Enjoy these snapshots of articles written in past issues of the Nisqually Valley News from 45, 35, 25 and 15 years ago.
A look back at this week, 45 years ago
• The Yelm Fire Department received four backboards built by Mark Davis and his shop students at Yelm Middle School. Bill Newcomer, first aid captain for the district, said the backboard is the most used rescue tool carried by the department.
• Delk’s Bears captured the Yelm-Rainier Little Baseball League championship for the second year in a row. The Bears finished 12-2 followed by Moose at 11-3 and the Lions at 10-4.
• Lance Corporal Richard Jadin Jr., of Rainier, reported for duty with the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa. Jadin graduated from Rainier High School in 1977 before joining the Corps later that year.
• Ernest Flores Savala, 27, Yelm, was held in Thurston County jail on a warrant charging failure to comply with a court order on possession of marijuana. Bail was set at $360.
A look back at this week, 35 years ago
• The Yelm City Council received a purchase agreement for the city’s Well No. 3 on June 13. The $178,000 bond also paid for real property.
• Police Chief Glenn Dunnam reported that the city bought a DARE van from the state for $2,500. The community donated paint, wheels and tires.
• Larry Robinson was selected Yelm Community Schools teacher of the year. Robinson, known as Mr. Chips to his students, was the district’s computer coordinator responsible for training personnel, selecting computer programs and occasionally working with computer students.
A look back at this week, 25 years ago
• Science for Life International was looking into building a facility on 1,300 acres in the Bald Hill area of Thurston County. The potential compound included housing, dormitories, an education center, research facility, manufacturing plant, public assembly building, campground and medical facilities. The group’s goal, according to its mission statement, was to end pollution.
• Traces of fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria were found during a routine screening of the Nisqually Pines subdivision’s water supply. Board president Tonya Stauffer said the contamination originated in the Pines’ water storage tank.
• Tracy Logan, a McKenna man, was pulled from a totaled Ford Tempo last week after his car rolled and spun off a road near Rainier. Emergency responders managed to pull Logan from the car without having to use the Jaws of Life. Logan was admitted and later released from the hospital.
• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office responded to a suspected mobile methamphetamine lab in a stolen trailer hidden on Weyerhaeuser land. Two suspects were arrested after they tried to move the lab to the corner of Bald Hill and Vail roads.
A look back at this week, 15 years ago
• A Roy man, Kurt Dexter, 45, died last Wednesday evening after a drunken binge at Prairie Hotel in Yelm. Emergency crews arrived to find Dexter slouched on the floor between two beds. Dexter’s brother said he had been dead for 20 minutes, but later changed his story to several hours.
• Another Roy man, William D. Morgan, 69, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder last Wednesday night. Morgan faced possible charges after police said he overreacted and shot at two men taking some steel pipes from a ditch across the street from his home.
• Yelm Mayor Ron Harding brought a proposal to the Yelm Area Chamber of Commerce to purchase an electronic sign that would have been used to rent time slots to local advertisers. The plan was still in the committee stage at the time.
• Washington’s unemployment rate reportedly fell to 9.1 percent in May, the lowest since May of 2009. The state economy also picked up an estimated 8,600 jobs in May, the bulk of which were federal Census jobs.
