Shoshone County received good news, bad news in '94

EDITOR’S NOTE: BLAST FROM THE PAST is a weekly article where we turn back the clock and see what was on the front page of our local newspapers years ago.

This unchanged article ran on the front page of the April 27, 1995, edition of the Shoshone News-Press. If you remember this story, or other BLAST FROM THE PAST articles, let us know by writing us or commenting online.

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Of Idaho’s five northern counties, Shoshone County experienced the largest increase in hotel and motel receipts in 1994, according to a release from labor market analyst Kathryn Tacke.

Citing figures from the Idaho State Tax Commission, the release said Shoshone County had receipts totaling $2,225,163 in 1994 — an increase of nearly 20 percent over 1993’s total of $1,855,600.

Tacke said the opening of motels such as Kellogg’s Super 8 and the Silver Ridge Mountain Lodge condominiums, helped pull tourists off Interstate 90.

While the rest of North Idaho experienced a minor population boom, Shoshone County’s population fell by 60 people (about 0.4 percent) between 1993 and 1994.

In 1993, the county’s population was 13,931. It had fallen to 13,871 in 1994.

However, compared to previous years, Tacke said the county “nearly held its own.”

“After losing 5,295 people from its population base in the 1980s, holding its own seems pretty good,” Tacke said.

According to the US Bureau of the Census statistics, Shoshone County had net migration of zero; in other words, the same number of people moved in as moved out, Tacke said.

“The county’s population decline was the result of an unusual phenomenon — it had a negative rate of natural increase,” she said. “The number of deaths exceeded the number of births.”

The phenomenon can be explained by the huge out-migration of the 1980s, which left many older residents and took away younger people in their child bearing years. The county consequently has the highest median age in Idaho.

More “good news, bad news” for Shoshone County noted in the report is related to employment or lack thereof. The number of initial claims filed in 1994 rose by 92 to 1,043 from 1993 when 951 initial claims were filed, according to figures released by the Idaho Department of Employment.

However, the average duration of the claims fell from 15.4 weeks in 1993 to 12.1 weeks in ’94.