Politics
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 […]
GUARDIAN Supports Urban Renewal Reform
AT LEAST HALF A DOZEN BILLS ARE CURRENTLY BEFORE THE IDAHO LEGISLATURE AIMED AT CUTTING AUTHORITY OF URBAN RENEWAL AGENCIES AND CREATING CITIZEN OVERSIGHT OF ACTIVITIES. NEWSPAPERS THROUGHOUT THE STATE (NOTE IN BOISE HOWEVER) HAVE REPORTED ON THE ISSUE. MOST HAVE LEANED TOWARD THE VIEW OF LOCAL POLITICOS, BUT WITHOUT FACTUAL DETAILS ABOUT WHAT HAS […]
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 […]
Meridian School Uses Parent E-Mail List For Political Effort Opposing Luna Plan
Looks like the principal of Meridian’s Renaissance High School is using confidential parent e-mail addresses for partisan politics to oppose State Superintendent Tom Luna’s latest plans to revamp Idaho education spending. GUARDIAN reader Chuck Everett was contacted via e-mail from his child’s school with the following message and attachment. From: McGrew Wendi [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, […]
Local Issues Cropping Up In Legislature
The GUARDIAN is familiar with much of what’s on the plate of lawmakers this session. We brought the issue of a state-owned storage business to the attention of readers last fall. Sen. Russ Fulcher of Meridian went after the deputy director of the State Lands Department in a Senate State Affairs committee hearing Wednesday over […]
F-35 May Not Fly In Congress (or Boise)
Despite the endorsement of the Boise City Council and Team Dave, it looks like the skies over Boise won’t soon be bothered by F-35 fighter jets. The program is grossly over budget. Here is a WEBPOST from last Friday detailing the problems. http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/aerospace/military/us-joint-strike-fighter-f35-hits-afterburners-on-cost-overrun No word from the State, Feds, or Boise about mixing military fighters […]
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 […]
AARP Release Aims To Intimidate Legislators, Guv.
A message to Idaho legislators from the old people lobby–AARP–could certainly provide an explanation why Idaho students, workers, and others under the age of 50 don’t fare well with legislative issues. It’s the oldtimers who vote and its the oldtimers who lean toward conservative values. The kids who hit the streets demanding the vote at […]
Ada Commishes Get “Personal” At New Term
Despite public statements to the contrary, it will be hard to imagine a harmonious atmosphere at the Ada County Commishes’ office in the coming months. The IDAHO STATESMAN finally went public with a “dirty secret” that many media folks (including the GUARDIAN) were aware of, but reluctant to publish. In a nutshell Commish Sharon Ullman’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 […]
Cities Ask Ada To Drop Courtroom Lawsuit
The mayors of Boise, Meridian, and Garden City issued a media release Monday asking Ada County to withdraw the lawsuit filed against the cities last month. Link to LAWSUIT POST. The cities claim the lawsuit, filed by the Ada County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 21, 2010, seeks to tax residents of the three cities […]
Greed and Politicos Diddle Retirement System
A reader sent us a link to a WALL STREET JOURNAL story about ailing public retirement plans. Idaho’s PERSI (Public Employee Retirement System) covers city county and state workers so each city doesn’t have its own burden, but we still need reform. PERSI is full of flaws that cost taxpayers millions and is in danager […]
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 […]
Idaho Urban Renewal Agencies Remain Unchecked
We figure Urban Renewal reform will be competing with the budget for legislative attention come January and it will be another round of Government vs the People. A Canyon County group is gaining momentum–and lots of facts to dump on the lawmakers and it is not a pretty picture. Once a city creates an urban […]
A New “Equal Rights” Amendment?
Of the hundreds of “spam” ideas that circulate on the internet, we got one recently that seems to make sense. Please take a look and share your thoughts. Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally […]
Crapo Seeks To Import Foreign Guns
When Boston sought permission to have a single prototype locomotive built in Spain for a rapid transit project, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo opposed the import deal under the “Buy America Act.” Today that same “Buy America” patriotic Senator is co-sponsoring “The Collectible Firearms Protection Act” which would allow import of military rifles from South Korea…perhaps […]
Government PR Offers Economic Bright Spot
Rather than offer any “GUARDIAN prose,” we will just share what a reader sent Thursday on the actions of Idaho’s Land Board. This type of spending in the face of budget cuts and economic tough times is why our citizens feel so betrayed by those who rule us. I’ve been thinking about this since yesterday, […]
Voter Rights Prompts Election Reflection
The Day Job took us to the Deep South following the election, hence a lack of new material on the site. By way of apology, we offer the following feature. Annie Pearl Townsend Avery proudly welcomes visitors to the NATIONAL VOTER RIGHTS MUSEUM in Selma, Alabama which is housed in a storefront at the foot […]
G-Bad Boys To Get “Free Time” In Office
When the legislature consolidated the election process in Idaho to just two dates–May and November–some small agencies like The Greater Boise Auditorium District got caught in limbo because their election previously was held in February. The question arose about when to “transition” to the new system. The law calls for a November election for the […]
Boise Council Hopefuls Avoid Election
On one hand it is nice to see so much interest from the 53 folks wishing to be appointed to the council seat being vacated by Vern Bisterfeldt, but on the other hand it is sad we can’t get viable candidates to run for election by the people. Mayor Dave Bieter appeared on KBOI 670 […]
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