Stories from Wednesday, February 13, 2008

North American Foods announced Tuesday it was closing the Idaho Fresh-Pak plant in Glenns Ferry. The decision was made to help the company balance production of finished products with overall demand, the company said in a prepared statement sent just as the Mountain Home News was going to press...

The Elmore County Commissioners and Elmore Medical Center have agreed to work together on a joint study for ambulance services. The joint study will "evaluate ambulance service best practices, evaluate service models and options, and seek community input on ambulance service needs and expectations," according to a statement released by the two entities...

Levy "Pops" Belton will be honored as the Person of the Year by the Mountain Home Community Black History Committee during its 19th annual Black History Banquet this Friday, Feb. 15. The event will be held at War Memorial Hall in Mountain Home, 515 E. 2nd South St. Cocktails will begin at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7:15 p.m...

Arrests Paul Joseph Turcotte, 48--DUI; transporting liquor open seal. Matthew Dillon Becker, 24--probation violation. Joseph Strickland, 28--felony warrant. Elsa Bazan, 36--FTA/FTP. Joseph Clay Schafer, 23--FTA/FTP. Roger Lobach, 46--DUI. Jamie Allen Barnhart, 29--battery; malicious injury to property...

(Editor's note: The Mountain Home News reports all items released by the court each week. Readers should note, however, that some cases may be quite old. Any time there is a change in status of a case, such as a withheld judgement successfully or unsuccessfully completed, or a probation violation that results in all or part of a suspended sentence being executed, or a number of other factors, some quite minor, the case will be kicked back out by the courts and show up in the reports, usually without an explanation of what the change was.). ...

Jenalee Martinez, 3, daughter of Efren and Nadia Martinez, won the title of queen at the Sunburst USA beauty pagent held in Nampa on Feb. 10. She also won two medals, for most photogenic and for best hair. She will now advance to a tri-state beauty pageant, competing against other little girls from Idaho, Montana and Washington, which will be held in Butte, Mont., over the Memorial Day weekend. ...

The Act Out Theatre Company at Mountain Home Junior High School, a cast and crew of over 50 students, have been rehearsing for several weeks preparing to perform the musical "Good News!" The musical is described by assistant director and producer Julie Vogl as "an energetic, clever play set at a college in the 1920s. ...

Clarence and Ada McCune celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary on Dec. 2, 2007. They were married in Denver, Colo., in 1947, and have been residents of Mountain Home since 1955. While in Mountain Home, Clarence worked as a self-employed barber for many years and then went to work full time for the U.S. Postal Service. He retired in 1984...

Riley Greg Bunn, 32, of Stayton, Ore., died unexpectedly Feb. 8, 2008. Funeral arrangements have been made through Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home. Services will be held at the Glenns Ferry LDS Church at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 15. The family will receive friends from 10-10:45 a.m. at the church. His body will be laid to rest at Glenn Rest Cemetery in Glenns Ferry...

Angeles J. Ramasco, 96, of Mountain Home, died Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, at a local hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Juan Garcia, 73, of Mountain Home, died Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, at a Nampa care center. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Marcus Equsquiza of Mountain Home took second place in the State of Idaho Elks Hoop Shoot competition this Saturday, Feb. 9, in Kellogg. Marcus represented Mountain Home Elks Lodge #2276 at state in his fourth level of competition. Marcus was one of 27 youth competing this weekend being the best of the almost 37,000 youth in Idaho who began the competitions at the school level...

The Mountain Home Tigers returned to the win column Thursday night, two nights after dropping a close game at Emmett. Emmett 51 Tigers 45 In a game that had six ties and 12 lead changes, the Mountain Home Tigers boys basketball team came up on the short end of a 51-45 contest at Emmett last Tuesday night...

The Mountain Home Tiger wrestlers picked up three more dual match wins last week as they prepared for this week's district tournament at Kuna. Mtn. Home 63 Middleton 12 The Tigers won 12 of 14 matches in racking up a 63-12 win over the Middleton Vikings last Tuesday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home...

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers saw their hopes of earning a berth in the State 4A basketball tourney go by the wayside last week, with losses to Bishop Kelly and Emmett. Bishop Kelly 44 Mtn. Home 28 The Lady Tigers faced Bishop Kelly in the semi-finals of the District III 4A Girls Basketball Tournament, but fell behind early and lost to the Lady Knights 44-2, at Bishop Kelly last Monday night...

The Mountain Home Tiger sophomore boys split their games last week, winning at Emmett and losing at home against Middleton. Tigers 46 Emmett 33 The Mountain Home Tiger sophomores took the lead midway through the first quarter and never gave it up on their way to a 46-33 boys basketball conference win over the Emmett sophomores last Tuesday night at Emmett...

The Mountain Home Tiger junior varsity boys basketball team dropped both conference games last week. Emmett 53 Tigers 40 A late start by Mountain Home provided the Tigers a big hole from which they were unable to recover, as they lost at Emmett 53-40 in boys JV action at Emmett last Tuesday night...

When Jennifer Storch, 30, was killed in an auto accident in Boise on Jan. 29, the plight of the child delivered the day of her death and her family made headlines across the Treasure Valley. But nowhere was the impact of her death any greater than for a Mountain Home man, her ex-husband, Larry Rader...

At 1:15 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13, an accident involving an automobile crashing into a power pole on NE Industrial Street resulted in a severe blackout all over the northern half of Mountain Home. The pole will take 3 hours to replace and according to Idaho Power the power should be restored by 4:30 p.m...

Five Mountain Home High School band students participated in the annual Boise State University Honor Band this past weekend, Feb. 9. Students included were: Heidi Peck -- Flute, Natasha Arel and Terah Bargman - Clarinet, Teo Gillette -- Baritone Sax, and Zachary Wegrzyniak -- Bassoon...