Stories from Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Rick Myers thinks he is living every kid's dream as a member of Rich's Incredible Pyro team. "You fly all over the country, they hand you a pile of explosives, you set it up and make it go boom and have a great time doing it," Myers said. On Sept. 17, 2007, Myers and the rest of the pyro team were handed enough explosives to build a wall of fire 6,635 feet long...

MHHS Encore Co. will present "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Colosseum," by Craig Sodaro, April 10-12 in the MHHS gym beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets, sold at the door, are $3 for students and $5 for adults. No late seating is permitted. The story involves Simplcuss, a na*ve farmer from Gallia Alpina, who heads to Rome to follow his dream of being a stand-up comedian. ...

Local law enforcement and emergency response teams responded to a mobile meth lab in front of Elmore Memorial Hospital Friday. The meth lab wasn't real but the lessons learned from the training scenario were, as a half dozen local emergency response agencies took part in the most recent disaster drill for Elmore County...

Dear editor: I was disappointed to see that the school board is adopting the all-or-nothing approach to the school bond. With our community in need of so many improvements, for example- locally the doctors tell us we need a new hospital and the fire chief tells us that our roads need to be improved to carry the fire trucks, our governor tells us we need more pay for our teachers and our highways need to be replaced and upgraded, and our federal government tells us we need more and better help for veterans and that our clean water and air programs need more if we are to have safe air and drinking water, it would seem a little selfish to insist on so much in a school bond.. ...

Dear editor: I probably should not respond to Mr. Heinen's unsubstantiated response, but here I go anyways. (Ha! Ha!) His article, however, shows how people only hear what they want to hear. First-off, I would like to clear my position on guns; I am by far anti-gun. ...

Dear editor: I am growing increasingly concerned about where we vote in Elmore County and the way it provides an advantage to certain voters. Although the Elmore County website identifies voting locations, the actual polling places seem to change with the winds. If we are voting in a bond election the polling place changes to provide an advantage to the voters most likely to benefit from the specific bond...

Dear editor: It seems apparent we may be heading for a great depression. The American dollar is below the Euro. The only way to combat this inequity is to insist the large corporations and China that we purchase from, not only buy an equal amount of products marked "Made in the USA," but ten percent more. If they don't do this, they will have our great country bankrupt. We should not do any business with them unless there is a more equitable exchange...

Dear editor: Let's talk about whether we can afford more tax and bond proposals. The 2007 city budget was $21.3 million. The school district wants a $37.5 million bond; the hospital wants $23.5 million. We just passed $7.5 million for the jail and $1.5 million for the library. We are told more bond proposals are coming. That's $70 million more than the 12,000 people in Mountain Home had to worry about in 2005...

Dear editor: "Everyone is afraid of the Police" is about the worst article I have seen written in 60 years. It is nothing but speculation pure and simple. Mr. Thirion gives his opinion, which is not accurate, about a very fine police force. Some of his statements are slanderous and downright mean...

Dear editor: I read your editorial, "4,000 dead and counting." I disagree with the sixth paragraph that says, "We've already lost way too much in a war started by leaders who lied to us." They did not lie to us. They acted on information that later was proved incorrect...

Dear editor: The Western Elmore County Recreation District is concerned with the information printed in the lead article Wednesday, March 26, 2008. The WECRD has received inquiries about the possibility of a bond, the amount of money collected, and expenditures for the past five years...

Ronald Dean Stewart, 61, of Mountain Home, died March 27, 2008, at his home, following an illness. A memorial celebration was held on Tuesday, April 1, at the LDS Church, 14422 Airbase Rd. Cremation was under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel...

George Oscar "Buster" Taylor, 87, of Glenns Ferry, died Friday, March 28, 2008, at home. A graveside inurnment service will be held Friday April 4, 2008 at 11 a.m., at Glenn Rest Cemetery in Glenns Ferry, followed by a wake at the VFW Hall, on 5th and Lincoln Streets, in Glenns Ferry. Cremation was under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home...

