Lantern 2025-04 by Hillsdale Lantern

EDEN • HAZELTON A Beacon of Light on the First Segregation MURTAUGH

issue 4.4 April 2025 free!

HILLSDALE QUILTING CRAZE

CRAFTERS BLANKET THE COMMUNITY

All skill levels are covered at three area venues

“I just want to love and bless our community.”

The prayer quilt ministry Joyce Dollar has knitted together out of Hillsdale’s Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church has a pretty simple mission.

On the last Friday of the month upwards of 15 folks will gather to work on quilts, fellowship, and enjoy a light lunch. “Everyone is welcome,” Dollar said. “We have folks from 10-years-old to Doc Coleman.”

Dollar spends the month prior assembling kits that make it easy for those of any

skill level to stitch together a beautiful quilt. Each quilt gets a Bible verse on the back, and Dollar has no trouble finding homes for the finished projects.

For those who can’t get enough, there are more quilting opportunities on Mondays as well. The Silver & Gold Senior Center in Eden recently started quilting classes. Hillsdale residents Nancy Brune, Dorothy Mitchell, and Debbie Dehoney are sharing their knowledge with any who are interested. They meet at 2 pm.

WAR MEMORIAL

ORGANIZERS SEEK HILLSDALE’S MEMORIES

Well, what do you know?

by KEITH HUETTIG

The American Legion post in Eden and the Eden City Council are in the process of building a war memorial in the Eden city park. The structure will have four display areas to tell about World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. A list of names of those who served from Eden and Hazelton will be displayed. A brief history of each war will be part of the display.

In addition, two display areas will be used to share the history of Eden and the community around the city. This is where we need your help! We need stories from the past, as well as pictures and newspaper articles, to tell the story of Eden.

On Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. we will meet at the Silver and Gold Senior Center. The meeting will have a short trivia contest about Eden, and then we will hear from Linda Helms from the Jerome County Historical Society.

The quilting group from Redeemer Lutheran in Kimberly recently relocated to the friendly confines of Trinity Lutheran Church south of Eden. Similar to Dollar’s ministry, the TLC Crafters quilt to bless their recipients. They assemble on Monday afternoons.

Come to learn, come to find out what three newsworthy things happened in 1919, come to share, come for the cookies!

Joyce Dollar peeks from behind one of her group’s completed prayer quilts.

Hillsdale Lantern

S.C. Huettig, Editor editor@hillsdalelantern.com

The Dim Bulb

As this issue of the Lantern goes to press the upper Snake River reservoirs are at 84% of capacity with a good amount of snow still stockpiled in the mountains above them. The canals that drain Milner for the north and south side canal companies are flowing again. Ground water and surface water users signed a new agreement that is expected to take the drama out of their water rights squabble.

It looks to be a good water year.

The legislature this year even made an effort to reign in the only water users who have not had to make any changes during the water wars: the owners and users of domestic wells. SB1083 mostly deals with future subdivisions in water management areas, but it does give the state authority to penalize any domestic water users who exceed their water right. A bright idea!

HOUSE REP CENSURED

GOP COMMITTEES PAN NELSEN’S VOTES

What is an Idaho Republican, anyway?

by Ed REAGAN, Gooding Courier News

On March 10, the Lincoln County and Blaine County Republican Central Committees censured Representative Jack Nelsen for “casting votes on legislation that are contrary to the principles and policies of the national and Idaho Republican parties, thereby failing to uphold the values and commitments expected of Republican Party representatives.”

During the 2025 Idaho Legislative Session, Rep. Nelsen voted against several Republican-supported bills, including: school choice (HB 93); mandatory minimum fines for marijuana possession (HB 7); prohibiting mask mandates (HB 32); protecting health care providers’ rights of conscience (HB 59); limiting the display of non -government flags on public property (HB 96); shielding minors from indecent exhibitions (HB 230); strengthening parental rights in education (HB 239); and restricting classroom discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation (HB 352). (All of these bills have passed the House and some have been signed into law.)

According to Carl Legg and Heather Lauer (chairs of Lincoln and Blaine County Republican Central Committees), these are not trivial disagreements. “Each of these bills reflect fundamental Republican values, supporting parental rights, individual liberty, limited government, and protecting children from ideological indoctrination. With his votes, Representative Nelsen is ignoring the priorities of Republican voters who entrusted him with their representation.”

Representative Jack Nelsen said in an interview, “Many of these bills are good ideas, but I could not support the language in these bills. I look at every bill to see if it does what it is intended to do, or whether it just creates more problems.” Rep. Nelsen added that he did not sign the Republican Party’s “Integrity in Affiliation” form because it limited his ability to be objective about each bill.

2025 IDAHO LEGISLATURE PROGESS REPORT

results as of March 30, 2025 • A=absent T= table in committee H= hold in committee

24=Murtaugh 26=Hillsdale

HB7 - Adds $300 minimum fine for marijuana possession

HB13 - Exempt UTVs w/roll cages and seat belts from helmet regs.

