Stories from Thursday, January 3, 2013

Fires dominated the news and led the list of top ten stories in Elmore County for 2012. Beginning in June, with a range fire that destroyed six homes just south of Mountain Home, throughout the summer wildfires blackened Elmore County. Eventually, more than a third of a million acres in the county would burn, the largest single blaze being the Trinity Ridge Fire, which burned 150,000 acres of prime national forest land in the mountains north of Mountain Home...

An ongoing effort to improve public safety at key traffic intersections in Mountain Home took another step forward last week. During a public hearing, the city council unanimously approved plans to purchase new crossing signal equipment for three of the city's main street intersections...

The Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce will honor the organization's man and women of the year during its annual installation banquet next month. The 70th Annual Chamber of Commerce Installation Banquet begins with a social hour at 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Elks Lodge in Mountain Home...

Elaine Fern Heimgartner, 64, entered into eternal peace on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, at Saint Alphonsus Hospital in Boise. Elaine was born Nov. 22, 1948, in Lewiston, Idaho. She is the daughter of the late Leslie and Elsie Heimgartner. She is the sister of Ida Marie Straw of Mountain Home and the late Robert Heimgartner...