Joan M. Frasure, 79, of Mountain Home, died Saturday, March 29, 2008, at a local hospital. No services are planned at this time. Cremation is under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, in Mountain Home.

Edna Lewis, 96, formerly of Mountain Home, died March 31, 2008, in Sedalia, Ohio. Services are pending. Burial will be held at Mountain View Cemetery in Mountain Home. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, in Mountain Home...

Ivan Earl Cantrell, 69, of Mountain Home, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on March 25, 2008. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 5, at 11 a.m. at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel. Ivan was born to Earl and Ruth Cantrell in Mansfield, Mo., on June 17, 1938. At the age of 14, he moved with his family to Homedale, Idaho. He attended Homedale High School...

Carolyn Elaine Smith, 56, of Mountain Home, died Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at a Boise hospital. A graveside inurnment will be held on Thursday, April 3, at 3 p.m. at Mountain View Cemetery. Cremation was under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel...

What city officials described as a "wastewater disposal crisis" was averted Monday, when the Mountain Home City Council voted to spend $2 million for 400 acres of farmland adjacent to the city's sewer lagoons. Without the purchase by the city the land was slated for housing development and would no longer have been available for wastewater irrigation...

It's a scene observed every day by Mountain Home High School drama teacher Taunya Page. On one side of the curtain in the high school gym she tries to teach students the in and outs of stage production and drama...

The preliminary hearing in magistrate's court for Glenn Parsons, the former Mountain Home police officer charged on two counts of sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years of age and one count of sexual battery of a minor child 16 or 17 years of age, was postponed Tuesday after a motion for a continuance was made by defense attorney Jefferson West...

Mountain Man Wrestling Club numbers remained low over spring break, but in a small but highly competitive tournament at Mountain View High School, five Mountain Man wrestlers took their talents to the mat. Bringing home the lone gold medal in the midget division was Kanoa Doronio...

The next meeting of the Senior Celebration Committee will be Monday, April 14, at 6 p.m. in room 24A at the high school. The group, which organizes a chaperoned alcohol-free all-night party for graduating seniors the night of graduation, has several fundraisers planned to help pay for the party...

Several Mountain Home Youth Soccer teams had high-scoring victories on Saturday as five of seven teams notched a tally in the win column. The U16 Boys beat Boise Capitals Select 9-2 with Austin Clark taking a strong through pass from Blake Pachner to score one of his three goals on the day...

The Mountain Home Tigers battled tough but came away with just one win at the Buck's Bag Spring Baseball Classic over the weekend. Columbia 17 Tigers 11 The Tigers came up short in a slugfest with Columbia, losing to the Wildcats, 17-11 in their opener last Thursday at Centennial...

Magistrate Court Alfonso Martinez, Jr., 55, was found guilty for driving under the influence (8/18/03 case). Martinez was sentenced to 180 days in jail (170 days suspended, two days in custody-all options on eight days remaining), placed into a treatment program, placed on two years probation, had his drivers license suspended for 180 days and fined $1,000 ($300 suspended) plus $90.50 in court costs...

Arrests Thomas Edwin Bergstrom, 50--DUI. Roger Blaine Fogleman, 56--obstruct officer. Wesley Blaine Fogleman, 31--domestic battery; resist officers; violate no contact order. Lindsey Marie Iglesias, 22--possession controlled substance; possession paraphernalia; possession suspended license...

The main base gate at Mountain Home AFB will be closed for construction beginning next Monday, April 7, through November of this year. With the closure of the main gate, personnel entering the base will use the Grand View gate, or the 31V gate located off Beet Dump Road, to get on or off the base during weekdays...

Charley and Holly Hutton of Bruneau, have announced the birth of a boy, Jonathan Hutton, on March 18, 2008, in Mountain Home. Jonathan weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 inches long at birth.