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
• Tim’s Pharmacy and Gift Shop suffered from the break-in and theft of its prescription medications on Monday. Marshall Bill Ruddell said the medications, which contained narcotics, could be worth as much as $50,000 on the street. Ruddell indicated that the job was professional and carried out with precision; the intruders entered the building through the roof.
• The Thurston County Parks and Recreation Department announced the sponsoring of a co-ed softball league scheduled to start on June 23. The player fee was set at $7, with league play emphasizing the recreational — rather than competitive — aspects of the game.
• Alfred James West, 58, a resident of Yelm, was held in Thurston County jail Monday on a charge of eluding a police vehicle. Bail was set at $2,500.
• Mary Belle Burnett was honored as the senior VIP of the week. Burnett spent five years in Japan, starting in 1951, where she worked for the U.S. Air Force, before returning home to the Tacoma area to be with her family.
A look back at this week, 35 years ago
• Bob’s Tavern was burglarized in the early hours of Sunday morning, March 25, 1990. Yelm Police Officer Ken Anderson indicated someone had broken in through the ventilation, destroying items and taking cash — including bills signed by patrons that were attached to the restaurant’s walls.
• On Friday, March 23, a group of Rainier sixth graders released 500 salmon fry into the Deschutes River. The fish eggs previously hatched in a classroom aquarium donated by the State Department of Fisheries. The eggs came from the Minter Creek Hatchery, near Gig Harbor.
• Charles Chapman was announced as the new football coach for the Yelm Tornados. Chapman, who led Neah-Kah-Nie High School to the Oregon state A class playoffs three years straight, was impressed by Yelm’s new 1,880-seat stadium.
• A Rainier area resident reported hearing a car start along the side of his home during the night of March 16. He looked out to see his new Ford Escort — and an unknown thief — drive off down the driveway and onto Price Lane.
A look back at this week, 25 years ago
• Convicted sex offender Raymond Reynoldson, 59, was captured by Oregon State Patrolmen early Wednesday, March 29. Reynoldson was serving a 15-year sentence for second-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape when he escaped from Cedar Creek Correction Center. He was believed to have been hiding out in the Yelm area.
• Yelm and Rainier volunteer firefighters salvaged most of a 50-year-old residence on Crystal Springs Road on Wednesday afternoon. The fire started in the chimney before engulfing the roof.
• The City of Roy established a civil service board to oversee the hiring and discipline of members of the Roy police force. Roy Mayor Joel Derefield said that the civil service board would give officers a board of appeal if they disagreed with the chief’s disciplinary decisions.
• A former Rainier resident pleaded innocent to animal cruelty charges. Calvina L. Padilla, 25, was alleged to have abandoned her 4-month-old Labrador retriever when she moved from Rainier a few weeks ago. The maximum fine for animal abandonment was $500.
A look back at this week, 15 years ago
• Mckenna residents and business owners scheduled a town hall meeting for Tuesday, March 31, at Baydo Chevrolet to discuss recent burglaries. The car dealership had experienced a number of gas, equipment and vehicle thefts over the past year, including a 2004 Kodiak.
• Yelm activist Ed Wiltsie died at the age of 59 last Tuesday from a recurring medical illness. Wiltsie was well known in the community for his active, public stance on water and development issues, including his opposition to bringing a Wal-Mart to the city.
• Rainier High School students took the stage last weekend to perform the musical comedy, “Lucky Stiff.” The students, who had prepared for eight weeks, put on four shows over three nights, drawing 237 attendees.
• The Rainier track team started their season on a high note, as both the boys and girls teams placed first at Tuesday’s four-school meet. Kristen Schoenherr was among the standouts, earning first in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles.
