BRIEFS

NEW HOMICIDE TRIAL

DAYTON - Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell will try one more time to have 50-year-old James Colbert convicted of vehicular homicide in superior court March 7-8.

Colbert was involved in a one-vehicle rollover on Tucannon Road on June 20, 2008. The police report puts this Spokane-area man behind the wheel of the 1975 Ford pickup pulling a camper at around 7:30 p.m. the night of the accident.

Culwell alleges that Colbert was intoxicated and was therefore responsible for the death of his girlfriend, Patricia Reid, whom emergency responders found dead at the scene.

Colbert was airlifted in critical but stable condition to Kadlec Hospital in the Tri-Cities.

On Wednesday, Jan. 5, the judge ruled in Columbia County Superior Court that electronic information used to create a map of the accident scene received by Culwell's office from the state patrol should have been shared with Colbert's attorney. The judge declared a mistrial.

Culwell quickly moved to have a new trial date set in place.

"Sometimes when there's a mistrial, you have the opportunity to talk to the jurors," Culwell said. "They had positive things to say. I'm confident it's a case that should go to trial."

If the judge had dismissed the case, double jeopardy would have prevented Culwell from trying the case again.

CHAMBER MUSIC SOIREE COMING

WALLA WALLA - A variety of chamber music for strings and woodwinds will be presented on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Walla Walla Country Club as the first in the Walla Walla Symphony's Saturday Soirée Chamber Music Series for the 2010-2011 season.

Walla Walla Symphony musicians performing are: Lori Parnicky, flute; Ron Coleman, clarinet; Lyn Ritz, violin/ viola; Kristin Vining, piano; Ed Dixon, cello, and Trudy Ostby, violin. Works to be performed include Mozart's Quartet in D Major K 285, Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano, Corigliano's Three Irish Folksongs, and Milhaud's Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano Op. 157b. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres, wine, coffee and tea will be served. Wine sponsor for the series is Balboa Winery.

Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.wwsymphony.org, by calling 509-529-8020 or at the symphony office, 13-1/2 E. Main, Suite 201 in Walla Walla. Seating is limited.

ELECT CONSERVATION REP

WALLA WALLA - The Walla Walla County Conservation District will present their annual meeting and election of a volunteer supervisor on Thursday, Jan. 27 at the Blue Mountain Community Room at the City County Airport. Candidates must be registered voters who live within the conservation district boundaries and a farm operator or owner.

Election polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Absentee ballots are available at the district office 325 N. 13th Ave. or by calling the office at 522-6340 Ext. 101. The deadline is Jan. 18. For further information contact Marguerite Daltoso 522-6340, Ext. 101.

DAYTON TAKES ON BULLYING

DAYTON - Dayton School District will present an antiharrassment/ bullying seminar for community members on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 3:15 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. Mark Thompson, with McDonald Zaring Insurance in Walla Walla, will speak on bulling and harassment issues. Thompson , a loss-prevention specialist and insurance agent, has worked on bullying issues with school districts and businesses around the country for the last 10 years.

Staff, teachers, bus drivers, coaches and students will be training with Thompson throughout the school day on Thursday. Kindergarten through fifth grade will receive additional training in the coming weeks.

COMMUNITY ED OFFERED

DAYTON - Dayton School District is offering community education classes through March. This week school board member Steve Martin will teach the fundamentals of making compost at home for a $7 ($5 for seniors) course fee. January 20 through February 17, Tamara Fritze will teach memoir writing for $25 ($20 seniors). Joe Huether will offer Microsoft Office Basics: Word, Excel, PowerPoint Saturdays between Jan. 22 and Feb. 26 for a $25 fee ($20 seniors).

Registration forms are available at the school district office or Dayton Memorial Library. Classes have minimum enrollment requirements to run. Registration deadline is two working days prior to the first class. Deadline to cancel is two working days prior to the first class start date.

THRONSON CASE NEXT WEEK

DAYTON - The civil trial involving landowners on Cahill Mountain Road and former Columbia County District Court Judge Charles Thronson will take place beginning with jury selection on Tuesday, Jan. 18, in Dayton.

In civil suit filed against him by his neighbors, Thronson is being accused of setting a backfire on Cahill Mountain that allegedly destroyed their commercial timber stands.

His actions, which he said were intended to protect his own property under imminent threat from the Columbia Complex fires, were the subject of a 2007 investigation by the Department of Natural Resources that charged Thronson's "burnout" caught at least one firefighter between blazes and had to be controlled by crews fighting the nearby wildfires.

LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP OFFERED

WALLA WALLA - The Walla Walla Chapter No. 12 of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington will once again offer their annual $500 scholarship to students in local schools.

To qualify, applicants must be a descendant of a person establishing residents in Washington during or prior to 1870 or Oregon during or prior to 1853, Idaho during or prior to 1863 or Montana, west of the crest of the Rocky Mountains, during or prior to 1863. Applications must be postmarked Sept. 1-May 15. Contact school administrators to receive a packet.