State Government
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 […]
Elected Officials Actually Eat With Commoners!
Boise City Councilors can take a lesson from State Legislators when it comes to being approachable. The new dining digs at the Statehouse are now “open to the public” for breakfast and lunch, according to The DAILY PAPER’S Dan Popkey. Combined with actually TALKING to citizens and asking for advice like the JFAC hearings, perhaps […]
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 […]
Garden City Seeks Bridge Funds From Public
Garden City has taken its thinly disguised campaign to keep bicycles off the Greenbelt to the DAILY PAPER and Idaho Parks in an effort to find nearly $1 million to build a pedestrian-bike bridge across the Boise River to silence the call to allow bikes on the north side of the river. The Idaho Statesman […]
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 […]
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 […]
F&G Still Looking For Hammer Flats Money
Working on the upcoming “best of 2010” stories list, we came across the May 29 HAMMER FLAT land deal announcement between Boise City and Idaho Fish and Game, prompting an update. Seems Boise’s cash payment for the wildlife habitat still hasn’t been repaid by F&G seven months after the deal was revealed by the GUARDIAN. […]
Moose & Elk To Get GPS Collars
We finally figured how all the moose and elk of Eastern Idaho are able to navigate the mountains so well: GPS! It must drive those critters crazy to hear, “Turn right in 400 feet. Recalculating. Arriving at Winter Range on left. Recalculating.” Apparently when the snow melts the collar sends the game to higher elevations […]
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 […]
AP Braves Authorities, Court In Defense of Truth
Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone works in the Boise bureau covering among other things, the courts. She released a WIRE STORY today of prison violence that is worthy of Pulitzer consideration. With the resources of the AP and a lot of good old fashioned journalism, the news organization has done itself proud with a frightening […]
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 […]
Land Board Defends Private Venture
After the GUARDIAN broke the story about the Idaho Land Board going into the private storage business last, Director George Bacon offered up a damage control missive in the DAILY PAPER Sunday justifying the need for the state to enter the tax exempt rental business. In addition to their $85,000 contract with the Guv’s election […]
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 […]
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, […]
Garden City, State Force Bikers To Court
For almost three years the Citizens for an Open Greenbelt (COG) has attempted to reverse the bike riding ban in Garden City. The State and Garden City are resolute in maintaining no bike riding along this section in the Riverside Village area; the same section (our public trust lands) that had been called a “bike […]
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 […]
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 […]
AG: Officials Not Entitled To YMCA Memberships
Results of an eight month Attorney General’s investigation of Caldwell urban renewal will not result in criminal charges, but it reveal serious flaws in existing laws. The investigation was requested by former prosecutor John Bujak–before he became subject of criminal and civil investigations himself. Bujak handed it off after Caldwell GUARDIAN editor Paul Alldredge discovered […]
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