Looking Back at Pages from the Past

The following stories are summarized from past issues of the Caribou County Sun over the last fifty plus years.  The Enterprise thanks Mark Steele for permission to use the contents, and the Grace Public Library for access to the archives.

2020

The annual fire report is out for Idaho, showing over $1 million in losses in Caribou County for 1999.  The information is provided by the State Fire Marshal.  The Caribou County Fire Dept. reported 35 fires for the year, resulting in $1.1 million in loss.  The Soda Springs Fire Dept. had seven fires, with a fire loss of $3,500.  The city responded once and the county five times to other agencies under mutual aid agreements.  Of the 1,452 structure fires in the state, 1,000 of them were residential fires such as homes, hotels, and apartments.  Only 63 were businesses.  The State Fire Marshal pointed out having a smoke detector cuts your chances of dying in a fire nearly in half and he urged their use and proper maintenance.  While smoking was less than 4 percent of the cause of fires in the state, they were the deadliest fires.  A quarter of the home fires were from heating equipment, with half of those from woodstoves or chimney fires.

Carol Lee Nelson has been chosen the Grand Marshal for the Jr. Parade in Grace at the Caribou County Fair.  She has taught elementary school for 32 years beginning in 1968, and 25 of those years in Caribou County.  While in Utah she served as the principal of a small elementary school for five years.  For the past 18 years she was the kindergarten teacher in Grace, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Early Childhood Special Ed Program for the Grace School District.  She holds a Master of Education degree in Early Childhood Education and is also certified in Early Childhood Education from ISU.  Her philosophical view is “May the world be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.”  Mrs. Nelson is married to DeRay Nelson and has 5 step children, grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.  She has had a positive impact on the children of the communities.

Caribou Memoria Hospital has just received its new bone density machine, announced Chief Executive Officer John Hoopes.  The machine, worth $20,000, was paid for by the Hospital Foundation, which receives its funds mostly through gifts and bequests, such as when someone dies and requests a memorial be sent to the foundation in lieu of flowers.  Radiology staff members Bob Stoker, RT and Time Osbourne, RT, will be oriented to the electronic machine prior to “opening day.”  The new machine consists of a small dedicated x-ray unit into which the patient’s forearm is placed, which feeds a portable computer with detailed information abut the density of the bones. 

What was a bad enough accident could have been more tragic Saturday when a 42 year old man fell from a 25 foot lava cliff into the rocks and then the Bear River below.  The incident happened in mid-afternoon at a popular swimming hole known as “23” on the Bear River in Black Canyon.  Scott Bennett, 42, apparently tried to jump off the lava rock rim into the water below but fell short of the water.  “I was sitting on the rocks below the cliff when he stepped off the cliff and landed on the rocks on his feet and collapsed and hit another rock on his side, dropping into the water,” Cory Carpenter, 18, of Soda Springs, said about the incident.  He said he jumped into the water and grabbed Bennett, who was face down unconscious in the water which was well over his head in depth.  “I moved him to shallow water and got my hand under his head,” he said, and then tapped his face until he regained consciousness.  Carpenter said a bunch of kids were there.  Two ran to get a phone to call for help, but most of the rest of the youths took off—probably because they had been drinking, he said.  “I stayed with him until he came to and opened his eyes.  The first thing he did was ask for a cigarette.  I just tried to keep him awake and held his neck braced in my arms in the water.”  Carpenter said he thought maybe Bennett had broken his back.  He said it took EMTs a long time to get equipment into the rocky canyon and down to the water.  EMTs, a Search and Rescue diver, deputies, and volunteers responded to help.  Bennett was taken by ambulance to Caribou Memorial where he was later Life Flighted to BRMC in Pocatello with a broken wrist and broken leg, a bruised heart, and internal injuries.  “He hit that rock so hard you could hear it up the canyon,” Carpenter said.

Clinton administration officials have said they would not recommend removal of the Lower Snake River dams to restore salmon.  A coalition of conservation, recreation, fishing, business, and taxpayer groups called it a bad decision for the people and the salmon of the Pacific Northwest.  “The Administration is out of step with both the science and the public on restoring salmon,” said Pat Ford, executive director of the Save our Wild Salmon Coalition.  “The great majority of scientific study, including much from within the Administration itself, concludes that dam removal is a necessary cornerstone for restoring Snake River salmon.  Over 200,000 Americans asked the Administration to bypass these dams during public comment earlier this year.”

A public hearing will be held on Wednesday at the regular Soda Springs City Council meeting to hear comments on a proposal by the city to increase water and sewer rates, as well as connection fees.  City officials have stated that they need the proposed fee increases to cover the rising costs associated with operating and maintaining the water and sewer systems.  Proposals include a 10 percent increase for both water and sewer rates.  New hook-up fees would double, with water going from $200 to $400 and sewer connections from the present $250 to $500.  Septic tank and chemical toilet dumping fees would also increase from $30 per 1,000 gallons to $50.

