Cities to review marketing contract
Both Ketchum and Sun Valley's city councils will hold open meetings tomorrow, Dec. 16, to review and possibly approve $380,000 contracts with the Sun Valley Marketing Alliance, the final step for handing over the alliance's first-year funding. The cities already handed over $20,000 each in November so the alliance could hire San Francisco marketing firm Eleven to put together a marketing plan for the resort area of the northern Wood River Valley.
If the contracts are approved, the alliance would have a total of $800,000 from the cities. Ketchum's meeting is at noon Thursday, with this item slated for about 1:30 p.m. Sun Valley's meeting starts at 4 p.m. with the marketing contract being considered at the meeting's end.
Mountain Rides unveils new buses
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority will hold a ribbon cutting today in Ketchum for four new buses recently obtained for bus service in the Wood River Valley.
Two will be on display from 2-2:30 p.m. at the corner of Leadville Avenue and Fifth Street. The ribbon cutting is scheduled to take place at 2:15 p.m. The buses were built by DATTCO in New Britain, Conn., and were funded by a grant received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the so-called economic stimulus program.
On Friday, Mountain Rides and the city of Sun Valley will hold a ribbon cutting for five new bus shelters recently built in the town and also funded with economic stimulus dollars. The ribbon cutting is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. at the Syringa shelter in Elkhorn at the corner of Morning Star Road and Syringa Drive.
Does darkness make you SAD?
"Easing Into Darker Days: Managing Seasonal Affective Disorder" will be the subject of a free Brown Bag lecture today, Dec. 15, from 12:15-1:15 p.m. at St. Luke's Hailey Clinic. Licensed clinical social worker Gay Miremont will speak about prevention, causes, symptoms and treatments.
Call St. Luke's Center for Community Health for information on this or other educational programs, at 727-8733.
Banks get in the holiday spirit
D.L. Evans Bank, with branches in Ketchum and Hailey, raised $1,450 for the Festival of Trees event. The Festival of Trees is a fundraiser that benefits the Blaine County Senior Center.
Students from Woodside Elementary School have created ornaments for Zions Bank's Christmas tree and received a $200 donation to their school in return. Throughout the state, elementary school students are participating in the annual "Lights On" tradition by making festive decorations to bring cheer to every Zions Bank office.
Poaching charge to stand as felony
HAILEY, Idaho (AP)—A magistrate judge has ruled that an elk poaching charge against a south-central Idaho anti-wolf activist qualifies as a felony and has turned the case over to 5th District Court in Blaine County.
Magistrate Judge Jason Walker ruled on Dec. 7 at a preliminary hearing that the antlers from the elk that Twin Falls resident Tony Mayer is accused of killing measure as a trophy, and therefore qualifies as a felony.
The felony charge had previously been dismissed because the antlers were measured before a 60-day drying period required by the Boone and Crockett scoring system.
Prosecutors refiled the case after the antlers were remeasured.
Mayer's next court date hasn't been sent.
Police say Mayer poached the elk in northern Blaine County on Oct. 3, 2009, three days after the close of the bow-hunting season.
Poverty rises in Idaho
BOISE (AP)—A U.S. Census Bureau report shows that the percentage of Idaho residents living in poverty in 2009 was slightly higher than the national average.
The information released last week shows that nine Idaho counties had a statistically significant increase in the poverty rate from 2007 to 2009.
Those counties are Ada, Bingham, Camas, Canyon, Idaho, Kootenai, Lemhi, Lincoln and Madison.
The bureau reports that 14.4 percent of the nation's 3,141 counties saw increases in the poverty rate from 2007 to 2009.
P&Z OKs rezone for nuke plant
PAYETTE, Idaho (AP)—The Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission in western Idaho has approved rezoning 5,000 acres from agricultural to industrial so a nuclear power plant can be built.
The commission on Thursday approved the request by Alternative Energy Holdings.
The Payette County Commission must approve the rezoning before it becomes final.
Solar thermal system at the ready
The newly installed solar thermal system at the Blaine County Public Safety Facility in Hailey will start operating this week, said installer Billy Mann.
