20 years ago – 1997
The Dalles will be host, Sept. 27-28, to a group of 500 tourists on a historic weekend trip. It will be the first time ever that passengers have ridden by train directly from Seattle to The Dalles, according to tour organizer Alki Tours of Seattle. A privately-chartered Amtrak train will carry the passengers of “The Great Rivers Express.”
When teachers and students return to Dallesport School next week they won’t be worrying about whether the heating system works or the parking lot is flooded. “In our old school, we started out the day making sure the boiler was going and the roof wasn’t leaking, and the water level in the gym was low,” said Dallesport Principal Martin Huffman. But those days are gone, because when school starts Sept. 8, Dallesport students will be going to a brand new school, built just east of the city park.
Electrical problems short-circuited Northwest Aluminum’s production schedule this past weekend and, as of today, crews were still trying to fix the problem. One or more power cables feeding the plant’s substations failed at 1:55 p.m. on Saturday. “This means we could not operate the cell lines nor other departments at Northwest Aluminum,” spokesperson Patty Grossmiller wrote in a prepared statement.
40 years ago – 1977
An orange Mazda and blue 1957 Chevrolet station wagon are figuring into the investigation of the death of Karen Copper. The Dalles. Wasco County Sheriff’s officers have begun advertising for anyone who owns or saw the vehicles at The Dalles Dam (Hess Park) on June 30, the day Miss Copper was last seen alive. Dep. Larry Tellinghusen, who placed the advertising, said he could not elaborate on the search for the vehicles beyond stating that authorities wanted to talk to the drivers or anyone who saw the vehicles in the park. Miss Copper’s body was found a few hundred yards from the park July 12 and an autopsy showed she had been killed, authorities said.
Oregon recorded a traffic death in Hillsboro this morning, apparently the first of the Labor Day weekend during which 470 to 570 Americans will die, the National Safety Council estimates. Last year, five Oregonians died in traffic accidents during the holiday.
WASHINGTON (UPI) – Former President Richard Nixon said he once ordered his chief aide, H.R. Haldeman, to destroy the damaging Watergate tapes, and in retrospect, Nixon said he wished the order had been carried out. Nixon told British interviewer David Frost he probably would not have had to resign from the presidency if the tapes had been destroyed.
60 years ago – 1957
Several traffic accidents, one of them resulting in the death of a 25-year-old Warm Springs resident, marred the Labor Day weekend in the Mid-Columbia area.
The traffic death toll for the weekend soared above the advance estimate of 420 today and safety officials said they were “deeply disappointed.” As late reports trickled in, a United Press count showed the traffic death toll hit 442.
Preliminary hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in Justice Court for Lawrence Zink, 14, The Dalles, accused of the first degree slaying of nine-year-old Mary Matthew. The Zink boy will not be allowed to enter any kind of plea in court Wednesday. Purpose of the hearing will be to determine if a crime has been committed and if there is probable cause that the Zink boy might have committed it.
Diane Wagenblast, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Wagenblast Jr. of The Dalles, showed the grand champion 4-H steer in yesterday’s competition at the 1957 Oregon State Fair, according to information received this morning from Ed Bonham, Wasco county 4-H agent who is in Salem.
80 years ago – 1937
Despite the handicap of an overloaded electric lighting and power circuit, which blew out a transformer and plunged the show into semi-darkness for more than an hour, the Columbia Basin Industrial exposition got away to an auspicious start Thursday night with a total attendance at the main building of nearly 700 persons.
PORTLAND, Sept. 3. (UPI) – The Portland Central Labor council today tightened its “squeeze” on the lumber industry in its efforts to kill the C. I. O. under which mill workers are recently affiliated.
The A. F. of L. pickets were increased on both land and water. Two sawmills were forced to suspend work due to accumulation of sawdust and other fuel which could not be moved out of the mill.
100 years ago – 1917
The remains of Major H. H. Robert, who died at Vancouver barracks Saturday morning lie in state in the Crandall undertaking parlors where an escort stands guard over the flag-draped casket.
Sidney H. Wilson, of Wapinitia will be the first Wasco County man to enter the national army. He is not at the top of the draft list, but his request that he be the first to go was granted by the exemption board, which had the privilege of choosing any man, provided it selected one who is certain to be in the official quota when that shall be officially determined.
Wilson is a man of whom Wasco County should be proud.But nothing has been done to give him a send-off. Does The Dalles intend to allow him to go unnoticed?
The master of the American ship Christiane, which was sunk by a German submarine near the Azores, reports an interesting conversation with the U-boat captain. The latter took him aboard, gave him a good meal, and incidentally explained that he hated to sink American ships, and only did so because, with Germany and the United States at war, he couldn’t help it.
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