Flashback: Mrs. Charlton to be in race; Driver charged after boy’s death; Fred Meyer approaches groundbreaking

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 19, 2024

100 Years Ago

March 27, 1924 — Mrs. Charlton to be in race

Mary V. Charlton, resident of the Powell Butte community, has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for state representative from the 21st district. Mrs. Charlton is now living in Salem, where her husband is employed as principal keeper in the state penitentiary.

She graduated from Monmouth Normal in 1885. She has taught 25 years in Oregon. She has attended almost every session of the legislature since 1897. She is a farmer, a taxpayer and has been a member of the W.C.T.U. (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) since the early ‘80s. She is the first person to bid for the Democratic nomination against J.A. Eastes of Bend.

75 Years Ago

March 24, 1949 — Driver charged after boy’s death

Pickup overturns; Dale Shobe killed

Everett Earl Wilson, 18, was arraigned before Judge C. L. Allen in Bend Wednesday afternoon and formally charged with negligent homicide in the death of Archie Dale Shobe, 13, who was killed when Wilson’s pickup truck overturned Saturday near the Redmond airport.

The youth will appear before Judge Allen Friday for a preliminary hearing on the charge. He was taken into custody Tuesday and is being held in the county jail.

Official action was taken against Wilson after a coroner’s inquest was held in Redmond Monday afternoon in the office of Thomas Bocke, deputy district attorney. Witnesses testifying at the inquest were Everett Wilson, the driver, and two passengers, Leonard Shobe, 17, brother of the victim, and Donald Baker, 15, who were both in the cab of the pickup with Wilson at the time the vehicle overturned.

The 13-year-old boy was kneeling on the board bed of the pickup, which had no sideboards or tailboard, the witnesses said. He hung on to the rear window frame of the cab, from which the glass had been broken and removed.

The fatal accident occurred about one-half mile east of Highway 97 on the blacktop road which leads from the highway, near Shoop and Schulze, south of Redmond, to the Redmond airport.

Conflicting testimony was given by the driver and by his two passengers about the events preceding the accident. Leonard Shobe and Donald Baker both told officials that Wilson used the steering wheel to flip the car back and forth in a zigzag from one side of the road to the other “just for the fun of it” and “to. scare Dale.” The two boys declared they each asked him to stop it but that the driver continued to zigzag the car.

50 Years Ago

March 27, 1974 — PGT files for gas pipeline

Pacific Gas Transmission Co. has again asked the U.S. Federal Power Commission for authority to build a 42-inch natural gas pipeline parallel to its existing 36-inch line from the Canadian border through Idaho, Washington and Oregon to California.

The new pipeline would permit PGT to import 1 billion, 200 million cubic feet per day of additional gas from Canada and the Alaskan Arctic.

The line would run just east of Redmond parallel to the pipeline that went into operation on Dec. 1, 1961, after two years under construction.

Redmond, likely, would again be headquarters for a construction crew.

PGT asked the Federal Power Commission for authority to build a line parallel to the existing one four years ago, but no action was ever taken by the commission.

A hearing has been scheduled in Washington, D.C., on the current request.

PGT’s application is a key element in the $8 billion Arctic Gas project, for which other applications were filed last week in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, PGT president Charles Pennypacker Smith said.

The Arctic Gas project is designed to transport natural gas by pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope and Canada’s Mackenzie Delta to consumers in the U.S. West Coast, Midwest and East Coast and in western and eastern Canada.

Arctic Gas is a consortium of 27 energy and transportation companies. A Canadian affiliate of PGT, Alberta Natural Gas Co., Ltd. is a member of the consortium.

In Alberta, the 48-inch pipeline would divide. One branch would tie into the Alberta-California pipeline system, of which PGT is a part. The other branch would carry Arctic gas to eastern Canadian and U.S. markets.

PGT’s proposal to build a 42-inch line next to its 36-inch “Big Yard” pipeline would permit the company to deliver a total of more than two billion cubic feet of gas daily to the California and Pacific Northwest markets.

The new 618-mile PGT line is planned for construction in stages over the next several years, with full volume flowing by 1982.

Engineers estimate the total cost of the parallel pipeline from the Canadian border to San Francisco Bay at more than $600 million, Smith said. The PGT segment is estimated to cost more than $400 million.

The project’s first stage is the proposed importation of 200 million cubic feet of additional gas from Canada, to begin as soon as U.S. government approvals can be obtained. Corresponding approvals must be obtained from the National Energy Board of Canada.

25 Years Ago

March 24, 1999 — Fred Meyer approaches groundbreaking

Groundbreaking for the planned Fred Meyer store at the old county fairgrounds could begin within the next two weeks, according to the Portland-based retailer.

“We’re hoping to get the site work started by the end of the month,” said Rob Boley, a Fred Meyer spokesman.

On Monday, a survey crew worked on the site between 11th Street and Canal Boulevard. And workers dug test pits to assess the soil depth and structure.

Fred Meyer purchased 20 acres of the old fairgrounds from Deschutes County in January for $1.8 million. That deal was completed nearly two years after the company put down $18,000 in earnest money.

Plans call for a 160,000-

square-foot store that would include groceries, food, housewares, clothing and other departments. The building will face north toward Highland Avenue.

The City of Redmond approved Fred Meyer’s site plan in November. Since then, the city and the company have been working out details about the store’s design and street access.

The city has vacated several street rights-of-way through the property. It has also worked with Fred Meyer to design an extension of Ninth Street that will run past the store and eventually connect with a planned extension of Sisters Avenue from the east.

The final bit of paperwork item remaining for Fred Meyer is to file a subdivision plat for the property, said Redmond Community Development Director Bob Quitmeier.

Once filed, he said approval usually takes a week to 10 days and is done by city planning staff.

“Other than that, we’re ready to issue the building permits,” Quitmeier said.

Boley said the company is still in the process of getting bids for some of the contractors. Work on the store’s foundation should begin sometime in April, he said.

The project will represent a total investment of about $18 million when finished, Boley said.

Fred Meyer hopes to open the store by Thanksgiving in time for the holidays.

“It’s been a long process. We’ve been working on it for a couple years,” Boley said.