Boise News | New West Network

From the new west blog: be careful what you wish for

It’s taken me ten years to convince our backyard streamside wildlife that our deck is a safe place with cozy nests, old trees full of interesting holes, and quantities of healthy bird seed, squirrel chow, duck corn, and approved tidbits. This year, they all got the message, and the animal energy I wanted has finally arrived.

Lately, things are zoo-like. The cat brings snakes in through the cat door. One of my nine squirrels, Itchy, is too bold, and comes into the kitchen to say “Hey! Empty feeder out here!”
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From the New West Blog: Forest Service Decision on Atlanta Gold

Those of us who like our water uncontaminated with arsenic will be glad to hear this: the U.S. Forest Service is making the Atlanta Gold mining company post a $8.6 million bond and clean up existing pollution before they dig around any more.

Let’s review: the Atlanta folks are mining for gold, which, scientifically speaking, is a sparkly, pretty substance that sells for lots of money, which they get to keep. We're not getting any of that gold – but we are drinking the water that runs off from all that messing in the muck.  [more]

New West Book Review

The Enders Hotel
By Brandon R. Schrand
University of Nebraska Press
230 pages, $17.95

Brandon R. Schrand's vivid new memoir chronicles his childhood growing up in the Enders Hotel in Soda Springs, Idaho. In the 1970's, Schrand's grandparents restored the place, originally built in 1919, and welcomed all kinds of people, especially the itinerant laborers of the region. Schrand, who teaches creative writing at the University of Idaho, moved back and forth to the Enders as his mother's and stepfather's jobs came and went. "Because we were job seekers," he writes, "we endured the perpetual ebb and flow of work—the overtime followed, always, by the lay-offs, the shut-downs, the walkouts."

Brandon Schrand will appear at Common Knowledge Bookstore in Sandpoint, Idaho (May 16, 4:30 p.m.), Fact & Fiction in Missoula (June 13), and at The Enders Hotel in Soda Springs, Idaho (June 30, 5 p.m.).
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From the New West Blog: What it is ain't exactly clear

Something big is rumbling in the political climate, like a looming prairie storm that makes the cattle edgy and the coyotes settle watchfully in the tall grass.

This week saw Sen. John Edwards endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president, Obama overtake Sen. Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates needed, and, despite her victory in West Virginia, a settling assumption that she won’t make it.   [more]

California Supreme Court Decision

The California Supreme Court today ruled that gay couples may legally marry, saying that “domestic partnerships” are not equal to marriage, and the civil rights of gay couples are being violated.

The Republican-appointed California court ruled 4 – 3.

From the ruling opinion:
"In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."  [more]

"Where Green is Another Shade of Red, White and Blue"

Organizers of the first annual Idaho Green Expo are putting on quite a show this weekend, with a downtown Boise festival promoting green thinking, living, technology and materials.

But it’s no stodgy enviro-lecture. The Boise Center on the Grove is the setting for this weekend’s event, with over 150 exhibitors showcasing their green products and services. There will be seminars, demonstrations, speakers, art displays, things for kids to do, live music, and sales of local and organic food.

And with the nice weather predicted, it’s a great place to take the family on the first warm outing of spring.

Saturday, May 17th : 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 18th : 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Boise Centre on the Grove –
FREE admission
Valet bicycle parking

SHARE THE ROAD, NOT THE LANE, WITH CYCLISTS

A couple of weeks ago, I was riding my bike up MacDonald Pass, on four-lane U.S Highway 12, on the shoulder. It was a mid-day, low-traffic time, and even though the left lane was available, a driver purposely hazed me by speeding by with his right wheel on the fog line going at least 80 mph. His mirror missed my helmet by about six inches. One minor correction to miss a rough spot on the road, and I wouldn't be writing this.

Besides wondering if this reckless driver realizes how close he came to killing somebody, the incident reminded me of one of the first commentaries I wrote for NewWest.Net when I started the Wild Bill column three years ago called I Can Feel the Scorn. I'm sorry to say that I can still feel it. [more]

Retrievers should wait, too

It’s going to be hot this weekend – in the ‘90s, says KIVI Ch. 6 Weatherguy Scott Dorval, but despite the wild temptation to mark the start of warm weather, don’t float the Boise river yet.

Waiting to float is a deep personal sacrifice for us, but we’ll do it. Actually, not do it. Right, Boiseans?
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Western Book Roundup

This week brought some sad news for the Idaho book community: Sun Valley Online reports that Gary Hunt, the owner of Iconoclast Books in Ketchum and the Sun Valley Mall, was killed in a car accident Saturday morning. Sun Valley Online established the blog Gary Hunt Remembrances for people to leave their messages about the man whom they describe as "a kind soul and passionate family and business man."

Also in the Roundup: Oregon native Benjamin Percy makes the long list for the Frank O'Connor Prize, Idaho's Brandon R. Schrand receives several honors, Deanne Stillman interviews Larry McMurtry, and Las Comadres launch a Latino book club to meet in Utah and New Mexico, among other states [more]