100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 8, 1925

Prineville Women Drawn As Jurors

For the first time in the history of Crook county, in either the justice court or the circuit court, women jurors were drawn, to serve on the jury list for Prineville precinct No 1, Monday, by Justice E.O. Hyde, assisted by Robert Zevely and Lake M. Bechtell.

Bend May Send Law Violators To Prineville

Violations of various city ordinances by women who seem to realize that the city has no means of punishing them, as a result of the lack of women’s quarters in the jail, has increased to such a point that the city will have to take extreme measures to correct the condition, it was stated today by recorder Louis Bennett.

The plan which will probably be put in effect this week is that of sending women prisoners to the Crook county jail at Prineville. This will be costly, but is necessary if the law is to be upheld here, Bennett declares. The cit now has two “prisoners” who are at large because of lack of jail space.

Property Owners Ask Improvement

Grading and graveling of Riverfront street is being asked by a group of residents in that part of town who are expected to present the matter to the city council at the regular meeting Friday evening.

These citizens will offer, it is expected, to pay half of the cost of this improvement by popular subscription if the city will take care of the remainder.

Bend Municipal Water System Estimated at $600,000

A municipal water supply for Bend with Tumalo creek as the source, will cost $600,000, this amount including the purchase of the Bend Water Light & Power Co. system, estimated at $259,195.

A municipal system such as outlined, the engineers say, would pay for itself in 25 years, take care of bonded indebtedness, leave $642,640 for additional development in the meantime, and add nothing to the burden of taxation.

The reports, when thoroughly studied by the city council, will lead to a special city election at which a vote will be asked on a bond issue sufficient to finance such development.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 8, 1950

Work Under Way On New KBND Radio station

Construction of KBND’s 1000-watt day and night station is getting under way, Frank H. Loggan, manager said today. To make room for a new transmitter building, to be started as soon as the weather moderates, clearing of a 14-acre tract of land north and east of Bend, just off Butler road, has been begun, and buildings on the property are being removed

First shipments of equipment to be used during the installation period arrived early this week, and other equipment is en route from New York City, it was announced. A contract for erection of a 200-foot tower and ground system has been awarded.

KBND’s present studios and offices, located in the Pilot Butte inn, will be kept intact with the transmitter and technical equipment to be placed at the new location Loggan said.

Ground Hog Snow Blind, Unable To See Shadow

Old Chuck, weatherman of the animal world who makes one observation each year for the benefit of humans, was in the woodchuck dog house today — he reportedly muffed his 1 forecast.

It seems that when Chuck emerged from his lava den at 7:22 a.m. today, sunrise time in the Bend country, and looked over white fields of snow, he was hypnotized by the February sun, an object he had not seen in months. Long and lovingly, Chuck, the long-range forecaster, gazed at the rising sun, then sorrowfully turned to observe his shadow.

But, according to rumors from the land of the marmots, there was no shadow there. Full of joy, old Chuck, his thoughts centered on the approach of spring, returned to his weather office and reportedly dictated this entry: “Made 1950 observation. No shadow. Spring is just around the corner.”

Then sleep-weary Chuck discovered why he didn’t see his shadow. He was sun blind and snow blind. However, according to word from the home of the marmots in rocky dens of the Deschutes country, Chuck’s forecast stands — spring is coming and will officially arrive March 23.

Ground Broken for St. Charles Hospital

Construction of the $900,000 St. Charles hospital was officially started this afternoon as gray, moisture-laden clouds drifted over snow-whitened Bend.

A “soft” blast in lava rock at the end of ground-breaking ceremonies on the hospital hill, at the head of Minnesota avenue, signaled the start of work on the big project. Equipment is already on the ground, snow and top soil have been removed from most of the site and heavy work will be started Monday.

Hundreds of people were present for the ceremonies that followed a civic parade. Speakers addressed the group from a platform, on the site where the hospital is to be erected.

Mother, Triplets, “Doing Nicely”

Mr. and Mrs. Morris Ashcraft, of Madras, have decided on manes for their triplets, first in the history of St. Charles hospital. The two boys and a girl arrived yesterday, surprising the parents, the doctor and the hospital staff. The first baby, a boy weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounce has been named Jerry Raymond, for the doctor R. F. Jones, M.D., of Redmond. The girl, who weighed 4 pounds, 9 ounces, has been named Sherry Lynn. The other boy, who tipped the scales at 5 pounds, has been named Terry Joe. Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft have been living in a trailer house, which was barely big enough for the two of them and their 17-month old daughter, Sandra Lee. The mother is 19. The father, a sawmill tallyman, is 25. Both Mrs. Ashcraft and the babies are reportedly in excellent condition.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 8, 1975

Obie to Arlo to Poe: paw that garbage!

The spirit of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre” is flourishing in Deschutes County Arlo Guthrie chronicled in the restaurant song the saga of the dumping of half a ton of garbage by the side of the road when the Stockbridge, Mass., town dump was closed for Thanksgiving.

