Looking Back at Pages from the Past
2020
By the middle of last week, over half of the Caribou County voters requesting mail-out ballots had voted, Jill Stoor of the county clerk’s office reported. They had issued 1,486 ballots to those requesting them and 757 had already been returned. Stoor said those numbers do include the small precincts of Wayan and Freedom, which are mail-out precincts. With the elections on Nov 3, voters an still vote in person if they have not voted by mail. If they choose to vote at the polls they will have to follow the social distancing guidelines and masks are recommended but not required, the clerk’s office said. One Constitutional Amendment on the ballot would change the state policy to mandate the number of legislative districts in the state of Idaho remain at a fixed 35. Currently, the number required can be between 30 and 35. Those in favor believe that the change will provide a path toward equal representation between rural and urban areas, while opponents claim that the change will make future redistricting efforts more complicated.
Governor Brad Little signed a statewide public health order Monday moving Idaho back into a modified Stage 3 of the Idaho Rebounds plan as healthcare facilities throughout the state face alarming demand and capacity constraints due to increasing COVID-19 spread. “Hospitals throughout the state are quickly filling up or are already full with COVID-19 patients and other patients, and way too many healthcare workers are out sick with COVID-19,” Gov. Little said. Under the new Stage 3: Indoor gathering are limited to 50 people or less. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 25 percent capacity. Physical distancing requirements are in place for gatherings of all types. Long-term care facilities will not be allowed to operate without requiring masks on their premises. There will be seating only at bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. Nightclubs can only operate as bars. Employers should continue to protect at-risk employees by allowing telework or by making special accommodations for these individuals in the workplace.
According to Idaho Fish and Game, hunters traveling out of state need to be aware of Idaho’s rules on importing carcasses back into the state so they can help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease. Fish and Game has not detected chronic wasting disease in Idaho, and your help is essential to keeping the state CWD free. If you are traveling out of state, remember that it is illegal to import the whole carcass of a deer, elk, moose, and caribou into Idaho from any state, province, or country that has CWD, which includes Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and 23 other states. Deer, elk, caribou and moose transported into Idaho from sates or provinces with CWD must be butchered with meat cut and wrapped, or cut into quarters, or deboned with no brain matter or spinal tissue remaining. Whole heads cannot be imported from states with CWD. Antlers should be removed and skulls dried.
The harsh and untamed landscape of the Salmon River wilderness provided many challenges for any who attempted to forge a living in the mountains of central Idaho. This was especially true for the Chinese woman, Polly Bemis, who had been smuggled into the United States in 1872 and sold into slavery in Portland, Oregon. The story of this remarkable woman’s journey to Idaho, and eventually into Idaho’s Hall of Fame, is one that has been fictionalized in film and which has become the stuff of legend. The newly published book, “Polly Bemis: The Life and Times of a Chinese American Pioneer” tells this story. Author and director of the University of Idaho’s Asian American Comparative Collection, Priscilla Wegars believes that it is time to set the record straight on this important Idaho story. “Polly Bemis, the mistakenly names ‘Lalu Nathoy of books and film, was forcibly brought to the United States, and to Idaho Territory in 1872 when she was just 18. In 1894 she married a Euro-American man Charlie Bemis, and they moved to a mining claim on the remote Salmon River. Charlie died in 1922 and Polly died in 1933,” Wegars said.
Soda Springs Mayor Austin Robinsons swore in Mike Nally as a new library board member by teleconference at last Wednesday’s city council meeting as the first order of business. The mayor and council then revisited a request to help with making the old Hooper School lunch room facility a half-court gym for city recreation use. It was previously requested they consider donating half the estimated $20,000 cost for a new floor. The group trying to find more gym time for younger basketball programs reviewed that initial request and City Engineer Alan Skinner said they have changed the request and asked the city to install a basketball backboard if the group purchases it. “They felt purring in a new floor was a temporary solution to the problem and the cost is quite a lot,” Skinner said. “They will buy it (the backboard) and we’ll set it up at a very minimal cost,” he said. Council member Jon Goode said that was a very reasonable cost for temporary use. The council agreed with the request for the old Hooper School. Goode said the Planning and Zoning Commission is evaluating storage containers in commercial and ag zones, as well as other zones. The criteria they are discussing for permitting as a conditional use permit includes appearance, safety, whether it is occupied, and the number of units.
In Soda Springs, City Clerk Tausha Vorwaller asked about moving forward with a project to scan old files the city has stored in some 35 or so boxes. “We have to go digital sometime and thought about starting a historic database with things like old agreements and deeds,” she said. Her concern was what to do with the old documents after they had been scanned and put into a digital system. “It scares the daylights out of me to shred deeds and such,” Jon Goode said. Vorwaller noted that the city can save the original documents, but use the digital system for convenience and in the future would expect it to save time by being searchable. The documents include zoning, agreements, deeds, grants, conditional uses, workers comp, and other related city subjects. “Deeds are critical,” Goode said. “Old zoning laws can be in litigation on the amendments.”
