Students walk, bike to school
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority's Safe Routes to School Program, in cooperation with the Blaine County School District, will hold its annual "walk or bike to school day" competition today, Oct. 5.
Students from Bellevue, Hailey, Hemingway and Woodside elementary schools and Wood River Middle School will compete in two categories, number of participants and percentage of students participating.
Last year's winner in both categories was Woodside Elementary School in Hailey.
Mountain Rides Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator Eric Grootveld said the event is a good way to teach students the healthy and environmentally friendly benefits of "using their feet or pedals to get to school."
Mountain Rides seeks public input
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority wants public input on its bus service plan for fiscal year 2012.
The organization's planning and marketing committee has scheduled a public workshop for Wednesday, Oct. 12, for a route-by-route review in light of an 11 percent reduction in its operations budget for FY2012. Mountain Rides has already announced that some cuts in service will be needed, even though ridership is up about 12 percent so far this year.
The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Ketchum City Hall Council Chambers.
Terrain parks will expand on Dollar
Sun Valley Resort is making plans for Dollar Mountain's terrain park to sport 20 new rails, a new half-pipe and a new progression park.
The 18-foot half-pipe will be located in the top half of Old Bowl while the bottom of Old Bowl will be enhanced by two new jumps and a variety of new rails. At the bottom of Dollar Face will be a new progression park for beginners. It will offer small features more easily maneuverable for youngsters just learning to ski/ride.
Skiers/riders can then graduate to the medium-competition park, which will feature two jumps and three rails.
The Sun Valley SnowSports School will expand its FreeRide program this season to include training in the terrain park for intermediate and advanced youngsters ages 6 through high school.
"Sundays in the Park" will be offered December through March and will include park, pipe and gate training. Sun Valley's signature feature, the Quad Wall, will return.
Adventure on Baldy
Changes are coming to Bald Mountain this ski season. While parents cruise Sun Valley's famed groomed runs this winter, the kids can discover exciting "adventure trails" in the woods nearby.
The themed adventure trails are designed for skiers/boarders 6 through 12 years old; however, anyone looking for a fun adventure on Baldy will be welcome to ski the wooded trails.
Some of Baldy's indigenous animals and interesting anecdotes have been selected as themes that are noted on the entrance and exits of the trails. The level of skier needed to negotiate the trail also is identified.
The Red-headed Woodpecker Trail will be located in the trees between Broadway and Lower Christin's Silver. Another shorter, gladed adventure trail is located just off Olympic Ridge and is called Huckleberry Bear. Other adventure trails are located off Lower College, French Dip and Warm Springs.
Also new for this season will be 30 acres of gladed ski/boarding terrain, adjacent to Upper Limelight and Olympic, between Olympic Lane and Olympic Ridge, and in Upper and Lower Central Park.
Join Winter Feast for the Soul
Organizers of the annual Winter Feast for the Soul, an event dedicated to world peace through personal peace attained with daily spiritual practice, are getting ramped up for the event from Jan. 15 to Feb. 23.
New to the list of spiritual practices this year is "Acts of Kindness."
"Acts of kindness flow naturally out of a dedicated daily spiritual practice," says local coordinator Valerie Skonie. "Adding kind acts to one's commitments will bring these acts more consciously into daily life."
The Feast also includes "Four Minutes of Stillness for Children" and an online forum to be moderated by Anam Thubten, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher introducing the "Acts of Kindness."
The mission of the Feast is to create a virtual community dedicated to world peace one person at a time through daily spiritual practice.
Founded in 2008 by Valerie Skonie and John Moreland, the Feast has become an international movement. In 2011, it is estimated that more than 30,000 people from more than 30 different countries participated in the interdenominational 40-day spiritual practice period.
The public is invited to attend a planning meeting Sunday, Oct. 9, at the Cody Acupuncture Clinic, 12 E. Walnut St., in Hailey.
For more information, contact Rosemary Cody, local coordinator for the Feast, at 720-7530 or rosemarycody@gmail.com.
And then there were 12
Ketchum resident Bill White announced at a City Council meeting Monday that he is no longer seeking a seat on the council.
"I am withdrawing all of my efforts to seek election," he said.
He called the election, in which voters also will determine whether the government should change from a strong-mayor to a council-manager form of government, "strange and scurrilous." He said he felt that those behind the push for a new system were trying "not so much to change the form but to change the membership," adding he came to that conclusion "a little late."
His name, along with 12 others, will appear on the November ballot.
"Don't vote for me," he said.
Learn about college entrance exams
David Moniz, K-12 education manager for The College Board, will be in Hailey on Thursday, Oct. 6, to talk about SAT college entrance exams and advanced placement classes for high school students.
The event, sponsored by the Blaine County School District and the Hailey Public Library, will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the library.
For the first time this year, Idaho students in the 11th grade will be required to take an SAT test. The tests are being funded by the Idaho State Department of Education.
'What Does Your Walk Tell You?'
Jesse Foster, doctor of physical therapy, will demonstrate new video-assisted gait analysis equipment at a Brown Bag luncheon today, Oct. 5, from 12:15-1:15 p.m. at St. Luke's-Elk's Rehab, 1450 Aviation Drive, Suite 201, in Hailey.
Biomechanical issues can contribute to dysfunction or pain, St. Luke's noted.
All Brown Bag lectures are free and no pre-registration is required. Call St. Luke's Center for Community Health for information on this and other educational programs: 727-8733.
