Gang Violence Puts Idaho Town on Edge

CALDWELL, Idaho (AP) - Gunfire and gang violence are alarming people in this farm town where the usual background noise is the reassuring chug of field machinery.

Since July, police have received more than 100 reports of shots fired in Caldwell, a town of 30,000 halfway between Boise and the Oregon line. Two young men have been killed and several more wounded in drive-by shootings. Police believe most of the violence is gang-related.

Authorities are increasing patrols, and for the first time, neighborhood watches are springing up in Caldwell, a community that for decades has typified small-town conservatism and the farmland work ethic. Many are asking themselves how big-city gang problems reached their quiet corner of the West.

"I can't let my kids go outside," said Maria Salenes. "I don't know what to do anymore, I'm so scared."

Gunfire has plagued Salenes' neighborhood in the past, but the trouble came too close on Oct. 11 when the 37-year-old mother of four heard a midday thump on her door. When she opened it, a man she did not know fell into her living room, mortally wounded in a drive-by.

"He was breathing real hard," she recalled. "He tried to tell me something, but it was his throat. He couldn't talk at all. I feel like nothing is safe."

Two men have been charged in the slaying of Sigmund Goode, 21. The shooting was the fourth in a week in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood of working-class homes and tree-lined streets where many people go home for lunch. It also follows the slaying of 22-year-old Carlos Chavez in August. No arrest has been made in that slaying.

For more than a century, Caldwell has been a hub for one of the most agriculturally productive counties in the nation. Hops, onions, potatoes, beans, sugar beets and hybrid sweet-corn are grown here.

Thanks to a booming state economy, Caldwell's population has jumped 16 percent in the past four years after growing 41 percent in the 1990s. The area has a long history of Hispanic farmworkers migrating here every year to work the summer crops. But since the 1990s, more and more of the families have been settling here.

Police said gang activity, involving both young Hispanics and whites, has grown with the population.

"Poverty in some places is part of it, the lack of parental control, both parents working to keep their heads afloat," said Canyon County prosecutor Dave Young.

Police Capt. Chris Allgood said he has spent most of his 41 years in Caldwell and watched as the town slowly changed. "Fifteen or 20 years ago, we used to have a homicide every three or four years, and now we have three or four every year," he said.

More than 150 people turned out for a recent community meeting at the Hispanic Cultural Center.

"I want to make it an area where my children can go outside and play in the yard and not worry about getting shot," said Jennifer Bennett, 33. "We want to take back our neighborhood."

Police said their efforts have been hindered by witnesses and victims who are afraid to cooperate.

"People in the neighborhoods are the key to solving these cases," Young said. "By not stopping it, you're enabling it. The frustration's just not from them. It's both sides. We're frustrated, too."

As to culture, I'll give you the "eastern" culture perspective..

I grew up in eastern N. Dakota.. flatter than Kansas, and that's saying some.. ( N. Dakota was, at one time, the 3rd largest nuclear power in the world. ICBM Missile silos, and Minot Air Force Base were a major part of the economy. )

Sparsely populated, North Dakota tends toward agriculture, large tract farms, and people are (generally) descended from German, Polish, Russian, Norwegian immigrants.. with the usual Irish, etc.. mixed in, but the above groups are definitely in the majority..
Mostly small farming communities, and while the people themselves are fairly conservative, for some reason they tend to vote fairly liberal.. ( Lots of democrats in government )

South Dakota is pretty much the same, with a somewhat higher emphasis on ranching ( beef cattle ) and less on the agriculture.. ( not so sure the difference is that defined, but there is a difference. )

As Jeff mentioned, as you move westward, just before you hit Montana - Wyoming, you find the Badlands, in N.D., and the Black Hills in S.D..
Rougher ground, more "western" atmosphere, tourism based economy..

Moving into the Montana - Wyoming area, you start getting into the "foothills", and in Montana, what is called the "Little Rockies" area..
Again, tourism, such as Little Bighorn, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and Ranching, with some agriculture..
Local culture is probably what you would expect.. there are "town" folk, tourists, and farmers-ranchers...
Farmers and Ranchers don't generally have much to do with townies or (especially) with tourists..
Townies are necessary, that's where the banks are, and the grocery store, shopping center, Wal-mart, etc..
But let's face it, tourism is what keeps the Towns and Resorts going, and prices near such areas are inflated.. That makes living expensive..
While the towns and resorts need that tourist season income, the ranchers tend to resent the tourists.. even though the farmers and ranchers don't actually produce enough income to support the towns, and do nothing to support the resorts.

From say, central Wyoming- Montana on west, I can't give much insight.. But I guess the tourism goes down, meaning less income for communities, and farming - ranching becomes the major economic driver..

Large cities are rare, large towns likewise, but small towns are dying out, and many small farming communities are struggling to survive...
Throughout the plains states, from North Dakota to Kansas, small communities are offering incentives like free land, tax incentives, etc.. to attract families and small business in hopes of surviving..

On immigration / immigrants, while North Dakota has had a long history of migrant mexican labor, I don't recall many mexicans ever staying year-round..
It gets Da***n cold up there..

More than you ever wanted to know, I'll bet..

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