People who have had close contact with someone with confirmed COVID-19 infection and who took hydroxychloroquine were just as likely to get COVID-19 as those who received a placebo, according to a preliminary data analysis from a large randomized, controlled trial. Researchers at the UW School of Medicine in Seattle led the study. “This is a rigorous large-scale randomized, controlled clinical trial proving whether or not hydroxychloroquine is effective in preventing COVID-19, adding to less rigorously controlled studies,” said lead researcher Dr. Ruanna Barnabas, associate professor or medicine and of global health at the UW School of Medicine. “The additional data we have today provides strong evidence that hydroxychloroquine offers no benefit in preventing people from developing COVID-19 with a 14-day treatment course.”
2010
For the third year in a row, Caribou Memorial Hospital has worked with the other hospitals in the Hospital Cooperative to sponsor “Brake for Breakfast,” which provides breast cancer prevention education to Caribou County. The annual event was held in Soad Springs on Wednesday, Oct. 6. A total of 300 free breakfasts in pink, re-usable lunch bags were handed out to the people who drive past CMH’s main entrance.
Landon Mark Steele, the son of Justin and Shannon Steele of Soda Springs, has been called to serve in the Tucson Arizona Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Landon is a 2009 graduate of Soda Springs High School, where he was active in football, track and basketball. He attended college at Southern Virigina University in Buena Vista, Viriginia, where he played football.
On Sept. 25, at the Idaho State High School Four Scholarship Tournament held Pocatello, four Soda Springs High School students placed at Tough Guy Lanes. Representing Geyser Bowl were Haiely Call, Mariah Stephens, Davis Bowles, and Dallin Skinner. They rolled four games each with a total of 3,528 pins. Each bowler was awarded a $100 scholarship for their excellent efforts. Dallin Skinner also had the high series of 824 in the boys Division B scratch event.
2000
Deanne Dye, principal of the Thirkill Elementary School in Soda Springs, and her two adopted children, Mai Leigh and Kelby, accompanied by Deanne’s parents from Firth, attended a meeting Wednesday in the Immigration Office in Idaho Falls, where Kelby received his citizenship papers and officially became a United States citizen. Deanne and her parents pent two weeks last January in Wuhan, China in the Hubei Province where they picked up Kelby on Jan 12. They spent two weeks going through the court system arranging for his adoption and were able to return to the US.
Mary Alice Lester Bischoff, daughter of Orval and Drue Lester of Bancroft, has received the 2000 Outstanding Homemaker Award at the Oneida County Fair. The third time was a charm for Mary. Two times in the past, Mary has tired for the award—ever since she moved to Malad, but she has always finished runner-up. This year she achieved her goal.
Thirkill Thunderbirds School Report: 1st Grade—We are working hard in our room. We are learning the sounds of the alphabet and how to write them correctly. We like to use the cubes in math to help us learn about numbers. We got to go on a bus to Kerr-McGee. We saw neat things and best of all, we had cookies and punch.
2nd grade—We have been having fun going to the Homecoming Parade. We did the Olympics. We have made a leaf man. Now we are working on an apple man. We say the pledge of Respect right after the Pledge of Allegiance every day. We have had a fun time at school. In out class we learned about Australia and the Olympics. We learned lots of things about Australia. We made a frilled lizard, played Australian bingo, and had Olympic games.
1970
Announcement was made Friday by representatives of J.C. Penney stores that the Soda Springs store would be closed upon the expiration of the their lease in the town. The date for the actual closing will be February 13, and the store will be open for business until that time. The reasons given for closing the store were that the volume of businesses had not kept pace with the rise in expenses, and that the local store was no longer considered profitable by the Penney chain.
The Grand Opening for Wards Catalog Sales Agency located across from the post office in Soda Springs will be Friday and Saturday, Oct 9 and 10. Specials include: Big 18 lb Signature Washer—was $249.95, now $199. New Cinema Screen Color TV—was $589.95, now $539.88. Signature Upright 16 cu ft. Freezer as low as $189. Blankets $7.99. Electric Alarm Clock $4.99. 4 piece Luggage set $29.99.
Cardinal Corner: Next week is scheduled as Homecoming Week. Monday starts off with the hanging of the dummy, which is a tradition. Tuesday will lead off with a funeral for the dummy. Everyone is asked to wear black since it will be a morning of mourning. Wednesday is Cardinal Pride Day. Students and teachers are asked to dress a little nicer for this day. The day will be centered around building pride in the school. Thursday is the traditional Red and Black day. Everyone is requested to wear red and black. The seniors will be given the final two periods to whitewash the “S” and change the 70 to 71. On Friday night the football team will play against American Falls.
