Federal Government
Good Cop, Bad Cop GPS Use
A small town “hick sheriff” from Burley should get national acclaim for his use of sophisticated GPS tracking gear to fight crime the RIGHT way with a tactic that would have made Andy Griffith of Mayberry fame “right proud.” Cassia County Sheriff Randy Kidd had a problem with folks stealing copper wire from farms and [...]
Draft Environmental Statement Paints Dark Picture For F-35 Fighters In Boise
Based on news from more than a year ago, it appeared the U.S. Air Force had abandoned plans to base the F-35 in Boise. Now, a report dated January 20 has surfaced along with a schedule for hearings in Boise this week. The EARLIER NEWS said Boise would possibly get Italian cargo planes rather than [...]
Eastern Idaho Energy Dreams Slowly Crumbling
Eastern Idaho’s grandiose efforts to attract business with “incentives” taken out of the pockets of taxpayers are slowly crumbling despite feeble attempts at life support. First it was the Hoku solar panel plant in Pocatello falling on hard times with plummeting stock prices and Idaho Power ready to pull the plug on its electricity. Now [...]
“Buying” New Business Not Worth The Price
We’ve all heard of the husband who purchased a new boat the couple couldn’t afford so the wife gets even by remodeling the kitchen and installing new carpet they also couldn’t afford. That same silly fiscal policy is being advocated by government and editorial writers from Idaho Falls to Boise–if a business isn’t financially sound [...]
Nampa Stormwater “Fee” Could Go Down The Drain
A tax by any other name is still a tax according to the Idaho Supreme Court, but Nampa officials are holding tough on their position a new storm drain tax revenue scheme is just a “fee.” The Supremes ruled on a Lewiston case last month. The GUARDIAN first broke the Nampa story back in April [...]
Obama, Feds Exempt Coppers From Tech Ban While Driving
When the national media announced a proposed Federal Government ban on ALL in car devices–with emphasis on eliminating texting while driving, the GUARDIAN sought clarification from the United States Transportation Department in Washington, D.C. We wondered if the ban would apply to coppers who we all see driving down the road looking at computer screens [...]
Ada, Canyon Clerks Urge Supremes To “Get ‘er Done”
Ada County Clerk Chris Rich and Canyon’s Chris Yamamoto have filed “friend of the court” briefs with the Idaho Supreme Court essentially urging the justices to act quickly on several lawsuits brought by other counties contesting the newest state and federal legislative district boundaries. The problem lies with the Idaho law which requires candidates to [...]
Boise Artists Are All Losers At City Hall
Boise eagerly recruits out of town businesses and when it comes to public art that’s exactly what they got. Boise’s artists were all shunned by a city committee selecting public art for the new City Hall remodel project. Not a single Idaho artist, let alone a Boise artist is being considered as a finalist. Some [...]
Census Figures Explain Corporate Interest In Idaho
The folks at the Emmett newspaper came up with an interesting little nugget from a recent government report in the form of wage comparisons. Depending whether you are buying or selling, the Gem State is either near the top or near the bottom when it comes to wages. Our relative ranking among states explains in [...]
Will Politicos Squelch China Demo Bus?
It will be interesting to see if Idaho politicos are as adamant about enforcing the “Buy America Act” when it comes to a demonstration electric bus for Camarillo, California as they were when Boston sought a waiver of the federal rules to get a demo locomotive in 2008. Zonda USA–which sounds a lot more like [...]
Communist China Learns Capitalism From USA Government Subsidies
In this modern day of Communist China leading the world in capitalist business ventures funded by U.S. Government taxpayers, we are not surprised to learn of Chinese plans to seek cheap labor in Idaho. The latest scheme is an electric BUS FACTORY to be built in the Treasure Valley. GUARDIAN GROWTHOPHOBES caution the enthusiastic Chamber [...]
Boise County Explores Bond Sale
Boise County Commishes issued a press release Tuesday saying they are exploring options to satisfy a multi million dollar federal court judgement. The DAILY PAPER quoted the release saying they may be able to have a smaller levy spread out over 20-30 years—just as the GUARDIAN suggested recently.
AP–”Sniper School Broke Federal Rules”
The Associated Press followed up on yesterday’s GUARDIAN story about a suspicious “sniper training” business operating on public lands in Eastern Idaho and reports they misfied when it came to getting official permission. The would be business snookered the local media with an ATV tour, live firing of weapons by reporters and claims–or veiled–claims of [...]
Training Ground To Kill Humans “Not Authorized” Use Of Forest Service Land
A disturbing story appeared in the Eastern Idaho media over the weekend detailing the “perfect location” for a commercial for profit venture to teach the intricacies of high altitude killing. According to the Post Register story, a guy named Buck Holly has determined that Skull Canyon on the Caribou-Targhee in Clark County is an ideal [...]
Libya Has History In Idaho Politics
Moammar Gadhafi once had ties to Idaho when politicos stood in line to sign deals with the Libyan strongman who was in power during the Frank Church tenure as chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee. The GUARDIAN editor worked on assignment for the New York TIMES during the circus-like atmosphere when a delegation [...]
Debt, Economy, Just A credit Card Thing
A GUARDIAN reader sent us this economic “comparison” which may be a bit simplistic, but it certainly puts not only our economic woes in perspective, but illustrates why so many Americans don’t see a problem. • U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 • Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000 • New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000 • National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 • Recent [...]
Jobless Woes Persist, Government Can’t Fix
By DAVID R. FRAZIER, editor BOISE GUARDIAN We visited a “job fair” recently, but rather than an arena full of employers recruiting workers, we found countless private and public educational institutions vying to take the last nickel from the pockets of the unemployed through assorted training offers. There were several charitable organizations seeking volunteers, verterans [...]
Businesses Halt ALL Campaign Contributions?
Finally, a reason to drink Starbucks coffee. The CEO of STARBUCKS has begun a national move to financially boycott all congressional and presidential elections. He claims to have 100 businessmen onboard who will stop making campaign contributions (payoffs). Imagine what would happen if all the developers and contractors did that at the local level. Or [...]
Jerome Seeks To Go Around Voters For Debt
Sure, it’s only $3.25 million and it’s in little old Jerome, Idaho and the companies provide JOBS, but all Idaho should pay attention. Seems that three dairy processing companies are responsible for a whopping 63% of the waste in the city sewer system which is about to get sanctions from the Feds for being too [...]
Yellowstone Is Green 23 Years After Fire
To GUARDIAN editor Dave Frazier it seemed like only yesterday when he experienced two fire storms in the same day covering the Yellowstone Fires of 1988 for NEWSWEEK. We took a little drive through the park last week and noted the growth of lodge pole pines and a new appreciation for the “natural reseeding” aspects [...]
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