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
- Betty Hedgers, 42, Yelm, died in an accident on Morris Road Oct. 22, 1979, when the pickup truck she was the passenger in flipped her onto the road. Ronald Berry, 34, Yelm, driver of the vehicle, was charged with negligent homicide.
- A Yelm area farmer and family was booked into the county jail when deputies suspected the crop they were growing was illegal. Deputies gathered about 15 pounds of suspected marijuana plants.
- Danny Beaird Jr., 10, picked up another trophy in the kick-pass-punt competition when he won the district championship during halftime of the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Oilers game Oct. 21, 1979.
- A police chase involving speeds up to 100 mph near Yelm, McKenna and Roy ended when the fleeing auto struck a tree. The escaped honor camp driver, Richard Paul Ivy, escaped into a swamp area, successfully evading searching lawmen. After a Thurston County deputy arrested Ivy and a companion, Ivy, in handcuffs, ran into the woods and stole a vehicle in the Lacey area. His auto slammed into a tree east of Roy.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- The third annual Yelm Community Carnival was held at Yelm Middle School Oct. 28, 1989. Activities included game booths, cake walks, haunted houses, a pumpkin-carving contest and a costume-judging contest.
- Jason Johnson received his Eagle Scout rank Oct. 28, 1989. He was a member of Scout Troop 219 and began scouting in 1983, receiving 23 merit badges. Johnson earned his Eagle Scout by organizing a blood drive, which collected 60 units of blood for the Puget Sound Blood Bank.
- Jennifer McDonald, of Yelm, was awarded a Washington State University scholarship for the 1989-90 academic year. McDonald, a 1989 graduate of Washington High School, planned to use her $1,000 scholarship to pursue a pre-med degree from WSU.
- The Yelm Library received a new catalog access terminal (CAT), which gave users access to any of the 27 Timberland libraries, plus the Washington State Library and The Evergreen State College Library.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- A local couple was hurt when their mobile home was destroyed in a propane explosion in Yelm Oct. 24, 1999. Janetta and Dusty Daugherty made it out of their camp trailer, but Janetta suffered serious burns to the hand, face and respiratory tract.
- Las Vegas-style slot machines arrived in the Nisqually Valley when more than 60 video online lottery machines were plugged in at the Red Wind Casino.
- Two Tenino girls suffered injuries after their off-road vehicle crashed into a ditch Oct. 23, 1999. Carly Stewart, 11, was attempting to start a Honda Arctic Cat 4-by-4 off-road vehicle when it backed up and left her home, crossing and flying off the road. The vehicle came to rest on its side, injuring two passengers. Stewart was uninjured after being thrown from the vehicle.
- David Nelson, a 1996 graduate of Yelm High School and its former senior class president, met President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office after completing a term with the U.S. Marines Presidential Helicopter Squad. He was set to begin his next assignment in Frederick, Maryland.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- Rainier Middle School students were dismayed Oct. 23, 2009, by a recurring odor. While the Department of Health, contractors, chemists and indoor air specialists investigated the odor, no harmful contaminants were found, and Superintendent Dennis Friedrich said there was nothing unhealthy in the building.
- A weekend garage sale to raise money for Roy’s library caught the attention of TV news and a New York Times bestselling author. Local teens held a garage sale to raise money to keep the library open, and author Susan Wiggs saw the report on TV. Wiggs wrote “Lakeshore Christmas,” a fictional story about people fighting to save their library, and she wanted to help. She donated $2,000 to Roy City Hall for the cause.
- A Rainier woman was killed Oct. 17, 2009, after pulling her car out from Reservation Road into the path of an oncoming truck on state Highway 510. Wendy Ihlang, 53, pulled out in front of Boyd Ward, 76, of Tacoma, who was driving a 2000 GMC K-2 pickup truck. It was unclear if Ihlang stopped at the stop sign before turning east on the highway.
- A Yelm man was arrested after police found smoking devices associated with methamphetamine use on him, along with someone else’s checkbook. John Knowles, 42, already had a Thurston County warrant for harassment and a Yelm police warrant.
