Enterprise The Idaho
Oneida County's News Since 1879 Malad City, Idaho
March 5, 2026 | Vol. 146 No. 10
$1.50
NEWS IN BRIEF War with Iran underway
The Malad High School Wrestling Team won its 3rd straight State Title last week, joining the Girls Basketball team as state champions.
3-TIME STATE CHAMPS! AND SO MUCH MORE It’s been an epic series of weeks for Malad’s sports faithful as the winter sports season comes to a close. Each of the last two weeks a new state champion from Malad has been named—the Girls 3A Basketball State Champions last week, and the Boys Wrestling 3A Champs this week. But in addition to those marquee victories, Malad students and athletes (and beyond!) have been performing at an amazing level and been recognized for it. To start with, this week’s Wrestlers took home the big hardware with a third 3A Championship. In case you hadn’t heard about this, former Lakers coach Pat Riley owns some sort of legal hold over the word that means to win three times in a row, but that’s just what they did. With a dominant performance throughout the season and in the finals, Malad continues its official dominance of state wrestling at the 3A level. With Allison Eliason on a much-needed vacation, we were thrown an assist by Merridee Morrison, who helped us with our wrestling coverage. You will find a complete rundown on page 12 of this edition. They beat the second place team by 88.5 points. Drake Morrison won the individual state championship in his class for his second time. Oakley Maddox did the same in his class. 10 other wrestlers placed in the top six. The wrestlers also won a new award from the state, which is the “Dual State Championship Award” for their performance in dual matches, which they ended with a perfect 36-0 record. Devin Morrison was named the 3A Wrestling Coach of the Year. The Boys and Girls Wrestlers were named Academic Champions.
The Girls Basketball team, which was featured on the front of last week’s paper, joined the wrestlers at the end of the school day to sign the banners that will be going up in the gym, and to ride through the rain on emergency vehicles to celebrate. Several kids from the MHS team were named to the All-Tournament Team, created by the broadcasters. Brynlee Jones was named the Tournament MVP for 3A. Paityn Ward took the 6th Man award. Izzy Haycock was named to the first team, Mikell Keetch on the second team, and Kiley Miller on the third team. The Boys Basketball team ended a fantastic year of growth with a loss at Districts, but having come a long way, and learned a lot as they head into preparations for next season. Coverage of their final game is on page 11 of this paper. The Dance Team placed 3rd overall in the Pom category at state, and 4th in overall team competition. Two girls wrestlers medaled— Aubrey Shulz and Kale Carter with overall third in their classes. In addition to the other awards (including Wrestling’s Academic Championship), Malad was awarded the State 3A Girls Basketball Sportsmanship Award, which reflects the contributions of the students, players, fans, families, and many others that helped make the win possible. The award is covered on Page 11. Athletic Director Ty Price, who led the gymnasium celebration on Monday afternoon, nored that “One of the big things is we have really good coaches that put a lot of time and work into these kids all year long, not just in their seasons, and they’ve pushed these kids to be the best that they can be. We also have a lot of
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kids that just work hard. They don’t give up and they put in a lot of time, and these things are just showing that, and the ability they have when they are pushed to achieve great things. It’s been fun to watch—they’re a great group of kids.” With academics, sportsmanship, and excellence at the game itself under their belts, Malad’s athletes are the full package, and ready for another excellent year in 2027! While the last few weeks have been an amazing thrill ride, believe it or not there is still more to come, with several student teams, clubs and organizations also recently at Districts, State, or other seasonal competitions on the calendar. As the winter comes to an end and the host of other winter activities come to a close, we will bring you results of what Malad’s kids have been up to in other areas of endeavor. And then, if you can imagine it, spring sports are already turning their first gears. Baseball and softball are the obvious next big items, alongside track and field, but a number of teams are getting set for their end of school year events as well. If you want to make sure to stay up to date with sports in Oneida county, as well as graduation events, community activities, city and county business, important notices, local characters and reporting, we hope you will consider a subscription to the paper if you don’t already have one. For $55 a year, it’s around a dollar a week. If you are a subscriber, we thank you. It’s community members like Merridee Morrison, Dot Evanson, Allison Eliason, and many more that make what we do possible. I hope that it is a paper that is as much “by” Oneida County as it is “for” Oneida County.
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The Enterprise is proud to be working with Discover Area Guides, which has been providing indispensable local information resources to communities throughout Idaho for years. Bundled with this edition of the Enterprise, please find the new Discover Malad Valley Guide! The Guide is a comprehensive overview of the sites and sights of Oneida County, including businesses. churches, schools, recreation areas, and much more. Need-to-know numbers and websites are listed, along with a well cataloged and organized sectional listing of what to see and where to go. Next week, we will bring you information about the related Discover Heritage Hub website, which uses the basic approach readers are familiar with in the Guide, and massively expands it to include historical information and other features that will keep you busy clicking all day.
INSIDE THE ENTERPRISE Evening of the Arts..............................Pg. 2 City Newsletter....................................Pg. 3 Puzzles................................................Pg. 6
Looking Back.......................................Pg. 7 Obituary...............................................Pg. 9 Sports..........................................Pgs. 11-12
Although there are a number of events and situations in motion across the world, international focus is fixed on the weekend’s first rounds of fighting between the U.S./Israel and Iran. The launch of strikes into Iran comes within the context of the last year’s tactical strikes against Iran’s nuclear program, which the Trump administration stated had been completed destroyed. It also comes after a tentative ceasefire which has been holding in Gaza. How the new actions against Iran will affect U.S. and Israeli relations across the middle east—with a complex web of economic and social dynamics underlying governments across the region—remains to be seen in the coming weeks. Some elements of the Iranian government, most significantly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been confirmed to have died in the strike. Other senior members of the administration had been reported to have not been affected by military action. Celebration over the death of the leader was reported across Iran, but the celebrations were noted to contain equal parts anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment. The situation is obviously developing on an hourly basis.
Measles numbers rising
More than 1,300 new measles cases have been reported across the U.S., which is a significant escalation of the disease that had been largely contained by active vaccination programs. Since the relaxing of the child vaccination programs across the country, West Texas has become the primary hotbed for measles infections though occurrences are increasing rapidly over recent days. Measles is highly contagious, and can move quickly from location to location through human travel. Researchers and epidemiologists suggest that the disease requires a 95% vaccination rate to provide herd immunity, a number which is not met in many U.S. locations. Children under 5 are the most vulnerable to measles (as well as whooping cough, rubella, mumps, and other commonly vaccinated diseases), and suffer the most negative medical outcomes. Measles affects the immune system, and its most serious risk is of potentially fatal encephalitis. Whooping cough cases are increasing in Southeast Idaho in recent months, as well.
Gas Prices in spotlight
There is no consensus yet on how extensive the impact on fuel prices will be as a result of the war with Iran. On Monday, average fuel prices in the U.S. (and in southeast Idaho, which for a change wasn’t higher than average) were around $3.00/gallon on Monday. Some analysts predicted on Tuesday morning that prices are likely to see increases of 5 to 10 cents a day as the wholesalers attempt to prevent a massive, singular increase in pricing. Increases of 25 cents a gallon were reported already on Monday, with the spring/summer driving season not too far off and adding to the potential for a painful, protracted return to extreme fuel pricing across the globe.