Archive for July, 2008
Dirk Works To Establish His Posterity
GUARDIAN reader Eric49 tells us the Secretary of Interior has incorporated a non-profit corp. called “The Kempthorne Institute For Public Policy Philanthropy Corporation,” with the Idaho Secretary of State. Check out the June 20 filing HERE. Sounds a lot like former Guv Cece Andrus and former Senator Frank Church deals at Boise State University. No […]
Good Money Chases Bad At Tamarack
Bankrupt developers, property liens, misrepresented sales, a $250,000,000 loan default, and multiple lawsuits are all elements in a proposed bailout of Tamarack Resort in Valley County. A bankrupt Mexican and Frenchman are seeking a bailout with assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) in the form of […]
Mystry Of Dora’s Cathouse
By NORTHEND SAL For the past five years or so, an old house on the northeast corner of Dora and Harrison Boulevard has remained empty, sort of. No signs of human habitation, but signs of fresh cat food. According to neighborhood lore, the elderly woman who once lived there left it to her cats, to […]
Mayor Hotline July 19 to 25
Janis Ogawa 3918 Aires Boise, ID 83706 Depot: I would like to make a suggestion that when you call in on the Boise Depot line, that you have a menu option to find out what the hours are that they are open. Also, the fact that I would like to request the ability to have […]
Rental Cars And Others Diddle System
When the Ada County Highway District pleaded poverty this week and floated the idea of doubling the fees for vehicle registration, it re-ignited a long smoldering issue the GUARDIAN has with rental car agencies and some other commercial vehicle users. Some 20 years ago when Ada County created the laws for emission testing and the […]
Ultimate Pimp My Ride Is Boise Coppers Cars
Too many cop cars and not enough mechanics was causing a 55 day delay before new Ford Crown Vics and Chevy Impalas hit the road. Then Boise found the police equivalent of “Pimp My Ride” in Salem, Oregon. After a reader tipped us that $7,000 per vehicle was leaving not only the city, but the […]
Idle Thoughts On City Vehicles
About a year ago the GUARDIAN caused a stir among coppers when we noted patrol cars left idling for long periods of time at convenience stores and even at dinner for an hour at a time. Comments on the post, POLICE PROWLERS GUZZLE GAS prompted a flurry of defenses for the idle arguments. Top Cop […]
Plans For (Mark) Rivers City
We listened to BoDo developer Mark Rivers enthusiastic gushings about some vague plans for a “Library Blocks”–six to be exact–development at the Monday City Club of Boise luncheon. With numerous references to “instant gratification, A.D.D., three shot espresso, and strategizing,” it was hard to decide if the guy is “smooth” or “slick.” Regardless, he is […]
GUARDIAN Takes On New Look
Thanks to our webmeister Ben Hays, a Boise guy working in Taiwan, we have a new look that should offer a little more variety and ease of posting for GUARDIAN readers. We can move the pictures around, the links and recent story list is easier to find and read, and we are told it will […]
Power To The People Not Easy
Politics and economics are the key factors driving the energy policy of the USA. Al Gore of course is the current poster child for the latest buzz phrase “carbon footprint.” Controversy and lobbying over electricity goes back to the days of Edison and Tesla as they vied for acceptance of “their” methods of generation and […]
Ride Share Worthy Of Masses
Ada County has the right idea launching a car pool clearing house using GIS mapping software and matching riders with drivers, but they offer it as a perk for county employees–forgetting the taxpayers who pay for the bills. Like most government folks, they just need a little supervision. In a press release that managed to […]
Mayor Hotline July 5 to 11
LIVABLE CITY UNBEARABLE FOR BUSINESS, CAL GAL IS BACK, GOOD & BAD FIREWORKS, ANIMAL PROBLEMS, WRITING ON THE WALL 7/11/08 Marty Gofin Michael’s Furniture Show Place 623 Americana Blvd. 861-5712 We have called the police on numerous occasions, but I wanted to bring this to the Mayor’s attention that in the past month we have […]
Poop Plant Personnel Change
There is sure to be a stink when you work with people and poop. Boise City officials have made a personnel change at the Lander Street sewage treatment facility which on the face of it looks like a demotion for the former plant manager. For more than two years the GUARDIAN–and other media outlets–have received […]
BFD Brings Work To Station
Boise Fire Department has a new “crash” truck–Engine 8. A recent crash incident didn’t take them beyond the front door of Station 8 on Overland Road…in fact the crash WAS the front door! Seems the first responder heroes were showing their wares to a group of children visiting the station over the July 4th weekend. […]
No Wonder French Bottle Water
A reader sent us a link that should have the local mainstreamer media ringing up the Guv and the Idaho Falls nuke cheerleaders for comment. Doubt if the story from the BBC will alarm any of them. “Looks like Idaho’s new French nuke partner has sprung a leak,” says our reader, Calsq. Here is a […]
Boise Greenbelt Gets Attaboy
OK. We admit it has been a while since the GUARDIAN has pedaled the greenbelt. That said, a Sunday meander (for non-library types that’s “wander at random”) along the city’s showplace river trail was very pleasant and rewarding. From our “comfort bike we noticed not only was it packed with all sorts and ages of […]
Summer Musings Take 3
Gas crunch. What gas crunch? Last weeks’s day job trek to Yellowstone found the GUARDIAN pondering the effects of high gas prices, the economy in general and the role Yellowstone and the West play in the lives of those who don’t live here. The couple in the little ultra tiny Smart Car with Illinois plates […]
GUARDIAN Summer Musings Take 2.
During the recent easterly drive the GUARDIAN visited Victor, Idaho in Teton County. Talk about a poster child for GROWTHOPHOBIA! That once tiny little ranching and potato farming community is now ground zero for developers making “Stepford Wives” subdivisions around golf courses–there are three courses in Victor. All are the basis for housing developments. The […]
GUARDIAN Summer Musings Take 1
Apologies to regular readers for not getting new material posted and rapid posting of your insightful comments. The GUARDIAN editor has been working at the “day job” shooting images in Eastern Idaho and Yellowstone. I intend to offer up some little tidbits of information and share some photos in the next few days. For starters […]
Idaho Top On Failing Resort List
After years of hype and financial scams, Tamarack Resort in Valley County–like many developments looks doomed for the immediate future. The Wall Street Journal has featured the Idaho resort in TODAY’S ISSUE. In yet another case of contagious GROWTHOPHILES wreaking havoc on a community leading to GROWTHOPHOBIA, Tamarack has hit the bankruptcy courts and doubled […]
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