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
- Richard Mercer of Rainier sustained a possible broken leg and hip injuries Dec. 2, 1979, when the truck-tractor he was driving left Vail Loop Road and crashed in the ditch. Firemen had to saw their way into the smashed cab.
- A chase starting in Yelm ended on Bald Hill Road when the 17-year-old motorcycle driver ran into the ditch, and he received minor injuries when the bike fell against his knee. No list of charges against the driver was immediately available.
- The Benton County Sheriff’s Department investigated the theft of numerous works of art from the Washington state Cultural Enrichment Program’s mobile artmobile van. The theft, which occurred in Finley, Washington, was discovered by the exhibit’s docent/driver, Ruth Edwards of Yelm.
- The Yelm High School girls basketball team opened its season at home with a convincing win over Elma, 57-22, Nov. 30, 1979.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- If all went well, a new fish was set to live in Lake Lawrence by 1990. The grass carp, also referred to as an “aquatic cow” by biologists, was famous for its voracious appetite that could eat its own weight in weeds each day. The University of Washington studied the fish and Lake Lawrence to see if the fish would control lake weed growth.
- A garden in the shape of Washington state was set to bloom at Prairie Elementary in the spring of 1990. The centennial garden was going to be in front of the school by the bus lane and filled with perennials with a border of crocuses, tulips, daisies and rhododendrons.
- Jodie Koprek, 20, of Tacoma but formerly of Yelm, and Darren Bottom, 23, of Tacoma, were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
- First Street in Yelm was substantially completed Dec. 6, 1989, as paving machines surfaced the rebuilt street from Yelm Avenue to Railway Street, including a new bridge over Yelm Creek and removal of a curve.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- The south Thurston County area sent its own contingent of firefighters to the scene of the anti-World Trade Organization riots in Seattle. Five Nisqually-area firefighters, including some from Yelm and Rainier, made the trip.
- Blessed with blue sky and bright sunshine, thousands of area residents turned out for the 75th annual Yelm Christmas in the Park celebration and holiday parade Dec. 4, 1999. Yelm Mayor Kathy Wolf and her husband, Bob, served as grand marshals for the parade.
- While trying to locate a parolee who was late checking in, Yelm police officers uncovered one of the biggest methamphetamine labs the area had seen. Yelm police traced a missing felon to a mobile home off of Berry Valley Road in Yelm. Rick Olson, his son Michael Olson and J.D. Rice were arrested and charged.
- Yelm police sought two teenage girls in connection with an attempted arson Dec. 3, 1999, at an abandoned mobile home. Neighbors along 103rd Avenue in Yelm heard screams and saw smoke coming from an empty trailer home across the street. Witnesses said they saw two girls fleeing from the back of the mobile home’s lot as firefighters arrived.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- A 67-year-old Olympia man fell 40 feet while climbing alone at Fossil Rock outside Yelm Nov. 29, 2009. The man suffered injuries that prevented him from walking, but he was able to call for help from his cell phone. It took four Bald Hills aid units 30 minutes to find his location and another 45 minutes to get the man out from where he fell. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
- The City of Roy sold two 2008 Ford Expedition police vehicles to the Town of Eatonville for $48,975. Mayor Karen Yates said the facility was not using the vehicles and wanted to sell them to lower expenditures.
- Suk Foist, of Roy, won $250,000 in the Mega Millions lottery. She didn’t play the lottery often but decided to try her luck and purchased a dollar ticket at the Spanaway store she owned with her husband. Foist said she didn’t have any big plans for the money and was too excited to really think about it.
- Jessie Riley, 15, of Rainier, won fourth runner-up in her age category for the Northwest region in the Miss Junior Teen Seattle Pageant. She made the top five out of 86 other teens aged 13 to 15.
