Over the past 10 days, I visited 53 downtown retail businesses located within one and a half city blocks of the proposed Bluebird project. I p… Read more

According to the letter by Walt Denekas in the March 24 issue, the voting bill H.R.1 currently under congressional consideration would actuall… Read more

Our super-majority Republican state legislators are at it again with their usual shenanigans proposing bills that favor the wealthy and keep l… Read more

Idaho has intelligent legislators and voters. Then why so many dysfunctional bills? Read more

I first encountered Deb Robertson, the valley Woman of the Year, about a quarter-century ago when she was an eager med student and I was a shi… Read more

I support U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson’s plan to breach the four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington state: Ice Harbor, Lower Monu… Read more

Big news for hikers, in the last Mountain Express: “The Fish and Game Commission also modified big game season rules last Thursday to allow hu… Read more

I am very concerned about the airstrip that Michael Boren is wanting to build on his property in the Hell Roaring area, on the Salmon River. Read more

A sign strategically placed in town asking for support of Bluebird Village specifically targeting 1% and stating their lack of understanding o… Read more

No one in Idaho should live in fear of violence because of who they are, what they look like or what part of the world they or their families … Read more

Two weeks ago, the Mountain Express published an editorial (“Congress should pass new voting rights act,” March 10, 2021) endorsing HR 1, the … Read more

If the so-called Affordable Housing Coalition of Ketchum wanted to drag out real progress in creating affordable housing, they couldn’t do bet… Read more

The Ketchum community is very lucky to have Bob Brennan, a local resident who has lived here for four decades and has longtime expertise in re… Read more

Congressman Mike Simpson has introduced a proposal to save our iconic salmon. Included in the proposal is opening the four dams on the lower S… Read more

Questions and concerns: Read more

Spring is in the air or will be soon and that means wildlife young will be present again in abundance. It’s a good time to underline a few goo… Read more

There is growing bipartisan support for the IRS to extend the filing deadline. The various coronavirus relief programs created over the last y… Read more

Sun Valley’s season passes cost $409 for a college student, say a Boise State student in Boise, but cost $1,099, almost 2.5 times as much, for… Read more

Warm Springs Ranch is simultaneously exciting, and frustrating. Exciting in that the city will be able to protect open space for future genera… Read more

When I grew up in a $16,000 house in a working-class city in New England, I never imagined I would live in a world-class ski resort and have e… Read more

This month the Legislature rejected a much-needed $6 million grant from the federal government to strengthen preschool children’s literacy, a top priority of Gov. Little’s education effort to get youngsters ready for school. The rejection was founded on a misguided conspiracy theory that the…

I think the city having a campground is a fine and wonderful idea—in the city of Hailey and not in the county.

It was dismaying to learn a bill has been introduced in the Legislature (House Bill 238) to reclassify wolves in the Sawtooth and Wood River valleys as “predators” rather than “game animals.” The bill would allow hunters to kill wolves year-round from motorized vehicles, including ATVs, UTVs…

“Remembering a ‘go-to-guy’” by Emily Jones in the Feb. 26 issue is an extraordinary tribute to Greg Plowman. I did not know this remarkable man, but I read the article with compassion and sadness for Greg’s family, plus a sincere regret that I myself had never known Greg personally. The desc…

Public lands are part of my identity and no parcel of public land anywhere is more precious to me than the Pioneer Mountains located in our backyard. This spectacular, dynamic range is my go-to sanctuary where I seek energy from the unspoken strength of the wild and deepen my friendships thr…

As the longest-tenured architect in the Wood River Valley, I feel obliged to offer some friendly advice about our housing situation. When Averell Harriman created the destination resort of Sun Valley in 1936 he began the tradition of a service community providing sincere, friendly and simple…

There were five in-person meetings regarding the proposed campground at the mouth of Croy Creek Canyon on March 4 and 5 last week. I understand there was not one attendee in favor of the campground. Yet I also understand that the sentiment was expressed or implied that supporters of the camp…

My wife and I have lived in Croy Canyon for 20 years. Building our house was a complicated, expensive and time-consuming process to satisfy Blaine County, Idaho Fish and Game and the various county hillside ordinances. We gladly complied with all the regulations, because we respected the env…

Mountain Humane is opposed to the proposal from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to allow wolf trapping in in the area encompassing the entire Big and Little Wood River valleys, IDFG Hunting Units 48 and 49 to the west and east of Highway 75, from Timmerman Hill (the “blinking light”) t…