The system, which includes 16 collectors, is fully funded by a $93,168 Environmental Efficiency Conservation Block Grant from the Idaho Office of Energy Resources. The new system is estimated to save the county $3,500 per year, and is expected to reduce the county's energy use for heating hot water in the facility by as much as 76 percent.
The system is projected to pay for itself in about 14 years, taking into account the rising cost of natural gas. Because funding for the new hot water system is coming from the federal government, the county will reap the benefits of lower energy costs from the first day of the system's use.
Quad Wall debuts this weekend
Dollar Mountain will be humming on Friday, Dec. 17, as Sun Valley Resort presents a rail jam exhibition. The event will kick off with the music of Ethan Tucker at 3 p.m. and will feature local athletes riding from 5-6:30 p.m.
The night will also bring the debut of the 75th season Quad Wall. The Quad Wall is 10 feet tall, 25 feet wide and weighs 1,500 pounds.
For more information, contact bcallahan@sunvalley.com.
Hailey to hold contest, raffle
The Hailey Chamber of Commerce's holiday lights decorating contest will award first-, second- and third-place winners in categories of Best Residence, Most Green and Best Block. A minimum of four houses on a block qualifies for best block.
The deadline to enter is Thursday, Dec. 16. Judging will take place on Friday, Dec. 17, and Saturday, Dec. 18.
In addition, the chamber will hold its Hailey Holiday Raffle. Raffle prizes include more than $3,000 in Hailey Chamber Bucks as well as prizes from Hailey restaurants, shops and service providers. The chamber is also offering to wrap locally purchased gifts for Hailey shoppers. To qualify, shoppers must show a receipt for the locally purchased gifts.
Shoppers will receive one raffle ticket for every $10 spent at participating businesses, with a limit of 25 tickets per purchase. Raffles will take place on Saturday, Dec. 18, and Friday, Dec. 24, at noon. Each raffle will include dozens of prizes and gift certificates. Two lucky shoppers will win Chamber Bucks, $1,000 on Dec. 18 and $1,500 on Dec. 24. Participating businesses will distribute raffle tickets.
For details, call 788-3484.
Calling all Santas
A Santa pub crawl will take place in Ketchum on Friday, Dec. 17, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Any type of Santa may participant, including those wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. Santas can dress as sexy or bad or be one of Santa's helpers.
The pub crawl will begin at the Roosevelt Tavern from 8-9 p.m. and continue to the Cellar Pub from 9-9:45 p.m., the Casino from 9:45-10:30 p.m., the Cornerstone from 10:30-11:15 p.m., the Sawtooth Club from 11:15 p.m. to midnight and end at Whiskey Jacques' from midnight to 2 a.m.
Drink specials will be available to all participating Santas.
Wellness Festival picks keynote
Best-selling author Gregg Braden will deliver the keynote speech to kick off the 2011 Sun Valley Wellness Festival over Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30, 2011.
Braden is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. For more than 25 years, he has searched high-mountain villages, remote monasteries and forgotten texts to uncover their timeless secrets. His work is now featured on the History channel, the Discovery Channel, the SciFi Channel and NBC.
For details, visit www.sunvalleywellness.org.
St. Thomas to hold winter camp
St. Thomas Playhouse will present "Company B Winterized," a performing-arts day camp for children ages 4-13 at St. Thomas Church in Sun Valley from Monday, Dec. 27, through Friday, Dec. 31.
The 4- to 6-year-olds will attend from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. They will sing as a chorus and learn scenes. Youth from 7-13 years old will attend a full day, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. They will do group and solo singing, dancing and acting with local professional instructors and high school interns.
The children will present a variety show, "Rock 'n' Roll Time Machine" to family and friends on Friday, Dec. 31, at 4 p.m. at St. Thomas Church.
For registration, call 726-5349.
Get free car-seat safety check
St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center will offer a free car-seat safety check today, Dec. 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A certified child passenger safety technician will help people install a car seat before their baby is born, and can fit an older child to his or her seat, teach proper installation and check for recalls. Inspections take place in front of the main entrance of the hospital. Call 727-8776 for more information.