1990

Over 140 girls and 30 leaders of the Grace Idaho LDS Stake recently participated in a week-ling “Idaho Centennial Win, Lose, or Draw” girls camp at Ho-Nock above Eight Mile, in Soda Springs.  The activities began with the 15 and 16 year old “Adventurers” hiking from Grace to Ho-Nock, guided by Mr. and Mrs. G. Fred Yost of Bancroft.  Sixteen girls and leaders participated in this, the first of many outdoor activities.  The rest of the week consisted of a hike for all those who didn’t participate in the overnight hike led by Mark Andreason, Ron Face, LeeAnn Frandson, and Linda Hebdon, followed by a dutch oven cake baking contest.  Thanks to Caribou County EMTs Joel Davids, Sue Sherman, Twila Anderson, Kaylene Troseth, Terri White, and Eric Simonson, the girls were taught first aid and Ramona Barthlome shared her talents in showing the girls how to make soap.  Polly McCammon, along with her parents Ada Marie and Emerson Mabey, entertained the group with a special program of song and stories of the “early years.”  At a special awards and ceremony, prepared by stake leaders, Beverly Kimball, president, Beverly Mickelson, first counselor, Susan Yost, second counselor, and Molly Williams, secretary, the girls were presented with the awards they had worked so hard to earn while still having fun in the outdoors.

The Trail Motel and Café complex has been sold to Andrew Brennan of Salt Lake City.  The business has been in bankruptcy and recently was sold by the Small Business Administration to Brennan.  “We are in the process of getting it running again as a motel and café.  We are trying to get it cleaned up right now and people should start seeing some changes,” Brennan said.  “It is going to take some time.  We are planning on using the existing structures,” he told the Sun Monday.  Brennan said he has been in various related businesses and can see the potential for such a business in this area, as well as his enjoying the Soda Springs area.

An ad hoc coalition of farm, environmental, and consumer organizations have joined together to blast the Bush Administration agricultural trade liberalization proposals at the Uruguay Rounf negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).  The groups object to aspects of the proposed international agreement that will usurp the right of congress to set agricultural policy and the right of consumers to have input into food health and safety standards.  “The free trade proposal ain’t free and ain’t about trade,” said Idaho Rural Council President Pam Baldwin.  “It’s really a plan to make a few corporate plutocrats richer while rural Idahoans get poorer.  Once you get past all the free trade rhetoric and read the actual proposal, you find that this is a very expensive plan for Idaho farmers.  It will do away with 50 years of farm policy at a stroke, including some of our most cost-effective and beneficial programs.  It’s also a plan for environmental deregulation on a global scale, that will remove consumer protection and conservation measures from the control of local people.”  The groups cited four main objections: Farm income losses, Farm input cost increases, Deregulation without representation, Health and safety.  The group plans to ask each member of Idaho’s congressional delegation to pledge publicly now to vote no on the new GATT unless it is substantially changed.

Darci Hart was met at the Salt Lake airport by her parents, Judge and Mrs. Ronald Hart, Alice Ann, John and Jennie, as she returned from Waverly, Iowa after completing a successful mission for the LDS church.

With the pouring of cement Monday by C.D. Simmons, work is nearing completion on the four regulation horseshoe courts under construction in Grace.  The pit will be used for the first time during this year’s Fair.

The Caribou County Sheriff’s Department booked 11 prisoners into the county jail during the month of June for probation violation, rape, transporting liquor with broken seal, desertion from the miliary and court commitments for driving under the influence and misrepresentation to obtain unemployment benefits.  Inmates served 60days total time during the month.  The department opened 47 cases in June, including six vandalism, three use of telephone to annoy, two runaway, two domestic, two theft, trespassing, battery, open door, animal neglect, shoplifting, possible cattle mutilation, lewd conduct with a minor, and rape.  

The Southeastern District Health Department has released the results of its second public health survey.  They added three new areas to the original 18 surveyed in June for a total of 21 beaches in seven southeastern Idaho counties.  Additional water samples were taken and garbage and sanitary facilities were checked for adequate maintenance.  Water sample results indicated that water quality at all areas was acceptable for levels of bacterial contamination.  Beach areas surveyed included the Portneuf River near Lava, four locations on Bear Lake, Fife Lake at BSA Camp Bartlett, the Blackfoot Reservoir in Caribou County, Rose and Moreland Ponds, Jensen Grove Blackfoot Equalizer Pond and Aberdeen Sportsmen’s Park in Bingham County, and Glendale, Twin Lakes, and Deep and Devil Creek Reservoirs in Franklin and Oneida Counties.  Water quality was acceptable at location checked on American Falls Reservoir including the Seagull Bay Yacht Club area and the Westside boat launch and also at Massacre Rocks boat launch on the Snake River.  Maintenance at most beaches appeared to be satisfactory with some problems noted at privately owned or managed locations.  Most beaches were noted not to have first aid or safety equipment.  The public is urged to use common sense during summer outings since drowning or accidents are major causes of death.