Traffic
ACHD Fee Proposal Needs Two Year Limit Or Face Voter Rejection
We need to expand and clarify our PREVIOUS POST about the proposed ACHD vehicle fee hike which gives a free ride to anything over 8,000 lbs. Some commishes complained that we focused blame on them while they were “merely following the state code.” They are correct with regard to being bound by the state code, […]
ACHD Proposes To Give Commercial Vehicles “Free Ride,” Stick Little Guys With Tax Hike
Ada County Highway District Commissioners will consider a craftily worded fee hike proposal at their July 11 noon meeting which places new fees squarely on the back of small passenger car owners while exempting the rigs that chew up our roads. The proposal, which is planned for the November 6 ballot, sets forth a fee […]
Three I-84 Crash Victims Served In USAF, New Wider Overpass Likely
Officials at Mountain Home Air Force Base confirmed the identity of three victims in the fiery I-84 crash were members of the U.S. Force. Here is the Air Force media release: Three Airmen from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, were killed in the accident Saturday night on Interstate84 in Boise, Idaho. The Airmen have […]
More Growth (Cancer) Headed North
Back in the day there was a collective sigh of relief, a lowering of blood pressure and a sense of freedom when you turned off of State Street and headed north on Highway 55 at “Petticoat Junction.” The realignment of Highway 55 along with traffic signals at Hill Road and Floating Feather intruded a bit. […]
The GUARDIAN is Baaaack
The GUARDIAN has returned to duty and unfortunately we don’t have a lot of cheery news to report after covering 1300 miles of Idaho, Yellowstone, and vicinity. Great time spent with 14-year-old grandson and a chance to learn the addictive qualities of those “smart” phones. Amazing how fast and readily available information can be obtained. […]
Growing To Death Like Cancer
Growing Like Cancer Idaho is experiencing a growth spurt unequaled since the days of homesteading, free mining claims, free cattle grazing, and water rights. Guess what? The modern version of those government give aways come in all sorts of “economic incentives” which has local citizens PAYING corporations to move businesses to the Treasure Valley and […]
Crowd Jeers Stadium Guy Like An Umpire
Dressed in a dark blue blazer and light blue shirt, Geoff Wardle, local counsel for the developer who wants to build a ball park on Americana looked remarkably like a baseball umpire and the crowd treated him like one. They jeered him and challenged most of his statements, cutting him off in mid sentence when […]
Most Speakers Oppose Growth At Town Hall
In a respectful “town hall” meeting at Boise Fire Station #4 on Ustick Road Wednesday night, speaker after speaker told the Boise Mayor and Council they were tired of the growth or the rapid pace of growth. Describing idyllic scenes of the past being blotted out with high density apartments, about 90% of those speaking […]
Semi-Auto Parking Detective
Following up on a reader’s query: “Cars with Boise City logos seen with multiple cameras on the front and rear. What are they for and what city program is it a part of? How much does it cost us?” The GUARDIAN learned that Boise’s parking Czar has come up with yet another way to monetize […]
2017 Deadly Year On Boise Streets
If it seems like Boise streets are getting more dangerous, it is because traffic deaths more than doubled in 2017 over 2016. The biggest jump was in deaths of motorcyclists: 9 in 2017 vs 0 in 2016. Four pedestrians lost their lives and one bicyclist in both 2016 and 2017. Here are the raw figures: […]
What Was Top GUARDIAN 2017 Story?
This is the traditional time to look back at the past year’s news and vote for the top stories. From this side of the computer, the F-35 story wins hands down. The effort and expense to expose the clandestine efforts of the local politicos to land the noisy fighter jet was massive. Other topics we […]
Peddle Your E-Bikes Off Greenbelt
GUEST REPORT By Steve “Bike Boy” Hulme In one of those “stealth” moves that our city government is somewhat famous for, people on electric-assist bicycles will soon have full access to our “Crown Jewel” Greenbelt, bike lanes, many foothills trails… and sidewalks to boot! A hearing was held on December 5th. The Parks Department representative […]
Meridian Dream (nightmare) Comes True
Ten years ago the GUARDIAN reported on the potential accounting problems when a developer is allowed to divert Idaho sales tax to personal use. That’s what ITD did at the VILLAGE Mall in Meridian. The developer created his own urban renewal district with sales tax from retailers. The resulting traffic, growth, and ham-handed accounting are […]
Solution For Downtown Parking Rate Hike
The Capital City Development Corp. voted Monday to raise parking rates 20% to $3 per hour and the monthly rate from $135 to $170. The reason for the hikes is said to reduce demand–and of course make more money from downtown workers and shoppers. For an office worker making a take home pay of $40,000, […]
Motorcycles Are Deadliest Ride In Boise
Here’s a shocker. So far in 2017, FOUR TIMES as many people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Boise than in cars. Concerned with the number of fatal accidents in Boise (four so far in October) the GUARDIAN joined forces with Boise coppers to check the number and type of crashes. There has been a […]
CANDIDATE FORUM: Rachel Misnick On Issues
I’d like to give a thank you to the Boise Guardian for giving me the opportunity to address issues that are important in our community. I just recently discovered your news site and have been reading through the articles and comments, which are echoing my concern of City Council under-representation of the areas outside of […]
Field Of Dreams Or Financial Nightmare?
UPDATE: A reader sent us a link 10/11/17 to a great website called FIELD OF SCHEMES which includes a Washington POST op-ed story published October 11, 2017. The easily applied metaphor of “Field of Dreams” for Mayor Dave Bieter’s publicly funded sales pitch for a downtown stadium is all too true. Like many of Team […]
Ball Park May Face Extra Innings
It looks like Boise’s downtown “field of dreams” ball park proposal could go into extra innings if the home team calling itself CONCERNED BOISE TAXPAYERS is able to keep the developer and local agencies from getting to first base. The group boasts Gary Michael, former Albertson CEO, as the lead off pitcher with a bullpen […]
Two Wheel Death Abounds
At least five motorcyclists have perished on Idaho roads in the past week or so, prompting the GUARDIAN to issue a special alert. A crash in Canyon County last week, two in Boise within the past two days (State St. near Sycamore, and Cole and Brentwood) a head-on on Warm Springs a few days ago […]
City Railroads Trolley Plans
It’s like trying to stop a speeding train. Here is a letter from a Boise City engineer that went out to numerous local officials. Seems like after thousands of $$$ in surveys, promotional campaigns, and meetings the selected players ran out of objections to the “Trolley Folly” also known as “Desire Named Street Car.” Dear […]
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