State Government
Balukoff Wants Tight State Rules, But Don’t Impede Local Leaders Wishes On Tax Breaks
Last week we posted a piece after having a coffee chat with A.J. Balukoff, the Boise businessman who is running as a Dem for the office of Governor. We talked about various tax breaks, including the practice of the Idaho Land Board owning businesses and leasing tax exempt state-owned buildings to commercial businesses. Balukoff suggested […]
SkyWest Will Lease City-Financed Structure Tax-Free
The GUARDIAN confirmed Tuesday that SkyWest Airline will lease a planned $23 million maintenance facility tax-free from the city of Boise. This means Boise Schools, City of Boise, Ada County, and ACHD will forego an estimated $380,000 in taxes on the city financed project EVERY YEAR! Thanks to a constitutional amendment passed three years ago, […]
GBAD Petition Denied, Voters Must Approve Debt
Fourth District Judge Melissa Moody has denied a petition filed by the Greater Boise Auditorium District to build a $22 million ballroom and kitchen without a vote of citizens. Boise GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier filed a response to the GBAD petition through his legal counsel, John Runft. Runft argued successfully that GBAD was attempting […]
Ada Disenfranchises About 765 Voters By Mistake
Sometimes the most well intended actions can lead to disaster. Such was the case when the Ada County Elections Office canceled voter registration for nearly 3,200 voters when they compared names of voters in 8 other states in an effort to curb dual voting. You can register to vote in only one location. Of that […]
BOISE SWAT COPS Train BSU Coaches
Timing is everything, especially in sports like football. The release of a YOUTUBE video is probably not good timing for the Boise State Bronco football coaching staff in light of recent civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and national debate over the “militarization of police” throughout the the USA. A GUARDIAN reader called our attention to […]
Idaho Dem Guv Candidate Says State Should Not Own Business
The GUARDIAN had a chance Tuesday to ask Democratic gubernatorial candidate A.J. Balukoff about his thoughts on state ownership of businesses. The State of Idaho owns and operates “Affordable Storage” at 450 South Maple Grove, competing with local businesses in a tax-exempt facility. The businessman and Boise school board member was direct with his answer […]
Horseless Racing, Slot Machines In Disguise
Acting on a tip from a GUARDIAN reader, we visited the game room at Les Bois Park recently and found a room with 200 slot machines being passed off as “Historic Horse Racing.” Folks, we urge you to take a dollar or two out there — perhaps during the Western Idaho Fair. Put your money […]
Gardner Courts BSU For Tax-Exempt Space
UPDATE 6/19/14 STATE BOARD OKed THE DEAL OUTLINED BELOW. Meeting in Idaho Falls, members of the State Board of Education approved the proposal. Looks like the Gardner Company has found a pot of gold in the form of government funding for downtown Boise projects. Latest move to get public funding for a pair of proposed […]
Ada Coroner Upset Highlights Need For State Medical Examiner
Ex-sheriff’s deputy Mike Chilton won a three way vote for the post of Ada County Coroner in the Tuesday primary. He defeated a former restaurateur who campaigned with signs showing dripping blood, and the current deputy coroner, Robert Karinen. There are mixed takes on how the Ada Coroner office has evolved under Erwin Sonnenberg, who […]
Caldwell GUARDIAN Vindicated Over Nampa Library
Thursday the Gardener Company sent Nampa Development Corporation (Urban Renewal) a letter backing out of the retail/officeportion of the Nampa Library Project. Caldwell GUARDIAN editor Paul Alldredge had filed legal action to allow citizens to weigh in on the indebtedness, but backed out when threatened with being forced to pay legal fees. In the letter, […]
Ada Sheriff Applauds Gun Nullification Law
Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney told the GUARDIAN he endorsed a law signed Thursday by Gov. Butch Otter that would make it a crime for Idaho coppers or officials to follow ANY edicts from Washington regarding guns and ammo. Raney said, “Last year I and many other law enforcement leaders opposed HB 219 because it […]
Is There No Shame In Medical Game?
After losing an anti-trust lawsuit in the United States District Court which generated attorney fees of $10,000,000 on the part of the winners, St. Lukes Health Foundation is sending out letters begging for cash from the community. St. Luke’s Foundation is using the excuse of “National Doctors Day” March 30 to give everyone a chance […]
Where Do The Senators Live?
At the risk of pouring salt in a wound, we share the following note from a Nampa reader. “Sen. McKenzie since the unfortunate episode with his wife, has been living where? His address in the 2014 Legislative Directory is listed as 412 W. Franklin St. Boise, 83702 phone 344-4379. Yet, his address to run for […]
Farmers Could Get Convicted Felon Labor
If a bill proposed in the Idaho Legislature becomes law, Idaho farmers could get a chance to pay minimum wages to prison inmates instead of paying higher wages to attack workers. “This would help us make sure we get our perishable Idaho crops harvested” in the event of worker shortages, said Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, […]
Porn Flick Features Idaho Guv As Crooked Sheriff
Nearly 24 years ago, C.L. Butch Otter, Lt. Guv at the time, was hustling Hollywood directors to make films in Idaho. Now, just a day after he visited the Ada County JUVENILE DETENTION facility and delivered an inspirational speech to the young offenders, the media is alive with reports he appeared as a corrupt sheriff […]
Micron, Samsung Top Offenders In Price Fixing Settlement
In a settlement announced Tuesday, Micron and Samsung were listed as the top offenders in a price fixing settlement for sales of DRAM computer chips between 1998 and 2002. The legal agreement came out of the U.S. District Court for Northern California. Micron has agreed to pay $66.7 million and Samsung will cough up $113 […]
Governments Run Amok
Where do we start? The GUARDIAN has been in warmer climes for three weeks and comes home to chaos–or is always like this? –Top item in the foolishness file is the Idaho legislature’s apparent push to get guns on campus. The amazing thing to us is not the wacko legislators–we always have them–but the fact […]
Land Board Gets Out Of Future Commercial Deals
For the past few years the GUARDIAN has urged the Idaho Land Board to stay out of commercial real estate deals after we revealed the purchase and operation of a storage business in Boise. They steadfastly claimed a “constitutional mandate” to get the best bang for the buck. Cathy Opp, recently resigned deputy director, was […]
Masterson, Other Coppers Ignored At Gun Hearing
The folowing opinion is representative of coppers from Boise, Nampa, Moscow and Canyon County, to name a few who were muzzeled at an Idaho Senate hearing last week. The GUARDIAN will offer the forum not allowed in the Idaho Legislature. We may be a bit slow to approve comments as we are in the South […]
Opp Out Could Signal Land Policy Shift
The resignation of Dept. of Lands Deputy Director Cathy Opp and the revelation by the Statesman’s Dan Popkey that legislators have turned down donations from leaseholders of state-owned recreation lots at Payette and Priest Lakes, signals a possible policy shift of Idaho Land Board activities. The board is comprised of the five state elected officers […]
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