Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two scheduled to appear Monday at lmtribune.com.
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GRANGEVILLE — Invaders are in the canyon, but time, so far, is on the side of the defenders.
Idaho County and state officials are working cooperatively this year to begin treatment on approximately 200 acres of Turkish thistle, which was first detected in 2022 in multiple locations along the Snake River in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
This is the only place it is known to exist in North America, according to Jeremey Varley, agriculture section manager, noxious weeds, Idaho Department of Agriculture.
“That is where it got its start,” he said. “We’re surprised to see it there, but the time is past for surprise, and now it is time to start doing some work on it.”
Turkish thistle is considered a noxious weed, specifically defined by ISDA as any invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat.
According to Varley, the thistle is in its initial phase of moving into Idaho, and it is considered a Early Detection and Rapid Response species. The EDRR is an approach to weed control that emphasizes controlling new, invading weeds while the populations are localized and small enough to be contained or eradicated.
How did it get here? Varley said there is much anecdotal information but no verified source on how this plant arrived in the canyon. Last year, the state did an assessment along the Idaho side finding patches — some as small as less than a tenth of an acre — primarily 11 miles down from Pittsburg Landing.
Turkish thistle is an annual, Varley explained, its whole goal being to grow and produce seeds that it releases when it dies.
“It wants to go up quick. It’s the first up, like cheatgrass,” he said. “It will be flowering here at the end of April, and complete its life cycle by the end of May. It’s an early plant, so we’re trying to get at it while it’s viable.”
The Idaho County Noxious Weed Department has assisted in monitoring and testing several canyon patches that are in the Wolf Creek area.
“They are hoping to keep that area in check,” Varley said, continuing that a burn area in that location is of concern. “We noticed appearance of it last fall. The fire there wasn’t a control measure but it seemed to help it. The plants came up in fall more robust, the recruitment of seeds more present,” in comparison to Turkish thistle found in other areas.
Later this month, ISDA will work in cooperation with Idaho County on treating this thistle with herbicides in the narrow window of its life cycle.
“We want to make sure we’re down there at the peak time to treat those plants when they’re most susceptible,” he said, “preventing additional seed production from those plants while controlling the growth down there.”
— David Rauzi, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
Police called for fight at Cascade Schools
CASCADE, Idaho — Cascade Schools officials were forced to call sheriff’s deputies in response to an argument between two groups of youths and parents after a student was involved in a fight recently.
As school was dismissed on Tuesday, April 11, two juveniles not enrolled in the school entered the building and confronted an eighth-grade student. The group went off campus, where a fight apparently took place over an unknown issue, said district Superintendent Joni Stevenson.
“This was a serious incident from the standpoint that people who aren’t our students felt very comfortable coming into our school with ill intent,” Stevenson said.
Following the fight — which did not result in serious injuries — several people on both sides of the altercation, including the student’s mother, returned to the school, arguing and shoving each other in the hallway.
At that point, the school’s staff became aware of the altercation and intervened. Arguments continued in front of the school until school officials called the Valley County Sheriff’s Office for assistance.
Right after school when students are leaving, and people are moving around is one of the more vulnerable times of the day. These people who are not enrolled in the school came on campus multiple times, Stevenson said.
Not everyone involved in the incident was identified. Some youths involved were former Cascade Schools students that are now home schooled and all appeared to be residents of Cascade.
No names of people involved in the incident were released.
School policy requires all visitors to check in at the office before entering, but there is no guard on duty or other mechanism to stop people from walking in. Visitors should check in at the south entrance along School Street.
No policy changes were proposed following the incident.
“I think the lessons learned would be just trying to stay vigilant about those times of day and being present as much as possible,” Stevenson said. “It’s a good reminder for us, administrators, teachers, staff just to be paying attention to what’s happening around us and saying something if something looks out of place.”
The student involved in the incident was not reprimanded for their actions and a representative from the VCSO said no charges had been filed against any party involved.
Cascade Schools banned all involved parties from the school property in the future except for the one enrolled student.
A detailed narrative of the event was published on the school’s Facebook page after officials saw various rumors circulating online about the incident.
“We wanted to send it out to show our community and our families that this is a safe place to be,” Stevenson said. “This is a very rare situation, and we want our community to know that we responded, we’ve got law enforcement involved and we have taken action.”
— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
