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Elections, airshow crash lead top stories of 2003
The city elections lead the list of the top ten stories in Elmore County for 2003.
Joe McNeal's stunning run-off election victory over incumbent Dave Jett kept city residents talking and on the edge of their seats for nearly two months. After a narrow victory in the regular city election in November, which saw McNeal, Jett and Carol Dalton facing off against each other, the run-off election had one of the largest voter turnouts ever for any city election and saw McNeal beat Jett convincingly in his third try for the office. It was Jett's first try at re-election.
In doing so McNeal made Idaho history as the first black ever to be directly elected by popular vote to a mayor's post in the state.
And the dust still hasn't settled as the city council prepares to accept or reject McNeal's changes in department heads at city hall.
Number two on the list was the dramatic crash of a USAF Thunderbird F-16 during the Gunfighter Skies 2003 airshow. The crash, in which no one was injured, including the pilot, came at the very end of what had been described as the best airshow ever at the base, and brought national attention to the event.
Third on the list was the impact of the war in Iraq on the local community. Although the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB did not deploy any of its flying squadrons (getting a well-deserved rest from flying their wings off in the war in Afghanistan), a number of detachments deployed and many citizens in the community had sons and daughters serving in the war.
A candlelight vigil service in Carl Miller Park for the troops drew hundreds of people, praying for the troops' safety, but two local residents died in the war.
Maj. Gregory Stone, a member of the Idaho National Guard and a former member of the 34th Bomber Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, where he also worked as a consultant, was killed in a "fragging" incident in Iraq March 25, just days before the war began, and shortly after it was declared "over," Cpl. Richard P. Carl, 26, of King Hill, died when a helicopter in which he was flying as a part of a medical rescue effort to save a child, crashed into the Tigris River.
Fourth on the list was the death of Kathleen Terry, allegedly at the hands of her estranged husband, Albert Cicconne, Jr., who was charged with murder after authorities said he ran over his wife with his car on a rural road.
The fifth, sixth and seventh top stories of the year all involved fires.
Ella Elaine Waltman died from inhaling smoke and hot gases in a trailer fire, from which her son, James, and her husband, Kim, escaped. The 4-year-old boy had started the fire while playing with a lighter he had found.
And Winnie Steiner, 51, was severely injured after suffering burns over 37 percent of her body when her trailer was destroyed by fire at Meadows Mobile Home Park Feb. 2. Steiner, who is bound to a wheelchair, suffered her burns when she had to pass through the flames of the fire in order to get out of the trailer.
She spent months at a Salt Lake City burn center recovering from her injuries and faces years of rehabilitation from the fire, which was started by one of her children playing with a lighter.
Number seven on our list was The Hot Creek Fire near Atlanta, which exploded from a small hot spot to burn nearly 30,000 acres. It took weeks to bring the fire under control in the rugged country around Atlanta and triggered landslides that blocked roads and forced the evacuation of some residents in the area.
Eighth on our list involved a young woman who was abducted and raped by two men in an incident that began at the Walmart parking lot. Four days later the Idaho State Police, to whom the rape was first reported, released the first information in the case, surprising local law enforcement, which had not been informed previously. No suspects were ever arrested.
Ninth on our list was the opening of the underpass, which had taken more than a decade to complete from first concept to completion. Although it greatly smoothed the flow of traffic from one side of town to the other, water leaks in the concrete walls had some city residents promptly dubbing it the "Thousand Springs" underpass.
Tenth on our list was the readdressing issue. Although the county completed its portion of the effort, the city eventually, after much debate, decided not to go along with it and to keep the street names and addresses the way they are.
There were a lot of other major stories during the year, shootings, tragic deaths, so many fatalities on area roads we couldn't keep track,a heat wave that topped 105-121 degrees for three weeks, a financial crisis for the school district and major infrastructure improvements in the city, such as the new police station.