Out of the past: Idaho murder victim’s body found near North Bend; Wayward Thriftway apricot lawsuit gets settled for $32,500

The following stories happened this week, 25 and 50 years ago, as reported in the Snoqualmie Valley Record. From the Record’s archives:

Thursday, Feb. 11, 1993

• A week of furious activity surrounding the Meadowbrook Farm proposal ended Monday night when the North Bend City Council rejected the combined development and preservation project by a unanimous vote. The proposal drew praise from both proponents and detractors for attempting to merge business and community interests by preserving more than 400 acres of the historic farm that separates North Bend and Snoqualmie. But a perception that the project was being pushed through without full consideration of its long-term impacts sounded its death knell.

• A 17- or 18-year-old youth’s body was found under some brush just off Edgewick Road in North Bend on Feb. 3. A Nampa, Idaho, woman, who said she witnessed the slaying went to Nampa police and told them where to find the body, according to Rich Chubb, King County Police spokesperson. According to Chubb, the murder occurred last July 20 or 21 and the suspect is currently in custody in Idaho, as is the woman who witnessed the crime.

• Starting this spring, phone calls from the Snoqualmie Valley around the Eastside will be local rather than long-distance calls. The change, scheduled for implementation March 20, will mean a drop in long-distance bills for many residents and businesses in North Bend, Carnation and Fall City. Calls to Issaquah, Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond will be included in local phone bills but monthly rates will also increase.

Thursday, Feb. 8, 1968

• Ronald J. Johnson of North Bend will be posthumously awarded the Bronze Star medal in a ceremony at Fort Lawton Thursday. Johnson, a Private First Class in the Army, died in Vietnam last August. His award will be for “outstanding meritorious service in Vietnam.” His parents, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Johnson, will accept the award in behalf of their son from Colonel John W. Barber, Deputy Post Commander.

• A wayward apricot on the sidewalk in front of the North Bend Thriftway store recently resulted in a $32,500 verdict in favor of an elderly woman who stepped on the apricot, fell and broke her hip. The judgment was given by a jury recently in the court of Judge Frank Price, King County Superior Court. Mrs. Helen Morton of Phoenix, Ariz., brought the suit following her accident while on a visit here in July, 1966.