The Weiser Signal American takes a look back at 2021

by Philip A. Janquart

 The year 2021 was a busy one in the Weiser area, with new officials elected or appointed, streets improved, and high school championships won.

 Of course, there was the pandemic and the implementation of, and then the subsequent loosening, of mandates and restrictions. Weiser Memorial Hospital was selected as one of the best places to work in Idaho, and the city of Weiser was selected as one of the safest cities in the state and then the country.

 The Weiser Signal American presents its year in review, and wishes everyone the best in 2022.

 Here are excerpts from some of the top stories from 2021 by issue:

January 6

Christensen retires, Stampfli 

hired as WMH CFO

 Weiser Memorial Hospital Chief Financial Officer Mark Christensen stepped down after four years to enter retirement. Pam Stampfli was hired as his replacement, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience in healthcare finances. Christensen first began in healthcare finances in 1981 where he worked as the accounting department manager for the Boise Saint Alphonsus Hospital. He and his wife moved to Weiser to accept the CFO position in January 2017 and recently chose to retire after achieving 40 years.

 Significant overall improvements were achieved during his time at the hospital. Since 2017, Weiser Memorial has been able to upgrade elements in several departments, including the nurses station by purchasing new surgery equipment, a new CT scanner, and a monitoring system. With Christensen as CFO, the hospital was able to also upgrade medical capabilities with improvements in diagnostic equipment and training.

 Born and raised in nearby Fruitland and married to a Weiser native, Stampfli is not only familiar with the area but also brings with her previous experience in rural healthcare finances. Before accepting the CFO position at Weiser Memorial, she held the CFO position at Valor Health in Emmett. Coming directly from another rural and critical access hospital allowed her to be more aligned to the position being filled, she said.

January 13

Officials sworn in

 With family and friends present, four elected officials were sworn into Washington County office at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11 at the county courthouse.

Nate Marvin was sworn in as Washington County Commissioner for District Two, serving another term in the position.

 Lyndon Haines was sworn in as County Commissioner for District One, replacing outgoing commissioner Lisa Collini in his first term in the position, Delton Walker was sworn into another term as the county’s prosecuting attorney and Matthew Thomas was sworn into another term as the county sheriff.

 Marvin ran unchallenged for the District Two County Commissioner position during the June primary election and again during the November general election. Walker and Thomas also ran unchallenged during the primary election however Thomas faced a write-in candidate for Washington County Sheriff during the general election, winning against challenger Aaron Walker, receiving a total of 4,641 votes. Haines ran as the challenger candidate to incumbent Collini, winning the primary election by 65.4 percent of the votes in representing District One. All ran as declared Republican party candidates during the elections.

 After taking seats as official commissioners along with District Three Commissioner Kirk Chandler, Marvin was nominated by Haines and voted two-yes,

one-abstain as the new chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.

January 20

Long-time Weiser 

resident turned 102

 Weiser resident Elizabeth Cada has lived and experienced a century’s worth of world changes and developments as she turns 102 years-old on Wednesday. Born Lillian Elizabeth Peterson Jan. 20, 1919, Cada moved to Weiser in 1988 and has lived comfortably in a special house near Memorial Park.

 “I’m not living this long on purpose,” said Cada. “It just happened. I’m just surviving, is all.”

Cada was born in Buffalo, Wyoming as the eighth in a lineup of ten children. Her father, Glen Peterson, worked as a meat cutter and lumber sorter and moved the

family several different times following work. Cada attended grade school in both Boise and Southern California and graduated from Lapwai High School in 1937. She then attended Lewiston State Normal with help from her brother Clair.

 Two years later she received her teaching certificate specializing in junior high and accepted a job teaching at South Crane School, 24 miles from Midvale.

 “I had never been in a [one-room] school, so it was quite a surprise,” said Cada.

 Cada moved from Lewiston to Crane Creek in August 1939. While there, she boarded with John and Goldie Morrell. Her first evening spent in the area, Cada attended a farewell dance for the previous teacher and met her husband Frank. May 18, 1940, Cada married her husband and after a year of teaching was unable to renew her teaching contract. She then moved into a home with her husband, referred to as “the Upper Place,” and gave birth to her two children in Council.

