Idaho News (Boise, Nampa, Twin Falls: new house, property tax, firms)

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by banjomike

It will be quite a while before one highway to Stanley will be driven again.

The snow storm dumped 6 feet of snow on the road, and then a series of avalanches laid another 50 feet of snow on top of that!

No humans were hurt by the avalanches, as the road was closed by the storm before the slides began.

The only way the snow can be cleared is by first using a big back hoe to dig a chunk of it loose, then a huge snowblower has to shoot the loosened snow off before the back hoe can dig some more snow up.

The snow is so deep it can only be removed from the top down, layer by layer.

It's a good thing the other end of the roadway wasn't covered over so deeply. It's the only road in and out of Stanley now, and may remain so for most of the months to come.

I've driven that stretch in the late spring. In a typical year, it's still a snow tunnel in mid-May, with high banks of snow on either side of the road that cant be seen over. It's hard to imagine what that drive will look like this year in July.

Just saw this one..... BTW, there are 3 paved highways in and out of Stanley. Stanley gets isolated from time to time.

I assume banjomike is referring to ID16 between Stanley and Lowman, which is the most direct route to Boise ('more direct' being a relative term in this case LOL). That road has a section called 'avalanche alley' which usually gets closed for weeks or a few months each winter due to severe avalanche hazards. The clearing problem is not just the snow, but the trees that regular get swept down in the avalanches there.

ID75 south to Ketchum is the primary road that gets kept cleared most quickly, as that is the most direct route to medical facilities. The route over Galena Summit at over 9,000' gets avalanches at times but they work hard to clear them ASAP. We got held up in Ketchum for a day in Jan 2017 waiting for that to be done on our way to Stanley.

ID75 east to Challis through the Salmon River gorge gets blocked but usually not for long periods of time. It seem to get 2nd priority.

BTW, the snow in Stanley was deeper and longer in 2017 than this winter. And right now it is melting fast; I keep an eye on it here:
http://www.sawtoothcamera.com/fullsize.html

[volosong]

Two articles about Air Force maneuvers in southern Idaho made the Drudge Report this morning.

From KTVB:

Idaho residents sue to stop military trainings over cities...

From Idaho State Journal:

War planes in sky, soldiers on ground dressed as civilians...

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by volosong

Two articles about Air Force maneuvers in southern Idaho made the Drudge Report this morning.

From KTVB:

Idaho residents sue to stop military trainings over cities...

From Idaho State Journal:

War planes in sky, soldiers on ground dressed as civilians...

There's nothing new about these Air Force exercises. Idaho is a place where there have always been exercises like this for as long as anyone can remember for a lot of perfectly viable reasons.

Personally speaking, I doubt any disruption that's caused by them will be severe or will disrupt citizen's daily lives much at all, and I think they are necessary to our national defense. The best pilot is a well-trained pilot.

They sure won't be as disruptive as the SR71 practice flights over Idaho that went on in the 80s all over SID.

The Blackbirds hit Mach 2, flying so high they were invisible to the naked eye, and no one ever knew when they would be flying over, but the sonic boom they caused were like artillery shots, with enough sonic pressure to make windows rattle and buildings quiver.
No one ever grew used to them, but they came and went, and though always loud, were only momentary. Once people knew what caused them, they didn't worry, although the booms never failed to startle everyone.

And the Blackbird flights were not even close to being as flat-out scary as the B-47 practice flights of the 1950s.

The B-47s avoided our cities, but they flew low and slow over our countryside, which is close to being identical to all the major approaches to Moscow that the bombers would take if a nuclear war ever broke out.

The B-47 was designed to be our first fast-delivery jet bomber. They flew high and fast by design, so that practice was easy for their pilots, but once in Soviet territory, the pilots had to learn how to fly low and slow under Soviet radar, and the planes were difficult to handle at low speed, 100 or less feet above the ground.

They scared living hell out of me many times on our ranch. You never heard them coming until they were almost overhead, and then, suddenly, they would blot out the sun, and be screaming loud as they passed over, often so close I could count the rivets and see the crew's faces in the cockpit.

And as soon as they passed over, anything underneath would be covered in a black cloud of diesel smoke and water. Those early jet engines were far dirtier than the modern ones and very much noisier.

The B-47s were only in service for about 18 months before they were replaced with the B-52, and for some reason the B-52 never used the same training flights, so once the 47 was gone, so were those terrifying overflights.

The B-47 was an intended stop-gap aircraft that is largely forgotten today, but Boeing modified the design to make it's first commercial jet liner, the Boeing 707. The basic 707 design is still being used in modern Boeing aircraft.

[Syringaloid]

https://www.kivitv.com/news/boise-no...s-and-refugees

Boise now a “Welcoming City” for immigrants and refugees

We are excited to announce that Boise has been certified as a Welcoming City by @WelcomingUSA. Boise is only the third municipality in the country to receive this designation. Learn more here: https://t.co/H4y6pGUEx8 pic.twitter.com/eQUE6Yv8m2
— City of Boise (@CityOfBoise) May 1, 2019

“This designation reflects our long-standing work to help immigrants and refugees to become true members of our community and welcomed neighbors,” said Bieter. “Boise has been a place of refuge and opportunity for refugees and immigrants since its founding, and there is no question we are richer as a community as a result. We will continue to strive to remain a leader on this issue and keep Boise a welcoming city for all.”

[dcisive]

It will be very interesting with the Boise being a welcoming city if their measles cases climb. No doubt they will be keeping an eye on that one.

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by dcisive

It will be very interesting with the Boise being a welcoming city if their measles cases climb. No doubt they will be keeping an eye on that one.

Immigrants and refugees are not bringing measles.

https://www.factcheck.org/2019/04/me...gration-twist/

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by dcisive

It will be very interesting with the Boise being a welcoming city if their measles cases climb. No doubt they will be keeping an eye on that one.

Really? You need to get out more and/or educate yourself and/or stop reading fake news.

If there is a measles outbreak in Idaho as there is currently in Washington, it will be because of the low vaccination rates in the state amongst all races including Caucasians. Idaho's leaders have allowed laws to take effect which allow people to refuse to immunize their children.

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/ne...5f34a517b.html

[nm9stheham]

The latest CDC update on measles is linked. More residents than non-residents are bringing measles in, but it is being carried by both groups. The CDC does not appear to distinguish immigrants vs visiting non-residents.

Traveling of any type creates an opportunity for any such communicable disease to spread, so making any statements about the carriers is never going to be 100% right or wrong. The mechanisms of disease transmission are apolitical.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6817e1.htm

[banjomike]

I worry more about tourists bring in the measles now than foreign visitors or emigrants. Both of those groups will be getting vaccinated before they ever reach Idaho.

And this is the start of the tourist season. Within 30 days, there will be close to 500,000 tourists passing through Idaho Falls. I expect Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint will see about as many there.

[Syringaloid]

https://boisedev.com/news/2018/4/10/...alent-problem/

“Look out Boise:” Silicon Valley looks to Idaho to solve expensive talent problem


Now, companies are finding the Treasure Valley (and other locations like Portland) are ripe for expansion. The Mercury News looks at Jelli, which opened an office on 8th St. in Boise last year.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/...ilicon-valley/

'The Bay Area is broken:’ Why local startups are hiring outside Silicon Valley

Look out Boise and Portland