Stories

We Idahoans love our rivers. Whether it is for fishing, rafting, irrigating or simply appreciating the unique beauty, we recognize this resource as the lifeblood of our state. The beauty and recreational opportunities Idaho’s rivers provide draw attention and visitors from around the world. What makes our rivers so special? And what is being done to keep them in pristine condition?

Idaho is largely dry and arid which puts a lot of pressure on water resources. In some cases water use may be exceeding natural replenishment. ICL is working to protect and restore the health of Idaho's rivers by ensuring that there is enough water in rivers to allow for healthy flows and self-sustained fisheries. We are also working to reduce wasteful practices and promote good resource management.

On May 24, Marie Kellner, ICL’s Water Associate, will presentLike a Fish to Water: A Discussion of Idaho’s Rivers at the Ketchum Community Library as part of the library's Fly Fishing Week. 

It is a free event that starts... (more)

Redfish Lake Lodge has one heck of a deal on Living Social this week for their Pontoon rental.  

This is one deal not to miss for the summer!  

It's springtime in the Wood River Valley -- the grass is greening up, the flowers are blooming, hikers, runners and mountain bikers are out on the trails getting exercise, and domestic sheep are beginning their annual migration into the high country.

The first bands of sheep are expected to move into the Croy Canyon area near Hailey on May 20th, and the Bullion drainage May 25, and more sheep will be moving into the Sawtooth National Forest and Sawtooth National Recreation Area by mid-June, officials said. All told, approximately 14,000 domestic sheep will be moving through the valley and side draws where hikers, bikers, joggers, dog-walkers and horseback riders go for recreation.

Sheep ranchers and officials with the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission (IRRC), U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management want to remind recreationists to keep their dogs on leash when they encounter domestic sheep. And mountain bikers should dismount and walk through sheep herds to avoid antagonizing Great Pyrenees guard dogs.... (more)

On Monday May 28, 2012 at 11:00am the 9th annual Hailey Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at the Hailey Cemetery. Our theme this year is, "Honoring the Unsung Heroes." We've got an incredible and honorable program lined up this year including the return of the 366th FW Honor Guard from Mountain Home AFB. This will be their 5th consecutive year with us, and it is a privilege and honor to have them join us again. Chief Petty Officer Don Curry with the NOSC, Boise, Idaho will be our guest speaker. There'll be representatives from 4 of the 5 US Armed Forces branches participating. At approx. 11:30am we'll have an A-10 Thunderbolt II flyover by the 190th Fighter Squadron. As always there'll be readings, songs, a wreath bearing, and more. Nearly 440 American flags will be placed in honor of the veteran's laid to rest at the Hailey Cemetery and in honor of all Idahoans who've passed away since the Global War on Terrorism began in 2001. Bring your family and friends, bring a blanket to sit on, and remember, RAIN... (more)

Angry online comments on “District and McKinstry sue each other“ at MtExpress.com, express discontent over spending of funds and possible lack of oversight by BCSD Administrators and Trustees. Through the comment forum, citizens are making plans to meet, organize and take action.

Read the rest of the article. Originally published on BlaineParents.org 

Each summer more than 600 miners head for Idaho’s streams and rivers in search of gold. Imagine a high-powered vacuum, floating on pontoons. The miner dives to the bottom of the stream and sucks up gravel and sediment with a large house, excavating down to the bedrock. The load is discharged through a sluice box on the back of the floating dredge, capturing the gold, and expelling the sediment and gravel into the water.

The practice can wreak havoc on fish habitat and stream water quality.

• Sediment discharged by the dredges can cover up fish eggs. 
• Gravel deposited behind the dredges can create artificial spawning beds. 
• If used for spawning, these artificial beds may be washed downstream by spring runoff due to their instability, destroying the fish eggs of fall spawners, like bull trout. 
• Mercury used for amalgamation during historic mining operations can be released into the water column, along with the sediment.

