It’s been over a year since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi motioned for the trade agreement to be brought to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote. Finally, Speaker Pelosi and congressional Democrats listened to…
Three years into a unique presidency and on the verge of a possible impeachment, the nation would do well to remember that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not the enemy. The Russians are.
If Idaho’s potato, beet or wheat harvests were threatened, state lawmakers would be up in arms. If the dairy and cattle industries were under siege, they would give speeches and wave bills on the floor of the Legislature. Idaho’s governor would proclaim in his annual State of the State addre…
Toilets turn out to be telling about what drives the Trump presidency—and not in a bathroom humor kind of way. The problems this administration is committed to solving are those of the 1980s.
Reading the Dec. 4 Idaho Mountain Express (“Idaho Power dismisses lawsuit against EPA over dams”) reveals just one of the many serious travesties of our time. Shame on the EPA to allow warmer water temperatures where federally listed and protected fall Chinook salmon reproduce. Fall is a cri…
Someone needs to write a zoning history of Blaine County and its cities. Without it, the area is doomed to reopen, reargue and relitigate density and location issues over and over.
A little over two years ago, I walked into my classroom to begin my first year of teaching second grade in Twin Falls. The room was empty except for desks and shelves. Parents supplied some of the materials students needed. However, too many students had little or no supplies, which meant I …
The holiday season is here, and this time of year it can seem especially difficult to be an environmental steward. The Environmental Resource Center is here to help and would like to share some of our favorite tips to get you started.
As president of the United States, Donald Trump is also commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces. His actions as such have not only shamed this country, they are a disgrace to the military he claims to love.
Every Dec. 5, the U.S. Department of Agriculture joins partners around the globe to celebrate World Soil Day, an annual event to bring attention to the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for sustainable management of soil resources.
Idaho’s resort cities have proven the benefits of taxpayer-approved local-option sales taxes. Even so, the Legislature has resisted allowing other Idaho cities to impose similar taxes.
The earth is terminally ill and unless the world takes drastic action to reduce carbon emissions, the planet will die, according to a new United Nations’ report. The report says that lack of political will is the primary obstacle to action.
The recent agreement between the state of Idaho and U.S. Department of Energy predictably has generated questions about work conducted at Idaho National Laboratory and our efforts to protect the environment and human health.
This Thanksgiving, thousands of Idahoans were thankful for the gift of health care.
Nearly 15,000 Idahoans will lose their insurance because of the passage of Medicaid expansion. While that may come as a surprise to some, the House Republican caucus worked hard to warn Idahoans, and on Nov. 1, Idaho’s Medicaid expansion open enrollment started. One of the most significant c…
Thousands of Idahoans have invested in solar for their residences and small businesses. Any excess power that those solar panels produce is sent back out onto the power grid, as clean, renewable, free energy. When those families chose to install solar panels, they entered into an agreement w…
The “Idaho Mountain Express” will be a newspaper unlike any previously published in the Wood River Valley. Although the staff of the “Express” have all worked together elsewhere, all agree that there would be no point in mere repetition. The “Express” will follow a course of its own, and its…
So dark. So cold. A completely unreasonable hour to be awake, let alone stumbling out of a heated car, into the icy wind below the moon-kissed Boulder Mountains. Shoving feet into ski boots, stripping off the armor of a down jacket, putting your faith in sheer effort keeping you warm.
I knew I wanted to be an environmentalist from the day I was born. When I was young, my parents took me backpacking and fishing all the time. Seeing the pristine lakes and sleeping under the stars made me realize that Mother Nature can’t speak for herself—someone has to do it for her, so I t…
Full disclosure: I am an independent voter, which generally means these days that both my Republican and Democrat friends are often equally frustrated with the way I think (sorry, Sis).
I knew I wanted to be an environmentalist from the day I was born. When I was young, my parents took me backpacking and fishing all the time. Seeing the pristine lakes and sleeping under the stars made me realize that Mother Nature can’t speak for herself—someone has to do it for her, so I t…
Full disclosure: I am an independent voter, which generally means these days that both my Republican and Democrat friends are often equally frustrated with the way I think (sorry, Sis).
