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
- Rainier Mayor Floyd Short, City Clerk Sybil Wendler and Councilman Ray Silva handed in their resignations. Short, who had been the object of a recall petition, gave no explanation for his sudden resignation.
- A large parcel of property, about 135 acres, moved one step closer for transfer from county to Yelm as a public hearing was held on the Mike and Lee Edwards’ proposal to annex the property west of the town.
- The Yelm Town Council discussed two statements they had received for repairs to the water tank after a mysterious leak developed in the new 150,000-gallon tank with the town’s crew unable to locate the cause.
- Dennis Paul Hansen, 19, Toledo, was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison after he was charged with torching a trailer home in Nisqually Pines on Feb. 28. Hansen admitted setting the fire at a party with friends to please a 37-year-old man who was an escaped convict from Missouri.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- Jim McGinty was named the Yelm School District’s administrator of the year. Awarded by the National Association of Educational Office Personnel, McGinty received the award primarily for his interest shown in educational office personnel and his experience and achievements in the educational field.
- Two cases of measles were reported in Thurston County. One case was a student at an Olympia middle school and the other was a family member visiting from out of state. Both cases had been appropriately vaccinated at 1 year of age.
- Matt Seidel, 10, Lacey, took three young rabbits to the National Dutch Rabbit Show in Seattle, and two placed first in their classes and one placed second. Seidel’s junior buck went on to win best opposite of variety, the junior doe, best of variety.
- The Rainier Head Start program bus was coming into the school as usual, but on May 16, 1989, the bus was chased by a turkey. The turkey chased the bus for about two blocks and then sat outside the Head Start building for about a half hour. Excited Head Start pre-schoolers watched the turkey until the Town of Rainier Animal Control took it away.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- The Yelm City Council upheld the appeal of a Yelm man who wanted to expand his mini-storage business. In a unanimous vote, the council agreed to include mini-storage units in C-1 zoning districts, thereby allowing Alfred Johnston to expand Yelm Mini Storage, located at 407 Second St. SE.
- Brett Turner of Rainier and Jeff DeHan of Yelm were among seven residents of Thurston and Mason counties who received Red Cross Real Heroes awards at a special breakfast at Saint Martin’s Pavilion on May 13, 1999.
- Although it would take several more months for final completion of Yelm’s highly touted water reclamation facility, key elements of the system were in operation since April 1999. On April 17, Yelm switched over from its old lagoon system to three sequential batch reactors, which boosted Yelm’s wastewater treatment capacity from 300,000 gallons to 1 million gallons per day.
- For the second year in a row, the Yelm FFA chapter placed first at the annual state FFA convention. Forty Yelm FFA members who attended the convention in Pullman from May 13-16, 1999, helped Yelm place first in the National Chapter Program.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- A car crash in Rainier on May 8, 2009, was the result of driver inattentiveness, police said. The driver of the vehicle at fault was a female Rainier High School student who was grieving the death of a classmate, whom she had just learned passed away that same day.
- Two horses were seized in Rainier on May 8, 2009, after Tenino police, responding to an unrelated call, found them in poor condition. The horses were taken from a home in the 800 block of Tipsoo Loop South from an owner who willingly signed them over to Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County.
- “Brazen” thieves stole three vehicles from Brown’s Car Care in Yelm. Surveillance footage showed at least two suspects walking behind the Creek Street business on May 4, 2009. The owner’s 1991 Toyota pickup truck was seen being driven off the lot, and two quads were also taken.
- Yelm High School’s soccer team won its first-ever league championship after defeating Timberline, 5-2, in its regular season finale.