HB32 - Ban mask mandates

HB37 - Make firing squad primary method of execution

HB41 - Limit types of flags displayed at schools

HB79 - Raise annual junior college tuition cap to $3,250

HB93 - $5k School choice tax credit

HB96 - Limit types of flags displayed at gov't buildings

HB98 - Prohibit

- Medicaid reform (work requirement, time limit)

HB166 - Allow/provide for free electronic public notices

HB230 - Restrict minors from indecent sexual exhibitions

HB231 - Raise grocery credit to $155

HB335 - Prohibit concealing, harboring, and shielding illegal aliens

SB1007 - Allow public comment on any subject at school board meetings

Yellowstone & Hawai’i: How similar are they?

by MARK STELTEN

The US hosts two of the world’s most famous volcanic systems: Yellowstone and Hawai’i. These systems are well known for producing large volumes of magma through time and leaving chains of volcanic features in their wake, although they do so in very different ways.

Yellowstone doesn’t produce tall volcanic features but instead forms large depressions in the ground, referred to as calderas, due to explosive eruptions of rhyolite magma. After formation, Yellowstone’s calderas tend to fill with viscous rhyolite lava flows and domes that form broad plateaus or dome-like structures that are often covered with lodgepole pine trees.

In contrast, volcanic activity in Hawai’i tends to build broad shield volcanoes like Mauna Loa (the largest active volcano on Earth) that are composed of numerous fluid lava flows and stand above the surrounding landscape. Hawaiian volcanoes erupt much more frequently than Yellowstone, typically producing basalt lavas, but individual eruptions tend to be much smaller than those from Yellowstone.

Despite these differences in eruptive behavior and outward appearance, Yellowstone and Hawai’i have some deeply rooted similarities. Volcanism in Hawai’i and Yellowstone is driv-

en by mantle plumes, which are regions where the Earth’s mantle is anomalously hot and buoyantly upwelling. As the hot mantle rises to shallower depths it causes melting, which in turn leads to the development of a magmatic system that can produce volcanic eruptions.

Mantle plumes operate independently of plate tectonics and remain mostly stationary as the Earth’s tectonic plates move above them. As a result, magmatic systems like those in Hawai’i and Yellowstone produce chains of volcanoes that have an age progression along their lengths. For example, over the past 16 million years, the hotspot currently feeding Yellowstone caldera produced several caldera systems extending from McDermitt Caldera in

Yellowstones” that gets older as you move to the southeast from Yellowstone caldera.

Similarly, the hotspot currently under Hawai’i is responsible for producing the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamount chain over the past 80 million years. Volcanoes in that chain get older the farther northwest you go across the Pacific Ocean from the Hawaiian Islands. The oldest “ancient Hawai’is” are located off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

Despite their outward differences, the fundamental engines that power volcanism in Yellowstone and Hawaii are quite similar. So the next time you need a Hawaiian vacation, consider visiting Yellowstone. There’s a lot of Aloha in southern Idaho and northwestern

Map showing major volcanic features associated with the mantle plume currently underneath Yellowstone caldera. Rough outlines of calderas that formed due to the Yellowstone hotspot are given, with numbers indicating approximate ages in millions of years.

COLLEGE BALL

MURTAUGH GRAD SET TO CONTINUE FOOTBALL CAREER

That devil is a cougar now!

Murtaugh’s Aidan Mattair laid down the ink for some collegiate football action. This fall the Red Devil senior will join the football roster at University of Minnesota Morris.

“Overall, it wasn't the best season, but in my books, I thought it was great,” Mattair said at his signing ceremony March 18. “I had a good time, learned a lot of lessons … it’s been a journey.”

UMM is located in west-central Minnesota. The D3 football program competes in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The

Aidan (and parents Katy and Kevin Oliverson) with his freshly-signed letter of commitment. Photo courtesy Bethany Stanger

LIGHTNING ON THEIR FEET

HILLSDALE SISTERS SET NEW SCHOOL RECORDS FOR TRACK & FIELD

Can you actually see the Hagan girls, or are they just a blur?

The Lantern recently noted a flash of activity on the track and field squad at Lighthouse Christian School in Twin Falls. Hillsdale residents Baylee and Elsie Hagan, long-time Lighthouse students, are shining bright in this year’s track and field season.

Junior Baylee set new school records for the long and triple jumps. Her triple jump mark of 33 feet, 10.75 inches was at the Valley meet. At the Raft River meet she stuck a long jump mark of 16 feet, 4.5 inches, breaking her old record.

Also at the Raft River meet, freshman Elsie breezed around the track in the girls 400 meter in a mere 1 minute 4.8 seconds, another best for the Lighthouse Lions.

Both sisters were on the 4x400 relay that also set a new school record at Raft River.

RED DEVIL FFA

MURTAUGH HARVESTS MORE AWARDS

Chapter hangs 8 new district banners

The Red Devil FFA crew continues to reap accolades in their spring competitions.

The parliamentary teams won both of their contests (parliamentary procedure and conduct of chapter meetings). Advisor Josh Evans believes that is a first for the Murtaugh chapter.

The food science team placed second overall, with Bridger Powell earning a first place award in the contest.