Looking Back

100 years ago

Believed to have been crazed by jealousy, Ray Sperry traveled from house to house in Reardan and instantly killed Velma Beeman, Dow Lathrom, James Dueber, wounded Steve Lathrom and then shot himself. Beeman was a former fiancé of Sperry and Lathrom was believed to be her current love interest.

3 Lincoln County men are playing on the Cheney Normal School football team. Maury Nelson of Peach, James Tierney of Harrington and Elmo Bond of Davenport were part of the team that beat Ellensburg Normal School 33-0.

Some boys caused power in the Odessa area to be off for about an hour while crews unraveled the string they put around the wires in hopes it would rain. Although it did not rain the string had to be removed. A local agent said if anyone is caught doing this it will not go well for them.

75 years ago

W.C.Raugust of the Odessa Trading Company announced that for the first time since 1941 his firm has received a boxcar load of cars that are available for purchase, they are expecting another load soon but due to the strike aren’t sure how long before they will get another shipment.

Davenport City Council is considering the possibility of installing parking meters. Councilmen discussed the parking problem and instructed the city clerk to get information as to procedure and costs associated with installing meters.

Reardan FFA initiated 8 greenhands into membership for the chapter. Those going through the ceremony were; Wayne Blair, Clair Jones, Frank Nonnemaker, Bobby Stuhlmiller, Gene Miller, Daryl Rogers, Charles Anderson and Paul Lillengreen.

50 years ago

Work continues on the new Fidelity Mutual Savings Bank being constructed on the corner of 7th and Morgan Streets. The $85,000 structure is expected to be complete this winter and is tentatively scheduled to open early next year.

Upon completion of 25 years of service to the community, Harrington Marshall Wally Bramer, is retiring. Wally took care of just about everything to do with the town, from water, sewer and utilities to digging graves and arresting fugitives. Bramer intends to visit friends and family before relaxing.

Mr. and Mrs. Darius Walter of Lamona won a pickup load of groceries from McCollum Ford after Mrs. Walter submitted the winning guess at how much the groceries cost. Mrs. Walter came within $.20 of the actual total.

25 years ago

The City of Davenport has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to make improvements to 8th street, Monroe St and Fitness Lane. This paving project will help with increased truck traffic in the area due to the increased activity at Stockland Livestock Exchange. Construction is expected to begin in 2001.

Reardan eighth graders recently toured the Sierra Silver Mine in Wallace Idaho. Students were fitted with hardhats and rode a trolley to the mine where they were given a summary of the fundamentals of silver mining.

Election 1999 has provided Odessa with a new Mayor. Carl Ryan took 62% of the vote over Denny McDaniel. Ryan will be joined by new faces on the Council Vicki Strang in Position #1 and Dave McClanahan in position #2.

10 years ago

Sprague Mayor John Eagleson, who has been in office for just over a year, has resigned. He was elected following the resignation of Mike Evans who resigned a month before the last election. Councilman Ed Stephens will act as Mayor while the city figures out what to do next.

The Reardan Indians will travel to Davenport to take on the Gorillas for 2nd place in the Northeast 2B. Both teams have 7-1 records. For local football fans, this looks to be the game of the season.

The same three homes have been flooded with sewage for the third time. Unhappy homeowners were told that the alarm system put in place after the second time failed to activate because the computer that monitors the system wasn’t functioning.