Enterprise The Idaho
Oneida County's News Since 1879 Malad City, Idaho
January 22, 2026 | Vol. 146 No. 4
$1.50
NEWS IN BRIEF Greenland at the center of discussion
Larry Thomas’ last official council meeting.
Councilmembers Tyrell Neal and John Williams being sworn in.
Changes at City Council; 2026 off and running It was a time for some new faces, as The Malad City Council met for its first regular meeting of 2026 on January 14. Meetings of the city council are held on the second Wednesday of the month, unless a special meeting is called, as is sometimes warranted. While a regular meeting, it was exceptional in the sense that it began with the swearing in of new city councilmember John Williams, who ran unopposed in November for the seat formerly occupied by Larry Thomas. Thomas, who was featured in last week’s Enterprise, has been on the council for two and a half decades. It was also announced during the meeting that current city councilmember Jaime Olsen will be stepping down from her position, due to ongoing home building and relocation out of the city. Bylaws require councilmembers to live within the city. A member will be appointed to serve in Olsen’s place until an election fills the seat. A new vote for council president is required after an election, and the city council chose to keep current council president Lance Tripp in that role. Mayor Hawkins noted that the council assignments in other cities are often liaisons, rather than oversight positions, and she suggested cutting a few assignments out of the list, including PZ (which has an administrator), and a few others. Sheriff Wiliams Sheriff Williams spoke to the council about issues from the Sheriff’s Office, primarily the monthly report and staffing issues. He presented his report of incidents and trends in Malad and Oneida county inclusive of Nov and Dec. “It’s about usual. About
the same for both months. Citations went up in November. Once the snow starts flying, they drop a little.” Williams then turned to an ongoing discussion involving staffing levels at the Sheriff’s Office. “I’ve got some notes here,” he began, “the SO is in rough shape right now.” The department is in the midst of one impending retirement, and another move. The office is not receiving many applications. “The people I’ve talked to about it have laughed at me,” Williams said. “The burnout is here, it’s real. The more people we lose, the worse it gets.” A relatively recent hire leaves two open positions, with more to come. The office has had applicants on Indeed.com, but they were not qualified for the positions. “I don’t know what the problem is. There’s got to be something. I don’t think we have a local base that’s interested. Nobody is going to come to Malad to be a cop, because they just can’t afford it,” Williams said. He noted that there wasn’t enough staff to have a fulltime SRO for the schools. “It’s heartbreaking being too short staffed to show this county what I can really do,” he said. The. Mayor asked whether other cities are having the same problems. Williams said that smaller towns have similar problems with housing and cost. In Bear Lake, one officer and his family were living in a camper trailer. “We are trying the very best we can guys. It’s a struggle right now,” he said. Williams noted that he was seeing “younger and younger kids getting involved” with problems, and that it was important to be able to better respond to those situations than current staffing levels allow for.
Tyler Webster The yearly pump inspection was conducted. Two lift pumps need to be replaced. The lift station on Bush is showing some wear. Tumbleweeds were noted as a problem at the Wastewater treatment area. A little washout on 3rd w. has been shouldered and rocked in. Some of the equipment they removed from the park was damaged in the process. The plan is to put the old equip out by the pickleball court. Some kids have been playing on it. Members of the council who had seen the equipment agreed that it might potentially be dangerous to play on. John Christophersen— Code Enforcement A dog which ended up injuring someone has been out, and Christophersen is looking to find it. There haven’t been any citations issued, because he doesn’t have enough evidence of the crime, other than the victim’s report. If a dog is declared vicious, he can request that it be destroyed. JC reported that he is getting more and more calls about cats. A gentleman recently called, and pointed out that the animal ordinance includes dogs, cats, and other animals. They have to be licensed and “on a leash” or controlled. “They are harder to catch than dogs,” Christophersen noted. Unless they change the ordinance, it is enforceable. Councilman Tripp observed “I think there are a lot of people in town who feed feral cats,” which keeps them from leaving the area. JC would CITY COUNCIL On Page 9
New Years Baby makes an entrance!
While it’s possible that another baby was born in Oneida County prior to January 14, Rylie Dawn Evans is the first baby that we have been formally introduced to for 2026. Rylie is the daughter of Hannah Dawn and Kendall Evans, and joins the family alongside her two sisters, Jayde and Hadlie, who “ask to hold her every ten minutes,” according to Hannah. Rylie was induced on January 14, and made it to Logan Regional at 8:19 in the evening. According to Hannah, Rylie stayed up most of that first night, finally going to sleep at 4 a.m. “She wasn’t crying, just looking around and checking things out,” Hannah said. Since then, Rylie has become a baby who loves to sleep, but has continued to be “a great baby—very chill.” So far, it has been determined that she loves to cuddle, and has less love for pacifiers. Hannah and Kendall do not have any particular plans for additional kids, but that hasn’t stopped the sisters from asking about it. “Jayde keeps asking, ‘but what if we have more? Will we need to get a bigger car?’ I keep telling her that we aren’t having any more. But yes, we would need to get a bigger car,” Hannah laughs. For the present, the plan is to enjoy precious time with Rylie as she makes her way through her first everything, including meeting her siblings and getting to know them. “It worked out really well,” Hannah says. “It was a good experience, but I’m glad we’re home.”
Grizzly killing award raised
Officials with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity announced they have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction for the illegal killing of a federally-protected grizzly bear in Boundary County, Idaho. The grizzly bear, which is listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act, was shot in late October north of Perkins Lake in Boundary County, near the Idaho-Montana border, state and federal officials said. On Jan. 13, officials with the Center for Biological Diversity announced they are increasing the financial reward they are offering to $7,300, which brings the total reward up to $15,000. U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff received a mortality signal from the electronic collar the grizzly bear was wearing on Oct. 28. Following an investigation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, officials determined that the bear was not a threat to the shooter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a press release issued Dec. 10.
Wage garnishment for borrowers delayed
Hannah Dawn with brand new Rylie
INSIDE THE ENTERPRISE Hospital 100........................................Pg. 2 School Board Reports.........................Pg. 3 Puzzles................................................Pg. 6
The Trump administration has long been fixated on the idea of making Greenland a U.S. territory or state, and that fixation spilled into international news again last week. President Trump reiterated his desire to acquire the land, despite the resistance of its residents and Denmark, who has had a long relationship with the island. Aggressive comments about the possibility of pursuing the island, which reports claim the Trump administration is interested in due to its rare earth metals and strategic placement, have resulted in economic promises from European countries about imposing tariffs against U.S. goods. Greenland is already protected under the pacts created through NATO, of which the U.S. is a charter member. Representatives of a number of countries and international institutions pointed out over the last week that the strategic and defense concerns are therefore already accounted for, and nothing would be bolstered by the U.S.’s direct control of the island, which would furthermore result in significant administrative costs and a very unwelcoming populace. The story will of course continue to evolve, but as of press time, notable Republican figures in congress had expressed deep concern about any actions taken against a sovereign country such as Denmark, or a territory that did not want to be annexed, such as Greenland.
Looking Back.......................................Pg. 7 Calving Class....................................Pg. 10 Sports........................................... Pg. 11-12
The U.S. Department of Education is backtracking on plans to garnish wages and seize tax refunds of student loan borrowers in default, the department announced Friday. The agency said it would begin garnishing wages by sending notices to roughly 1,000 borrowers in default the first full week of January. But now the department has instituted a temporary delay would allow it to implement “major student loan repayment reforms” under Republicans’ tax and spending cut bill that President Donald Trump signed into law in 2025. The delay would “give borrowers more options to repay their loans,” the department said.