Out of the Past: 04/22/2026

80 Years Ago

R.R. Grove, operator of Grove’s dry goods store, has gone east to visit relatives. He expects to be gone about a month. His son, Chester Grove, will operate the store in his father’s absence. 

To combat the serious rise in traffic deaths which started in the closing months of the war, city, county, and state police agencies of Washington will cooperate with the International Association of Chiefs of Police in their nationwide traffic safety check. The traffic check, which will include testing of brakes, lights, tires, windshield wipers, and horn, and an inspection of drivers licenses and registration certificate, will be applied to all cars stopped by officers for traffic violations or involved in accidents and, in addition, most local police departments will operate courtesy testing lanes. 

A lot of gravel is being put on the Spotted Road now – maybe we’ll have a good road next winter. The farmers in this vicinity are very busy with their spring work, hauling, fertilizer, clearing land, etc. 

40 Years Ago

The Deer Park float may be a thing of the past, and soon, if the float Association doesn’t get some help, the mother of the 1985 Miss Deer Park, Christie Lund, said last week. “The second stay of execution has been called. Will the third time of appeal be successful?” Beulah Lund, Deer Park, said. 

Cherie Graves and her husband, Weyland “Tim” Graves, are chagrined that they didn’t look over the expensive Elk area home they bought in the spring of 1984 before agreeing to buy it. Now, two years later, the couple are embroiled in a legal battle with the original owners, the real estate company that handled the sale, and the court in an effort to break the contract. 

The tuberculosis watch that gripped Deer Park since this winter is coming to an end, Spokane County Health District officials informed the Deer Park City Council last Wednesday. Dr. Mary Luther, director of the district’s personal health services, told the council in her annual report that 30 people of the 287 tested had positive results. While noting that this does not mean they have tuberculosis, Luther said 15 “close contacts” to TB victim Mike Harper were given medication as a preventative measure. 

20 Years Ago

Six years ago, Bud Bemis was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The disease has left the Loon Lake resident fatigued and eventually had him almost totally confined to a wheelchair. He, however, still considers himself “pretty much self-sufficient.” Bemins, who sat around his house for a long time after hearing the devastating news, eventually rediscovered his competitive spirit after a trip to Seattle. Today he is preparing for the Wheelchair Olympics later this year in Anchorage, Alaska. 

For area motorists, it is not a question of if, but of when. For diesel motorists, it’s become a question of how much. It is a foregone conclusion that $3 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline will be the norm in the next couple of weeks, if not the next couple of days. 

City residents who don’t pay their garbage bill may find themselves thirsty under a plan up for consideration by the Deer Park City Council. Prodded by city councilwoman Ella Harper, the city staff will look at a plan considered by former Mayor Michael Wolfe to have the quarterly garbage payment become part of the city’s utility bill. If approved, the non-payment of the garbage bill would mean the resident’s water would be shut off.