Ever since suction dredging equipment became available, the practice has gone virtually... (more)

Discovering a Sense of Place Discussion Series

Are you interested in understanding the meaning of a bioregional perspective, and what it would mean to develop one; considering the benefits of consciously developing an intimate relationship with your place; and exploring what it might mean to protect the place where you live?  If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then join the ERC this summer in a five-week Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) discussion course on the topic of "Discovering A Sense of Place.”

 We’ll meet Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., beginning May 30 at the ERC Office in Ketchum (471 N. Washington).  The discussion group is offered free of charge; however, participants will need to purchase a $23 discussion workbook.  Please register quickly so that discussion guides may be ordered and picked up before our first meeting (we will need your payment at time of registration in order to place the order for you).  For more information on this program and to register... (more)

Spring is here and gardens and landscapes in the valley are growing!  As you are enjoying the sunshine and outdoors, The Blaine County Cooperative Weed Management Area is asking you to keep an eye out for noxious weeds.

What is a weed and what makes a weed noxious?  Technically, a weed is any plant growing where a human doesn’t want it to.  You may love dandelions and think of them as a yellow smile upon your lawn but your neighbor may think they are the bane of their landscape.  A NOXIOUS WEED is a plant which has been classified by the State of Idaho to cause injury or harm to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife, or property.  Noxious weeds are non-native species which have been introduced with no natural means to control them.  They throw off nature’s system of checks and balances and grow wildly out of control. 

So what?   Noxious weeds cause $300 Million in lost crop productivity in Idaho each year.  Nationwide losses amount to... (more)

The current exhibit of works by Jeff Fontaine make an intriguing focal point for an outside space and may be incorporated into a variety of designs.  The metal panels are "quilted" together, using both salvaged as well as new metal. Fontaine speeds up the natural process of rusting and pitting to create the desired composition, with the focus on the innate beauty created as manmade objects break down and naturally age.  Based on the artist's photography of old signs, rusting train cars and crumbling architecture, many of the patterns and the imagery used in each work are taken directly from these documented surfaces. This process employs Fontaine's controlled attempt to both replicate and suspend the natural law of entropy and the break down of things. 

Wednesdays, Starting May 30

Are you interested in understanding the meaning of a bioregional perspective, and what it would mean to develop one; considering the benefits of consciously developing an intimate relationship with your place; and exploring what it might mean to protect the place where you live?  If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then join the ERC this summer in a five-week Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) discussion course on the topic of "Discovering A Sense of Place.”

 We’ll meet Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., beginning May 30 at the ERC Office in Ketchum (471 N. Washington).  The discussion group is offered free of charge; however, participants will need to purchase a $23 discussion workbook.  Please register by Wednesday, May 16

Saturday, May 19, 10a-12:30p.  As a part of the Hailey Community Climate Challenge, the Building Material Thrift Store will provide an interactive workshop on raising backyard chickens.  Bob Closser will lead us in a tour of the key aspects of a successful coop design, share design blueprints, and lead construction demonstrations using reclaimed materials.  We’ll also share tips on raising happy and healthy organic chickens, and the City of Hailey will review the city codes governing the practice of backyard birds.  The workshop is free, but space is limited.  Please call the Environmental Resource Center to register, and for location, at 208-726-4333.

Dr. Robert Earl "Bob" Smith died April 18, 2012.

Born May 12, 1933, in San Carlos, Calif., Bob attended Redwood High, Stanford University and San Francisco College of Dentistry. In 1957-58, after becoming an orthodontist, he worked in dentistry for the U.S. Army in Weisbaden, Germany. It was from there that he traveled to Kitzbuehel every weekend, solidifying his desire to ski. In 1960 he transitioned from the Army to his private practice in Marin County, Calif., specializing in children's dental problems.

