The city of Rexburg had hoped to have construction underway by now on a new Riverside Park and Swimming Pool.   But, a Rexburg man…Ken Hart…has appealed judicial confirmation of the project to the Idaho Supreme Court.   He’s challenging the use of Urban Renewal District revenues to pay for the project….a process that’s been used in several other communities across the state.   Mayor Shawn Larsen says that action will push the project back by at least a year.   Rising pool and construction costs are increasing by about 12% a year…which means that one year delay could add $700 thousand to the ultimate cost. The delay could also push deadlines on $450 thousand in direct Congressional appropriations for the project.  

 

Idaho Falls Police have issued an A-P-B for an 18 inch terror.   A venomous coral snake escaped an enclosure in the basement of a home in the 600 block of Wabash Avenue in Idaho Falls. The family responsible has been living in a motel since the snake escaped three weeks ago. Police didn’t find out about till Wednesday (July 2). The snake is about 18 inches long and still at large.   Coral snakes are venomous…but reclusive and non-aggressive. They like places like wood piles.   If bitten you should seek medical attention immediately and, if you see it, contact police.   Owning a venomous snake in Idaho Falls is a misdemeanor criminal offense.

 

A 33 year old Rigby man was hospitalized early Wednesday morning when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by an oncoming vehicle.   Jedediah Solomon was not wearing a helmet.   He was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center with injuries.   Idaho State Police say a pickup traveling east on US 26 attempted a left hand turn on St. Leon Road in Idaho Falls and the driver…23 year old Bruce Gardiner of Idaho Falls didn’t see the motorcycle. The bike slammed into the passenger side door.

 

The National Education Association will prepare a white paper this week outlining its concerns for public schools. Idaho will send 50 delegates to the conference…including Dan Sakota of Rexburg and Michelle Sakota of Rigby.   Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood says the predominant issue facing Idaho is, as always, adequate funding. She says the state must find a way to retain new teachers. Right now, 50% of them leave the profession within their first five years. Other issues facing Idaho include a steady increase in the diversity of students and a lack of funding and personnel to reduce class size under the pressure of growth.

 

Let there be fish! Idaho Fish and Game Department spokesman Gregg Losinski says the Jefferson County Lake is ready for anglers. Crews stocked 5500 trout in the lake Wednesday.   500 of those are “banana” trout…a genetic oddity that gives them a yellow color. Some are as large as 18 inches.   The stocking of Jefferson County Lake used hatchery trout that, for one reason or another, couldn’t be transported into other lakes this spring.

 

City Council actions have cleared the path for a new development project in Rexburg.   They approved a conditional use permit for the Springhill Suites…a five acre project south of University Boulevard that’ll include a hotel, restaurant, and possible office space.   The permitting process will begin right away.

 

Flanked by former Governors Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt… Governor Butch Otter announced Tuesday Idaho has come to agreement with the Department of Energy on a plan to clean up buried transuranic waste at the Idaho National Laboratory. It marks the end of six years of litigation between the state and federal government.   The showdown began when DOE claimed a 1995 agreement to clean up “all” transuranic waste didn’t apply to waste buried underground.   Idaho won that legal battle this spring.   Governor Butch Otter announced Tuesday that a formal contract has now been settled that’ll provide certainty of the cleanup process and ensures long term protection of the Snake Plain Aquifer. DOE estimates there are at least 74 hundred cubic meters of radioactive waste currently buried in about 35 acres of disposal pits and trenches within a 97 acre area at the INL site.

 

The new wing at Madison Memorial Hospital is now up and running. During its first day and a half…the Rexburg hospital handled 25 surgeries, 107 radiology patients, 27 medical patients, five patients in Intensive Care, 27 in other departments and 53 emergency room patients.

Today (July 1) marks the 100^th anniversary of the creation of the Targhee National Forest by President Teddy Roosevelt.   A hundred years later, Caribou-Targhee Forest Supervisor Larry Timchak expects that set-aside to become a significant legacy for the nation. Under Roosevelt and the first Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot…the Targhee was part of over 100 million acres of forest reserves that were established between 1891 and 1910. The first forest reserve…the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve…was set aside in 1891.   That area is now known as the Shoshoni National Forest.

 

Legislation signed by President Bush Monday means up to five thousand Idaho workers may already be eligible for extended unemployment benefits.   Another 15 thousand could become eligible over the next 12 months.   The action was included in the supplemental war budget and comes in response to a dramatic slowdown in the national economy.

