Archive for March, 2009
Big Birds To Fly The Coop At Gowen Field
The skies over Boise will be a little quieter and less crowded after Tuesday when an Air National Guard Unit goes out of business. The 189th Airlift Squadron, which began tactical airlift operations with the C-130 in 1996, will fly its final mission – a routine training mission taking off and landing at Boise’s Gowen […]
GUARDIAN Offers Yet Another Transit Plan
We don’t get paid for our services, but the GUARDIAN is able to provide thinking people of Treasure Valley with transportation alternatives much more logical than those being promoted by Team Dave and the CCDC. For the cost of the proposed downtown “Trolley Folly” we think a Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT)– similar to previous […]
More Poop On The Foothills Dog Rules
Guest Opinion By Marianne Konvalinka The Foothills Conservation Advisory Committee passed a motion at their public meeting in December that would have cut off-leash access in the Lower Reserves by half or more but was still acceptable to the majority of responsible dog owners. We fully expected this to be the recommendation going to council, […]
Mayor Hotline March 21 to 27
REVERE COPPERS, FIREMEN, TEACHERS , and REVILE LOOSE DOGS 3/25/09 Mike Teague Regarding the economy – In these times the Police Department, Fire Department and teachers are sacrosanct. We cannot eliminate those jobs and we even need more of them. The city can’t survive without them. It’s up to rest of us to take care […]
BOI Proud Of 5th Level Bond Rating
We got a strange press release from Boise City touting the bond rating of the airport of all things. Team Dave was proud of an A+ bond rating from Fitch Rating. That rating is rather moderate, considering there are four higher ratings with AAA the highest. CHART Not unlike President Bush’s famous “You’re doing a […]
GUARDIAN Random Thoughts
During a very brief visit to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas, the GUARDIAN came up with a few random thoughts worthy of tossing out for comment, since it is pretty dead this Spring Break week anyway. We are either on the cutting edge or way below the peak of the learning curve. […]
More Bad News For Urban Renewal
Urban renewal districts statewide are coming under fire from many quarters as they work to subvert the will of the citizens and go around the election process mandated in the Idaho Constitution when it comes to long term debt. In Coeur d’Alene a group is pushing for legislation to enforce a 10% limitation on the […]
CCDC, Ada Commishes Battle Over Parking
The battle over who pays for parking and how much they pay at the Ada Courthouse has revved up as the Capital City Development Corp. appears to be changing gears for parking at the Courthouse garage and the Ada Commishes are not about to take it sitting in neutral. In a nutshell, the CCDC has raised the […]
Spring Has Sprung In SW Idaho Hills
The GUARDIAN got away from the city on the first day of Spring–armed with a camera and 300 mm lens. For the safety and comfort of the nesting pair of eagles, we won’t disclose the location, but it was in the foothills where the grass is turning green. A little wildlife photography tip: your car […]
Mayor Hotline March 16 to 20
BILL OR NO BILL?, MARCH MADNESS WITH WATER, FREE MERCEDES PARKING, TROLLEY OR STRUCTURE? BED BUGS. Thomas Thacker Old Houses: My concern is on north Maple Grove just north of Ustick Rd there are two old houses on the east side of the road that the fire dept has used for training and cut the roof up and […]
Boise Coppers Get New Headquarters
After 25 years of being “roomers” at the Ada Sheriff’s law enforcement building on Barrister, Boise coppers have a new home on Sailfish off Emerald west of Maple Grove. The entire department is in the process of moving during the next 10 days. Officially known as “City HAll West,” the coppers will have about 80,000 […]
Search On To Replace CWI Prez
Dennis Griffin, president of the newly created College of Western Idaho barely made it through his first semester of junior college classes. He is ready to retire. Griffin was hired for a two year contract in August of 2007 to head up CWI and told the GUARDIAN he will retire in August of this year […]
“Kill The Messenger” Is New Message
As the economy continues to sour, the use and proliferation of public relations people to spin the messages of governments and agencies is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many folks. When the Boise School District announced layoffs, we had immediate comments and suggestions from GUARDIAN readers about getting rid of the […]
Time To Stop The Trolley Folly
Too much tax money has been spent doing surveys, plans, and proposals for a local transit system. Those who administer COMPASS, CCDC, and Valley Transit have demonstrated remarkable ineptness in providing any workable system. Those elected officials who sit on the various committees and boards have demonstrated a remarkable lack of leadership and concern for […]
Growthophobes Fear Well Water Loss
Thirsty land speculators have caused GROWTHOPHOBES in NW Ada County to organize and protest water rights applications due to be heard later this month. Owners of wells near Eagle are concerned about developers getting water rights and causing existing wells to dry up or lower the water table. Of prime concern to those with wells […]
Boise Stimulus Projects Identified
The Team Dave folks at Mayor Bieter’s office are keeping a scorecard of funded projects from the feds. Here is the current list: Transportation 36th Street Bike and Pedestrian Bridge: $550,000 Northeast Downtown Sidewalks: $519,000 Ada County Highway District ADA Sidewalks: $500,000 Ada County Highway District Thin Lift Overlays: $4 million Ada County Highway District […]
Boise Schools To Layoff Teachers, Staff
Although the details are too complex to enumerate here, look for some major personnel cuts at the Boise School District–both in certified teachers and classified staff. Here is an excerpt of a memo sent to employees Wednesday: “Based on current revenue projections and our recent history of declining enrollment, the Boise District will be forced […]
Guardian Sucks Up To Governments
We need to offer up some kudos to the local government types. First, the Ada Commishes will hold their first Town Hall meeting of the year on Wednesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. in the Meridian City Hall. Aside from a short presentation to begin the meeting ( there is no set agenda) they are intentionally keeping […]
Eagle Mayor On Legal Thin Ice
Eagle’s Mayor, Phil Bandy is skating on some legal thin ice and the temperature is rising with regard to his refusal to make public the names and resume’s of applicants to fill a vacant city council seat. Bandy has ordered the clerk’s office to withhold the public information contained in the applications and until today […]
Mayor Hotline Feb 28 to Mar 6
TEN COMMANDMENTS, NO TO TRANSIT PLAN, IDLE FLEET CARS, IDLE VAGRANTS, LONGER AND MORE INTERESTING THAN MANY HOTLINES 3/5/09 Ida Belle Fernau Fleet Vehicle: Hello, this is just a question. We were out of town this last weekend and when we got ready to leave, there was a City of Boise vehicle in the parking lot […]
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