In 1964 Bob married his wife, Jean, with whom he remained for 48 years. Shortly after that, his passion for skiing led them to Alta, Utah, where weather conditions and fogging goggles were the catalysts for Bob's invention of the modern double-lens ski goggle. With the help of his wife and his orthodontist skills, the two manufactured early goggle prototypes around the kitchen table, ultimately forming the world-renowned company Smith Sport Optics. Smith's design and technology proved...

May 9, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., Hailey City Hall, 2nd Floor.  Hailey Community Climate Challenge partners will present an informative workshop on renewable energy.  If you've ever contemplated installing a small-scale renewable system, pondered the difference between solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, wondered how ground source heat pumps can save you energy, or needed help making sense of which systems are allowed within our local building codes, this is the workshop for you.  Local experts will discuss the various renewable systems, rebates, incentives, and more.  The recipients of 6 renewable rebate awards (each worth $2000), drawn from a pool of participants in the Save-A-Watt program,  will also be announced.  FREE, and receive a free CFL.  www.haileychallenge.org, or 788-9815, x24.

The Idaho Transportation Department reminds drivers that studded tires used to improve vehicle handling in snow and ice most be removed by April 30.

The use of studded tires is legal in Idaho from Oct. 1 through April 30.

Studded tires are snow tires with small metal cleats embedded in the tread that improves traction. Using studded tires may cause undue wear on bare roadways. All-season tires with good tread or "studless" tires are good alternatives for most winter driving conditions.

Studded tire laws vary in neighboring states. Authorized start and end dates are:

Montana: Oct. 1 - May 31
Nevada: Oct. 1 - April 30
Utah: Oct. 15 - March 31
Oregon: Nov. 1 - March 31 (extended to April 9 this year because of slick highway conditions)
Washington: Nov. 1 - March 31 (extended to April 16 this year because of slick highway conditions)
Wyoming: Legal all year

For the latest highway and weather conditions in Idaho, call the Traveler Information Service at 5-1-1. For online updates, visit the website at 511.idaho.... (more)

Friday, April 20th, 3PM til 6PM. Saturday, April 21st,  9AM til done!  We have Great furniture including antique tables and chairs, cool old wooden, Futon frame and mattress, nice queen sized black wooden bed frame and mattress, nice overstuffed chair, big cool looking western-rustic armoire.  Both men and women's designer clothes like new! Ski and Snowboard equipment for cheap!  Snowshoes only used twice for less than the cost to rent them for the day!! TVs, Video games, HP Printer, old cellphones, VCR and other fancy stuff!  Kid and baby, clothes, toys and strollers!  Tons of nice shoes, sunglasses, hats and other amazing treasures and screaming deals! What are you waiting for? Come on down and let's make a deal!!

Of the many ways to get from New York City to the mountain West, Todd Peebler did not choose the wisest route. He was moving for a new job and a new life in Sun Valley, Idaho, a Rocky Mountain resort town five hours north of Salt Lake City. But on April 2, the fourth day of his cross-country trek, Peebler was within two hours of his final destination, when the 31-year-old diabetic missed a crucial turn. 

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/04/19/041912-news-saved-by

A recent malfunction with the underground traffic detection for a traffic signal at the intersection of Main Street (Idaho 75) and First Street in Ketchum has required a timing change, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. The signal remains in operation with a specific time allotted for traffic in each direction.

ITD personnel initiated the signal timing change on Thursday (April 12). The signal will continue to operate by timing until a new system of traffic-detection cameras can be mounted from the signal poles in the coming weeks.

Drivers are urged to use caution through the intersection and watch for other drivers unaware of the signal changes.

In the past, the signal changed to allow traffic to cross from First Street following detection from an underground system of magnetic “loops” or wires placed in the asphalt roadway. The loops were installed with the signal in 1996 and lost connectivity with the signal control cabinet recently. Without the detection loops, traffic... (more)

Los voluntarios responderán a las preguntas, ayuda con los solicituds de becas, y llevar registros de los campamentos. Miércoles, 4 - 5:30 pm, 11 de abril - 9 de mayo.  Llame al 726-4333, o venga a la oficina, 471 N. Washington, Ketchum.