 

The Roman Catholic Diocese in Boise has assigned six new priests to help serve a growing Hispanic population.   Jose de Jesus Gonzales will serve the region that includes St. Anthony, Driggs, Rexburg and Island Park. The diocese includes 92 priests across Idaho.

 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is ramping up a PR campaign to draw a very distinct line between the Church and a polygamist sect in Texas that calls itself F-LDS.   A church commissioned survey in Texas found 36 percent of those questioned thought the compound was part of the legitimate church and that 30 percent thought members of the sect belonged to the LDS Church.   Said Church Apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook…”we’d much rather be talking about who we are than who we aren’t”.  

 

A 3 year old Menan girl…hurt in a car-train accident south of Rexburg Friday has been taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake…still listed in critical condition. 

She was injured when a car driven by her mother, 30 year old Tamara Stelzer was struck by an Eastern Idaho Railroad train at a crossing just east of Highway 20 at Lorenzo.  

The south-bound train crashed into the passenger side of the vehicle and pushed it several hundred feet and into a pond of water.   Tamara…who was eight months pregnant…was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where her baby was delivered by C-Section.  

The baby is doing well…but Tamara died overnight Friday.   Her eleven year old son…Dylan Freeman…was pronounced dead at the scene.   The Madison County Sheriff’s office says its investigation into the exact cause of the crash is still underway.

 

A milestone is being set today as the Madison Memorial medical staff initiates its first surgical procedures in the hospital’s new addition. Chief of Staff Dr. Dave Hansen says planning for the facilities began some eight years ago.   He says the new facilities will not only provide for ongoing quality care…but enable future growth and expansion.   Madison Memorial will open its surgery rooms today (June 30) and general patient rooms on Tuesday (July 1).

A conditional use permit for a Springhill Suites development in Rexburg is on its way to the city council for approval.   Planning Board Chairman Winston Dyer says his panel cleared the project last week.   It’s a five acre parcel on the old highway south of University Boulevard. Plans call for a hotel and Residence Inn.   It may also include a restaurant and office space. 

Next stop is a city council hearing.

 

The US Supreme Court has struck down a 32 year old ban on hand guns in Washington DC. It acknowledges Second Amendment rights extend to individuals to own and use guns for hunting and self-defense…not just militias. 

Idaho Senator Larry Craig called the decision “an historic day for all Americans who cherish their rights as citizens”.   

Anheuser Busch has announced it’ll stop making alcohol drinks containing caffeine or other stimulants.   Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says that’ll address subpoenas filed against the company last January by AG’s across the country…alleging the company’s “Tilt” and “Bud Extra” marketing campaigns were misrepresenting the product and focusing on illegal, underage markets.

 

 “Napoleon Dynamite” put Preston on the map…now Sound Refuge Films hopes to do the same for Rexburg.    Spokesperson Joanna Carter says the company will premiere its film… “Inconvenience” in Rexburg tonight (June 27).   The film has been in development for the past two years involving some 300 artists…all from southeast Idaho. Some of the film locations include the Rexburg Nature Park, Ray’s Chevron, the Madison County Jail, and Madison Memorial.   It’ll run Friday thru Tuesday at the Rex Theatre…with a DVD available for pre-sale on the 4^th of July. 

 

More than 40 US Senators have joined to co-sponsor the so-called gas price reduction act of 2008.   Idaho Senator Mike Crapo says it’s primarily aimed at increasing domestic oil production off-shore as well as western state oil shale, and utilizing more electric and alternative fuel vehicles. The measure would also strengthen oversight of oil futures trading.

 He concedes most of the benefit would come in out-years.

Over nine thousand delegates are expected at the 146^th annual National Education Association annual meeting in Washington DC next week.   Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood expects much attention to focus on the federal No Child Left Behind Act.   She says the legislation itself is a benefit…but there are concerns over the punitive aspects of the bill.   She schools won’t improve by being punished but, rather, through intense work and intervention in problem areas. In any case it appears a reauthorization of NCLB won’t happen till a new President is in office.

 

The Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center has sent eight engine crews and fourteen overhead personnel to help battle wildfires in California. They were split up all over northern California where the fires are most severe. 

 

The Bureau of Land Management has issued a Fire Prevention Order that makes fireworks illegal to use or possess on the nearly 12 million acres of BLM Land in Idaho.   Along with fireworks, the order also prohibits the use of incendiary or tracer ammo and explosive materials…including exploding targets.   The order is effective immediately.   The state Department of Lands and US Forest Service also prohibit fireworks.

 

A former Fremont County Deputy has been arraigned this week on two felonies and one misdemeanor.   25 year old Bradley Holjeson is accused of stealing cash and prescription drugs while serving as a jailer.