We don’t usually cover news outside of Burley, but I felt that this was a very important story due to the amount of people in our area who have friends and family in Hawaii, California, Samoa and other pacific regions that could be effected. I am including a Live video feed of what is currently taking place.

Webcam chat at Ustream

Rupert

Evelyn Mae Stevens Dunn, 97, of Rupert, passed away Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010, at Wynwood of Twin Falls, with her three children at her bedside.

Evelyn was born in Hillsboro, Oregon, on Sept. 3, 1912.  She was the oldest of six children born to Fred and Stella Bolby Stevens.  Her family moved to Acequia when she was four years old.  Her father had purchased the Acequia Store and the family lived in Acequia for about three years before trading the store for a farm just north of town.

Following graduation from Acequia High School in 1930, Evelyn went to the State Normal School in Albion, where she received a “Lifetime Certificate” after two years.  She later earned a degree in elementary education from Idaho State University in Pocatello, by going to summer school and taking extension classes.  Her first teaching job was in the old rock school at Pioneer.  Her teaching salary was $85.00 a month for nine months.  The next year it went up to $90.00.

Evelyn married H. Edward Dunn in 1934, in the Rupert Christian Church parsonage.  After they were married, they took over the farm of her parents and lived there until 1962, when they moved to Rupert.  Evelyn spent most of her childhood and many of her married years in the same house on the same farm near Acequia.

Evelyn stopped teaching after she was married and spent her time raising three children and working at home, but started teaching again in 1955, when her youngest child started to school. She taught for eight years in Acequia, followed by a time at Pershing Elementary and Washington Junior High School. She completed her teaching career at East Minico Junior High School and retired in 1977.

She was active in Delta Kappa Gamma, the Senior Center and the church where she was active in Christian education and played the organ for 15 years.  Following retirement, she and Ed took several trips with the Senior Citizens.

Evelyn was a woman of faith and passed that on through her teaching and her example.  She valued her family, her friends and her church.

She is survived by her daughters, Carol  Newcomb (Russell) of Twin Falls, and Kathy Bowles (Gary) of Boise; and a son, Larry Dunn (Debra) of Fort Collins, Colorado.  She also has ten grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward; baby daughter, Edna Mae; three brothers, James, Bill and Bertie; and two sisters, Dorothy and Betty Ann.

The family thanks the staff at Wynwood of Twin Falls and the team from Idaho Home Health and Hospice for their loving care of our mother.

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at the First Christian Praise Chapel, 1110 8th St., in Rupert, where friends and family may call one hour prior to the service.  Burial will be in the Rupert Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be given to the First Christian Praise Chapel in Rupert, or the Church of the Nazarene in Twin Falls.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Rasmussen Funeral Home of Burley.

Burley

Arthella Udy “Tel” Warren, age 84, of Burley, passed away Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, of age related causes.

Tel was born April 1, 1925. in Elba, Idaho.  She was the daughter of Lot Smith Udy and Etta Eveline Rich Udy.  Tel graduated from Raft River High School in 1943.  In 1944, she married John Luther Warren in Burley.  John and Tel worked at various jobs and in January 1958, they purchased Luther Warren Lumber and created Stars Ferry Building Supplies, west of Burley, where she worked until her death.

Tel had a wonderful life and immensely enjoyed all her family and friends.

She is survived by her children, David (Sandie) Warren of Burley, Lois (Tom) Couch of Twin Falls, Earl (Nancy) Warren, and Merle (Jeanette) Warren of Burley; her sisters, Josie Speirs of Oakley, and Loleta May Merrill of Albion; a brother-in-law, Eugene Price of Burley; three sisters-in-law, Edith Osterhout of Declo, Etta (Gene) Wright, and Pauline Watson of Burley; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and a longtime friend, Larry Maier of Burley.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, John, who died in July 1975; two brothers, Darhl and Lyle Udy; two sisters, Norma Bedke and Pat Hayden; and a grandson, Rocky Bettazza.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Star LDS Church, 100 S. 200 W. of Burley, with Bishop Kirk N. Carpenter officiating.  Burial will be in Gem Memorial Gardens.

Friends may call from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday at Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the church.

The family suggests memorials be made in her name to Helping Hands Christian Outreach or to a charity of choice.

