Good Old Days 12-31-15

Compiled By the Sun-Telegraph Staff

These stories from the past first appeared in The Sidney Telegraph. Original writing is preserved, though some stories were shortened for space reasons.

50 YEARS AGO

Dec. 31, 1965

'Wheatbelt Crew Saved Life of Bridgeport Man'

Quick action on the part of a crew of employees of the Wheatbelt Public Power District was credited this morning with saving the life of an elderly Bridgeport man, Tom Griffiths, about 65.

The crew composed of Marvin Boehmer, Ken Humphrey and Floyd Burdick were trimming trees in the vicinity of Bridgeport and Mr. Griffiths was looking on.When he fell unconscious to the ground the men used "mouth to mouth" resuscitation and kept his breathing tract clear, at the same time summoning the highway patrol by radio.

Mr. Griffiths, the father of W.L. Griffiths of Sidney, is hospitalized in Bridgeport. At noon, we was still unconscious, in an oxygen tent but alive. The doctor stated that he was unable to tell what happened, and until he is conscious it will be hard to determine the cause, whether it was a coronary attack or a stroke. The doctor also stated that what the Wheatbelt men did was the correct thing to do and they could be credited with his being alive when he arrived.

40 YEARS AGO

Dec. 26, 1975

'Agriculture 1975: bad weather, good crops, bad prices'

Bad weather, good crops and bad prices were the story for Nebraska agriculture in 1975.

Just as it looked like winter was over, and the calving season was under way, a March blizzard devastated the Great Plains. Cattle losses were tremendous.

The weather did not let up as Nebraska faced its second consecutive summer of drought. But rains came in time to save most of the corn crop. Production was at near record levels.

Then a less natural disaster hit farmers. Shipments of grain to the Soviet Union were embargoed and prices began to slip away.

After the Ford Administration was assured of a good crop, some foreign grain sales were arranged, but prices did not shoot upward.

Some farmers blame AFL-CIO president George Meany for the delay in foreign sales, but for some farmers, the embargo was a test of Republican loyalties.

Hog prices reached record levels in 1975, although the peak did not last long.

Cattlemen could come to remember 1975 as the first of the really bad years. Although they continued to take a beating on prices, conditions were a bit better and ranchers farmers began gearing up for increased production.

The new year brought little relief to the cattle men, though. In early January American Beef Packers, Inc., filed for limited bankruptcy with roughly $20 million in outstanding checks. Charges are still pending against ABP president Frank West, although a plan has been worked out to repay the creditors.

And 1975 saw in increase in so-called check off programs designed to tax farmers for marketing promotions.

Soybean farmers joined wheat farmers in the checkoff business.

The year also saw an aflatoxin scare. Grain shipments ground to a half as reports circulated of elevators finding cancer-causing substances in grain.

However, researchers found the level of aflatoxin was very low in most cases and the scare was gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

25 YEARS AGO

Dec. 27, 1990

'Americans Now Total 249,632,692'

The Census Bureau said Wednesday there are 249,632,692 of us in the United States, an increase of 10.2 percent in a decade.

California remained the largest state, with 29,839,250 people. Wyoming was the smallest, with 455,975 people, according to the results of the once-a-decade census.

The population figures also will be used to adjust representation in the House by each state. A total of 19 House seats will be shifted as a result of the census. Eight states, mostly in the Sun Belt, will gain representation, and 13 will lose representation.

California will gain seven seats, giving it 52 lawmakers in the 435-member House. Florida will gain four; Texas, three; and Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, one seat each.

New York will lose 3 seats; Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, two seats each; and Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey and West Virginia, one seat each.

The information was the first released from a controversy-filled census in which many cities complained their populations had been under counted. The Census Bureau will report in greater detail beginning next year not only about how many Americans there are, but also how old they are, what their ancestry is and how they live.

The official count in the 1980 census was 226,504,825.

10 YEARS AGO

Dec. 27, 2005

'Teachers, parents to listen and learn'

Sidney Public Schools teachers and Sidney parents listen and learn from guest speaker Murray Banks Jan. 3.

Banks is a long-time educator, coach and world-champion athlete. He will speak during two separate sessions Jan. 3, one for teachers and one for parents. He has taught at every school level from kindergarten to college in city and rural areas and coached elementary, middle school and varsity sports.

Many of his skills will be personal as well as professional. He and his wife Janie have been married 36 years and raised two sons. They currently live in Vermont and both their sons live in Colorado.

Banks will speak to the educators about "Performance Under Pressure." Due to changes in the education system including No Child Left Behind legislation, new graduation requirements and state standards, differentiated instruction and other mandates and initiatives, teachers are faced with improving test scores as compared with creativity and art.

The Murray's will share his "Lava Lamp Philosophy" during the teachers keynotes as well as inspiring to stay away from certain items.

Bank's parents session will present skills so parents can respond to their kids when they say: "this sucks," "why do we have to do this," "how come you won't let me go there," "why can't we watch television," "I don't have any homework," and "the other kids get to do it."

The presentation is aimed to be fun as well as motivational and will provide five skills for raising children to be positive, confident and healthy. Murray will give specific examples of things to say to and do with children.