20 years ago – 1998
A few months ago, The Dalles School District faced a mountain of sizable proportions: How to fill the shoes of 18 teachers and other staff members retiring at the end of the school year. The loss of hundreds of combined teaching years cannot be replaced in a single year, but The Dalles scaled its hiring mountain over the past few months and Is nearing the conclusion of its huge hiring effort.
Ever since a 20-year dry spell abruptly ended with the 1996 floods, Dallesport has had problems with wet winter weather. A tour by the county commissioners during a wet February day in 1997 quickly set in motion plans to fix the problem, whose worst manifestation, as the commissioners saw, was untreated sewage bubbling in yards and flowing in ditches. Septic systems, inundated by water, were failing. The proposed ultimate fix is daunting — talk is of building a $12 million sewer plant — but there’s one far less expensive piece that will help out a bit. That’s installing new storm drains, a job the Klickitat County commissioners formally OK’d last week.
SALEM — Oregonians likely will get a chance to vote this fall on whether to eliminate the traditional polling place in favor of having all future elections conducted exclusively by mail.
40 years ago – 1978
What are voters saying to The City of The Dalles? That is the question which the council and budget committee still face despite the fact that the committee moved in stop-gap fashion to balance this year’s budget with federal revenue sharing funds. November will likely tell the rest of the story.
Harvesting what is considered as the best cherry crop ever is in full swing with fruit quality better than first expected and the pick running slightly ahead of predictions. Prices are holding at $10 a box for fresh cherries and the pick will probably end right after July 4. County agent Jack Thienes said that the brine crop was nearing the end of its harvest.
Cutting taxes seems like a good idea, but people are questioning whether services can be kept up with an across-the-board tax limitation as provided for in Proposition 13 in California, and in an Oregon referendum proposed by petitions being circulated here. This week, the man on the Street asked if people would support an alternative to the 1 ½ percent tax property tax limitation which appears likely to be on the ballot in November.
WASHINGTON — Desperate heroin addicts, who south help at drug treatment centers, have charged they were coerced into serving as guinea pigs to test a new heroin substitute.
60 years ago – 1958
A parade of witnesses for General Engineering, Inc., constructors at Harvey Aluminum plant, yesterday and today testified about a variety of activities which the construction firm maintains furnishes proof that Circuit Court Judge Malcolm Wilkinson should prohibit picketing of any kind at the plant entrance. A fight on June 18, a car being punctured with a sharp instrument, profanity and the stoppage of deliveries by Consolidated Freightways company were some of the events described.
A decision will be reached by Thursday on whether an engineering firm will be hired for a survey to determine feasibility of moving Union Pacific railroad tracks to the river side of the proposed Highway 30 by-pass.
WASHINGTON (UPI) — Alaska emerged onto the threshold of statehood today to a sunburst of predictions it will open a vast new frontier for expansion of America’s population and wealth. Delirious statehood supporters, their 42-year fight for statehood over, could hardly believe it when the Senate passed the statehood bill Monday night by an overwhelming 64-20 vote.
80 years ago – 1938
Negotiations were in progress today, looking to the closing of all food stores in The Dalles over the holiday week-end, but no definite agreement had been reached at a late hour this afternoon, according to word from retail clerks.
Registration for the annual home makers’ camp, which will be held at Lost lake in Hood River county August 3 to 7, and for the 4-H club boys and girls, which will be held at the same site August 7 to 11, began today following completion of details for the two camps yesterday by the committee in charge.
An old-age pension plan that would give every non-working person over 50 years of age $25 a week has proved the most popular of the numerous referendums petitions circulating through Wasco county and filed with the county clerk’s office, County Clerk Henry Scherrer reported today. The pension plan had a total of 488 signatures.
As zero hour approaches for the three-day celebration honoring the 162nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by the United States, the Breakfast club reaches back to pioneering days to produce an “old-time” Fourth of July here. Tomorrow night the celebration will begin with the opening dance at the civic auditorium.
100 years ago – 1918
The Honor Guard girls of The Dalles contributed a large amount of money to the “Sammies’ smoke fund,” which was conducted by The Chronicle recently, and they have received many “return cards,” on which he grateful soldiers expressed their sincere thanks for the gifts of smoking materials.
William E. Pound of Umatilla enlisted at the local recruiting office this morning in the medical crops. He started for Fort Lawton, wash.
WASHINGTON, July 1. — The racetracks lost some fancy followers and the army gained some fighters, while the munitions factories and shipyards found a fresh source of war workers today. The ribbon-counters were adorned with women instead of men; clubs and hotels had waiters with creaky knees instead of speedy youths. All of this because Provost Marshal General Crowder’s “work or fight” order became effective today. Later, the order will be extended reaching further into non-essential or less essential classes. Draft boards throughout the country will check carefully to see that gilded gamblers, show attendants, waiters, clerks and men of many other callings either join the army or do a man-sized work in the war industries.
NEW YORK, July 1. — Seventy men have been subpoenaed under the new “work-or-fight” order which became effective today.
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