Bonner County History - Jan. 28, 2025
Brought to you by the
Bonner County Historical
Society and Museum
611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864
208-263-2344
50 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
Jan. 28, 1975 – BRUHN HEADS SADDLE CLUB
Ted Bruhn of Naples was elected president of the Sandpoint Saddle Club recently. Other officers elected were Wes Osborn, vice president; Cheri Carter, secretary; W.C. “Fats” Racicot, treasurer; directors, Ray Kline, Geoffrey Woodhouse and Hal Carter; holdover director is Dianne Franck.
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NEWS BULLETIN IS TOP NEWSPAPER
The Sandpoint News-Bulletin, published by Gary Pietsch, won top honors in the Idaho Newspaper Association’s 1974 Better Newspaper Contest. The N-B took first in News Writing, Feature Story and General Excellence in its circulation category; second in News Photo and Best Single Ad, and third in Illustrative Material and Community Service.
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SENIORS OPEN SECONDHAND STORE
The Senior Citizen Store, 109 N. Fifth Ave., had its open house Saturday. Featuring used clothing and rummage of all kinds, it will be open Tuesday thru Saturday. Donations are appreciated; all proceeds will go toward the new Senior Citizen building.
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OREGON MAN NAMED ASSISTANT CHIEF
Chief of Police Dick Abbott has appointed William G. Selby, 42, of Junction City, Oregon, as the new Asst. Chief of Police for Sandpoint. Selby, an Air Force veteran holding an A.A. degree in police science, is a police science instructor. To be used primarily as a training officer, he will begin Feb. 1.
75 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
Jan. 28, 1950 – GETS STATE TO HELP OUT
Mayor Floyd Gray practically pulled a rabbit out of the hat for Sandpoint last Friday when he persuaded the state highway department to assist in unsnarling the traffic problem on Sandpoint’s main streets. With snow removal on First, Fifth and Cedar, arteries for highways 10-A, 95 and No. 2, rapidly approaching the acute stage, the state brought in their SnoGo rotary Sunday, averting a serious emergency, as Sunday’s chinook knocked the bottom out of all streets. By 8 p.m. Sunday the rotary had cleared First and Cedar, and then the crews moved to Fifth and Pine, cutting down the ridges on each side of the streets to widen them for two-way traffic.
The trucks were loaded from the left hand side of the loader, so all traffic was routed to the left side of the street, the police cooperating to make the switch on each street as it was cleared and keeping the lanes open to expedite the working trucks. The congested traffic was kept moving by flagmen at places where it was switched from left to right, with little jamming despite numbers of drivers who could not take to English traffic rules.
Snow from the downtown streets was hauled to the city beach, now a morass of gobs of dirty frozen rubble, where dripping trucks dumped their loads wherever handy. Snow was also dumped at the Y of Cedar and Main streets and shoved to one side by a plow, leaving some drifts higher than an automobile. Fifth is also edged with drifts taller than auto height.
For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.