The Deschutes County Commission yesterday began discussing the possible imposition of a small fee for dumping refuse at county landfills, but was warned by members of the audience that people might leave their trash by the roads and in the woods rather than pay.

Roadmaster Charles Plummer noted that the county does have an ordinance against “promiscuous dumping.”

Guthrie in his song recalled that after the garbage was dumped, he was telephoned by Stockbridge’s Police Officer Obie and told that the name Guthrie had been found on a letter underneath the half-ton of garbage.

Deschutes County Sheriff Forrest C. “Poe” Sholes yesterday told the commission hi office has a technique for determining the identity of promiscuous dumper “We will go out there and paw through the garbage, and in 75 per cent of the time, there’s a name on a letter or something in there,” the sheriff said

Sholes, asked later if he were familiar with Guthrie’s rakish epic, said he had never heard of “Alice’s Restaurant.”

The sheriff further told the commission that “90 times out of 100 when we call the people and ask them about the garbage, they tell us that ‘we gave it to some neighbor kid … I can’t remember his name.’”

Guthrie sang that he had expected to be required to pick up the garbage, which he was, but didn’t expect to be jailed for littering, which also happened.

Sheriff Sholes said the county district attorney doesn’t consider a name on a scrap o paper under any amount of garbage adequate evidence for prosecution. Sholes aid, however, that after the named person is asked to provide the identity of the “neighbor kid,” and to have him remove the garbage, “by the next morning, the garbage is gone.”

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 8, 2000

Former sheriff ‘Poe’ Sholes dies at 80

When F.C. “Poe” Sholes cruised to his 20th year at the helm of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in 1973, local law enforcement was as sparse as the population. “The sheriff’s office had about 10 employees,” said Sheriff Greg Brown, who years old at the time and had just received a deputy Sheriff’s commission from Sholes. “There were two jailers, and they worked one week, one week off.”

But a small department didn’t stop Sholes from making a big impression — he was the longest-serving sheriff in Deschutes County history. He had been sheriff for nearly 28 years when challenger Jim France beat him in the 1980 sheriff’s primary.

Sholes died Friday at home, Brown said. He was 80.

The most important thing I could say about Poe is he had very strong morals. He had a real sense of what was right,” Brown said. “We don’t have enough people like Poe Sholes.” Brown’s statement comes from nearly three decades of experience. He was a 17-year old volunteer for the sheriff’s search-and-rescue unity when he first met Sholes “I consider him my mentor,” Brown said. “Poe was the one who encouraged me when I was young to run fro sheriff.

Encouraging future sheriffs is apparently something of a tradition in these parts. When Sholes’ predecessor, Claude McCauley, got ready to retire in 1953, he encouraged young Deputy Sholes to follow in his footsteps.

At that point, Sholes had been at the sheriff’s office for about four years following three-year stint at the Bend police Department. He had returned to Bend, his birthplace in 1946 after serving in the Marine Corps.

When Sholes was elected sheriff, he was the third person to hold the position since Deschutes County’s creation in 1916. And when he lost his post after 28 years, many were shocked.

“Sholes refused, for a long time, to ask for campaign contributions because he didn’t want to be beholden to anyone. He was out-spent and out-organized,” stated a Bulletin editorial in 1980.

But Sholes’ legacy lived on, as did the Sholes name at the sheriff’s office. Sholes’ Jon Sholes, continues to work there as a communications technician and reserve deputy.

Deschutes Historical Society receives grant

The historic Reid School, one of Deschutes County’s oldest public buildings, will receive some 21st-century improvements with the help of a $238,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.

The building started life as an elementary school in 1914, two years before Deschutes County was born. It now houses the Deschutes County Historical Society, which has been working for years to make the old building welcoming to modern guests.

The historical society’s board members learned about the grant Friday afternoon and greeted the news with plenty of celebratory shouting.

“I’m almost hoarse right now, because I just found out,” said board president Barry Slaughter.

The grant — which must be matched dollar-for-dollar before the money is available — will help pay for an elevator, a new heating system and renovated restrooms. Last year the trust gave the society $12,000 to hire an architect for the project.

“This is really big deal for us,” said Susan Harless, secretary of the society’s board. “We’re a little historical society, not the High Desert Museum. This is ten times our usual operating budget.”

An elevator is the project’s first priority

The building currently has a ramp leading to its first floor, but no way for elderly handicapped visitors to reach the other two stories.

”We can’t even get some of our older board members above the first floor, because stairs are too arduous,” Harless said. “Children in wheelchairs have to be carried up.” Another board member described how the building’s steep, narrow stairs may have contributed to the grant.

”we had a visit from one of the board members of the Meyer trust, and he also had a little difficulty getting up the stairs, which I think may have helped our cause,” said Ward Tonsfeldt, board vice president and a professor of humanities at Central Oregon Community College.

The elevator will replace an old heating system, which will in turn be replaced with rooftop heat pumps.

The building’s child-size bathrooms will also benefit from the grant money “The elementary school restrooms are charming, but a little impractical,” Tonsfeldt said. Work on the project is expected to begin by summer, board members said.