Just a quick reminder that the Burley High School Play Issun Boshi is hitting the Stage tonight and for the rest of the week. You can read more about Burley HIgh’s Issun Boshi Here

Mike Ramsey

Negotiating a 4-Way stop intersection in Burley, Idaho, can be risky business. After too many instances of  barely escaping with my vehicle and my life intact  while trying to pass through the intersection of Highland and 16^th Streets, I began to observe driver behavior at this intersection in particular, and Burley in general. The problem which I have observed most often – averaging by count, four times out of five – is that the person who is suddenly propelling his or her vehicle through this intersection without any deference to drivers who have the right of way is – you guessed it – talking on a cell phone. And after further observation at other intersections controlled by stop lights, I have come to the conclusion that no one is truly safe driving in this town unless they have passed a course in defensive driving. Continue Reading

Silhouette of a local snowboarder taking in the view.

This week I am excited to show off an amazing photo from Cindy Singleton. She is great photographer and does a lot of work on istockphoto (check her out at http://www.istockphoto.com/daydreamsgirl), and has a personal site coming out soon. You will be seeing a lot more of her work over the coming months, and I am very glad to have her hop aboard the “Go sites”. As a side note, Cindy took our wedding day pictures and they made even me look good which is a very hard thing to do.

Mike Ramsey

Wanna know something sweet?  White Satin Sugar, sold in our local grocery stores, is grown right here in the Magic Valley!  The Cassia County Sugarbeet Growers Association throws a banquet each year and recognizes the top beet-growers in our area, from rookie 4-H members to successful farmers.  This year’s top growers in the county were Oakley Idaho Crops, Darrington Farms Inc. (Shane and Robert Darrington), and Bart Bowers.  The board also recognized the top growers of each station:  Bart Bowers and Fred & Alan Hawker for Beetville, Moo View Cow Palace and Scott Turpin for Elcock, Darrington Farms Inc. and Goldenview Inc. for Hatch, Scott Beck and Craig Larson for Hobson, Harper Family Partnership for Idahome, Oakley Idaho Crops and Rick Wrigley for Kenyon, and Flying W Farms Inc. and Call Farms for Yale.  Special Awards were presented to Bob Beck, who retired after 15 years of service on the board.  Tom Garrard, who served on the Cassia County Board, Snake River Board, and Executive National Sugarbeet Board, was recognized for his distinguished service as a champion for the sugar industry.

Everyone who attended the banquet got the opportunity to participate in a raffle sponsored by: ACH Seeds, Adams Petroleum, Agriservice, AMI, Betaseed, Bio Flora, Christiansen Implement, Crop Production Services, Farm Credit, Hilleshog, Holly Hybrids, Landview, Pioneer Equipment, Simplot Soil Builders, Tires West, and Zions Bank.

4-H and FFA project winners were presented a plaque and cash award from the Cassia County Sugarbeet Growers, and an additional cash award from ACH Seeds.  First place winners received a name-embroidered coat from Butte Irrigation.  Butte Irrigation has donated these coats for over 15 years, and they are most coveted by young beet-growers!  Thanks Brice and Dale at Butte!

The Cassia County Sugarbeet Growers Association Board consists of Scott Searle, Scott Beck, Alan Harper, Shane Beck, Ken Turpin, Mike Wheeler, and newly elected Ryan Samples.

Junior Division                                                                            Intermediate Division                                                     FFA Division                                                                                                                        Senior Division (not pictured)

1st Place: Briana Beck                                                               1st Place: Brae Beck                                                           1st Place: Nate Garner                                                                                                     1st Place: Alli Webb

2nd Place: Brandon Harper (not pictured)                     2nd Place: Luci Garner                                                     2nd Place: Kyle Darrington (not pictured)                                                             2nd Place: Rebeccah Spear

3rd Place: Christopher Harper (not pictured)               3rd Place: Justin Montoya                                             3rd Place: Dallin and Jordan Darrington (tie)                                                        3rd Place: Saedee Moss