I’ve lived in this valley for more than 40 years and I hike in the backcountry all the time. I’ve also spent stretches living in tents that we carried in to wild and gorgeous areas to enjoy our extraordinary wild land. I’ve yet to even see a wolf, let alone be threatened by one. They’re cert…

I’ll keep this short and to the point. I applaud all of our county commissioners and the other letter writers who wrote enlightened and reasonable letters in the Feb. 19 Express. Trapping is inhumane. Period. The proponent organizations with benevolent-sounding names are complicit in the cru…

I read a letter of Feb. 24 (“Don’t raise the minimum wage”) that recommended not increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. While there are salient points in the opinion, the statement that “[i]t has been established” that increases in the minimum wage cause increased unemployment is not ne…

The freedom of Idaho citizens is being threatened. Our common voice and rights—guaranteed by Idaho’s Constitution—are being jeopardized. How? State Sen. Steve Vick is sponsoring a bill that would virtually end citizen ballot initiatives.

In this pandemic that is in an escalating stage why aren’t the valley enforcement agencies working with the businesses that cater to tourists and enforcing the mask mandates? The locals are trying to educate the tourists but they are completely ignorant to the situation! This has to be addre…

We are writing to voice our vehement opposition to wolf trapping in Blaine County (or anywhere else). Killing wolves is bad for wildlife, communities and economies.

I am against trapping. Traps pose a threat and danger to people, domestic pets and wildlife (targeted and nontargeted). It is not humane, requires little to no skill and does not respect the fact that public land belongs to the 1.9 million Idaho citizens (and growing), not just the 2,000 reg…

The Biden administration is going into high gear to set the federal minimum wage at $15 per hour. Around 2% of the national workforce works for the federal minimum wage, mostly young, untrained or untrainable individuals. While the legislation may feel good on the surface, it will have some …

The consideration of the city of Hailey to end support of the efforts of ICE is nothing more than a poorly disguised first step toward making Hailey a “sanctuary city.” Having recently fled a “sanctuary city” because of these policies, trust me, you do not want to go there under any circumst…

Why is Idaho Fish and Game’s wolf control board spending $400,000 of your tax dollars each year killing your native wildlife? From July 2019 to June 2020, 570 wolves were killed in Idaho with an “estimated” population of 1,500. Why?

Sun Valley, Idaho, was named the No. 1 ski destination by Ski magazine in 2020 and Blaine County boasts world-class recreation on our summer and winter trails in the largest congressionally protected American wilderness outside of Alaska.

Salmon and steelhead have been a part of Idaho for thousands of years, and our clear mountain streams have been their home. Now they are endangered and on the brink of local extinction. Fish hatcheries do not allow for the genetic diversity required for their continued survival under adverse…

For those of us 70 and over who were instructed to sign up for COVID vaccinations on Feb. 1 at 8 a.m., could the powers that be stop treating us like a nuisance, telling us to just “keep trying.” Please simply be honest with us and tell us what is really happening (or not). Does Idaho even h…

Please join me in recognizing the effort, leadership and vision of Congressman Mike Simpson with his creation of the concept presented in the Columbia Basin Fund. Over many years of serious research and countless conversations, and across a spectrum of issues and stakeholders, he and his tea…

This last year, health-care providers have turned to telehealth as a solution to reach patients for health care needs. Sadly, telehealth isn’t much of a solution to rural communities lacking access to broadband internet. The need for immediate action is evident, particularly as rural Idaho b…

Concerned hikers, dog lovers and equestrians, should unite and take a moment to support banning wolf trapping in our valley. Email the Fish and Game at commission@idfg.idaho.gov.

I oppose the use of leghold traps. On Jan. 19, the Blaine County commissioners held a hearing on wolf trapping. They provided Idaho Fish and Game input on the 2021-22 trapping/hunting season from Aug. 1 to June 30 in Units 48 and 49. Public comments flooded their offices and Greg Cameron, Ma…

This past week, I decided to listen in on the city meeting pertaining to the proposed, and now accepted, boutique hotel slated for the southwest corner of River and Main streets. I didn’t hold many opinions on the project, but that changed during the meeting when I realized that it ignored m…

The developer of the proposed workforce housing project on the site of the current Ketchum City Hall has chosen to name the project after Idaho’s state bird. That is an example of misleading and false advertising. The project, so lacking in appropriate parking and so noisily grand in scope, …