Enjoy these snapshots of articles written in past issues of the Nisqually Valley News from 45, 35, 25 and 15 years ago, respectively.
A Look Back at This Week, 45 Years Ago
• Six Rainier residents presented a petition at the Rainier Town Council meeting seeking an election to recall Mayor Floyd Short. The mayor was charged with 13 counts of mismanagement of the town’s affairs, including misappropriation of monies.
• A notice of annexing 20 acres of property on Berry Valley Road was presented to the Yelm Town Council. The area was slated to be annexed for single-family residences if the paperwork went through as planned.
• The new hunting regulations issued by the State Game Department contained new restrictions on the use of firearms, officials warned. The department said .22 caliber rifles were no longer legal for hunting big game animals, including deer, elk, mountain goats, mountain sheep, moose or bears.
• Roy resident Jim Wilcox, manager of the dairy division of Wilcox Farms, was one of 30 men and women chosen to become the first participants in the Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation leadership program.
A Look Back at This Week, 35 Years Ago
• Yelm Middle School launched a peer-tutoring program with 12 tutors coaching 14 individual students. SOS, which stands for “Students Offering Support,” involves students from three grade levels.
• A petition to reopen Fort Lewis’ Roy Gate on Highway 507 circulated around Roy and the surrounding area. Since Oct. 3, 1988, when the access gate was closed, traffic increased measurably, petition sponsor Linda Holmly said.
• Public officials and members of the Amtrak Depot Committee announced that the Washington State Department of Transportation would provide partial funding for the construction phase of a park-and-ride lot as part of a planned rail passenger facility.
• Three Yelm High School students escaped without injury when the pickup they were traveling in upset on Vail Road, about a mile from Four Corners. The trio, which was starting a hunting trip, was heading south on Vail Road when the vehicle failed to complete a curve, crossed the road and crashed.
A Look Back at This Week, 25 Years Ago
• Yelm resident Signe Hanson, known as “Gram,” made headlines when she turned 106 years old. When she turned 50, she decided to become a nurse, and at the age of 103, she became an entrepreneur. She enjoyed sewing buttons onto fabric in the shape of hearts, and her daughter stuffed and sewed them into pillows.
• Jason Loper and his 3-year-old dog Beamer won the national title for Samoyed agility at the American Kennel Club championships in Escondido, California. Loper’s parents raised Samoyeds for 20 years and passed the love of the breed onto their sons.
• When Thurston County Deputy Dave Odegaard pulled onto the driveway of a home on Birdsong Lane, off Neat Road in the Bald Hills area of Yelm, he saw a number of people running from the home and into the woods. He discovered that the home was being used as a meth lab and arrested two residents and the homeowner.
• Pierce County Fire District No. 17 Commissioner Jerry Flowers was accused of being in violation of Revised Code of Washington State (RCW) 52.14.010 and district policies. The accusations stemmed from Flowers driving a district vehicle when he was not a volunteer firefighter.
A Look Back at This Week, 15 Years Ago
• Tornado News Network launched at Yelm High School for the second year. The class taught students news reporting skills, how to use a video camera and a software editing program. After a group review of one of the broadcasts, teacher Karla Blowers banned the word “booty” from future broadcasts.
• Yelm High School student Richard Ransier created a rain garden as his senior project. He collaborated with employees of the Nisqually Sustainable Building Program, members of the Nisqually River Education Project and his classmates. Ransier said the garden took 40 hours to complete.
• Yelm High School teacher Doug Meyer took two top honors after being nominated for the Washington Association of Career and Technical Education award. The prize was a $5,000 stipend, and he advanced to the regional competition.
• Yelm graduate and part-time resident Sharise Williams won the crown at the Miss Thurston County Scholarship Program. The Western Washington University undergraduate student said she was encouraged to compete in pageants by 2008 Miss Washington, Yelm’s Janet Harding.
