Idaho News

BOISE, ID. – The Salmon School District wants to replace its elementary and junior high buildings.  It’s asking voters Tuesday to approve a bond to finance a new school.    

Salmon’s Middle School is more than seventy years old. It’s showing its age.  District Superintendent Joey Foote says a new building would cost less than fixing the old one.

Joey Foote:  “Walking around the exterior where the foundation is in contact with the soil, you can see that it is literally crumbling.”

BOISE, ID. – Idaho prison officials dismantled a sweat lodge Wednesday.   It was used mainly by Native Americans to worship. 

Prisoners have used the sweat lodge at the South Idaho Correctional Institution in Kuna for decades.  Deputy Chief of Prisons Jeff Zmuda says they are remodeling the outdoor area and removed the lodge for safety and security reasons. 

Jeff Zmuda:  “Concerned about some contraband that may have been out in that area.  And with the sweat lodge it was in a bit of disrepair.  It had some mold in it.”

On Wednesday, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved a seven day season for sage grouse. The season opens October 1st.

“Sage grouse hunting has been a tradition in Idaho for a long time,” says Don Kemner.  He’s the sage grouse program coordinator at the Department of Fish and Game. “However it has declined in the last 15 years as we
have become more conservative with seasons.”

Non-resident wolf tags have actually been selling at a discount since late last month. That’s when Commissions agreed to cut the price by 83%. But the cut in price was overshadowed by another decision not to set a quota and to allow hunters to use traps during this year’s season.

Sharon Kieffer is a deputy director with the Department of Fish and Game. She acknowledges tag sales were low earlier this summer, but the decision wasn’t meant to boost sales.

One of Idaho’s new education laws goes before a judge Thursday. That’s even as voters decide next fall whether to repeal the three laws that make up Students Come First.

BOISE, Id – Idaho is last in the nation when it comes to getting screened for breast cancer.  Emily Simnitt is with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.  Simnitt says more than 120-thousand Idaho women over forty have not had a mammogram in the last two years.  That’s a problem, because early detection can increase the chances of survival.

BOISE, ID. – Laid-off workers from Nampa’s XL Four Star Beef can get federal help to retrain.  The U.S. Labor Department has awarded up to two million dollars Monday to help.   

Bob Fick, a spokesman for Idaho’s Labor Department, says the money can be used for education, including language courses.   

Fick: Large majority of the workers at XL Four Star were not fluent in English.  Getting them fluent in English will be a major help in finding them new employment.

An accounting watchdog group says Idaho does not have a balanced budget after all.

Idaho colleges and universities start classes Monday. Students should show up early because  those classes are likely to be pretty full.

BOISE, Id – Last Monday, Idaho’s Redistricting Commission was at an impasse.  Members could not agree on a plan to redraw the state’s legislative boundaries.  As their September deadline looms, time is running out.  What happens if Commissioners fail?

BOISE, ID. – Hundreds of Idaho soldiers deployed in Iraq will soon be back home.  But many will then face the challenge of unemployment. 

About fifteen hundred soldiers from the 116th Cavalry will return to Idaho.  They’ll fly back to cities and towns across the state starting next month.  Colonel Tim Marsano is with the Idaho National Guard. 

Tim Marsano:  “We did a survey and found out that about 600 of our deployed soldiers – to include 400 Idahoans – are going to come home to no jobs.” 

BOISE, ID. – Boise State University students made it to the Bonneville Salt Flats late last week.  But fell short in an attempt to break the speed record in a vegetable oil-powered truck. 

A small team of Boise State engineering students joined a club called Greenspeed.  They’re out to prove vegetable diesel engines can be just as powerful as gas diesels.  They worked day and night for nearly three months to get their truck ready for time trials at Bonneville.  Dave Schenker founded Greenspeed. 

BOISE, Id – Five injured military veterans begin a new phase of their life in Boise today.  They’re all going to college, thanks to the Wyakin Warrior Foundation.  Jeff Bacon is the Executive Director.

Jeff Bacon “Whatever they want to do, if they want to be a plumber, we want them to be a good plumber and if they want to be a U-S Congressman someday, we want to give them the tools to be able to do that.”

BOISE, Id – The U-S Military provides rehabilitation when a veteran is severely wounded.  But once they get military, veterans are often left without a support system or plans for the future.   One Idaho group wants to change that.

Jeff Bacon is a retired Naval Officer with 26 years of service.  He works with the USO and on trips to Iraq he met injured warriors who inspired him.

BOISE, ID. – A fifty-member team from Bank of America occupies much of the Boise Centre Friday and Saturday.  They hope area customers who face foreclosure or other home loan problems will come see them. 

Red-shirted Bank of America workers armed with laptops have already hit the C’oeur d’Alene area.  Now, they’re in Boise.  Bank of America Vice President Phillipa Ashby is in charge. 

Phillipa Ashby:  “This is just one battalion.”

BOISE, ID. – Wildfire season is here in Idaho. That means you’re hearing a lot of different names for them, such as SouthSim and Blair.  Scott Ki talked with one man who names a lot of the fires. 

Pat Shanafelt works as a Senior Fire Dispatcher for the Boise National Forest.  He gathers a lot of information about fire and weather.  And for forty-five years, he’s been naming wildfires. 

Wednesday Boise State University’s president will give his state of the university address. He will likely talk about the recently completed fundraising campaign and his strategic vision for the school. College of Western Idaho’s president also delivered his state of the college this week.  Adam Cotterell has the highlights.

Classes start at Idaho’s public universities Monday. Wednesday Boise State’s president gave his State of the University speech. And the focus was on money.

BOISE, ID. – A lot of homeowners use a timer to automatically water their lawns.  But, a Meridian company wants to change that.  Baseline Systems makes a moisture sensor that turns sprinklers on or off.  In fact, this high tech product will be used to keep the landscape healthy at the 9-11 Memorial Plaza in New York City.

BOISE, ID. – A lot of homeowners use a timer to automatically water their lawns.  But, a Meridian company wants to change that.  Baseline Systems makes a moisture sensor that turns sprinklers on or off.  In fact, this high tech product will be used to keep the landscape healthy at the 9-11 Memorial Plaza in New York City.

Boise, ID- Boise native, Jaimee Kinzer just signed up for her rookie run at the 2012 Iditarod next year.  It’s one of North America’s longest and most grueling sled dog races.  The race begins just outside of Anchorage, Alaska and takes competitors more than 11-hundred miles to the Bering Sea coast.  Kinzer talked with Emily Schwing about her plans for the historic race.

BOISE, ID. – Wild swings in the stock market, gasoline above three dollars a gallon, higher food prices.  Next, Boise-area residents should brace themselves for higher utility rates. 

If you add them all up, it could mean thirteen dollars more a month for the average user in the Boise area.  Idaho Power accounts for at least seven dollars of that increase.  Gregory Said is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. 

Gregory Said:  “We are very aware of the economic times that our customers face and so the company takes great efforts to manage costs to reasonable levels.”