Looking back: Child ‘battling for his life’ after peanut lodges in bronchial tubes and man pays $32.50 fine for prowling

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Oct. 2 to Oct. 8 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

RIGBY — A drunk driver missed the bridge over the Rigby canal and ended up in the cold water, The Rigby Star reported on Oct. 6, 1921.

The car landed on its side in the canal, north of the creamery, early in the morning of Oct. 3, 1921.

“When seen about 11 o’clock that morning, the driver was still on the scene undecided as to whether someone moved the bridge or not, while the water in the canal trickled merrily through the overturned car,” the local paper wrote.

1926-1950

POCATELLO — Surgeons successfully removed a sugar-coated peanut that lodged in the bronchial tubes of a 2.5-year-old Pocatello boy, the Idaho State Journal reported on Oct. 7, 1949.

The Journal said Bobby Lenhart, son of the William R. Lenharts, was “battling for his life” at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City after a “peanut went down the wrong pipe last week.”

He underwent three operations to “get the peanut from (his) bronchial tube and right lung.”

Lenhart’s father told family Bobby was “resting comfortably” after the third operation and was most likely going to be released from the hospital within the next few days.

1951-1975

SODA SPRINGS — Potatoes from a garden belonging to a Soda Springs couple made headlines after being weighed, The Caribou County Sun reported on Oct. 6, 1955.

Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Meads “were proudly displaying two large Bliss Triumph potatoes” at the newspaper’s building. One potato weighed three pounds and the other was two pounds.

“Both were smooth and well-shaped and were dug from the same vine,” the Sun said.

Mrs. Meads said they were the largest they had ever grown.

“The Meads are not commercial potato raisers, only planting a few garden rows for their own use,” the paper pointed out.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — Pocatello Police responded to a report of a person peering into an apartment window around 1 a.m., the Idaho State Journal reported on Oct. 6, 1977.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a ladder leaning against a fence on the east side of the apartment complex. The suspect, who was wearing a dark sweatshirt and hood, was seen peeking around a brick barbecue when he was asked to come out of his hiding place.

Monte Joe Matkin, 23, was arrested on a charge of loitering and prowling, according to police. He plead guilty to the charge during his arraignment and was fined $32.50.