HUCKLEBERRIES: Celestial potential

Perhaps Woody McEvers’s rise to Coeur d’Alene mayor was in the stars.

His late mother would have said her eldest son had played well the hand he was dealt.

Joan McEvers was a pioneer in the field of astrology, and Woody was her champion in a family consisting of her husband, Dean, and four children. The others embraced her unorthodox activity to varying degrees.

Woody and brother Daren were still serving ample breakfast platters of bacon, eggs and gravy-drowned biscuits downtown Oct 28, 1989, when the Coeur d'Alene Press published their mother’s story.

She had embraced astrology 23 years before when a neighbor asked her to talk some sense into his wife who was obsessed with the subject. At the time, Joan told The Press, she was “drifting into one job after another without any focus.”

Astrology intrigued Joan because her sons were so different although they were both born under the sign: Leo. The woman explained to Joan how planetary alignment at the exact time of birth could set even people with the same astrological sign on different paths.

And Joan was hooked.

By October 1989, she had written six books on astrology, beginning in 1976 when she co-authored one with California astrologist Marion March: “The Only Way to Learn Astrology.” She also researched, wrote, lectured and conducted workshops in several countries.

“Astrology is not a belief system,” Joan said. “It is a tool to work with.”

Also, she said, astrology is not a religion nor fortune telling. She compared an astrological chart to a hand dealt in a game of cards. It is not the hand dealt but how it is played that counts.

“Your chart shows you your potential,” she said. “It does not dictate what you do with it.”

Cold case redux

We now know who murdered 15-year-old Debra Prety after a Coeur d'Alene school dance Oct. 26, 1973.

Duncan Peder McKenzie Jr. was the culprit.

That information was first reported in this column Nov. 12, 2023, two years after meticulous cold case work by Coeur d’Alene police officer Jacob Rodgers solved the case.

On the first anniversary of the Coeur d’Alene girl’s slaying, however, police were frustrated.

They had a prime suspect. And the right one, as things turn out. But nothing concrete.

In the first two months of the investigation, some 15 officers from three agencies had turned the town upside down, searching for clues in the murder in the 800 block of 17th Street.

They had questioned 650 people, some several times, including Debra’s schoolmates. They had chased leads to three other states. They had checked nearly every motel in town. They had scrutinized 34 known sex offenders in the greater Coeur d’Alene area.

They had considered and then eliminated two prime suspects.

And then McKenzie popped up on their radar.

Almost three months after the strangled body of Debra Prety (pronounced Pret-TEE) was found in a neighbor’s backyard, McKenzie raped and strangled schoolteacher Lana Harding, 23, near Conrad, Mont. He was captured, found guilty a year later, and executed by lethal injection in May 1995.

McKenzie went to his grave refusing to confess to the Coeur d’Alene murder.

But justice didn’t require McKenzie’s confession. A previously misplaced DNA sample proved he was guilty. The likelihood that it was someone else, according to a police report, was calculated at 7.08 sextillion to one (or 7.08 times 10 with 21 more zeroes). In other words, case closed.

Top Gun

One of the best shooters produced in North Idaho was a Marine who grew up in Sandpoint. And she wasn’t originally a fan of hunting and shooting.

Roxane Conrad preferred to ride horses — and was good at it. But, as the daughter of two Marines, Charles and LaNelda Conrad, she learned how to shoot early.

“I hated it,” she told The Press for a story Oct. 22, 1989.

At the time, she was a Marine sergeant and a top-notch competitive shooter.

After graduating in 1982 from Sandpoint High, Roxane enlisted in the Marine Corps, which required rifle and pistol training. And discovered she enjoyed shooting firearms, after all.

At the time of her interview, she was the national women’s pistol champion, both military and civilian, and had won international awards, too. She preferred shooting a .45 caliber pistol. “It gives me a sense of accomplishment,” she said. Only a few men fired a .45 better than she.

Eventually, she won two medals at the 1991 Pan American Games and competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, according to online reports.

A brief online bio said she retired from the military to manage a horse farm in Idaho.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Expect hot air/to blow our way/from now until/Election Day — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Extended Forecast”).

• Steps Down: In October 1999, Bill Wassmuth, the former Coeur d’Alene priest whose house was bombed by racists in 1986, resigned. For 10 years, he had directed the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment. Before that, he helped revitalize the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and led the successful fight against the Aryan Nations. When he resigned, Bill was battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died of it at age 61 three years later.

• Mill Town USA: It’s the Coeur d’Alene resort golf course today. But 60 years ago, the sprawling site on the southeast end of town was home to Potlatch’s Rutledge Mill. And it was front-page news when workers installed a collection system to eliminate cinders at the plant — up to 99%. And that was good for the environment. Methinks.

• Big Game: On Oct. 24, 1964, Idaho’s Vandals, led by Joe Chapman of Coeur d’Alene, thrilled a homecoming crowd of 18,600 at Neale Stadium in Moscow by beating Washington State 28-13. It was only the second time in four decades that UI had beaten Wazzu. Chapman caught a 44-yard pass to set up a touchdown and scored on a 77-yard pass to clinch the game.

• Near Perfect: In October 1979, Ron Edinger’s 98% attendance record was an issue when he ran again for the City Council. The council was having trouble forming a quorum. Edinger had near perfect attendance in his previous six years on the council and four years as mayor. In 1977, he lost his bid for re-election as mayor. But would win a council seat again in 1979 and serve until poor health forced him to retire 40 years later.

Parting shot

Melody Melton, the retired Coeur d’Alene High communications instructor, was a struggling North Idaho College student when she appeared in a Press (wo)man on the street forum Oct. 21, 1984. The question posed to her and nine others was popularized in the 1980 presidential contest by Republican Ronald Reagan: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Melody’s answer? “No, I’m not better off financially. I have to work twice as hard this year to afford the same amount of education as last year.” Nevertheless, she persisted. And President Reagan’s question remains a standard to vote by today.

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com.

    In 1973, Police Chief Robert Nettleton, second from left in front, and three others remove Debra Prety’s body from the crime scene. In the background, from left, are Prosecutor Gary Haman, patrolman Burch Miller and police Lt. Steve Schauer.
  

    Debra Prety
  

    In the 1980s, Roxane Conrad receives a gold medal after winning the individual women’s pistol rapid-fire championship in Santiago, Chile.
  

    In the 1980s, Roxane Conrad checks the record pattern during a Texas shoot.
  

    In 1987, Bill Wassmuth speaks at a forum at a North Idaho College forum that helped launch the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment.
  

    In 1964, workers install cinder control equipment at the Rutledge Mill. They are, from left, safety inspector Gene Jolin, plant superintendent Gardner Teall, welder Calvin Sullenberger, Roland Rotmark, Art Prambus, Henry Janusch and Fred Enders.
  

    In 1964, Joe Chapman celebrates with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Chapman Sr., after he led Idaho to a 28-13 win over Washington State.
  

    In 1987, Ron Edinger, right, celebrates one of his city council election wins with fellow incumbents Bob Macdonald and Dixie Reid.
  

    In 2024, retired Coeur d’Alene High instructor Melody Melton enjoys traveling to places like Banff, Alberta.