Tom Luna: Was He Duper or Dupee?

The GUARDIAN listened to Idaho School Super Tom Luna’s speech Friday at the City Club of Boise and came away somewhat sympathetic to his education reform plan. That was before we read a damning piece by John Miller of the AP This pro is one of the best journalists in the state and he certainly [...]

Different DIFFERENT Slants On Urban Renewal

At least four bills aimed at getting more citizen approval for debt, election of commissioners or creation of Urban Renewal Districts are headed for the floor of the Idaho House. Politicos bent on keeping the public from having any authority over their tax spending as mandated by the Idaho Constitution are rallying to oppose the [...]

Frequent Flyer Grounded In Boise, Banned From Future Flights

A frequent flyer with more than 40,000 hours in the air over the past 31 years arrived in Boise Wednesday, never to fly again. Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson was among the officers on hand to take the elderly flyer into custody at Gowen Field. Pilots were instructed to use a secure runway just south [...]

Channel 7 Is 800lb Gorilla In News Ratings

Michal Deeds, the media, entertainment, restaurant, music guru at the DAILY PAPER posted a tantalizing little CHART Thursday with the latest Neilsen ratings for local TV. As usual KTVB, channel 7 dominates the standings–to the extent the newsies at the other stations appear to be talking mostly to themselves. Any time slot where they share [...]

Marketing The Fear Factor In Wake Of Tragedy

Following the tragic “Safeway Massacare” in Tucson, the airwaves and internet are alive with exchanges of blame game, gun nuts, anti-gun nuts, calls for more laws, more guns to every shopper, and hate mongers vowing to disrupt funerals. And a sobering account from SLATE. We are a violent nation with people being shot all day [...]

Ada County Explains Scope of Magistrate Court Litigation

Here is the latest round of dueling press releases between Boise and Ada County over the issue of magistrate court space. This one is from Ada County. On December 21, 2010, Ada County filed suit against Boise, Meridian and Garden City seeking relief from the undo financial burden their actions have brought to all Ada [...]

Garden City Seeks Bridge Funds From Public

Garden City has taken its thinly disguised campaign to keep bicycles off the Greenbelt to the DAILY PAPER and Idaho Parks in an effort to find nearly $1 million to build a pedestrian-bike bridge across the Boise River to silence the call to allow bikes on the north side of the river. The Idaho Statesman [...]

Christmas Greetings From The GUARDIAN

GUARDIAN Year In Review Ballot

We are working on our 6th year at the GUARDIAN and it is time to have you weigh in on the biggest stories of 2010. The most disappointing for us and a clear victory for government and big money was the passage of the three state constitutional amendments which take away our right to vote [...]

Tuesday’s Daily Paper A Pleasant Surprise

We honestly doubt the GUARDIAN can take any credit, but Tuesday’s STATESMAN was chock full of local news of substance! They even offered up an editorial opinion. –The Simplot family JUMP project got unanimous approval from the City P&Z commission and in the process the design review committee was publicly spanked for “overstepping the bounds [...]

AP Braves Authorities, Court In Defense of Truth

Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone works in the Boise bureau covering among other things, the courts. She released a WIRE STORY today of prison violence that is worthy of Pulitzer consideration. With the resources of the AP and a lot of good old fashioned journalism, the news organization has done itself proud with a frightening [...]

David (Frazier) vs Goliath (politicians,media, money)

As we hit the home stretch in the mid-term election campaign, the GUARDIAN position on preserving the right of citizens to vote as detailed by the constitution and the supreme court seems in jeopardy. Local governments, hospitals, and politicians of all stripes have dumped tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours into their effort [...]

What Others Say About Amendments

As election day draws near, interest in the three constitutional amendments is drawing media attention throughout the state. All three aim to abolish the constitutional rights we currently hold to vote on debt by airports, public hospitals, and city electric utilities. We will add links to this page as we learn of coverage and invite [...]

Paper: IHA “Not Straight With Voters”

EDITORIAL OPINION FROM TWIN FALLS TIMES-NEWS raps Idaho Hospital Association. To its credit, the paper takes a swipe at Idaho Hospital Association even though it supports amendment that will abolish right of citizens to vote on public hospital debt. JEERS: Hyperbole abounds in election years, but the Idaho Hospital Association has gone too far this [...]

GUARDIAN Guest on Channel 4 Dialogue Show

GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier will be on Idaho Public TV’s DIALOGUE show Thursday at 8:30 p.m. discussing the three constitutional amendments on the Nov. 2 ballot. State Senator Joe Stegner of Lewiston will also be featured on the show hosted by Marcia Franklin. We plan to discuss the importance–and what passage could mean–of HJR [...]

Caution Advised On ANY Stadium Plans

Two GUARDIAN readers have sent us a NY TIMES LINK to a national story about stadium construction. It’s worth a read in light of the plans (apparently dormant) for a new HAWKS STADIUM in either Boise or Meridian and a major expansion of Boise State’s Football palace. It all boils down to money and no [...]

Round 2 Of GUARDIAN “De-listed” by Boise PD

What honestly started out as an olive branch extended to the Boise FD to provide some needed warning signs has evolved (degenerated) into the police spokeswoman bumping the GUARDIAN from the media e-mail list which she said was for “media only,” but after KIVI jumped on the issue the reason for not sharing news tips [...]

GUARDIAN “De-listed” As Media By BPD Spokeswoman

Boise City’s attempt to control the media and deny the GUARDIAN normal access afforded the news media took another turn Monday when we received this curt message from the police spokesperson: Dave – FYI – You are no longer on the “media” email list. The list is for media only. Feel free to call me [...]

Boise Refuses To Post Free Warning Signs

Following the drowning death of a Garden City woman, a GUARDIAN reader contacted editor David R.Frazier suggesting that after three incidents at the same location in two weeks, perhaps some signs would be a good idea. We got them made overnight. After the GUARDIAN provided free warning signs–funded by reader donations–Boise Fire officials said they [...]

Hotline Summary Is Tip Of Iceberg

It’s no secret the GUARDIAN is not happy with the new policy at Team Dave to summarize calls to the Mayor’s Hotline rather than provide a transcript to City Councilors and the media as it has done for years. A call reported this week diminishes the true tenor of how business is handled. Here is [...]