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Press Release from Boise Mayor Dave Bieter

Mayor David Bieter is inviting all Boiseans to a rally to welcome Olympic silver medalist Jeret “Speedy Peterson” back to his hometown and to celebrate his incredible accomplishment at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  The rally will be held Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall Plaza.

Just prior to the rally, all residents are invited to join Jeret in a police-escorted “Champion’s Run” from the Downtown YMCA to City Hall.  Families and children are encouraged to run with Jeret. All runners wishing to participate should arrive at the Downtown YMCA by 9 a.m. Saturday. The run, which will be similar to the 2008 Kristin Armstrong Bike Ride Celebration, is expected to deliver participants to City Hall shortly after 9:30 a.m. to kick off the rally.

SPECIAL NOTE:  In an effort to encourage healthy lifestyles, anyone who participates in the run from the YMCA to City Hall will receive one free family day pass to any Treasure Valley YMCA location.

The run will begin at 10th and State streets, run east on State Street, turn south on 9th Street, turn left onto Main Street and proceed east for two blocks before arriving at City Hall.

KTVB anchor Mark Johnson will emcee the event. Jeret Peterson will be available to sign autographs following the rally. 

Energy

Conservation groups backing new federal energy efficiency standards have been saying for months that the move would save money for Montana and Idaho families. Those against such legislation say it would cost consumers more. It turns out both are right, according to new research from the Consumer Federation of America.

Report author Mark Cooper compared the costs of better appliances and insulation against the price of electricity and natural gas and found a bottom-line savings. The biggest stack of bucks saved came from a 30 percent increase in efficiency.

“Now, it’s not free - you have to spend money to make money. On net, however, you’ll end up at the end of the year with $300 more in your pocket.”

Blog Winter Olympics 2010

Okay, people. I’m going to say what a lot of you want to say: curling is funny. And it’s even funnier when it’s in the Olympics.

Unfortunately for anyone sitting near me during a “match,” curling, like sumo wrestling, cracks me up. The attack that gets me in its grip is guaranteed to ruin any meaningful Olympic experience, unless you enjoy being near a gasping, howling woman with tears streaming down her face.

It might be mean to laugh at curling – at least at the U.S. team, but who gives a rip.

I just can’t take it, man.

Whoever let curling into the Olympics must have been seriously hammered at the time. It probably happened after that one IOC meeting held in a sleazy Latvian bar, you know, the time that awesome accordion polka player led the singing of “Who Stole the Kishka?” and everybody made drunken bets on the dumbest thing they could get into the Games.

Idaho Legislature

The Idaho State Broadcasters Association today released a resolution in support of continued state funding of Idaho Public Television.  ISBA Legislative Chairman, Fred Fickenwirth, General Manager, KLEW-TV, Lewiston said, “Idaho Public Television plays a vital role in the education of future broadcasters through their facilities at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University.  Commercial radio and television both depend on this educated source of employees for our stations.  In addition, Idaho Public Television keep our citizens up to date on the deliberations of the state legislature, adding an extra layer of education for those who vote for our lawmakers.”

Follow-Up

The U.S. Department of Energy is recommending a Texas site for storage of unwanted, highly toxic, elementary mercury - and Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter is pleased.

“It’s a step in the right direction. But it’s not a final decision. I won’t be satisfied that we’re safe from the prospect of having mercury stored atop the Snake River Plain Aquifer until the Record of Decision is on the books,” Governor Otter said. “It’s too soon to declare victory here, but I’m pleased to see that the Energy Department is moving toward a storage site other than Idaho.”

After studying seven sites around the country, including the Idaho National Laboratory, as possible locations for a mercury storage facility, the Department of Energy this week identified the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility near Andrews, Texas, as its preferred alternative.

The selection of a site for storing elemental mercury has troubled Otter, who said last year that storing mercury at INL contradicts the campaign to clean up the site.  In this year’s State of the State address, the Governor said that he “will not allow Idaho to become the nation’s dumping ground for its elemental mercury.”

In fact, Otter was so mad about the idea of the poison coming to Idaho that last July he said, “If they want to put it in a desolate and useless place, they should put it on the (U.S.) Capitol grounds.” Here is last year’s story on NewWest.

