The Meeker Herald — 100 years ago
• Undertaker Gourley isn’t doing any more than he ought to these days in the way of preparing people for the journey to the heavenly abode, but he is finding business in his side lines growing so it is necessary to enlarge his store room.
• As suggested by the Women’s Club of Meeker, will mean a better Meeker and a tourist’s delight. Every citizen is earnestly requested to cooperate with the Women’s Club in making Meeker a cleaner town. Your alleys and back fences are eyesores to your neighbors; clean them up, get a box for the old cans, have your ashes and garbage hauled away, cut the weeds and burn them, starve the fly, plant flowers and vines. Sunflowers will hide the unsightly fences and outbuildings and at the same time furnish seed for the birds. Put up a bird house and see that the cat doesn’t get the birds. It boosts Meeker. It keeps down infection and a great step towards cleanliness and good health will have been taken. Clean up.
• The governor has signed Senator Napier’s bill creating a state fish hatchery at Trappers Lake. This measure will insure to White River plenty of trout in the future.
• Manager Tom Cassidy of Oldlands was attending to business on the outside this week.
• Joe Oglesby, Frank Dunham and Charley Thomas were among the Meeker boys who enrolled for the Navy this week at Grand Junction. Several more coming up.
• Get your 1917 auto license, or the inspector will get you.
• Former Commissioner Otto Metzger mingled with town friends Saturday.
The Meeker Herald — 50 years ago
• The seniors of Meeker High School will be allowed to go to town during their unscheduled time the last five weeks of the school term. Each senior must sign a code of conduct obligating himself and to report any other senior who deliberately and flagrantly abuses the privilege.
• Clayton Carstens was elected president of the Meeker Lions Club this coming year, succeeding Ed Duffy, Meeker High School head football coach and assistant wrestling mentor. Carstens is manager of the local Independent Lumber Co.
• The practice of “dunking” the ball (which has been outlawed in high school and college basketball anyway) has resulted in bending the rim of the basketball hoop at the elementary basketball court for the third time this week. Principal Herb Oba asked the older boys to please not use the small basketball court.
• Mr. and Mrs. Les Crawford announced the birth of a son born April 17 at 5:27 p.m. in Pioneers Hospital. At birth he weighed 8 lbs. and 10 ozs.
The Meeker Herald — 25 years ago
• Management of the Meeker Herald, vested in two families since it was founded 107 years ago, changed hands with this issue. The new publisher, Sureva Towler, is a 20-year resident of Steamboat Springs.
• The Meeker Town Council voted to seek additional monies from the State to put into the ill-fated Sulphur Creek improvement project which is taking on the proportions of big government run amuck.
• Rio Blanco County Sales and Use Tax administrator Donna Weigand reported this past Monday that both sales and use tax revenues were up for the first three months of 1992, but a troublesome cloud is brewing that has the county commissioners concerned. During last fall’s audit of Chevron, U.S.A., Weigand uncovered several areas where she felt the county’s largest taxpayer owned even more money for projects where the county felt their 2 percent use tax was applicable. However, while Chevron appeared willing to pay the additional tax, apparently one or more of the partners they work with to operate the Rangely field conducted its own audit and balked at the use tax expenditures already paid to Rio Blanco County.
• Presenting $23 apiece to Benjamin and Jennifer Quinn last Wednesday at the elementary school was Meeker Policeman Mike Joos. The brother and sister found $46 in cash in a gutter at the west end of town in early March and rather than keeping it, turned it in to the Meeker police in hopes the owner would be able to recover it. After no one claimed the monies in the 30 days following, it was returned to the finders along with an Outstanding Person Award from the Meeker Police in recognition of the honesty displayed.
Rangely Times — 25 years ago
• Five students passed an important milestone on their way toward a private pilot’s license last week when they took the airplane up by themselves: Mike Eller, Bob Lanam, Wayne Blakely and Wes Yeager.
• Rangely TV viewers were treated to a community profile in color last Thursday on the 6 o’clock KUTV 2 News from Salt Lake City. A comprehensive coverage of the schools, college, hospital and Main Street on film, along with a complimentary resume of the town’s short history and future, will do much for its image in the territory covered by KUTV.
• Jim Allred, a six foot, red-haired senior, has lived in Rangely most of his life and was endowed with the ability to make people enjoy themselves in his presence. Cars and motorcycles and “telling stories” are Jim’s prime hobbies. Jim will enter BYU this fall and head for a career as an electrical engineer. He hopes to make much money after school. Underclassmen, heed Jim’s words. “Take hard classes, that way if you’re failing, you have a good reason to give your parents.”
Rangely Times — 25 years ago
• It was a change of guards—the old council went out and the newly-elected council came in and confronted two animal issues. What to do with the overabundance of prairie dogs in certain areas of town and then what about allowing pot-bellied pigs as pets within the town limits.
• The Last Chance restaurants in Rangely, Meeker and Delta were simultaneously raided by members of the INS and local police from each town last fall.
