County
Growthophobe: Development Requests Absurd
Local governments are faced with deciding the fate of more than a dozen applications to build large developments in SW Idaho in the near future. We think it is time to act responsibly on behalf of the public and JUST SAY NO! The Daily Paper did a nice round up of the PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS in […]
Bannock Website Rid of Risch Link
For whatever reason, the Official Bannock County website with the sponsored ads linking folks to the Jim Risch senate campaign site has been CLEANED OUT. We posted a story YESTERDAY showing that when visitors searched for “absentee ballot” or “voter registration” they got neither–instead they were offered a menu of commercial sites headed by the […]
Risch Link On Bannock County Site
Bannock County in Eastern Idaho has a new twist on helping voters. When you hit their ELECTION WEBSITE page and search for VOTER REGISTRATION or ABSENTEE BALLOT you don’t get either. Instead you get a sponsored link to Lt. Guv Jim Risch’s senate campaign site. Nice work for Jim and staff, but hardly appropriate on […]
Daily Paper Features GUARDIANS
The Daily Paper did a front page story Thursday featuring the Caldwell GUARDIAN and others who work to keep local governments accountable. Paul Alldredge, our Caldwell alter ego, looks stern in the picture, but he has done a great job providing a forum for discussion of local government action and spending. He shares the GUARDIAN […]
Crosswalk Lessons For Cole Near Ustick
Our friends at the Ada County Highway District are getting HAWKish on crosswalks. HAWK stands for High-intensity Activated crossWalK signal. ACHD is testing the new type of signal near Cole Road and Ustick in an effort to increase pedestrian safety, and to determine if more HAWK signals should be installed. Tuesday is the start up […]
Kuna Sized Project On Hwy 55?
Two big players in local development decisions are showing signs of GROWTHOPHOBIA which could be good news for opponents of Dry Creek Ranch and Cartwright Ranch. Dry Creek Ranch is a massive “planned community” (subdivision) of 4,300 homes and townhouses. This development, which expects a population about the size of Kuna, is slated for prime […]
Commishes Make Annual Fireworks Threat
Each year the Ada Commishes pass a temporary ban on the use of fireworks in unincorporated Ada County–the area outside cities and fire districts. They send out a grave press release declaring anyone violating the ordinance can be fined $1,000, sentenced to 6 months in jail–or both. Idle threats if you look at the facts. […]
Police Patches, Look Alike Cars Abound
When is a cop car not a cop car? When it is driven by a renta cop trying to look just like a real cop. A couple of readers report sighting a white Ford Crown Vic “police car” sporting a set of overhead lights, the outline of Idaho on a shiny gold shield pasted to […]
North Enders Get Special Treatment
A GUARDIAN reader living on the bench in Boise noticed ACHD gives advance notice of street sweeping in the North End and wonders why she can’t have the same in her neighborhood. Even on “GUARDIAN STREET” the sweeper has to navigate around parked cars and pick ups, leaving large patches unswept. The thinking is that […]
ATV Use On Local Streets?
Shane of Boise suggests the use of four wheeler ATVs on city streets would be a good idea for energy saving and pollution control after seeing one apparently licensed for street use in Germany. The GUARDIAN actually saw one cruising along the autobahn at about 50 mph one time. We suspect they are polluters and […]
Dancing The Tax Dollar Shuffle
It seems like all the cities in Ada county and the courts themselves can’t get along with each other and the battles are all over money and poor decisions. Gone are the days of “putting the people first.” A recent ruling by 4th District Court Judges simply fails the test of logic when it comes […]
Dare They Debate Sharon?
In a sound bite worthy of the World Wrestling Federation, former Ada County commissioner Sharon Ullman challenges her two primary opponents to a debate on the issues. She faces Steve Kimball and Jay Larsen in a three-way Republican primary. In a press release she bemoans the lack of interest in the campaign and is open […]
Election Process Back To Basics
Hanging chads are a thing of the past for Ada County voters–those familiar punch card ballots are being replaced by simple “legal size” paper 8.5 x 14 inch ballots. These will be filled in with a black fine point felt pen and read with an optical scanner–like those old SAT and college tests we all […]
Sun Valley Politico Junket
Finally! The GUARDIAN has found common ground with local politicos and the Chamber of Commerce. We both discuss ad nausea the topic of growth, blueprint for growth, smart growth, regional cooperation, transit, local option taxes etc. AND WE HAVE BOTH ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING! The difference is the GUARDIAN does it for free. Once again the hard […]
How To Spend $200 Million
Gotta give the Ada Commishes a little pat on the back for soliciting spending ideas from the public. The intent is great, but the survey falls short. In a press release today they are seeking some guidance with the nearly $200,000,000 they plan to spend in the coming year. That’s two hundred MILLION in hard […]
Power To The People Prevails
Wow! What an intense week of positive events for the rights of citizens to vote on long term debt by local government. Just a week ago the Idaho Senate pushed a proposed constitutional amendment through in an attempt to get around the Supreme Court FRAZIER decision which reconfirmed the fact local governments must get approval […]
Local Government vs Citizens
Things have been pretty slow at the GUARDIAN of late. Spring break plays a big part to be sure, but we think citizens are fed up with the legislature-governor bickering, cities and counties adversary relationship with citizens, and the never ending presidential race. We took a trip to the Everglades where we made this neat […]
Flood First Sandbags Second
Mike Baker is a 46 year resident of N. 9th in Boise and has seen his property flooded at least three times by runnoff from Hulls Gulch. When a Boy Scout left him a brochure urging him to “be prepared” in the event of flood, Mike took the message from Ada County Emergency Management office […]
Defending The Idaho Constitution
The GUARDIAN editor appeared before the Senate State Affairs Committee Wednesday to testify against a proposed CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT aimed at limiting citizen oversight of long term debt by local government. To call the experience frustrating is an understatement. In short, they ate our lunch, punched us in the face, yawned, walked out as we spoke […]
ACHD Assets Used For Race
After the local TV newsies ran a press release from the Ada County Highway District about clearing snow for the Race to Robie Creek, the GUARDIAN got a couple of inquiries questioning the propriety of plowing the road for the event. ACHD maintains they remove snow on the road each spring and are just doing […]
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