Business
GUARDIAN Warned of Fizzled Fission Three Years Ago
Thursday’s story by Rocky Barker in the DAILY PAPER about an alleged scam involving the SEC investigation of Alternative Energy’s proposed nuclear power plant near Payette didn’t really surprise us. The GUARDIAN, along with readers and writer Jo Kirkpatrick warned folks of the “smooth operator” in this NUKE STORY. Our hat is off to the […]
Paramedic School Hit By CWI Competition
Editor note: Despite the GUARDIAN name, there is no connection between the blog and the school in Meridian. As the economic woes continue in Idaho and the USA, we thought this piece was worthy of a post here. It demonstrates the difficulty of the private sector in direct competition with the government–CWI in this case– […]
AG Sticks To His Principles On Land Issue
Gotta hand it to Lawrence Wasden, Idaho’s Attorney General. While we disagree with his Land Board position when it comes to the state owning and operating a storage business under the guise of “obtaining maximum return for the education endowment fund,” at least the guy is consistent. He has taken his fellow Land Board Commissioners […]
Chamber Seeks Bankrupt Firms, Asian Boutiques
The DAILY PAPER ran a page one story Monday about a new guy at the helm of the Chamber of Commerce’s “Boise Valley Economic Partnership.” It’s a scheme aimed at attracting new businesses to the Valley. We certainly wish him luck, but after reading some of his plans and knowing the dismal failure of the […]
G-BAD Boys Consider Demolishing Qwest Arena
If you don’t like driving on Capitol or Front at rush hour, just wait to see what the G-BAD boys have up their sleeves for future ideas. The Idaho Business Review broke a story Tuesday morning revealing plans to potentially demolish the Qwest Arena to make room for a convention center–despite untold failed attempts at […]
Self Storage Association Quizzes Idaho Land Board
The national president of the Self-storage Association in Washington, D.C.has asked the Idaho Land Board to curtail future purchases of retail storage businesses, investing instead in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) specializing in self storage. The letter to the board is dated November 5 and includes numerous questions and concerns about the practice of state-owned […]
State Acts As Schill For Insurance Broker
A state worker sent us the accompanying flyer from the Idaho Department of Administration, questioning the propriety of using the official state seal to encourage insurance sales for only a specific broker. Our brief inquiry revealed that a Utah insurance broker, Moreton and Company, approached the department of administration which was under the direction of […]
Boise-Ada Taxpayers Suffer In State Land Deal
The Idaho Department of Lands sent us a well presented defense of their financials regarding the purchase of Affordable Self Storage in Boise–a state owned retail business. What it means is that Boise-Ada taxpayers get screwed out of tax revenues, but the schools get a boost. The IDL sent the details–and we agree with the […]
State-Owned Private Business Venture Draws Split Decision From GUARDIAN Readers
Businesses–especially the lucrative self storage sector–can expect to see more State-owned competitors in the future. Land Dept. Deputy Director Cathy Opp talked with the GUARDIAN Wednesday following our post about the Department purchasing and operating a retail self storage facility at 450 S. Maple Grove in Boise. She said the goal of the endowment fund […]
G-BAD Boys Keep Trying To Expand
The Greater Boise Auditorium District board, known affectionately as the “G-BAD Boys,” are still in GROWTH mode and this time they seek to move up…literally. The DAILY PAPER has a piece by reporter Cynthia Sewell in Tuesday’s edition explaining yet another expansion plan which includes adding a story atop the existing structure. It is fraught […]
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 […]
Former Fair Mgr./Commish Weighs In On RV Park
Roger Simmons is a former manager of the Western Idaho Fair as well as a former Ada Commish. He offers a historical perspective on the recent post about the RV park and issues surrounding the proposed evictions and expansion. By ROGER SIMMONS In 1987 when I was hired as the Manager of the Western Idaho […]
CCDC Seeks Expansion Despite Statewide Opposition
Boise’s Urban Renewal Agency–CCDC– seeks to double the acres where property taxes are diverted away from City, County, ACHD, and Schools with a new District in the 30th Street area. They will have to hustle to get ahead of growing opposition. The Daily Paper has a DETAILED REPORT. Urban Renewal agencies throughout the state have […]
Ada Dump Seeks Green Power Trash Talk
The Ada Commishes are trying to generate some trash talk–or talk generating with trash– with the idea of making prime real estate out of the county dump. They issued a “REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST” for anyone willing to talk about using trash to generate energy and potentially building a “Renewal Energy Industrial Park” at […]
Bieter Continues To Perform At Chamber “Live Aid”
The GUARDIAN first posted a version of this story 5 years ago and thanks to our complaints about no free tickets, the Chamber of Commerce makes access available for free to those wishing to get up erly and hear Dave Bieter talk on June 2. We probably won’t hear about the public outcry AGAINST a […]
Boise City Continues Quest For Train
In yet ANOTHER attempt at playing trains, Mayor Dave Bieter has entered into a secret negotiation with the Boise Valley Railroad–the shortline that runs through town–to explore building a freight facility on land owned by Boise citizens. Seems that Team Dave can’t get support for a trolley. They also can’t get a downtown “transit center” […]
BSU Finance and Land Use Planning 101
This post was originally sent to the GUARDIAN as a comment from a reader. We felt it worthy of a full blown post. By DEAN GUNDERSON BSU has held an A1 Bond rating by Moody’s for its last few issuances. This puts it on a relative investment risk on par with the countries of South […]
Boise Not A “Tourist Friendly Town”
Our good friend Tim Woodward over at the DAILY PAPER posted a story Sunday with suggestions of “what to do in Boise” for a visitor with a 6 hour layover. What my nice guy friend didn’t mention is the Boise Depot–which he suggested as worthy of a visit–is CLOSED TO VISITORS most of the time! […]
GUARDIAN Predicts “Rain Out” On Boise Ball Park
The GUARDIAN and reader Dean Gunderson have teamed up to call the Hawks game between Boise and Meridian. Our preseason conclusion is while there may be just barely enough square feet for a park at the 2900 Fairview location on land owned by the city, it will take a ton of money to make it […]
Economy Is Elephant In The Room
Spring is here, the legislature has mercifully left town, there is extra snow at the ski resorts, the Pope has the lowest approval rating in the history of the Catholic Church, Obama has signed a health care law, but the BIG ELEPHANT in the room remains the economy. A one-tenth percent decline in unemployment rates […]
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