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
- The American flag hoisted each day outside Yelm City Hall was stolen Feb. 1, 1980.
- Joe Whiting was selected 1979 Firefighter of the Year by District 17 volunteer firefighters. Whiting’s name was first on a perpetual plaque honoring firefighters of the year. The plaque was displayed in the fire district hall on Bald Hill Road.
- Thurston County voters approved all school levy requests Feb. 5, 1980. The Yelm district received 68% approval for its $391,616 request for funds to be collected in 1981. Rainier voters also approved $100,000 in special levy requests with 68% in favor.
- Rainier Mayor Jerry Bergman fired Marshall John MacDonald and his deputy, Gordon Gross, in action taken on Feb. 4, 1980. Bergman refused to discuss his reasons for the dismissal. MacDonald was quoted as saying he was dismissed because he was not patrolling the town, he had gone over the mayor’s head in signing up for instructions at the Seattle Police Academy, was late to work and was not good in public relations.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- Yelm district voters approved a 1990 and 1991 levy Feb. 6, 1990, but approval of a bond issue looked doubtful. Without the absentee ballots in, the bond had 871 yes votes out of a total 1,468 total ballots cast, good for 59% of a 60% to pass.
- The Yelm Prairie Kiwanis Club presented the Yelm High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter a $500 check. The funds were raised in a bowl-a-thon held with the Kiwanis and FBLA in the winter and were to be used to send FBLA students to state competition.
- The Yelm Tornados girls basketball team showed true grit in the fieldhouse as they overcame foul problems and edged the visiting Gig Harbor Tides 56-50 to take possession of second place in the Pierce County League.
- A 29-year-old woman was involved in an automobile accident Feb. 2, 1990 at Runyon and 148th Avenue. It was falsely reported initially that the eight-months-pregnant woman was trapped in the vehicle, but she was taken to the hospital for treatment.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- Local police and bomb-sniffing dogs scoured Yelm High School twice in a week for explosives after the school received notes Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, 2000, threatening to blow up the school. No bombs were found.
- The Yelm Prairie Development Company applied to the City of Yelm to move ahead with the development of Prairie Park, a retail complex anchored by a proposed six-screen theater.
- The Rainier Historical Society came to an agreement with the Rainier School District not to tear down the old red school house, which opened in 1915 but closed in the 1970s. If all went well, the city would acquire the school house by giving the district the old fire station, once the fire station relocated.
- The City of Yelm hoped to clean its unsavory water by the summer. Yelm residents served by the city’s newest well, adjacent to Fort Stevens Elementary, first complained of dirty brown water coming out of their taps in December 1999. The city promptly shut down the well and began searching for a way to improve the appearance of the unsightly water.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- A Tenino teen was killed Jan. 31, 2010, after crashing his car in unincorporated Thurston County. Branden Heinselman, 17, was driving his 1993 Toyota Tercel southbound on state Highway 121 when his car left the roadway to the right, nearly striking a pole when he swerved to miss it and went back onto the roadway. He crossed over the center line into oncoming traffic where he was hit on the passenger side door by a 2004 Lexus RX 330.
- News of the earthquake in Haiti inspired students within Yelm Community Schools to take selfless action. In a week-long money drive at Mill Pond Elementary, the students collected $1,430 to donate to the relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti after setting an initial goal of $517, or $1 per student.
- Jonathan Wan purchased Nisqually Valley Chiropractic Center as 23-year Yelm chiropractor Raymond Kent prepared for retirement.
- For the first time since the 2002-03 season, Yelm’s boys basketball team was postseason bound, clinching one of three Western Cascade Conference playoff spots.
