May 4, 1950
The Oregon State Highway Commission turned down Sweet Home’s request to install a traffic signal at the intersection of 18th and Main streets. Local citizens had made the request due to increasing traffic congestion during hours when shift changes occur at local mills. The request had also been denied in December 1948 after a traffic count – taken during the mill shut-down season – did not indicate sufficient traffic to warrant a signal.
Sweet Home schools are urged to conduct preliminary marble tournaments that will determine entrants to the upcoming district tourney. Sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the district playoffs will be held in the Long Street school gym. District winners will move on to state playoffs in Portland. Standard marble rules include a 10-foot ring and one-knuckle down.
Roxy Theater owner George Gessler announced that his new 500-seat theater, The Rio, on Main Street, will open next week. It has been under construction for more than two years.
First- through sixth-graders at Oak Heights staged an all-day grounds and building cleanup. Teachers and janitors helped supervise the project. The woods at the school were nearly cleared of dense brush, limbs and trash, making the area usable while inside others washed and waxed desks, scrubbed woodwork, and washed windows, blackboards and shelves.
May 1, 1975
“Dear Editor, The food at the junior high is terrible. I think we should get lunches like the other schools do. I think we should get pizza and hamburgers for lunch sometimes.” John Kroker also wrote there should be more electives available, such as metal and mechanics for eighth graders, and that seventh graders should be allowed to use power tools in wood shop. “If we had these improvements the school would be a lot better place than it is now.”
Pressed against a State Highway Division deadline and opposition of downtown property owners, the City Council is creating a sidewalk improvement district for downtown. After an hour of testimony opposing the proposed $63,566 improvement district, the council made its first reading of the ordinance.
May 5, 2000
Despite blustery weather, many came out to witness the groundbreaking of the city’s new police station near McDonald’s. It’s a dream that began in the late 1980s and was finally realized after the city passed a $950,000 bond to help cover the $1.9 million cost.
Water and wastewater rates adopted by City Council this week will increase current rates by about 28.5%. Combined rates by the average user, calculated at 700 cubic square feet of water per month, will increase from about $35 to about $45.