Thursday, April 26, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., in the Hailey City Hall Upstairs Meeting Room.  Learn what you can do with energy efficiency and rebate programs. To qualify for Hailey’s new Save-A-Watt program, you must attend this workshop. Free, and receive a CFL light bulb from the Hailey Community Climate Challenge. www.haileychallenge.org or 788-9815, x24.

The Ketchum Sun Valley Ski and Heritage Museum will be offering a lifetime membership opportunity through June 1^st, 2012.

The Ketchum Sun Valley Ski and Heritage Museums will offer a lifetime membership through June 1

Individual lifetime memberships will be two hundred and a family membership will be three hundred.  The lifetime membership fee will include free admission to the thirteen exhibits on display every day, discounts in the gift store and at events, quarterly member parties, and another discount to rent the museums for private parties. 

This lifetime membership opportunity is a great gift for grandchildren, children, weddings, and graduation gifts.  It ensures that our community will continue to preserve and remember the legacy of Sun Valley and... (more)

Town Meetings: Alysha Prisbrey, our intern, has put together a list of town meeting dates at the end of this newsletter. Donna, Michelle and I hope to see you there. If you want to visit personally about an issue that concerned you during the session, please feel free to contact us personally.

College Class: I will be teaching State and Local Government for the BSU Political Science Dept on Saturdays in the fall. It's an 8:00 to 11:00 am class. Maybe I am too optimistic. Could be no sign ups!

Social Media Rocks! I have not seen such an outcry over a bill for a very long time. Senate Bill 1387, the vaginal ultrasound legislation, has stirred up an incredible amount of opposition. Government overreach brought together both Republicans and Democrats, men and women who believe strongly that politicians should not be forcing doctors to do any procedure they do not deem medically necessary. Rape and incest are not exceptions to the legislation which created a political firestorm across the country... (more)

Showing now at Friesen Gallery is an amazing exhibition of glass sculptures and drawings by Ginny Ruffner whose work has revolutionized glass art.  The Idaho premiere of Ruffner's story, "A Not So Still Life" was a sell out last weekend at the Sun Valley Film Festival.  Ruffner was also recently honored at the Smithsonian’s prestigious Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. with a special screening of the award-winning film. 

Ruffner is a Seattle artist whose body of work has been a major influence in the resurgence of lampworked glass world-wide.  Her goal is to create accessible art that moves you beyond the initial beauty of the glass and into the world of a living piece of art.  “I find the description ‘glass-artist’ amusing.  It implies you are an artist made of glass,” mixed-media artist Ruffner laughs.  “And glass is only about twenty-five percent of what I do.  My art is thinking.”

To learn more about Ruffner's art and passionate approach to life, click this link:&... (more)

SUPER SPRING BREAK SAVINGS ON FLIGHTS TO SUN VALLEY – FLY FOR ONLY $106 EACH WAY* BETWEEN LOS ANGELES AND SEATTLE ON ALASKA AIRLINES!

Head to Sun Valley and hit the slopes at Sun Valley Resort on Alaska Airlines with fares from Los Angeles and Seattle as low as $106 each way.* Travel March 18, 2012 - March 25, 2012. Purchase tickets by March 16, 2012.   7 day advance purchase required. Book at www.alaskaair.com *Additional restrictions apply

Spring skiing in Sun Valley means sunshine, soft snow, live music, fun events, great lodging & lift ticket deals and now, super savings on daily non-stop flights on Alaska Airlines!

For Sun Valley lift ticket, lodging and other deals, www.visitsunvalley.com

*Additional restrictions apply: Terms & ConditionsFare Rules: Purchase by March 16, 2012.
Travel valid from March 18 through March 25, 2012.
Travel between Seattle and Sun Valley is valid March 18, 2012 through March 21, 2012.
Travel between Sun Valley and Seattle is valid March 21, 2012 through... (more)