Wednesday, Jume 15, 2005 Established 1865 VOLUME 21, NUMBER 17 HOMEDALE, OWYHEE COUNTY, IDAHO SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS Highway City of Marsing District to attempt second elections open water bond levy Council members of the City anticipated on the proposed bonds Positions in the Gem and of Marsing will try to get voters is 4.5 percent per annum and Homedale Highway District will to pass a second bond levy this the range of anticipated rates is be up for election and declarations year after the first one failed from 4 percent to 10 percent. of candidacy for the office of in January. The city has been The total amount to be repaid commissioner must be fi led by asking voters to pass a bond so it over the life of the bonds with June 24. The election will be held can install improvements to the principal and interest is estimated on August 2. city’s water system. In February at $3,131,400. In the Gem Highway District, the council asked voters to pass a In February, Mayor Don the district one commissioner’s $1.25 million bond, which failed Osterhoudt said that the city seat will be up for election, by a 76-42 vote. Now city offi cials would have to “bandaid” which is North of Highway 55. are asking voters to pass a $1.7 deteriorating water lines. He said In Homedale, sub-district 2’s seat million bond. the whole project was estimated will be open, which is currently The election will be held on at $2.5 million, but with grants being held by Fred Demshar. August 2 and poles will be open the original bond could be kept No one could be reached at Gem from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The lower. He said not that the fi rst Highway District for comment. bond is expected to be used bond failed, an increase would Declarations must be filed for construction, installation of –– to page 5 no later than 5 p.m. on June 24 improvements and betterments at the district offi ce in Marsing to the city’s domestic water Taxes due located at 1016 Main Street and system. It will include a new at the district offi ce in Homedale well, treatment facilities, booster Monday at 102 East Colorado Avenue. “Don’t make me go” station, water storage tank and The second half of the 2004 property taxes are due Monday, Individuals who run as a write-in Haley Brisbin tries to talk her young sheep into entering a weight stand by power and distribution June 20 in the county treasurer’s candidate must fi le a declaration chute during the fi rst weigh-in for this year’s fair. Weigh-in clinics improvements together with offi ce. Taxes must be post- of intent no later than 5 p.m. on were held by the Owyhee County Extension offi ce in Grand View related improvements and costs. th marked June 20 for taxpayers to July 8 . and Murphy on Friday and in Homedale on Saturday morning. Thursday, Marsing City Clerk Janice Bicandi said the council keep from being charged a one has not approved any increases percent per month delinquency in the water fees that will pertain fee from January 1. IInsidenside Police target Johnstone to the upcoming bond. She said County Treasurer Barbra the council did approve an $18 Wright said the 2005 property per home increase in January, assessments have also been Road for speeders but she said if the bond passes an mailed out and every property Homedale, additional increase in fees is not owner in the county should have Rimrock and loud music expected. theirs by now. She said to be able The city has an existing to fi le an appeal on the assess- honor rolls Homedale Police Chief Jeff Eidemiller told the city council during a indebtedness in the amount ments, property owners must meeting last week that a speed saturation had been done on Johnstone of $653,961. The interest rate fi le the appeal by June 27. page 9 Road at the city limits and he found that the majority of the people traveling the roadway were following within the law. Because of the complaints about loud music in vehicles, Eidemiller has instructed his Homedale offi cers to have zero tolerance on loud music. During an earlier meeting last month, a resident in the area told the athletes qualify council that speeding and loud music was still a problem on Johnstone Road and she wanted to see something done about it. Because of the for junior finals residential concern, Eidemiller said he would implement a two-phase evaluation process to determine speed and noise conditions. rodeo “For seven days the offi cers concealed their vehicles and their only purpose was to record the speeds of the drivers for a specifi c amount page 11 of time, and since the complaint alleged that the problems were at all times of the day and late evening, the offi cer went at different times in three shifts,” Eidemiller said in a letter to the council. “The offi cers Obituaries were instructed to maintain their positions unless the driver’s actions page 6 were grossly in violation of the speed limit. The purpose was to allow for a static baseline.” Classifieds Eidemiller told the council that a total of 362 vehicles were checked pages 18- 19 for speed and with the exception of a few, even with the offi cers con- Bridge out cealed, the drivers were observant and mindful of the posted speed. The bridge in "downtown" Jarbidge is closed, due to recent He said the majority of the vehicles checked were clocked at traveling damage from high waters. Local residents claim that the politics between 25 and 35 miles per hour. The average speed determined was between the county and the Forest Service is delaying repairs. –– to page 5 Page 2 Wednesday, Jume 15, 2005 Marsing woman will do prison time for offi cer's injuries A Marsing woman, guilty of injuring a sheriff’s deputy in 2002 will now spend at least three years in a state prison and could spend as much as fi ve years behind bars. Treasure Kester was arrested in October 2002 for aggravated battery on an offi cer after she was ac- cused of dragging then-sheriff’s deputy Don Collingwood nearly 300 feet from the window of her vehicle. Owyhee County Prosecutor Matthew Faulks said last week that Kester had two probation violations including one for burglary and one for failing to follow the rules of her probation on the original conviction. In 2003, Kester pled guilty to aggravated assault, amended by then- prosecutor Ed Yarbrough from aggravated battery. Yarbrough said at the time that Kester was sentenced to the fi ve years. Faulks said since she has two probation violations, now she will spend the original time in jail that was imposed in 2003. Off road trails Collingwood received severe bruising to his upper left arm when Signs are posted around Hemmingway Butte between Marsing and Murphy instructing off road vehicle it became caught in the driver’s window of Kester’s vehicle. The riders where they can ride and where they can not ride, but with increased populations, the riding spot deputy was attempting to remove Kester from her vehicle on an arrest is overwhelmed with riders on most weekends and county commissioners say no one is enforcing the warrant when she attempted to fl ee the scene. The quick thinking of regulations of the area and they have formed a task force to address ongoing issues. a passerby, who turned her car in front of Kester forced her to stop. Kester dragged Collingwood across Highway 95 at the intersection of Industrial Road. “She has been sent to the penitentiary,” Faulks said. “She has fi led County names OHV task force for a rule 35, to reconsider the sentence, so there will be the matter of if Owyhee County Commission- private property rights, and for the Board of Commissioners may the sentencing is changed. She apparently did not fi nish her probation. ers answered the plea for assis- recreation uses for a wide variety better assist the BLM in preventing She had a program in place to go and participate in a substance abuse tance in an ongoing off highway of recreation purposes, and often and resolving confl icts between program in Seattle. She basically ended up writing on her application vehicle use problem by enforcing the interests in protecting private private landowners, recreation to be denied so she could do a different program, but the court ordered a task force to address the issues of property rights and in pursuing users and federal management this program. nearly everyone involved. The task access for recreation uses are in requirements, and through which “All the things were in place for her and funding was even set aside force will include representatives confl ict.” the position of confl icting users by the state for her to participate in this program. She effectively foiled from the county, private property Because of the continued may be aired, and through which that particular program. She tested positive for having alcohol in her owners, law enforcement, govern- use, the commissioners created possible mediation of confl ict is- system. She never made payments to her fi ne obligations or did not mental representatives and special the Owyhee County Recreation sues may be accomplished,” the make enough of them. Those were the big things.” interest groups.