Gun incident at Fort Hall Casino ends in arrest

By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — Fort Hall Police Chief Pat Teton said they responded to a report of a man with a gun and alleged abduction April 8 at the Fort Hall Casino.

At about 2:08 p.m. Fort Hall Police dispatch received the report of the incident when it was determined Jon Davenport, 44, Idaho Falls, had a gun. It was alleged Davenport abducted Shoshone-Bannock tribal members Patricia Ball and Alex Eschief then Casino security officers said they all left in Ball’s vehicle while Davenport left his at the casino.

Teton said FHPD officers responded to Ball’s residence in Ross Fork but she was not located. Officers were able to locate all three subjects in Gibson and Davenport was detained without incident.

Two firearms and drug paraphernalia were located in the vehicle they were driving when they left the casino. After FHPD investigated, it was determined there was no abduction, Davenport was intoxicated and distraught when he went to the casino.  When Davenport arrived at the casino to meet Ball, he displayed a firearm inside the casino to Ball when she took it from him. They walked out of the casino into the parking lot then Davenport brandished a second firearm that he took from a shoulder holster that he was wearing but was concealed. 

Teton said Davenport admitted to being in possession of both firearms and being intoxicated when entering the casino. He was released to the Bingham County Sheriff’s office and charged with disturbing the peace.

The Fort Hall Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bingham County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident.

Pocatello School District new high school boundary changes impact felt

By ROSELYNN WAHTOMY
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL – Pocatello School District approved the change of the new boundaries for the Highland, Pocatello and Century high schools in February.

The reason for the boundary change was to remedy overpopulation student numbers at schools and to fix socioeconomic gaps between the schools. Students will also now have to attend the high school within their boundary and will no longer be able to choose the school they prefer to attend. 

The new boundaries are as follows: Students east of Yellowstone Highway and west of Interstate 15 will go to Century; Students north of Siphon Road and West of Hawthorne Road will go to Highland; Students in the Johnny Creek area south of town will go to Pocatello.

Shoshone-Bannock tribal member Wendy Farmer applied for her daughter to go to Pocatello High School and was denied of her request. Her daughter, Myke, went to school up until now in Pocatello, but because they don’t live within the boundary area, they live on East Agency Road in Bingham County, she not be able to attend any high schools in the district. 

Wendy said her daughter was sad about the situation because going to school in Pocatello was the most familiar to her.

She was told only five students would be impacted by this change, and she couldn’t see why if there were so few than why couldn’t the district make an exception.

The Tribal Youth Education Department asked parents to show up at the school district meetings and voice their concerns, but TYEP’s Kendra Benally, who is also a part of the Tribal Parent Committee, attended all the meetings said attendance wasn’t good and parents should have shown up to show strength in numbers and be advocates for their children. Wendy Farmer said she didn’t go because she didn’t feel she would be heard since she wasn’t a property tax payer. 

Tribal Youth Education Manager Jessica James said they met with the Fort Hall Business Council and Policy Analyst to issue a letter to the Pocatello District School Board and cited the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 as an example of how the reserved treaty rights is the right to educate the children. The council requested tribal students residing in Bingham and Bannock counties be exempted from the boundary proposal. They also asked for an extension of the comment period so the Indian Parent Committee of School District 25 could meet with them. 

James said the response from the school district representatives was the kids who were in school from Bingham County had to go to the schools within that county.

Benally felt they didn’t specifically address the Tribes and felt the boundaries were more made for athletics. She also didn't feel like the district would get more lenient on their decision, but only stricter. She wishes the district would have invited somebody to be on the panel of decision makers. 

James thinks there will be some families who will be upset but will find a way to cope with the decision. The TYEP Department is available to help if needed.