Idaho News

Idaho Statesman columnist Tim Woodward has written about everything from judging fruitcakes to haunted houses to personal stories about his family. And we’re not kidding when we say he’s written thousands of columns. Wednesday, after 40 years on the job, he retires. Woodward told Boise State Public Radio’s Samantha Wright that his career, like many journalists, began with getting his journalism degree…

It’s hard to believe downtown Boise once had a bustling Chinatown. You hardly see any signs of it today. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports on what happened to a once thriving community. Clarification: Ah Fong lost in District Court. He appealed to Idaho’s Supreme court which decided in favor of Ah Fong.

Idaho Legal Aid offices are closed today (Friday). As Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports, the non-profit plans furlough days once a month because of budget cuts.

Hundreds of tiny white parachutes dropped from the sky in Hailey this afternoon (Thursday). The precious cargo: candy. It’s a reenactment of US Air Force missions during the Berlin airlift in 1948 and 1949 flown by retired Colonel Gail Hallvorsen. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki spoke with reporter Tony Evans who was in Quigley Canyon during the drop. Tony Evans writes for the Idaho Mountain Express.

The Greenhouse is about helping innovative companies grow. It’s something Boise Mayor Dave Bieter highlighted in his State of the City address last week.

Mayor Bieter: I’m happy to say seven companies are located in the Greenhouse and we expect over the coming year at least one of those businesses will graduate and be out on their own.

Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki visited the local business incubator to find out how far along these companies are.

The Greenhouse is about helping innovative companies grow. It’s something Boise Mayor Dave Bieter highlighted in his State of the City address last week.

Mayor Bieter: I’m happy to say seven companies are located in the Greenhouse and we expect over the coming year at least one of those businesses will graduate and be out on their own.

Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki visited the local business incubator to find out how far along these companies are.

Farmers in Idaho should be pleased with all the spring rain, but all those storm clouds have kept temperatures low, sunlight to a minimum and seeds from sprouting on time.

Idaho’s unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 9.6 percent in April. It’s the first time the rate fell since November 2006. And, six thousand fewer Idahoans applied for unemployment benefits. But as Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports, it’s too early to break out the champagne.

Imagine you’re laid off after twenty years. That’s what happened to Eagle resident Barry Baker. But, he turned that setback into an opportunity to reinvent himself. As Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports, Baker’s created a software program called Portfolio D-M that launched this week.

Imagine playing with kittens in Idaho while you’re quaffing a brew in Munich. Or trying to grab a prize out of a machine in Beijing while sitting in Boise. As Boise State Radio’ Scott Ki reports, a local company called Apriori Control has the technology to make these applications possible.

Chemistry and Computer Science – each subject on its own is arguably one of the tougher programs at any graduate school. Combine them and the result is likely even tougher. But researchers at Boise State University have successfully bridged the two disciplines. As Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports, they teamed up to develop “Dock-o-matic,” a software application that streamlines the process of modeling potential drugs.

In today’s installment of Tech Ki, Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki talks with the founders of Tsuvo. Sort of sounds like a small country in Asia doesn’t it? But it’s a web site development and internet marketing firm that also develops cutting-edge software.

If you’re in Boise and have a great idea for a technology or other start-up company, what do you do? In previous stories, we mentioned a couple of groups that can help like Tech Boise and the Idaho Technology Council. In today’s installment of Tech Ki, Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki talks with Kickstand, an organization that supports entrepreneurs and innovators in any industry.

Look up while walking the streets of downtown Boise at night and you’ll see them everywhere – streetlights. But the basic design of the ubiquitous electric street light and those that illuminate parking lots and other areas haven’t changed much in oh more than 100 years or so. One Boise company hopes to radically change that. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports on Inovus Solar.

Some tech entrepreneurs will tell you they had a vision of how to make the world a better place. Others will build a product to fulfill a need or to improve on what’s out there. MetaGeek is a Boise tech company that really wanted to make things simpler. As Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports, it found a niche and keeps on growing.

Business incubators are known to nurture start-up companies so they become successful on their own. In Boise, the WaterCooler is one such incubator. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki takes a tour of the WaterCooler to see how it’s doing more than two years after it was established.

Like tech companies we profiled in the past, Toumetis is another that has several key executives that used to work at HP and Extended Systems. It’s much smaller than Cradlepoint or Balihoo, but you expect that from a start-up that’s been in operation for less than two years. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki has this report.

A number of technology companies are headquartered in Boise, yet very little is known about them. Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports on Cradlepoint, a company whose products help people and companies stay connected wirelessly.

Balihoo is one of those Boise Tech companies that has managed to get recognized a bit. They’ve been mentioned in the New York Times and the Economist to name a few national publications. But those articles glossed over what Balihoo actually does. As Boise State Public Radio’s Scott Ki reports it has something to do with advertising.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Idahoans ages 15 to 34 and for boys age 10 to 14. And it’s a problem that few people feel comfortable talking about. But one woman is talking, telling her painful story in the hopes she can reach others, and prevent tragedies like hers from happening. In Part Two of our series “Suicide in Idaho: Small State Big Numbers,” Boise State Public Radio’s Samantha Wright has her story.