5 Things That Happened in the Boise Area 20 Years Ago This Week

A few months ago, TheTropicalFruit.com started a series where they started counting down “10 Things That Happened 10 Years Ago.” We decided to do something similar!

However, we still feel like 2015 was yesterday so we decided to go back even further to 2005. Here’s a look at five things that were in the news in the Boise area September 22-29, 2005. We included a bonus sixth story because it had to do with Boise State’s athletic conference.

No Place Like Home

Boise State wins 48-20 over Bowling Green in front of a sold out crowd of 30,651 at Bronco Stadium on a Wednesday night. Why was that such a big deal? After losing the Liberty Bowl to BCS #10 Louisville at the end of the 2004 season and their first two games to #13 Georgia and Oregon State in 2005, it was the first time the team had been on a three game losing streak in 10 years. Jared Zabransky was the quarterback.

READ MORE: 76 Crazy Pictures Show How Much Downtown Boise Changed in Just 10 Years

Middleton Native Appears on The Apprentice

Remember when Donald Trump wasn’t a politician and had one of the hottest reality shows on NBC? Felisha Mason was on Season 4 which premiered on September 22, 2005. While her cast bio would list her as a real estate developer from Kansas City, she grew up in Middleton. She made it all the way to Week 11 that season, but was eventually fired for lacking emotional strength in cutthroat situations and weak leadership.

Treasure Valley Marketplace Locks Down Target and Best Buy

It’s hard to imagine the Karcher off-ramp without the Treasure Valley Marketplace today. Then Nampa Mayor Tom Dale and Governor Dirk Kempthorne were part of the groundbreaking ceremony for its construction on September 21, 2005. People already knew that Costco would be part of the retail complex, but developers announced that Target, Best Buy, Petco, Old Navy, Famous Footwear, Dress Barn and Michaels would all join the development. All but Dress Barn are still there today.

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Idaho National Guard Deploys to Gulf Coast to Assist with Hurricane Katrina and Rita Efforts

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina killed 1,392 people and did over $125 billion worth of damage. Less than a month later, Rita killed 120 people and did $18.5 billion worth of damage. About 400 members of the Idaho National Guard and Air National Guard got the call on September 24, 2005 that they were heading to help with clean-up and deliver supplies.

Idaho 55 Shuts Down for 6 Hours Possible Bomb on Rainbow Bridge

Anyone who’s done the drive to McCall knows the Rainbow Bridge. It was set for a regular ITD inspection on September 28, 2005. That’s when road crews noticed a suspicious looking bucket that they thought could possibly be a bomb. Eventually a 33 year-old Meridian man came forward and said he’s the one that tied the bucket to the bridge with ropes and wire and very quickly apologized. The bucket was meant to be part of a geocache scavenger hunt.

BONUS: The Vandals Join the WAC and Get Shut Out in First Conference Game

By 2005, Boise State had already been playing in the Western Athletic Conference for three seasons but their in-state rivals joined the conference in 2005. That first conference game on September 24, 2005 didn’t go very well for the University of Idaho. They got shutout by Hawaii 24-0. It was also the first time the Vandals had been shut out at the Kibbie Dome in 19 years. The Vandals would end season 2-9. One of those losses came from the Broncos, which ran up the score 70-35.