Tables groan under familiar dishes. Relatives and friends gather to gossip, argue and break bread together. After sharing Thanksgiving meals, most Americans return to their own homes unless they are among the more than half a million people who have no place to go home to.
One of the things visitors love about coming to the Sun Valley area is becoming acquainted with the proprietors and managers of local businesses. When visitors walk in, they are not strangers, but friends who’ve been absent for a bit.
Keep it in the ground—that is the shout of the environmentalists. That would mean the end of the use of fossil fuels for automobile gasoline, truck diesel, train diesel and aircraft kerosene. Are we willing to do without these modes of transportation? Fossil fuels helped make America the gre…
The recent open house by PEG Development to show changes to the proposed Marriott hotel was pleasant—good food and friendly representatives. But the project is still too big for the lot and many important details remain unspecified or contradicted by either PEG or the P&Z. Here’s what I know:
Maybe you’ve never been to Imperial Gulch and that’s OK—after all, it’s a local secret: a beautiful, quiet canyon, located 10 minutes from either Hailey or Ketchum. It’s home to a challenging mountain bike trail, the occasional small herd of elk or deer, and even a silver mine built by Ketch…
Recently, PEG Cos. (Marriott project) held an open house to showcase changes they had made in response to the City Council. Be aware that those changes came as a result of the overwhelming community disapproval of the 100-room Marriott boutique hotel. Sundry reasons, including size, traffic …
Disagreements over the seriousness of President Trump’s phone call with the president of Ukraine on July 25 are acceptable, as are disagreements over whether testimony heard in closed-door and open hearings should be believed or dismissed. However, painting the impeachment investigation as a…
Strawberry watermelon. Blue raspberry. Pink lemonade. Lemon meringue pie. None of those flavors sounds dangerous, but in an e-cigarette they lure young people into the lethal.
Senior White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller’s own words exposed him as a racist xenophobe. He should resign. If he doesn’t, he should be fired.
Idaho is a very popular place to live and, as a result, it is at the top of the fastest-growing states in our nation.
First off, I would like to congratulate Sam Linnet and Juan Martinez for running for public office in the city of Hailey and bringing new visions to our local government, along with Martha Burke, our new mayor.
Hailey’s City Council last week acknowledged the mortal threat of cyclists using hand-held cell phones when it unanimously approved a ban on the activity.
This year, Fish and Game decided to issue 5,000 elk permits: a depredation hunt to keep elk from interfering with ranchers feeding their herds and eliminating the nuisance factor in our southern counties. In their reasoning, there are too many and this kind of hunt is appropriate.
Solar panel owners in Idaho have received notification from Idaho Power Co. that the rate at which we are compensated for solar power generation could be drastically reduced over the next eight years. I installed solar panels on the roof of my home three years ago, prior to Idaho Power’s req…
Gov. Brad Little says he appreciates the value of Idaho salmon—but he has told the Salmon Study Group that dam removal is off the table. However, if the lower Snake River dams were removed:
What good news last March when Idaho Power Co. announced that it would go to all renewable energy by 2045! In light of that, its recent decision to change its net metering policy for rooftop solar power is hypocritical, to say the least. This change, which is slated to take effect in January…
Please, please, please! Why in the world would anyone press charges against kids doing their annual little pranks at Halloween?
Investigation into the possible impeachment of President Donald Trump moved into the open this week as House committees begin taking testimony in public. The spin will move into overdrive. The founding fathers expected the process of holding officeholders to account to be used and to be take…
The so-called “reddest state in the union” is jumping on board immigration reform, at least for agricultural workers.
My childhood was spent working on the farms and ranches of southeastern Idaho. When a challenge arose, we fixed it. Hay needed to be hauled, pipe needed to be moved, heifers needed to be calved and potatoes needed to be picked. Many years have passed, and while my days of hauling hay are lon…
Images online live forever, but that could change for the victims of child sexual exploitation. Internet companies that could make that change happen should make a serious commitment to do so.
First and foremost, the Blaine County School District is grateful to the community for supporting high expectations and safe learning environments for all our students. It is important to understand that the current plant facility levy, which expires in the 2019-20 school year, was a continu…
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