• Home
• About
• Archives
• Subscribe
• Contact

Guardian Top Stories

Political Birds Feather Their Own Nests

We often have a feeling of helplessness when it comes to Idaho politicians. As a group they resent the citizens and work hard at limiting any “power to the people.”

For example, only the legislature can change the retirement system and they are the prime beneficiaries. “Forgettaboutit.”

To recall an elected official in Idaho it takes a petition with signatures of 20% of the REGISTERED voters just to get on the ballot. Heck, most elections are lucky to have 20% of the eligible electors even vote! Old law said “20% of those who voted in last election.”

When we citizens passed a term limit law, the legislature immediately repealed the law and used our tax money to defend their decision in the Idaho Supreme Court. Same thing with a tax limit.

The GUARDIAN editor has worked for a dozen years to defend the right of citizens to vote on public debt issues, but officials repeatedly fight to deny citizens their right to vote for or against debt.

The IDAHO FREEDOM FOUNDATION has recently completed a report exposing “pension spiking,” by elected officials who leave their positions to take high paying appointments for a few years to create outrageous spikes to their pension payments. All we can say is, click on the link. It is well done, accurate information.

Until we find good, viable candidates to run for office and defend our rights, we will continue to be victimized by those in power who seek personal power and greed.

Doldrums, Apathy, Smoke, Limit Guardian News

We probably owe loyal GUARDIAN readers an apology and explanation for the dearth of posts during the past month or so (for non-library types, DEARTH: a scarcity or lack of something).

To be frank, we haven’t had much to say. The fires are burning, the smoke comes and goes, and it takes the TV “chief meteorologists” and their deputy chiefs 15 minutes each newscast to say “not much change and no rain in sight.”

The naming of a Navy submarine as the “USS Idaho” got little more than a paragraph or two in news of the Fair. Even the Fair itself was slow with lower attendance this year.

On the national scene the Trump circus has little appeal and no one actually believes he will be nominated, much less win an election that is 14 months away. Locally no one is the least bit interested in running for mayor or council in Boise and the incumbents–many of whom were initially appointed–will be unopposed.

There is a very important case to be heard Thursday at 8:50 a.m. in the Idaho Supreme Court with the Greater Boise Auditorium District appealing its 4th District court loss to Dave Frazier, claiming a convoluted “lease deal” for more than $20 million is not really a purchase in disguise. We will discuss more on this one after the decision comes down following the oral arguments.

Ada County will be generating some news in the months ahead following the reports from an outside forensic auditor, the sheriff, and the prosecutor. The elected politicos don’t play nice with each other and we predict it will get nasty before the dust settles in the sandbox.

We also await the Idaho Supremes decision on the validity of Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of the “horseless racing” repeal. It the court upholds the veto, look for someone to come forth on the constitutional issue of having slot machines at race tracks. The legislature saw the machines were wrong, repealed the law, but failed to override the veto which some claim was to late to count.

So, there you have it. We welcome any guest opinions and would hope the mayor and council are not the beneficiaries of rampant apathy. Ironic that Boise families send their warriors off to foreign lands to kill and be killed in the name of freedom and to “protect our rights,” but we cannot get folks to run for office or challenge politicos who seek to limit the rights we think we have.

NW Smoke Settles In Boise

Epic Soda Fire Facts

The biggest wildfire in the continental USA is raging out of control in Owyhee County along a 40 mile wide line of flames visible at night from more than 50 miles away.

Based on the size of the area burned–219,000 acres–the fire would be equivalent of a charred area from Detroit to Chicago a mile and a half wide. The 219,000 acres represent 342 square miles that have been scorched.

All roads to Silver City have been closed and the fire is a top priority among the many fires burning in the West.

For the photo geeks, the image above was shot from the Boise Foothills with an exposure of 1 full minute at f-11 using a 200 mm lens. The digital technology picks up detail not seen with the human eye even from more than 40 miles away and a field of view 40 miles wide.

The telephoto lens and the night perspective make the fire appear to be encroaching on the City of Boise.

“Scorched Earth” Policy Could Raise BOI Dust Cloud

A pilot contacted the GUARDIAN today, claiming last night’s dust storm at the airport was probably caused by recent removal of grass and vegetation along the runways.

Seems that in an effort to eliminate gophers, ground squirrels and the birds that prey upon the little critters officials at BOI scraped the area along the runways and for
1,000 at the ends.

Here is the official statement:

“To be FAA compliant for Runway Safety Area standards as well as an effort to mitigate wildlife issues BOI removed the grass vegetation in the Runway 10L/28R safety area (250′ either side of runway centerline and 1000′ from runway end).”