BRIEFS

SEX ABUSE TRIAL DATE MOVED

WALLA WALLA - The trial for recent Waitsburg trans­plant Carl G. Bell Jr. has been moved from this month to Jan. 6 and 7. Bell has been charged with 15 felony counts in a sex abuse case in Walla Walla County Superior Court.

Bell is charged with three counts of first-degree rape of a child, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and 10 counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

ADAMS PLEADS GUILTY WALLA WALLA - Waitsburg resident Keith E. Adams, 24, of 360 Preston Ave., pleaded guilty in Superior Court Monday to felony harassment. Adams was originally charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment following an arrest mid-September, but the county prosecutor said the victim changed her story. Adams admitted this week in court that he threatened to kill 21-year-old Melissa Sharpe in the September domestic dispute. The standard-range jail term Adams faces is one to three months when he's sentenced later. In a plea agreement, the prosecution is recommending time-served.

PRESCOTT POOL LEVY PASSES PRESCOTT - A 64.26 percent approval by voters means the maintenance and operations excess levy proposed by the Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District has passed. The $100,000 levy means the pool will be open next summer. "That was good news," Prescott Mayor Libby McCaw said. "The kids are excited. They missed the pool this sum­mer."

WAITSBURG PURSE ALERT WAITSBURG - Six vehicles were reportedly entered over the weekend in Waitsburg, according to the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office.Purses, wallets, credit cards, cam­eras and more were taken. Nearly all the vehicles were left unlocked overnight, though several were reportedly locked but showed no sign of forced entry. Two Waitsburg households on E. 7th St. reported stolen purses with one brazenly snatched from inside a garage. The perpetrators got away with more than $600 in cash around midnight Saturday and attempted to use the victims' ATM cards within the hour.

Rose Engelbrite called in her incident as warning to other Waitsburg residents, particularly those who live close to Coppei and the football field, to be extra careful and secure their valuables. "It's hard to do in a small town," she said. "But these are hard times."

STUDENTS TO HOLD FOOD DRIVE WAITSBURG - The Leos, a youth auxiliary of the Lions Club, is organizing a food drive with other high school stu­dents on Veterans' Day, Nov. 11, 4-6 p.m. The drive is a class competition again this year, which the four grades fanning out across town to collect non-perish­able items for the Waitsburg Food Bank. If residents who want to donate to the drive aren't home on Veterans Day, drive organizers are asking them to leave the items on their front porch or near the front door.

NO 2010 TAX INCREASE WAITSBURG - The City of Waitsburg will not need to raise taxes for next year to cover its 2011 budget, according to Mayor Walt Gobel.

"We'll be able to survive another year on the income we have," he said.

The city's budget is about $1.56 million, $450,000 de­crease from 2010 because of the absence of several public works projects and debt service obligations in 2011, City Clerk Randy Hinchliffe said.

The city council Wednesday held a public hearing on the idea of setting monies aside through a 1 percent property tax increase for matching funds in case grant opportunities come along in the fiscal year, Gobel said. But the idea was tabled after it received a negative response. In other council business, Wednesday's meeting included a discussion about a change in the council's meeting sched­ule, reducing the number of meetings from two to one. As a way to save time and money, council members favor the idea and are expected to vote on it at the next meeting.