breaking news
Idaho Republican Helen Chenoweth-Hage Dies in Car Crash
By Jennifer Gelband, 10-03-06
 | |
|
Former U.S. Rep. and longtime Idaho republican Helen Chenoweth-Hage died Monday in a car crash. Chenoweth-Hage, 68, served in Congress from Idaho from 1994 through 2000.
The report was issued Monday night after Chenoweth-Hage, apparently not wearing her seatbelt, flew from the passenger seat when the car driven by her 24-year old daughter-in-law, Yelenda Hage, swerved and went off the road near the family’s Nevada ranch.
According to a report from KTVB news, Chenoweth-Hage’s five-month old grandson Bryan was sitting on her lap at the time of the accident.
The story cites the Highway Patrol’s understanding that Yelenda drifted off the highway and overcorrected, causing the Ford Expedition to flip and eject Chenoweth-Hage and her grandson from the vehicle. The baby was sent to the hospital but is okay; no one else was hurt in the accident.
In 1999, Chenoweth married to Wayne Hage, a Nevada rancher who battled for decades with the federal government over public lands and private property rights.
Chenoweth-Hage was herself a notorious politico since the 1970s when she served as the executive director of the Idaho Republican Party and later U.S. Rep. Steven Symms' chief of staff.
Chenoweth-Hage garnered a lot of chatter later in her career when she held "endangered salmon bakes” to dispute the listing of Idaho salmon as an endangered species, publicly suggesting that salmon can't be endangered because she buys it at the supermarket.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
My condolences to her family.
I once wondered if our founding fathers were keenly aware of their opportunities and the times in which they lived, and I longed to have been part of the creation of our Christian Republic. Now I have a special opportunity, not unlike those I for which I once yearned. It is a certainty that Helen and Wayne felt this way, too. They were both true statesmen.
Both appeared predestined for activism, though neither expected to achieve greatness. They simply were born in a time and place ripe with opportunity, and neither flinched, but took up the harness with strength of character and the courage of their convictions.
The trail they blazed, which leads to protecting property rights and freedom, was dim and faint when they took this "road less traveled." The trail trees they left behind are easily seen, from the years of effort involved in Hage v. U.S., which left the grave of Wayne's first wife and the mother of his five children, Jean, to the Protecting Your Property Rights seminars they held to help map the way for others. Helen's son and daughter also knew the tremendous efforts of their mother.
Helen was a dear personal friend, as was Wayne. We are all better for Helen and Wayne having lived. The torches they carried have now been picked up and will be carried on by others. We will not let them down.
It's interesting that her sister was politically very different and involved herself in many non-judgmental organizations helping folks work towards peace and understanding (Peace House, Red Cross, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, etc).
After all the drama she helped cause in her life, the loss of Helen leaves the world more peaceful, but without as much color.
That said, too bad Schumer and Reid weren't riding shotgun.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Just another example of demanding that everyone who doesn't follow your directions is to be hated. Sick.