Top Record Book: Hailey Darrington                           Rookies of the Year: Hannah Beck                                Top Field Presentation: Malorie Bowen

and Savannah Searle (tie)                               Sponsored by ACH Seeds

-Brae Beck

Wrestling districts was held at Minico High School today.  The matches began around 11 o’clock this morning and went clear into the evening.  Districts hosted 6 teams from around our area, including: Burley, Minico, Canyon Ridge, Jerome and several others.  Our Burley team took 15 of our finest boys.  After putting their bodies to the test they went head to head with some of the best from the area.  Seven of these said boys qualified to go to State.  Among these was 103-pounder Brandon Chesley, 119-pounder Seth Garza, 130-pounder Christian Parke, 140-pounder Jacob Lake, 160-pounder Adrian Quiroz, 171-pounder Ryan Lott, and our 289 heavy weight Able Delgado.  Needless to say that those in our little community are very proud of all of our boys!  When push comes to shove these boys definitely bring it and show others what the Cats are made of.

We are starting to build a pretty good team of contributors on Go Burley, the best place to get Burley, Idaho news. But, there is still so much room and so much that we can cover in our small town. I want to share with you a News site that I have been informed of in my dealings online. The site is called Parwich.org and covers the happenings in a small area for 500 people in Derbyshire, England.

This site is completely driven by local community members in order to have a source for free local news.  It is a way for individuals to give back to their community, and ultimately promote it to the rest of the world. Now, I know that we have a free weekly mailer in town that has a contributor section called the “Sound Off” but, that section doesn’t exactally do it’s part in promoting our area if you catch my drift. I am convinced that if GoBurley and future HyperLocal News sites in our Mini Cassia area become community driven, we will have the best news reporting in not only our area, but the entire state. In my opinon, news shouldn’t be a business model for profit as much as a group effort for a communty. It seems that the business model method is plagued by a hidden agenda in most cases. So, with this site, we have a very good opportunity to make a difference. With that in mind here is what I am looking for….

A Burley Area History Writer – I want to have a weekly section where an individual writes about the settlement of this area and what has happened since. This information is so important for our community to know and I have a feeling there are very few people who have been taught about it.

A Local Business Writer – I think there are some amazing businesses in our town. I would love to see owners interviewed and advice given about what has lead to success. Also, I think there should be some promotion of good deeds that our businessmen do. Another area is someone who would like to write about tips and struggles from their local business.

A Few Community Events Writers – Know I know there is a handful of people that don’t miss a library meeting, concert, church event, or anything else that happens in our area. It is time that your voice is heard and you have a place to write about your experiences here. Community Meeting attendances will triple if people only knew the cool stuff that is going on.

A Healthy Lifestyle Writer – This is more for me needing the information than anything else. I sit in front of a computer for up to 16 hours a day between my Local Search Marketing Company and a vast amount of other online projects. I need to heathly motivation and I am sure I am not alone. If you have a business that focuses on health, write for this blog and become known. I will probably use you!

There are more positions than this, but the above are a good start. I will be honest, there is no compensation with GoBurley.com other than knowing that you are making a difference, the plan is that a large amount of the ad dollars will be given to local schools since they are starting to help with the site, but I sure to hope to have some killer pizza parties for those who get involved on a regular basis.

I decided to start GoBurley because I knew it was the right thing to do. I have met a lot of people out there who have helped because of the same reason, and I know that we are only touching the tip of the iceberg. So, please contact me through email at goburley@gmail.com or the contact us link at the top of the page,  and let me know what you would be interested in contributing towards.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mike Ramsey

Talk about a lot of “talent on the stage” hitting Burley over this upcoming few weeks! This show is something that is seriously larger than life. When we were backstage for Joseph and the blah blah blah Dreamcoat, we were surrounding by these puppets that were towering 20 ft. above us. They really got me interested in what Mr. Call was doing with this upcoming production and with opening night right around the corner, it’s time to get the word out to the community so that you can show your support.

Burley High School Drama Department’s Children Production of Issun Boshi (“Little One Inch”) is the Japanese tale of Tom Thumb and opens February 23rd 2010.  Directed by Richard B. Call, the production will run Feb. 23, 24, 25, 26 in the KFAC at BHS.  Curtain time is 7:00PM for all performances with additional 1:00PM matinee performances for our local elementary schools on Feb. 23rd and 24th.

Continue Reading