Commentary
Yellowstone’s former Fountain Hotel still has a mystery to solve
Millions of visitors enjoy the wonders of Yellowstone National Park each year. Most of these people need a place to stay overnight in or around the park; thus, many hotels and campgrounds have been constructed to accommodate overnight visitors. Several large hotels are no longer standing. Here, we shed light on the history of one such […]
Idaho must once again send the hate mongers packing
Hate and bigotry often lurk just beneath the surface of civil societies. So long as a society is united in disapproving of hateful words and actions, those evil twins remain suppressed. When they receive official approval, they rise to the surface and infect society like a virus. A society must maintain continued vigilance to keep […]
This holiday season, the best gift you can give others is to be vaccinated against the flu
When the leaves start changing colors and there’s a cold breeze in the air, we begin to think of fall and spending time with friends and family as the holiday season nears. What we don’t have on our minds is the beginning of the respiratory illness season, such as influenza, and the importance of getting […]
Idaho’s rancher-led Rangeland Fire Protection Associations work to stop wildfires early
When black storm clouds gather on a hot summer night, Mountain Home rancher Charlie Lyons drives up to a high-point where he can watch for lightning strikes in the desert. “When there’s lightning, we’re all out, and I go right up there to the towers is one of my spots, to sit and watch,” Lyons […]
Idaho’s Snake River Plain: A tale of two basins
The Snake River Plain is a prominent river drainage that cuts a broad “smile” across southern Idaho, easily recognizable from satellite imagery. The geologic history of the Eastern Snake River Plain and the Yellowstone Hotspot track are closely intertwined, but the Western Snake River Plain has a different story to tell. The Snake River flows more […]
Idaho hospitals must provide care to every person that walks into the ER — even pregnant patients
For years, anyone showing up at an American hospital emergency room could get the life saving treatment they needed. No matter who they were, a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, made it clear: if you showed up at an emergency room that hospital had an obligation to do what […]
Debbie Critchfield sends message to Idaho’s school officials after Election Day
You’d think that a candidate might want to take a short break after 18 months of campaigning and scoring a landslide victory on election night. Not Debbie Critchfield, the resounding winner of the race for state superintendent of public instruction. The day after the election, she was on an airplane to the State School Board […]
Americans can honor our veterans by doing their democracy homework
Every year on Nov. 11, Americans gather at Veterans Day observations to honor and thank America’s veterans for their service to the country. It is certainly right and proper that they do so, but is that the extent of what our countrymen must do to show appreciation for those who put their lives at risk […]
A grateful COVID survivor returned to Saint Alphonsus, to thank medical team
It’s a trip she’d taken once before. But the second time was different. Both times, as Torena Sauer made her way down the hallway to the intensive care unit at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, doctors, nurses and medical technicians were waiting for her. The difference was that, this second time down the […]
Just four meatpackers control 85% of the market. Cattlemen like me need a voice.
In the last two decades, hundreds of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in the last two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent family farmers were put out of business because of corporate consolidation. This has […]
The myth of U.S. energy independence
Politicians talk about energy independence and the current pain at the pump. But what they and most Americans don’t understand is the U.S. is not energy independent and has not been so since 1953. It has been 69 years since the U.S. has produced enough petroleum to meet the daily domestic demand of now 18.684 […]
Jim Jones: Idaho’s state lawyers are top-rate, but we don’t pay them that way
During this election silly-season, we’ve heard all kinds of crazy claims made by those running for office. You don’t like to think that someone would make claims that are untrue, but it definitely happens. When a suspect claim is made, it would be handy to find someone who is informed on the subject to get […]