Stories from Wednesday, May 25, 2011

After countless rehearsals and hundreds of performances, it all came down to one final concert. For Blake Olmstead, it became his swan song -- the end of a career spanning more than a quarter of a century. On Monday evening, he stood in front of the Mountain Home High School choir and led them one last time officially as their conductor...

The Mountain Home School District took another body blow to its troubled financial situation last week when voters rejected a five-year plant facilities levy request of $950,000 a year. The levy, which is used to maintain the district's buildings, had been approved by voters since the 1950s, failing only once before during that time...

Mark and Cheri Sauerwald of Mountain Home will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on May 31. Mark Sauerwald and Cheri Davis were married in 1986 at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. They have two children, Ashley Zaehringer of Kansas and Timothy Sauerwald of Mountain Home, and one grandchild...

Tana and Mark Dinnius of Mountain Home have announced the birth of a girl, Anabelle Jade Dinnius, on May 2, 2011, at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Boise. Anabelle weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. Grandparents are Tammy and Al Brandenburg of Mountain Home and Lori Craig and Joe Dinnius of Missouri...

Dear editor: The first of the Mayfield planned communities is entering the home stretch for either approval or disapproval by the Elmore County commissioners. Public comment so far has been overwhelmingly opposed to this project. What concerns me is the small numbers of Elmore county residents who are willing to get involved with this issue. If this planned community is approved and initiated there will be a significant and negative impact for all county residents, no matter where you reside...

Each week, the Mountain Home News tracks the price of gas locally so readers can monitor these changes. All figures are those stated on the indicated service station's reader boards. Special discounts available at some individual stations are not included in these listed prices. Readers should note that local retailers usually make only a few cents per gallon of gas sold. Most of the price hikes reflect the costs these stations bear when purchasing their gas wholesale...

Two men from Montana remained in custody at the Elmore County Detention Center following a high-speed chase on the interstate Saturday. Jeremy R. Lennemann and Robert W. Dean face multiple felony charges after county sheriffs pursued them from Hammett into Meridian...

Faced with making a million dollars worth of cuts in its budget due to declining enrollment and reductions in state funding, the Mountain Home School district is cutting at least 14 teaching positions this year, 17 support staff and one administrator...

Roy and Rose Cook will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on June 4 with a special gathering of friends and family in Hammett. The event will be hosted by their children, Roy Cook and Robin Cameron, and their grandchildren, at 956 S. Humpherys Rd., beginning at 4 p.m...

Photo description: Howard E. Swenson