Column: Media

The Associated Press is reporting good financial news for McClatchy Co., owner of the Idaho Statesman and 29 other daily papers.

Lenders have agreed to refinance McClatchy’s debt and the company’s cost-cutting measures led to a 2009 fourth-quarter profit.

McClatchy stock went up 11 percent today.

While it’s still not good news for the many journalists and staffers laid off in the past 18 months, it’s a glimmer of possibility for the Idaho Statesman to survive and, hopefully, thrive.

What format that paper ultimately takes is unsure, but a capitol city needs a newspaper.

The Statesman’s ups and downs have included three different owners in the space of a decade or so, a major redesign that has morphed into something simpler, big layoffs, and new printing arrangements. 

Idaho State Politics

Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision which struck down campaign finance reform legislation troubles Idaho state representative Brian Cronin, D-Boise.

Next week in the House State Affairs committee, Cronin will introduce a memorial protesting the decision and urging Congress to take steps to again limit corporate money in campaigns.

House State Affairs chair Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, has agreed to hear Cronin’s presentation in committee.

The 5-4 Supreme Court decision did away with several controls and prohibitions on corporate political contributions. The majority opinion states that legislative measures to control corporate spending infringes on corporate First Amendment free speech rights.

The decision now allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited treasury funds on independent campaign expenditures.

A memorial is a non-binding recommendation to a legislative body or government. It carries no force of law, but Cronin thinks it’s important.

Report: Congress

Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick and the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs in Congress have released the “Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform” which they say offers concrete steps for reducing the deficit.

One of the proposals in the document will be introduced by freshman Minnick, who sits on the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees. The bill will offer a measure to allow “expedited recision” – requiring Congress to have an up or down vote on all presidential requests to reduce or eliminate specific pork-barrel spending and inefficient programs in appropriations bills.  This is a Constitutional form of the line-item veto, say the Blue Dogs.

“The lack of real fiscal accountability and responsibility in Washington, D.C., is one of the most pressing and serious problems facing our nation,” said Minnick. “Both parties are to blame for out-of-control spending, but the American people expect both parties to work together to solve this serious problem and make the same tough choices so many Idaho families are making during these difficult economic times. It’s time for real change in Congress, and that should begin with changing the way we spend taxpayer dollars.”

Here is the Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform: 

Column: Legislature

There are a lot of people stories being told this week at the Idaho legislature prompted by Governor Butch Otter’s plan to eliminate state money for five commissions.

Otter wants to end state funding over the next four years to the Human Rights Commission, Hispanic Commission, Developmental Disabilities Council, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Council, and Independent Living Council.

In this morning’s JFAC (Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee) meeting, committee members heard first from Wayne Hammon, the governor’s budget chief, who said that there has been some “misunderstanding” about Otter’s plan, and that “eliminating” the commissions is not the governor’s plan.

Hammon pointed out some alternative configurations for combining agencies or their services.

JFAC members then heard presentations from agency and department heads about the human costs of the proposals.

Idaho legislature

Longtime chief of staff to former Gov. Cecil Andrus and public policy consultant and writer, Marc Johnson of Gallatin Public Affairs sent this letter today to the Idaho media and others. Johnson told NewWest.Net that there will be more signers to the document, and they will be added here as they become available.

I want to bring to your attention the attached letter signed by a prominent, bipartisan group of Idaho human rights, business, political and religious leaders.

As you know, the Governor’s budget calls for a four-year phase out of state general fund support for the Idaho Human Rights Commission.  The Commission, established in 1969, is a tiny agency with a huge mission and, as the letter makes clear, any retreat from state support for its vital functions would be a major step in the wrong direction, impacting Idaho workers and businesses.  Signers of the letter include every former director of the Commission, many former presidents of the Commission, former Hewlett Packard executives (the company has long been a strong proponent of diversity and human rights) and a number of leaders of the Idaho faith community.  Also, two former governors and a former Idaho attorney general join the appeal.

We expect others to join the appeal that has only been in the works since late last week.

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