Bruneau Dunes Could Be Abuzz with ATVs

During the Vietnam War an Army officer explained a village had to be burned “in order to save it.”

Idaho Parks Director Nancy Merrill finds herself in that same situation today as she considers allowing dune buggies to chew up the tallest free standing sand dune on the continent to possibly make a few bucks to [...]

Fraud Alert To Educators–Xpress Flex

We are posting this memo sent to Nampa School District employees as a public service to alert others who may do business with Xpress Flex. No word on the scope of the damage, but certainly not good news to folks who thought they were making a wise financial decision. There will no [...]

We Are In Midst Of Economic Civil War

The Daily Paper’s print edition has competing headlines on the front page today that offer a prophetic sign of the times.
“SOME EDUCATORS GET RAISES IN IDAHO” screams the bold type on the left. The message to the right is “FURLOUGHS COMING TO U of I” .
Bottom line in good stories by Statesman reporters [...]

Update On Desire Named Street Car

The DAILY PAPER has joined the long list of opponents to Team Dave’s “Desire Named Street Car” with a HUGE EDITORIAL in Sunday’s edition. They didn’t go soa as advocating a massive increase in the bus system, but it is clear (to us) the Statesman has come over to the GUARDIAN side.
Reporter Cynthia Sewell [...]

Governments Fight Each Other With PR Efforts

The last minute “panic attack” to to get the Air Force to locate not one, but two bases of F-35 fighter jets in Idaho brings to mind some the other ill fated government-funded Public Relations efforts we have seen over the years.
If the F-35 follows in the footsteps of most of the other projects [...]

State Retirement Funds For Energy?

We have a new GUARDIAN consultant who is a real doc and works on “gut issues” like internal medicine and renewable energy. Prior to working on humans, he worked for Idaho Fish and Game as a biologist. ( please excuse the format problem–using a foreign computer at the moment)
BY BOB McKIE, MD
Green energy [...]

Macy’s Departure Is Due To Inept Government

Macy’s leaving downtown Boise comes as no surprise. For more than 40 years we have watched officials tout their “vision for the future” in downtown Boise. It changes with each new planner and consultant.

The Bon Marche (Macy’s today), J.C. Penney’s, The Mode, Falk’s I.D. and many smaller merchants vanished, thanks to the far [...]

GUARDIAN Top 2009 Stories By Month

As the legacy media does its annual TOP TEN stories to fill space between the holidays, the GUARDIAN has done the same thing based on what we have posted in the past year.
In rereading some of the posts and comments, it appears we have an inordinate number of comments on police and fire stories. [...]

Entire Community Turns Out To Help Needy

At this cold and happy time of year it seems like every school, business, and news organization battles to “out nice” each other.
The GUARDIAN is rarely “nice,” but we do believe in helping our fellow man and can’t help but feel “warm and fuzzy” about the community donations this year.
Karen Vauk President chief collection agent [...]

Growthophobes Claim Victory In Water Fight

That mega subdivision planned north of Eagle needed a gusher of groundwater and came up with only a trickle as a result of an Idaho Department of Water Resources ruling Monday.
The developer known as M3 won approval for only one-sixth of the water right requested from Water Resources in what GROWTHOPHOBES living north [...]

Hyped Development Now Pathetic Footnote

Interesting note for GROWTHOPHOBES out Eagle way.
When the developers offered all the hype for a golf course community, the city fathers and mothers of Eagle jumped aboard and all crowed about pumping millions upon millions of dollars into the Treasure Valley annually.
It never happened because the developers didn’t have the money–as with Avimor, [...]

City, Simplot Can’t Agree On New Building

A proposal for an agricultural museum and new offices for the J. R. Simplot Company to be built by the family foundation for about $100 million in downtown Boise is apparently on hold.
Simplot and City officials have been meeting to hash out designs issues after the city declared the initial Simplot idea was not to [...]

More On “Desire Named Street Car” (sorry)

EDITOR NOTE–We hate to keep beating this Trolley Horse, but the politicos and press just won’t let it die.
Team Dave Just won’t quit
Pushing this streetcar bit
There is no way they can
Cover this crazy plan
They’ll just put a LID on it!
–Poet Paul
Both the DAILY PAPER and the BOISE WEEKLY have published stories about the Desire [...]

Internet Pricing Lesson Please

The day job has taken the GUARDIAN editor to Mexico, suck up smog, sun, and more images for the Photolibrary.
It isn’t as cheery as a couple years ago–economy is bad, swine flu scare lingers with hand washing fluid everywhere, heavy police presence, drugs.
As a result, you can get some pretty good hotel deals, but only [...]

Items Of Little Interest, But Important To Pols

Here is a list of current news topics with a typically cynical GUARDIAN SLANT.
–The Park Center Bridge that Harris Ranch Developers stuck taxpayers to build so they would benefit is about to open with great fanfare from Ada County Highway District.
–Micron is still slurping at the public trough. This time they got $5 million [...]

Team Dave Tries Brainwashing Public

We have long been unhappy with the efforts of Team Dave to shape public opinion on the “Trolley Folly.” Now it looks like the mayor and staff are following in the mold of the infamous Brent Coles
Coles spent public funds to influence the outcome of the Foothills Tax Levy election, but it was only [...]

Is Fred Meyer Breaking The Law?

A reader contacted the GUARDIAN noting the Fred Meyer store on Federal Way is having a big “Sidewalk Sale” in front of the store….BLOCKING HANDICAP PARKING STALLS AND VIOLATING FIRE LANE RESTRICTIONS.
If memory serves us, motorists can get tickets for using handicap parking spaces without proper credentials. We also think the fire marshall can [...]

PUC Policy Pleases Persistant GROWTHOPHOBES

While many Idaho bureaucrats and developers claim “growth is inevitable,” the Idaho Public Utilities Commission has approved a measure that will force developers to pay their fair share of providing power to homeowners.

With only minor modifications, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission has adopted an Idaho Power Co. request to require developers and builders to pay [...]

More Join GUARDIAN With Trolley Concerns

Looks like at least some of Boise’s business folks–even those appointed by Team Dave to promote a trolley–are leaning just a little toward the GUARDIAN point of view that a trolley is a surefire folly as it stands today.
We continue the mantra: LET THE PEOPLE VOTE ON THE FINANCING! If they vote to tax [...]

We’re #4! We’re #4! YEA!

We love Boise. You have to love it to stay here for 41 years with the kind of politicos and CEOs we have.

We have witnessed the rise and fall of MK, Boise Cascade, Ore-Ida, Albertson, and now H-P and Micron. These once great companies were a source of pride before the big guys took [...]