Bulletin Column: November 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.

JUMP PACK CONVICTION

Castulo Costilla, 30, Hayden, Idaho, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 30 suspended Friday in superior court. He was arrested Nov. 3 when Pullman officers responded to a report from Walmart that a man was observed taking a jump pack which is used to start vehicles. The report said a Walmart security officer observed Costilla pick up the pack, walk around the store and then leave without paying. He was located in the parking lot where he was unsuccessful in starting his car.

Costilla told the court he forgot to pay for the jump pack when he walked out of the store.

BAIRD PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES

Amy Baird, who was arrested on charge of possession of methamphetamine when deputies went to her Malden residence Nov. 3 with an arrest warrant, pleaded guilty Friday to the new charge and to the previous drug charge which led to the arrest warrant being issued. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail with the convictions on both charges to run concurrently.

Deputies arrested her Nov. 3 on a warrant which was issued after she failed to appear in court for a trial readiness hearing on a charge filed after an Aug. 25 arrest.

The Aug. 25 charge was filed after Baird, 48, was arrested while driving on Malden-Pine City Road for allegedly driving with a suspended license. The drug charge in that case alleged a packet of methamphetamine was found in her front jeans pocket.

BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED

Genevieve Bode Robbins, 39, Pullman, was sentenced in superior court Friday morning on a reduced charge of third degree theft. Robbins was charged with taking money from the All Fab Company on Airport Road where she was employed as a bookkeeper.

She entered an Alford plea to the reduced charge.

The charge was reduced on condition that Robbins sign a promissory note to make payments totaling $8,000 to the proprietors of the business, William and Kathy Christian.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau read a letter from the Christians which outlined the toll the loss of funds had on the operation. LeBeau later told the court the Christians believe the actual loss over time was in the $50,000 range.

Defense attorney Steve Martonick pointed out the Christians signed off on all the checks which the defendant presented to them. He argued the loss was a result of bad management and Robbins had no criminal intent in the case.

Robbins was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but seven suspended. She was ordered to make $175 monthly payments which would be stepped up to $225 next year. A $500 crime victims' assessment fee will be paid off with $25 from each payment and the balance will go to All Fab to pay off the $8,000 note.

McGRAW HOUSE WILL DEPART

The McGraw house next to Whitman Hospital is expected to be gone, possibly by February, according to the Whitman Hospital CEO Hank Hanigan. The hospital has been attempting to sell the house to a buyer who would move it off the hospital grounds.

Hanigan said they have had three interested parties respond, but they were all discouraged after checking the costs of moving the house.

Hospital board member Martin Marler Monday offered to donate two vintage streetlights standards, which at one time were among those that lined downtown Main Street, to the city for possible use at the Codger Pole Park or elsewhere. The lights are located in the back yard of the house which has been known as the McGraw house.

The house, which is located just uphill from the hospital clinic, was once used to house nuns in the first years of operation of the hospital which replaced St. Ignatius Hospital. It was later used to house visiting physicians and other treatment providers.

Hanigan said the hospital anticipates the space now occupied by the vacant house will eventually be needed by the hospital. He added the vacate house on the grounds also presents a potential liability problem for the the hospital.

MAYORS’ ROUNDTABLE TODAY AT PALOUSE

The fall 2019 Whitman County mayors’ roundtable will be Thursday, Nov. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Palouse Community Center in Palouse. The agenda includes Palouse wind, Whitman County needs assessment findings, Palouse regional housing needs assessment findings, Port of Whitman fiber buildout in five communities and updates on Avista’s rural vitality efforts. Concerns and thoughts are encouraged. Dinner will be provided from Palouse Caboose.

Reservations can be made with Paul Kimmell at Avista at Pullman.