20 Years Ago:
news from March/April 1980 issues of the
Idaho Mountain Express
Pete Lane dies
Pete Lane, a lifelong Wood River Valley resident and one of
the ski industrys most respected figures, died of a heart attack March 15, 1980.
Lane, who devised the concept of the Sun Valley Ski Education
Foundation, died on his 60th birthday during the spring ski industry trade show at Las
Vegas, Nev.
He was one of the strongest links between Ketchums early days
as the nations sheep capital and its present-day status as a world-renowned ski
area.
Pete Lane was born John Crandall Lane on March 15, 1920 to Adeline
and Jack Lane. The elder Lanes were part of the massive sheep industry which supported the
Wood River Valley during the early 1900s.
Jack Lanes store, located at the central intersection of
Ketchums Main Street (the current Starbucks location), was the social and economic
headquarters of the area.
When Austrian Count Felix Schaffgotsch came to Ketchumlooking
for the perfect ski area for Union Pacific chairman Averell HarrimanJack is reputed
to have warned his neighbors to help the Austrian, but not to cash any of his checks.
Pete Lane grew up in that store, attending grade school in Ketchum
and high school in Twin Falls, where his parents spent part of their winters. He studied
at the University of Idaho and eventually graduated from UCLA in 1941. Two years later
Pete earned his masters from the Harvard School of Business Administration in 1943, then
went overseas during World War II for a stint with the Army Quartermaster Corps.
After the war, Pete came home to Ketchum and took over operation of
the ski shop that his father had opened to serve the fledgling ski tourist industry in Sun
Valley in 1937.
Working with designers and manufacturers, Pete was instrumental in
bringing about many improvements in ski boots, skis and ski apparel. The store on the Sun
Valley Mall that bears his name, called Pete Lanes, became one of the best known and
most respected in the industry.
Petes skills with a stopwatch as a timer for Sun Valley Ski
Club races led to a position in the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, where he
provided hand-timing that closely matched the results of the electrical timers coming into
use.
While working as a race organizer, Pete devised the idea of the
SVSEF, the non-profit educational endeavor which provides funding for the junior ski
racing programs in Blaine County.
He left active race work only after suffering severe frostbite to his
hands during one of the races on Baldya condition which plagued him afterwards
whenever the temperatures dropped below freezing.
Bike path plans
Prompted by increasing public demand, rising fuel costs and available
funds, the Blaine County Recreation District is ready to build its long-awaited
Ketchum-to-Hailey bicycle path.
Although the Rec District commission has mapped out a proposed path,
Big Wood River crossings and some of the easements have yet to be determined.
Chairman Butch Harper said the Rec District would like to implement
the entire bike path project in three phases. Rec District board member Bob Rosso outlined
proposed routes for sections of the 11-mile path.
Harper said the path would be between six- and eight-feet wide, and
cost between $18,000 and $20,000 per mile.
Sheriff candidates
There are three candidates for the position of Blaine County Sheriff.
Incumbent Orville Drexler announced he will run for his fifth term of
office, as a Democrat. Hell receive a challenge in the May primary from Democrat Ray
Wheeler, who has served in both the Ketchum police department and county sheriffs
department.
Ketchum police chief Dennis Haynes has already announced he will run
as a Republican.
Organized crime here?
Rep. Tom Stivers (R-Twin Falls) claimed that organized crime is
moving into the Sun Valley area. He compared Sun Valley to Las Vegas 25 to 30 years ago
when organized crime began to locate there.
Stivers made his comments while speaking on a bill which will
establish a special magistrate court inquiry system in Idaho.
Elaborating, Stivers said that over the past two years, testimony by
state law enforcement officials before legislative committees had indicated there is a
drug pipeline into Sun Valley that begins in Mexico.
Asked if organized crime is moving into Sun Valley, Blaine County
Prosecutor Keith Roark said the traditional environments for organized crime dont
exist here. Those environments commonly include numbers games and small business
protection rackets, he said.
However, Roark speculated that a lot of money from illicit sources
had been invested in the Sun Valley area real estate market. Real estate is a favored
laundering device for that kind of money, Roark said. Pressures on the local real estate
market may stem from this investment of illicit money, he added.
The building slowdown
The outlook is bleak for the Sun Valley areas 1980 building
season because of a severe slowdown in the construction industry.
A money crunch in financial markets and high interest rates are
responsible. Interest rates are up to 16%, according to Tom Monge of Fort Worth Mortgage
Co., and builders must hand over about five percentage points right off the top just to
get a loan.
Idaho Homebuilders Association president Chuck Grubb of Hailey said
the Sun Valley area will fare better than other parts of the Gem State. The Weyyakin,
Bluff and Sagehill projects, plus a number of custom homes, will keep people going, Grubb
predicted. Builders are resourceful people, he added. "Theyre used to the
roller coaster," he said.
Out-of-town subcontractors are already coming to Sun Valley in hopes
theyll find work here, said Anderson Lumber manager Rick Davis. He predicted these
newcomers would give the locals some stiff competition this summer.
Bellevue election results
A surprise write-in campaign in Bellevue gave Claude Ballard the
mayors seat.
Bellevue Elementary School principal Ballard breezed ahead of two
opponents with 73 votes. Candidates Richard Drake and Cliff Noxon split the remaining
votes almost evenly, with 33 and 30 votes.
"I really wasnt interested in it, to tell you the
truth," said Ballard, who was Bellevue mayor for a year in 1970. However, friends
convinced Ballard that pressing city issues like growth and a city sewer system demanded
that he run. So, he finally agreed to a write-in campaign.
In the race for three alderman seats, incumbent Glenn Stelma swept
the field with 108 votes, the largest vote tallied for any candidate.
Jim Burk, who gave up the mayors post to run for alderman,
captured his seat with 74 votes.
The winner of the third alderman seat was decided by a coin flip.
Since incumbents Betty Vert and George McKay tied in the final count
with 68 votes, they flipped a coin to determine the winner. Vert called "tails,"
and tails it was.
Unsuccessful alderman candidates were Patrick Sigglin with 49 votes
and John Umek with 38.
Override amount revealed
Admitting that the school district can only look forward to lurching
from crisis to crisis trying to hold together a minimum education system, the Blaine
County School Board voted to ask patrons for a $650,000 override.
The extra funds would allow a 10.2% increase over last years
school budgeta budget that included a $400,000 override.
School superintendent Dick Jones said that, without the override, the
district would lose all athletic and extracurricular programs. The teaching staff would be
cut by eight. All but two elementary library aides would be cut. School supplies would be
cut from $62,000 to $26,000, and the budget for new textbooks would be reduced from
$35,000 to $5,000.
Jones explained that there was no padding in the proposed $3.1
million budget. Increased revenues are needed to cover, among other items, an estimated
27% increase in utility costs. Rising oil prices will add $30,000 to the current fuel
budget of $65,000, Jones said.