This Day in Bonners Ferry History
100 Year
About two weeks ago Malcom Bruce stepped upon a needle, the eye part of the sharp steel being forced into the ball of the right foot. The point of the needle broke off when Mr. Bruce stepped on it. Drs. Fry and Faucet were called upon to locate the foreign substance and remove it and Mr. Bruce expects to undergo a slight operation tomorrow.
George Herbert, a well known wrestler of this city, delighted the Spokane fans Friday night in a preliminary wrestling match at the Strand theatre with Louis Katulz, the main event being a match between Ted Thye and Gust Pappas. Herbert threw his opponent in five minutes with a hammerlock and crotch hold. Herbert has been working for several months at the Idaho Continental mine at Klockmann. He returned here last evening and will resume his work at the Continental mine.
Ira Gines, who has the contract for the filling of the slough south of the county jail, started work again yesterday after several weeks delay on account of high water. He is being assisted by Joe Meddock and Tom Williams. Mr. Gines figures that he will have to haul between 1200 and 1500 yards of dirt this fall in order to put the fill on a level with the jail yard.
E.H. O’Brien left yesterday morning for the cedar pole and post camp at Pine creek in the Yakt district which he and his partner, Mr. Hansen, are running. O’Brien and Hansen are employing a crew of 12 men and could use twice as many. They are hauling their posts and poles to the Yakt siding and are crossing the Kootenai river on a barge they recently constructed which holds two four horse teams and loaded wagons at a time.
50 Year
Two major fires in the Kaniksu national forest area remain uncontrolled, according to a report Wednesday from Kaniksu Forest officials. A Trapper peak blaze north of upper Priest lake has a 10-mile perimeter with about 400 acres extending into the head of Grass creek. At least 23 fires originated from the lightning storm of last Friday, with one or two flaring up each day since then. The district is undergoing ground and aerial patrolling. The largest fires in the district have been those at Trapper peak, Kaniksu mountain and Black mountain, and a two-acre blaze at Ball creek that started Monday and was under control Tuesday after burning about two acres.
The Practical Nurse Advisory Board announces the completion of the course for the practical nurse class of 1967, and activities for graduation week which will culminate with graduation exercise at the high school this Friday evening. The six graduating students are Mmes. Dolores Baker, Doreen King, Polly Jean Mesenbrink, Ruth Plumlee, Louise Zimmerman, and Miss Regina Unruh.
The roving Herald reporter this week learned that two definite changes are forthcoming in the Main street area, when a usually highly reliable source disclosed the secret of recent vandalism in this area. The source chose to remain anonymous. Has anybody else noticed that “B ill the Barber” Blume’s beard is getting shorter? Our clandestine reporter said a ransom note has been given the “ear-lowering specialist,” stating that when the beard disappeared the barber pole that was taken a number of weeks ago would return to its prominent place on Main street. Seems the villains have once again decided to take justice into their own hands here. The beard is getting shorter, at any rate!
15 Year
A long-standing property dispute between two Naples residents ended Monday night with one dead. According to 57-year-old Henry Ryder, he shot Frederick Orval Cooper, 47, after Cooper threatened him with a 45-caliber pistol. “Mr. Ryder told us that he encountered Fred Cooper at the property line last night and they argued,” said Sheriff George Voyles. “Ryder alleged that Cooper threatened to fence off his driveway, and the incident escalated when Cooper pulled his own gun and shot Cooper in the lower chest.” “Ryder was not arrested, but the investigation is ongoing,” Voyles said.
Like practically everywhere else in the civilized world, owning a house in the city of Bonners Ferry will get just a little more expensive for homeowners in the next fiscal year. But the increase will only be marginal. If the Bonners Ferry city Council approves its proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 on Sept. 3, owners of the $100,000 with a homeowner’s exemption will have to come up with $5.89 more per year in property tax than last year.
In an effort to keep a small county status for its landfill, Boundary County Solid Waste has requested the enforcement of an ordinance that has been in place since 1966. Residents will be required to dump only household waste into their local dumpsters or they will be risking having to pay a $300 fine.
Maybe it’s the smell or the tasty morsels of garbage that seem to attract them, but whatever it is that’s drawing bears to the Paradise Valley dumpsters, they simply don’t want to leave. And according to Solid Waste Superintendent Woody Watts, it’s turning into a big problem. No matter what measures Watts says he takes in an attempt to discourage the bears from returning, nothing seems to work.