Landfill Energy Project May Be Just Garbage

After getting some negative comments as well as talking with an engineer, the GUARDIAN’s red flag began to wave over the electric generation project with Dynamis and Lloyd Mahaffey at the Ada Landfill. Last week the DAILY PAPER ran a big page one story which clearly said the firm operates a trash-to-electricity project at Barrow, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Some Grist For The Coffee Shop Mill

We offer a round up today of some topics of conversation, bearing in mind the legislative crazy season will soon be upon us. That means the legacy media will do their “one stop shopping” at the Statehouse instead of Bronco Stadium. –The G-BAD boys will get a report from a consultant on Monday saying it’s […]

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 […]

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 […]

Daily Paper News Content Lacking

Apart from endless stories about BSU football, we have noticed a paucity of local news content in the STATESMAN of late. Not only have they cut staff–and consequently coverage–the paper has put staffers on a rotating “furlough” system that results in a week of no editorials with the pages being filled by syndicated columnists or […]

Airport Seeks Public Financing Of Private Business Facilities

In a page one Saturday story by reporter Cynthia Sewell, the IDAHO STATESMAN ran a statement by Richard McConnell, Boise Airport’s director, which illustrates the need to oppose HJR5. “If a company says it wants to lease a cargo facility within the next 12 months for a 20-year period, the city would first have to […]

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 […]

A Personal GUARDIAN Note

We have to admit to a bit of preoccupation with the campaign to preserve the right of Idaho voters to vote on debt at airports, public hospitals and city owned electric utilities. The GUARDIAN has won several court decisions against Boise as they attempted to skirt the constitution which has brought us to the Nov. […]

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 […]

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 […]

City “Varnishes” Mayor Hotline Public Record

Mayor Dave Bieter’s “Team Dave” has decided to provide their own version of Hotline Calls made to the Mayor’s office after providing a word-for-word transcription to the media for years. We find it ironic the city spends $60,000 in public funds to “educate” voters about a political question on the November ballot, but eliminated a […]