Boise News

Election 2010

Former Idaho Rep. Bill Sali announced today he will not run in the Republican primary to regain his old seat, but instead will support state representative Raul Labrador in the primary.

Others who have filed in the Republican primary for Idaho’s First Congressional District include Harley D. Brown, Michael L. Chadwick, Allan M. Salzberg, and Vaughn Ward. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Rep. Walt Minnick.

At a press conference in the state capitol rotunda, Sali said he is supporting Labrador as the “right sort of person” to send to Washington, D.C., someone “with the backbone to make a tough vote.”

“The things I’ve seen him do helped me make a decision,” Sali said. He said he admires Labrador for independent thinking.

Labrador said it was “a surprise but an honor to have former representative Bill Sali’s support.”

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Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

Are you a trout fisherman? If so, I hope you savor every cast, every strike, every last fish you bring to the net between now and the day you lay down your rod for good. Enjoy these sleek, spirited gamefish that help make Montana one of the finest fishing destinations in the world. Because your children will be pike fishermen. The northern pike is laying waste to the trout population of Western Montana with such ruthless efficiency, it makes whirling disease look like a paper cut by comparison.

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NOT THE "CHANGE" WE EXPECTED

“Change We Need.” You remember it, right? Heard it at least a thousand times, correct?

But based on recent events, Barack Obama’s campaign slogan should’ve been “No Change Needed” because public land users have all been short-changed again by the Forest Service (FS) with full support of the new administration.

Critics of the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) or Recreation Access Tax (RAT), as we call it, have been quick to blame it on the evil, pro-privatization, environmental unfriendly Bushies, so I guess it’s a real shock to us to see the Obama administration making no change at all in the defense of the aggressive implementation of maligned law.

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SOLAR POWER

Sen. Mark Udall announced Wednesday a new bill intended to boost solar energy production by extending solar tax credits to residents who invest in community solar farms to power their homes.

The bill is the first of a series of clean energy bills Udall, D-Colo., plans to unveil. He said the legislation was inspired by conversations he had with residents and business owners on Colorado’s Western Slope during a tour of the region last month.

The bill, dubbed the Solar Uniting Neighborhoods Act, would extend a solar tax credit to those who pay into an offsite community-based solar array to provide power to their homes. Current law allows homeowners to receive a 30 percent credit for installing solar panels on their property.

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FREE Insights Column

Domestic and international efforts to reduce CO2 emissions are dead in the water. Many will think this is bad news. I don’t. Here’s why.

Policies such as the Kyoto Protocol and U.S. cap-and-trade legislation focus solely on reducing CO2 emissions. But these are symbolic acts, mere posturing, while doing little or nothing to achieve their stated goals. Stubborn reliance on this approach is now the main barrier to an effective climate policy.

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Election 2010

Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Tom Luna, has filed the papers which formally declared he is a candidate for re-election. He is finishing his first term, and will face Democratic challenger Stan Olson, who is now the Boise Superintendent of Schools.

Superintendent Luna said, “We have made great progress thanks to talented teachers, dedicated parents and hard-working students. We are heading in the right direction, but clearly we can never be satisfied until all of Idaho’s students are performing well. We are on the right path, and we must continue this momentum.”

Luna graduated from Thomas Edison State College. Before becoming Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction in January 2007, Luna was a businessman. He first got involved in the state’s education system by serving on the Nampa School Board for seven years, including three years as chairman.

Full disclosure: Stan Olson and his wife Connie are my next-door neighbors.

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