Blaine County

In Blaine County, the coronavirus pandemic has not gotten in the way of ambitious goals for a more sustainable future.

Part of Blaine County, home to the Sun Valley Resort, is in an “extreme” drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The area has experienced some level of drought consistently since February.

Red, orange, yellow, green. These colors, referenced over and over again in public meetings, translate to COVID-19 risk levels set by Idaho's public health district boards. Blaine County, in south central Idaho, is ditching its health district’s colors for stricter ones set by researchers at the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Jenni Franklin feels like she was pushed out. “It was hard and it was heartbreaking for us,” she said of having to move away from her home of 10 years. In August, she relocated from Hailey to Twin Falls, in search of a more affordable place for her family of six to live.

Blaine County is revisiting a longstanding proposal to bury a new transmission line underground, but it needs to solidify a plan to pay for the expensive project.

Living in Idaho means being surrounded by mountains, rivers and wild animals. In the Wood River Valley, a new coalition will address increasing conflicts between humans and wildlife.

A district judge gave Blaine County a favorable decision in a public access lawsuit against a Hailey homeowners association earlier this month. Some lawyers think the decision has broader implications for public lands access in Idaho.

Magic Valley school districts will use guidelines approved by the South Central Public Health Board last week to determine how to open schools. As of Friday, the health district hadn’t told counties or school districts where they fall in the matrix of health alert levels.

Idaho hit its highest daily total of coronavirus cases this week with 341 new confirmed cases reported on Tuesday. Now some local governments are responding by mandating face coverings in public.

Blaine County tested a sample of residents for COVID-19 antibodies in April as part of a study, and some of the initial results are in.

At one point this spring, Blaine County was one of the hardest-hit areas in the country for coronavirus infections. The area, which draws tourists from around the world for both its recreational and arts opportunities, was forced to close. The area’s shops, restaurants, hotels and arts centers went into hibernation as health officials worked to control the spread.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, nonprofits had big plans to encourage Idahoans to fill out the 2020 census. Across the state, face-to-face events were scheduled to educate people about the importance of filling out the form and to help them complete it in person. But the stay-at-home order hindered many of those efforts.

For tourism destinations like Sun Valley, events are more than opportunities for gathering and celebration — they mean the promise of flights touched down, hotel rooms booked and meals eaten at local establishments.

At one point, Blaine County, home to Sun Valley, had the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 cases in the entire country. It required an all-hands-on deck response from first responders, many of whom didn’t get a break before wildfire season picked up in April. 

After a natural disaster strikes, groups like the Red Cross set up in tents or gyms where people affected can go to seek help.

The South Central Public Health District released an epidemiological curve this week for Blaine County. It maps when people who've tested positive for coronavirus first started feeling sick.

As local leaders weigh opening up the economy again, antibody tests for coronavirus are getting a lot of attention. That’s because they can detect whether someone has had the virus in the past, and may be okay to return to work, potentially without being contagious.

Blaine County's social distancing rules that go beyond the state's stay-at-home order were set to expire on Sunday. The restrictions say residents can’t travel outside the county to purchase items they could find in the county, hotels and short-term rentals can’t house visitors, and the construction industry is nonessential. So far, the county, Ketchum and Hailey extended these rules to the end of this week.

Doctors, public health workers and government officials are saying social distancing is working in Idaho, and the state is beginning to flatten the coronavirus curve.