Boise News

Election 2010

Boise’s Superintendent of Schools, Stan Olson, Ed.D. plans to announce Thursday that he’ll run for State Superintendent as a Democrat, challenging Republican incumbent Tom Luna.

“I have an almost 40-year track-record of partnership and accomplishment in education at every level,” said Olson. “Given the challenges Idaho’s students face today, we need a person who understands real education leadership now more than ever.”

Olson has been an education professional for 37 years. He’s been a classroom teacher, adjunct professor, school consultant and facilitator in the fields of educational leadership and school community relations, as well as a superintendent.

At his announcement, Olson will be joined by Boise School Board President AJ Balukoff, Mayor Dave Bieter and former Governor Cecil Andrus. The event will be held at Grace Jordan Elementary School, 6411 West Fairfield Ave. in Boise.

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NO TIME FOR MORE ECONOMIC STRESS

UPDATED,, March 17:

As reported here on NewWest.Net on January 28, the Forest Service (FS) has decided to take back discounts promised to elderly and disabled public land users.

To that, all four members of the Idaho Congressional delegation say, whoa, partner, not so fast on that one.

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Faster Internet in the West

Making Internet connections in Idaho and Montana speedier is part of the goal behind the much-anticipated National Broadband Plan, officially released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday.

While many are still combing through the 360-page outline of steps to higher-quality Internet access for all Americans, Amalia Deloney, media action grassroots network coordinator for the Center for Media Justice, says the plan’s release is a victory, in and of itself.

“Broadband is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. It affects everything from education, to employment, to health care, to government services and to democracy. It’s crucial.”

A report from the Communications Workers of America finds most Idahoans and Montanans access the Internet at the slowest speeds in the country, with thousands still on dial-up plans. The FCC document calls for increasing the high-speed broadband adoption rate from 65 to 90 percent nationwide, connecting vital institutions like hospitals and schools; and connecting 100 million households to affordable broadband by 2020.

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Along the Frontier Column

In early March, I had the privilege of visiting a project in northern California that felt very much like a preview of the future.

If the current ‘New West’ is inexorably giving way to the ‘Next West,’ as so many ‘New Wests’ have done before, and if the region is in search of a new mission statement as a consequence, then clues to what’s coming might be found among the bright green grass of a small ranch in Marin County.

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Design in the West

Modern in the mountains: is modern design an appropriate style of architecture in a mountain environment? 

Styles in architecture are associated with places, cultures and eras, but in one’s own home, especially in America, style is often thought of as something that can be picked and applied.  Mediterranean design is used for new homes in the Southwest, French Chateau styles are used widely, etc., largely based on an owner’s preference or a developer’s interpretation of what a market segment might be looking for.

Style is also a personal choice or an ingrained preference, of course.

In many climates more benign than the Mountain West, choice of a particular style might not really make a difference in building performance. The style is mostly icing on the cake, and the cake itself is similar. Heating, cooling, upkeep costs, and durability are more or less the same, regardless of the style of the home.

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

Here’s my grocery list: Meat, Fruit, Veg, Milk, Eggs, Cheese, Snacks. I’ll grab a cart for the first six items on the list, because I know I’ll be buying stacks of Top Loin Pork Top Chop Loin Top Chops of Pork, plenty of apples, bananas and oranges, and maybe one five dollar tomato that I will hoard like the last Fun Size Milky Way in a Halloween bag full of wax-wrapped candy and stale-ass Easter Peeps. I’ll hide my hot-house prize in the vegetable drawer, the one where we store root vegetables and what looks like some kind of knapweed experiment. Daddy needs his tomato.

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