Training hike heads up Baldy
Expedition Inspiration will offer its fourth free training hikes at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, July 17 in preparation for the Borah Peak Climb Aug. 22 and 23. Meet at the River Run parking lot. The Borah Climbing Club will hike up Baldy and ride the lifts down.
Expedition Inspiration will also offer strength training tips and nutrition suggestions on the website expeditioninspiration.org.
No dogs are allowed.
Attend Community Library talks
The Community Library in Ketchum will host a free book reading and signing with Susan Bell, author of "The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself" on Thursday, July 17 at 6 p.m.
Bell is a former editor at Random House and Conjunctions magazine, and she has edited both fiction and nonfiction professionally for 20 years. As an editor and writer, she also collaborates with her husband, Mitch Epstein, a visual artist, on books and exhibitions. In 2001, she created a seminar on self-editing for the New School's graduate writing program, and continues to teach there.
Boulder Mountain Clayworks guest artist Dan Anderson will give a free talk at the library on Friday, July 18 at 6 p.m. Anderson is known for his architectural clay sculptures influenced by rural and urban structures. He travels the world documenting water towers, barns, silos, factories and industrial forms. The results are richly poetic translations, which echo the neglected structures that inspire him.
For details, call 726-3493.
Attend jewelry trunk show
Beckie Biedebach and Sandy McCullough will present a jewelry trunk show on Thursday, July 17, from 2 to 6 p.m. The show will include semi-precious or pearl earrings, bracelets and necklaces. All pieces are handmade and designed by Biedebach, McCullough, Dorothy Perry Designs or S. Cole Designs.
The show is at 101 Clear Creek Canyon in Ketchum located one-quarter mile south of St. Luke's Hospital off Hwy. 75. Turn west at American flags and balloons.
For details, call 725-1855 or 622-3088.
Pilot instruction available at library
Aspiring pilots have a new resource. Jim Perkins, president of the Blaine County Pilots Association (BCPA), has announced the donation of a Private Pilot Ground School Course to the Hailey Library.
The BCPA was started in the early 1980s by Ben and Peggy Hurtig to promote and defend general aviation in Blaine County.
The package consists of 6 interactive DVDs, interactive review quizzes, FAA written test prep software, a study guide book, a training course book, a pilot's logbook, a pilot's flight log, a fuel tester, a FAR/AIM book, a sectional chart plotter, an aviation weather services book, an electronic E6B, a flight gear bag and a graduation certificate.
The study course can be checked out by anyone with a Hailey library card.
Fishing closed near Yankee Fork weirs
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is planning to install two weirs on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River to trap hatchery-origin chinook salmon, a news release from the agency states.
Operation of the weirs is part of Fish and Game's hatchery spring chinook salmon management in the Yankee Fork and upper Salmon River basins in 2008.
The Yankee Fork is closed to chinook salmon fishing, and all fishing is closed within 100 yards upstream and downstream of any fish management weir on the Yankee Fork.
Angling for chinook salmon is open on the upper Salmon River from the state Highway 75 bridge at milepost 213.5, about 10 miles west of Clayton, upstream to the posted boundary 100 yards downstream of the weir at the Sawtooth Hatchery south of Stanley. This is the first time Fish and Game has allowed for a chinook fishery on the stretch of river in more than 30 years.
As of Monday, July 14, 173 adult chinook salmon had been caught by anglers on the upper Salmon. In May, Idaho Fish and Game commissioners established a quota of 254 adult chinook salmon on the stretch of river.
Received your economic stimulus yet?
The federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that up to 242 economic stimulus package (ESP) returns have not yet been filed by individuals in Blaine County. If filed, these returns could provide up to $72,600 in combined payments to individuals locally, a July 9 letter from the IRS to members of the Blaine County Commission states.
Back in January, the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush approved and implemented the ESP program, which is intended to provide economic stimulus payments to the nation's citizens. Americans must file a tax return to actually receive these payments, and in many instances, people who have no regular filing requirement do not realize that they are entitled to these payments, the IRS letter states.
So far, the IRS has issued 76.5 million payments worth $63.8 billion based on all 2007 tax returns. The agency expects to issue about 124 million payments by year's end. Eligible individuals are receiving up to $600 or $1,200 for married couples filing joint returns, plus $300 for eligible children under 17 years of age.
Information on the ESP program as well as application forms can be found at www.irs.gov.
More money for Idaho workers
On July 24, the lowest-paid workers of America will see an increase in their paychecks. Under state and federal laws passed in 2007, the minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour. It is the second of three increases, with the last hike taking place in July 2009 that will set the wage at $7.25 an hour.
In 2007, 40 percent of those receiving a pay increase worked in leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants, hotels and recreational businesses. Another 17 percent were in some segment of retail. These same types of workers are expected to benefit from this year's wage hike, though no definite estimates have been made.
