The Wagoners are proprietors of the Zoe Coffee House and Pub on E. Main in Pullman at the former location of Tam's Place.

The purchase of Cougar County was announced Monday on Facebook.

Cougar Country closed last February after employees' paychecks reportedly bounced. Owner Rhonda Witt-Miller, who retired from the business in 2014, vowed at the time to put the restaurant back in operation, but it was later placed on the real estate market.

Witt-Miller's parents founded Cougar County in 1973.

COURTYARD PLANTS VANDALIZED

Colfax Officer Perry Tate is seeking information for apprehension of the person who has vandalized the planter boxes in front of the Courtyard in the 300 block of S. Main. Police were called Monday morning when plants were pulled from the planters and thrown down on the sidewalk in front of the building. The vandalism was a repeat of a similar episode.

--Colfax Police were called to a report of a minor accident at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Cougar Food Mart on N. Main. The non-injury accident resulted in damage to a Toyota Highlander and a Buick LaCrosse.

FOOD PANTRY PURCHASE IN BUDGET

The state's capital budget for 2020-21 includes funding for the purchase of the former Elks building in Colfax by the Council on Aging, according to Paige Collins, executive director of the council. The Elks building is now used to house the council's food pantry operation. The building in currently owned by Scott Ackerman of Colfax.

Northwest Farm Credit has donated $500 for signs which will be placed on the building. Collins said the council plans to undertake repairs on the roof of the building after they make the purchase.

LANE LINE STILL ON LIST

The state painting crew which last week restored the cross walks on Main Street in Colfax was a specialty crew which does not have the equipment to paint the long-gone line to designate the northbound lane on Main from north of the Thorn Street intersection. Colfax Public Works Director Matt Hammer said he expects the state's regular line painting crew will make a stop in Colfax to put down line when they get to this area.

Crosswalks on the Colfax side streets will be done by city crews in the coming weeks of the busy construction season.

FIRE DESTROYS BARN, HAY

A small barn on the Sunset-Thornton Road was destroyed by fire in the early-morning hours of Sunday. Fire volunteers from St. John, Rosalia and Steptoe responded to the scene with the first alarms going out at about 3 a.m. The small barn contained hay, and fire crews had to break down the burning bales and extinguish them.

St. John Fire Chief Steve Gibson said the small barn was fully engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived on the scene located about three miles northeast of Sunset. A small hay bailing machine was also destroyed in the fire.

St. John crews cleared the scene at about 8:30.

BALLOT RETURN AT 16 PERCENT

Returned primary election ballots logged at the county elections office Monday totaled 576. The return amounts to 16 percent of the 3,576 ballots mailed out.

Deadline for the return of the ballots will be at 8 p.m. on the Aug. 6 primary date.

This primary election is being conducted under the state's new "real time" format which allows residents to register to vote by coming to the election office in person through election day.

For voters who have moved, the state has a new system to check to see if a primary ballot was issued to a voter's former place of residence. If not, the resident can be issued a ballot to vote in the primary here.

The primary now underway is for the three-way mayoral and city council races in Endicott and special levy proposals for the town of Farmington and the Colfax and St. John cemetery districts.

Deadline for registering to vote online or with an application has passed for the primary.

ADMITS IMPRISONMENT CHARGE

Anthony P. Staples, 23, Pullman, pleaded guilty in superior court Friday to a charge of unlawful imprisonment. Staples, who has been in jail here since June 2, was scheduled for sentencing here Friday.

The conviction stems from a Pullman investigation in which Staples refused to allow a female victim, described in the investigation file as a former girlfriend, to leave his residence.

According to the report, the victim borrowed $50 from Staples, and he insisted she bring the money to his residence. When she arrived at the residence, he instructed her to go and put it on the table. He then restricted her in the residence, took away her iPhone and threw it down.

She was allowed to depart and went to the Pullman Police Department to make a complaint.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeaux removed a domestic violence clause which had been added to the initial charge.

Pullman Officer Paul Emerson's report said Staples action in the June 20 episode resembled violations in a prior episode between the same two people.

MCBRIDE ALLOWED RELEASE

William P. McBride, 56, the Malden resident who was arrested July 24 on a probable charge of possession of stolen property, was allowed release from jail here on his own recognizance July 25. McBride was suspected of taking an iPhone, wallet and purse out of a car from a vehicle which was parked on the south side of Spokane the previous night.

The missing iPhone contained a tracking device which allowed officers to find its location and the phone was traced to a car parked in Malden where McBride resides. The arrest report said deputies heard the vibrator response sound on the iPhone inside the car while they were standing outside of it.

McBride has previously been slated to appear in court Thursday with $250 to pay towards $12,291 in restitution he was ordered to pay to victims in a 2010 theft conviction. McBride July 19 had been allowed release on condition that he show up in court Friday with $250 or face time in jail as a sanction for not making payments as ordered in the 2010 conviction.

A $250 bail had been posted, and the person posting the bail sum agreed to transfer the bail to McBride's restitution account.

RETZER POSTS CAMPAIGN SIGNS

Campaign signs urging voters to cast ballots for James Retzer have been posted around Colfax. A longtime member of the Washington State Patrol detachment at Colfax, Retzer filed for the mayor's position during the regular filing period and turned out to be the lone candidate for the job.

Mayor Todd Vanek announced in advance of the filing period that he did not intend to seek a third term in office.

Retzer said he went ahead with posting of the signs as a means of getting in contact with residents. He said he is interested in knowing what residents would like to see accomplished with the upcoming change of administration.

Retzer said he did receive some campaign contributions, and he decided to go ahead with some form of a campaign.