 The family then moved to a ranch by the South Crane School in 1944. Cada returned to teaching during World War II at the Valley View School near Midvale and filled in a position at South Crane for a semester, totaling to 8½ full-term years.

 After two years substitute teaching in Midvale, Cada turned to concentrate on making the ranch prosperous with her husband. Both her children, daughter Fran and son Dan, were raised on the South Crane ranch and graduated from Weiser High School.

 In 1988, Cada and her husband chose to sell their ranch and purchased an all-electric home in Weiser. Electricity did not reach the Cada household until 1948 at their ranch house, adding convenience to the family’s everyday lives. Cada said the original stove was heated with coal and transitioned to a half coal, half electric stove after 1948. 

 Electricity in the home also allowed for refrigeration and light and the first appliance the family bought was a toaster.

 “The ranch maybe had three plugs, and this room alone must have 14,” said daughter Fran. “It drove my dad nuts.”

 Throughout her century and two years of living, Cada said the biggest change she has witnessed is the addition and evolution of the telephone. As a child, she remembered having to visit the corner store to use a telephone. In the family home, the first telephone was large and mounted to a wall. Today, phones are an everyday appliance carried in consumers’ pockets.

January 27

Weiser’s first baby of 

2021 arrives

 The beginning of a new year is seen by many as an opportunity for a new start, so the birth of the first baby of the year is greatly anticipated. For our own Weiser

Memorial Hospital, the first baby of 2021 was a healthy girl who arrived on Jan. 21 at 2:22 a.m.

 Calley Joe Nelson was born to parents Nikki Calley and Joe Nelson of Weiser, Idaho. She weighed eight pounds, five ounces and was 22 inches in length. The delivering doctor was Dr. Jordan Blanchard, a family practice physician at Family Medical Center in Weiser.

 Calley Joe will be joining three brothers and one sister, Ray Calley, Hunter Calley, Mahayla Nelson, and Jase Nelson. “They have been impatiently awaiting her arrival,” Nikki said. “They were very excited to finally meet her.”

 Nikki is the produce manager at Ridley’s, and Joe works in quality control at Champion Home Builders, Inc. Calley Joe’s name is a combination of her mom and dad’s names, and was chosen by dad Joe.

 Grandparents to Calley Joe are Mike and Kathy Calley, Elva Flores, and Tim Nelson. Mom and baby were released to go home at around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 and local media was invited to meet with the family.

March 3

Carter wins state wrestling title

 Wrapping up the Wolverine wrestling season, Weiser travelled to the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa for the state tournament. Weiser qualified 21 athletes to compete but due to unforeseen circumstances, only 19 athletes were able to compete during the event.

 Weiser ended up taking fourth place as a team this year and was just eight points shy of third place. The Wolverines had eight athletes place in the event and Elijah Carter took first place for Weiser at 220 pounds.

March 10

City passes nuisance ordinance

 Ordinance 1256 regarding nuisances passed at the Weiser City Council meeting on Monday evening in an unanimous vote.

 The ordinance is an amendment on several existing Weiser codes. The codes include definitions of nuisance, a general penalty, weed removal by the city, weed refuse, and health and sanitation penalties. The ordinance update regards nuisances around the city, clean-up by the city, and penalties implemented if nuisances are not removed.

 April 24

An argument turns 

deadly in Midvale

 Washington County deputies arrested a Midvale man on Friday following a fatal shooting he told police is the result of self-defense. 

 Terry Ash, 41, was arrested on a first-degree murder warrant and booked into the Washington County Jail on a $1 million bond for the death of Matthew Banning, 43, of Midvale.

 On April 11, Ash allegedly killed Banning with a single shot to the chest from a .44 caliber revolver, according to Washington County Sheriff Matt Thomas.

 “It was from about three to four feet away, the coroner thinks,” Thomas told the Weiser Signal American. “They had been friends, but that’s about all we know,” he added.

