July 29, 1972
Isobella McKercher Braden retired as Postmaster of the Crawfordsville Post Office, which was raised from fourth class to third class during her time there. She began operating the office as acting Postmaster on July 1, 1943, serving the position the longest of anyone in the office, and was the only one who worked under Civil Service there.
Braden’s father is the namesake for McKercher State Park, which sits across from her family home. He owned the “new” Finley Flouring Mill nearby, which later collapsed from old age. Braden was the first “Goddess of Liberty” at the town’s first Fourth of July celebration.
Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the burglary of the old Foster General Store. Three to five persons were reportedly seen carrying merchandise from the store in the early morning hours. Missing items included a couple cases of beer, cigarettes, tobacco, lighter fluid, tools and other miscellaneous items.
The Sweet Home Fire Department responded to eight calls this week. The most serious fire occurred when a porch light exploded at 155 23rd Ave., which ignited the porch ceiling and the fire spread into the attic.
A fire caused by a can of wax left on a kitchen stove burner caused an estimated $2,000 in damage at 1238 Holley Rd.
A fire on Turkey Shoot Road was caused by three boys attempting to burn a bees’ nest out of the building. The old building used for hay storage was gutted and put out telephone service, and the fire reignited later that day.
Firefighters also responded to calls for a fire on the seat of a pickup caused by a cigarette, a car fire at 111 Hawthorne St, a grass fire started from a burning barrel at 1011 Northside St., and burning sawdust at the old Sweet Home Veneer Plant.
Sweet Home Hi-Q team member James Erwin Cook was selected to represent Oregon in the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation International Contest which resulted in a trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He joined 65 other high school sophomores from all over the United States and five students from other countries.
They toured the vertical assembly building at Patrick Air Force Base where the first rockets were all built outside on the launch site. Now the rockets are built indoors and then transported “at a snail’s pace” to the launch pad. It takes 10 hours to complete the 2.5-mile trip.
Cook witnessed the launching of the first satellite built with private funds, a communication satellite for the Atlas Sinclair Company, which will be able to carry 4,000 telephone calls overseas and 14 T.V. stations, and he also saw a film depicting how moon dust used on plants acted as a “super fertilizer” and made the plants resistant to fungus and insect damage.
July 16, 1997
The Oregon Economic Development Department turned down a request for a $600,000 Community Development Block grant for the Sweet Home Boys and Girls Club, Senior and Community Center. The project was prioritized 18th of 28 projects. Fourteen projects statewide were chosen for funding. Volunteers have raised $1,143,777 so far in pledges and cash donations, and the $600,000 grant would have covered Housing and Urban Development funds toward the construction of the $2 million facility.
The City of Sweet Home has been awarded a $17,925 grant by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace the dam at Sankey Park and refill Sankey Pond. The original dam consisted of both removable and permanent boards underneath Dahlenburg Bridge, all of which were removed after the last major storm event in November because they caused water to back up across the high school softball fields and homes near the park.
Robert Whitfield’s only log truck was totaled in an accident on Highway 226 at milepost 19.6 as his driver was returning from Lyons. The driver, Melvin “Bud” Toland of Lebanon, sustained cuts and bruises.
Highway 226 had been recently repaved and the front tire of the vehicle hit the edge, which formed a ledge along the road several inches deep. The truck rolled and slid on the pavement. Much of the cab was caved in, the hood was ripped off and the motor mounts were broken.
Whitfield, who has operated a log truck since he bought his first one in 1948, is not sure whether he will replace the truck and continue his log hauling business or quit. He purchased the 1979 Mack about a decade ago.
The Sweet Home Planning Commission approved a conditional use and a variance to allow a developer to go forward with plans for a new manufactured home park on Highway 20. Robert and Colleen Lund plan to establish Fir View Villa, a manufactured home park north of 4550 Hwy. 20 and bordering the Oregon Department of Forestry compound to the east. The 22-space park will be built on a total of 3.82 acres in highway commercial zoning. The conditional use permit is required for a park in the zone, and the variance is required to allow the park to be established on less than five acres.
The Sweet Home City Council agreed to table a proposed ordinance to allow the towing of vehicles when the driver has a revoked or suspended license, is driving under the influence of intoxicants or is uninsured. The proposal was tabled after learning the State of Oregon is considering a bill that would do the same thing, without the provision for uninsured drivers. The state bill would also allow vehicles of drivers without licenses to be towed.
Five new monitoring wells were installed for the Midway area where contaminated groundwater has been identified.
The Department of Environmental Quality has located one source of the contamination, which included chlorinated hydrocarbons, used in solvents and degreasers, at the former Ridgeway Logging building on the corner of 46th Avenue and Highway 20. The wells will help the DEQ learn more about the groundwater in the area and precisely identify the edges of the contaminate plume.