 Officials told KTVB 7 in Boise that Banning was also armed, but ultimately did not fire his weapon.

 The incident took place while at Banning’s home at 135 S. School Road in Midvale. Ash, who works in the construction trades, was arrested shortly after the shooting, but was later released following his self-defense claim, according to a report by the Idaho Statesman. He lists Aurora, Mo. as his hometown and Bozeman, Mont. as a former residence on his Facebook page.

WMH received Best Place 

to Work honor

 Weiser Memorial Hospital has received Honorable Mention status in this year’s 2021 Best Places to Work in Idaho Program.

 Launched in 2007, the program recognizes Idaho employers who go above and beyond in creating a top-level work environment for their employees.

 “While we did not make the top 10, we were honorable mention this year and that is worth celebrating,” said WMH Chief Executive Officer Steven Hale.

 Employers with above average employee experience, but whose scores were not quite high enough to finish in the top 10, receive Honorable Mention status, according to WMH Community Relations Manager Layna Hafer. Not all employers who participate are ranked among Idaho’s top places to work.

 “Top 10 and those listed for Honorable Mention are the names of our state’s employers where people can find work that is not only financially rewarding, but emotionally and mentally rewarding as well,” Hafer said.

 Employers who take part in the program register through POPULUS, a Human Resources and Marketing Research Firm that provides employees with confidential survey questions.

 Some of the survey questions also invite employees to provide additional comments, which will be made available to the hospital in the coming weeks.

 A minimum of 60 percent of staff must participate for an employer to be eligible for an award. Awards are based on employee survey results.

 “Our employees are what make WMH what it is and without them, we could not live out our mission ‘To save lives, improve health and build community.’” Hale said.

Water outlook, was 

‘Golden’ in May

 Water won’t be an issue for users this year, according to recently retired Weiser Irrigation District Board Chairman Vern Lolley. Lolley has been reporting

snowpack measurements in the area for about 30 years. “Right now, we are looking good,” he told the Weiser Signal American.

 The bulk of the snowpack reported at measurement sites impacting the area ultimately drains into the 2,921-acre Crane Creek reservoir, located about 19 miles

northeast of Weiser.

 “The reservoir is full and we should have plenty of water for the season,” he said. “It’s been running over the big spillway about a foot deep and the smaller

one about 10 inches. Once the reservoir is full, and it’s running over, we are golden.”

 Equipment upgrades have helped conserve water.

 “Because of the increased and improved electronics we’ve put in, we can get away with a lot less water than we used to,” he explained.

 In addition, snowpack is better this year, hovering in the middle range of the spectrum, according to Lolley, and there is water left in the reservoir from the previous season.

May 19

New Librarian hired 

 The application and interview process was involved, but when the smoke cleared, it was Timbra Long who rose above the rest.

 After teaching for 22 years, traveling and living abroad, Long, who is currently a Fruitland High School art teacher, was recently named as Weiser Public Library’s new librarian to replace Pat Hamilton who is retiring after 24 years.

 “It’s going to be a good change,” Long said. “We moved back from overseas about six years ago and I’ve been waiting and looking for a library job.”

 Long was born in Nampa, but grew up in Weiser. She graduated from Weiser High School in 1986 before earning two bachelor’s degrees, a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and a bachelor’s in art education, from the University of Idaho.

 She went on to earn her library degree from Seattle Pacific University and her master’s in education, with an emphasis on curriculum development, from Lesley University in Boston.

 Long taught overseas for about nine years, in Qatar in the Middle East, China and Albania. She ultimately adopted a baby boy, Kyle, from Ethiopia who is now in the sixth grade.

 She moved back home on the advice of her son who was only six years old at the time.

 “I’ve traveled around quite a bit and been around the place,” she said. “I never saw myself coming home, but then we were leaving Albania and I thought, ‘Well, there are jobs in Japan and Malaysia,’ but my son said, ‘I think we need to go to Weiser,’ so I said, ‘I guess we’re going home.’”

 Long took a year off from teaching before being hired by the Weiser School District as its After School Program director. Not long after that, she took a job teaching art at Fruitland High School.

 “I like my job and I enjoy teaching, but I thought if I don’t throw my hat in, I’m always going to have that, ‘What if I should have done that?’” she said. “That’s no way to live.”

New ordinance prohibits derelict planes at airport

 Airport officials say owners of inoperable aircraft are using the Weiser Municipal Airport as cheap storage and do not contribute to fuel taxes that help keep the facility solvent.

 It has been an issue for years, the Weiser City Council at a regular meeting on April 10 passed a new ordinance prohibiting the practice.

 “We’ve had a problem for quite a while with derelict planes on our paved parking,” Weiser Municipal Airport Advisory Board Chairman Larry Boots told the council during the meeting.

 “They make cleaning and snow removal difficult,” he said. “They don’t contribute to the tax base.”

 The price to rent tie-down spots is $10 per month or $100 per year if paid in advance.

 To be considered operable, an aircraft must have an annual inspection, be licensed, and properly registered with the State of Idaho and federal government.

 In addition, some of the planes have been sinking into the asphalt for over 10 years, resulting in large divots that will need to be repaired once they are gone.

 City code provides a $300 per day fine for neglected properties and cars, which is now applicable to aircraft under the new ordinance.

 Any “inoperable and/or un-airworthy” aircraft using city tie-downs for more than 60 days is subject to the fine, according to Weiser City Attorney Steve Stuchlik.

 The new ordinance does not address potential legal action if owners are still not motivated to remove their aircraft, he told the Weiser Signal American.

 “They essentially have a 60-day grace period,” he said. “The ordinance does not address anything beyond that.”

 Enforcement lands on the shoulders of Weiser Municipal Airport Manager Jim Metzger. The aircraft in question has since been removed.

May 26

Wolverines win first 3A State baseball title 

 In a history-making performance, the Weiser High School baseball team walked away with a three-game sweep and a state 3A championship title Saturday in Fruitland.

 The Wolverines entered the state tournament on Thursday, drawing undefeated Marsh Valley, the No. 1 team in Idaho.

 Weiser felt the pressure, but rose to the challenge, beating Marsh Valley 12-10,  Kimberly 8-2, and Fruitland 9-2.

 Coach Bowe von Brethorst was excited:

 “This was an amazing group of young men who just dug in and got the job done,” he beamed. “I am so proud of how hard they worked: their dedication and their ability to move from one play to the next. They and all of the coaches are an amazing team and family.” It is the first state championship in Weiser High School baseball history.

 Weiser came close in 2019 when the team won the consolation championship. With the 2020 season cancelled, the Wolverines were ready to resume play in 2021.

 The 2021 Wolverine baseball team made history and had an amazing season filled with success. Saturday was definitely a great day to be a Wolverine!

June 2

Weiser faces housing demands, Part I

 Buying a home is getting tougher by the day due to a lack of inventory and a recent rise in demand, sources say.

 While the Boise housing market soars off the grid, people who can’t find a home in the east Valley are coming west to New Plymouth, Fruitland, Payette and, now, Weiser.

 “It’s all supply and demand, and we do not have enough houses for how many people want to live here,” said Melanie Hickey of Two Rivers Real Estate Co. in Weiser. “Unfortunately, that’s driving up prices.”

 Those high prices, she said, are having a negative effect on the local working community, which is finding it next to impossible to buy locally, forcing many to search in other areas for a place to call home.

 Not only that, those who already have a place to live, and thought they were secure, are suddenly finding themselves scrambling for a suitable place to relocate.

 Hickey, who also manages about 100 rental properties, said property owners are taking advantage of a warming market.

 “Many of my home owners are selling, so not only do we have a housing crisis on the purchase side, but we seriously have a housing crisis on the rental side, as well,” she said. “I feel that, weekly, I’m having to tell renters that their home owners are putting their home on the market, and you can’t fault them for wanting to take advantage. It takes many years of $700 per month for them to make $300,000.”

 Nonetheless, housing demand is pushing some people out into the streets.

 “I’ve had people in my office crying because for the first time in their life, in our area, they are, kind of, feeling a sense of complete helplessness and almost potentially facing homelessness,” said Hickey, who has been a real estate agent in Weiser for 15 years.

 Hickey moved to the area in 2006, back when people could get into a home for $60,000 to $75,000, she said.

 Cash or Loan?

 Cash is king, as they say, and buying a home in Weiser is further complicated by cash deals that are almost always accepted above offers made under traditional financing options.

 “I just ran a market analysis for a client and she asked me specifically of all these homes that sold, what type of financing were they, and out of seven offers, six of them were cash,” Hickey said.

 People attempting to buy with VA (Veterans Administration) or FHA (Federal Housing Adminis-

tration) loans, where the appraiser may have health and safety issues, or restrictions with the purchase of the home, are coming up short, she added.

 “They are getting beaten out almost every single time by a cash or a conventional buyer,” she said. “We are seeing buyers waving inspections, putting themselves ahead in cases where there are multiple offers way over asking price.

June 9

Weiser faces housing demands, Part II

The Migration

 So, why are people coming to Weiser?

 The answer seems to lie, at least in part, in what is happening in Boise where, for example, homes in a southwest Boise neighborhood sold for around $67,000 in the late 1970s, according to one homeowner who said those same 2,000-square-foot houses are now selling for around $530,000.

 Just four years ago, buyers were paying between $267,000 to $325,000 for them. Many of the purchases today are cash deals involving out-of-state buyers who can sell high and are left with plenty of cash to put down on a home in Boise, according to local sources.

 In many cases, a single home can receive as many as 30 offers, after only hours on the market, triggering a bidding war that often results in a sale as much as $30,000 over the original asking price.

 Cash is an easy deal for real estate agents and means no mortgage for buyers. The influx of transplants has caused developers to build as fast as they can, on every available piece of ground, but inventory in Ada and Canyon counties is still behind the curve, according to a local roofing contractor who wished to remain anonymous.

 And, in the opinion of some, the lifestyle that once attracted people to Boise in the first place seems to be disappearing.

 “I think that they are feeling Boise and Meridian are going to be a lot of what they just came from and so they start coming out to these more rural areas and they are feeling that appeal in the small town atmosphere that we have here in Weiser,” Hickey explained.

 Although demand for housing in Weiser is rising, it’s nothing compared to other areas where new development has been skyrocketing for several years.

 “Weiser always maintains a little bit of a protectiveness from that growth because we are just that additional 20 minutes from the freeway where things are growing up really fast,” Hickey said. “In New Plymouth, Fruitland, and Payette, I mean, they are just building like crazy.”

 Hickey, who also serves on the Weiser Economic Development Task Force, said Weiser needs to grow, too.

 “We do need to build,” she said. “Our main goal on the task force is to figure out how to get developers here.”

June 16

Hospital breaks ground for expansion

 With shovels in hand and hardhats in place, Weiser Memorial Hospital administrators and members of the design and construction team broke ground on Monday, June 14 in a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new $3.5 million, 5,000-square foot expansion.

 The expansion, to be built on the west side of the hospital, will enhance the hospital’s capabilities to handle people with  infectious diseases, which became a high priority during the recent pandemic.

 “We will have two complete isolation rooms, with an ante room so that patients that do have an infectious disease can be properly taken care of and protect staff at the same time, and allow us to keep them here when appropriate,” said Weiser Memorial CEO Steve Hale. “And then, we’re adding four additional medical beds.”

 During the height of the pandemic, hospitals in the Treasure Valley were not certain they would be able to accept Weiser patients if their own rooms continued filling, forcing hospital administrators to come up with a plan for the $3.5 million in CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funds Weiser Memorial received from the federal government.

 “Part of the consideration with the whole pandemic planning was to be able to survive on our own if need be ... when the big systems get overloaded,” Hale said. “This build will both meet the requirements of the CARES money, so we are being good stewards of those monies, and fall in line with our master facilities plan.”

 “It is truly reflective of our mission of saving lives, improving health and building community,” he added.