Hailey Sturtevants changes hands
Sturtevants sports store owner Olin Glenne and investment partner Ben Jacobson announced Monday that the company has sold its location on Main Street in Hailey to Hailey Sturtevants store manager Jeff Davis.
Glenne bought the company from former owner Rob Santa in January, and said that selling the Hailey store to Davis was the best way to ensure “the highest level” of customer service.
“This decision was a very difficult one,” Glenne said in a news release. “I am also realistic that as a Ketchum resident, and owner of three Ketchum storefronts, I would not be able to give the Hailey store the personal attention I feel a service-oriented small business owes its customers.”
The Hailey store will be renamed “Sturtos Hailey,” while the company name “Sturtevants” will refer only to the Ketchum and Warm Springs stores. Glenne said the two would be separately owned businesses with no franchise ties.
Attorney organizes pro-bono project
Selim Aryn Star, a longtime local attorney with an office in Hailey, graduated from the Idaho Academy of Leadership of Lawyers on April 12, in a Boise ceremony. Star is the first attorney from Blaine County to graduate from the academy. The Idaho State Bar selects a handful of licensed and practicing lawyers for the competitive year-long program to train them on legal leadership, community advocacy and issues of diversity.
Star’s law practice emphasizes divorce and family law, and he has been providing legal counsel to clients of the Advocates in Hailey since 2007. Star is implementing a Legacy Project that will provide support to people in Blaine County who are unable to afford a lawyer. He is working to recruit 12 local attorneys who will collectively provide more than 60 hours of pro-bono work.
Attorneys who would like to volunteer time can call the Star Law Office at 788-9232, email starlawoffice@gmail.com or visit www.starlawoffice.biz.
Speech arts teams succeed at state
Wood River High School debate students advised by Susan Worst helped the Hailey team to fifth place in the Idaho High School Activities Association state tournament March 8-9 at Highland High School in Pocatello. In addition, Worst’s Wolverine speech arts students led by state champion Chase Hutchinson competed well at IHSAA State Speech tournament April 19-20 at Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls.
In a talented 85-student field, Hutchinson won the Congressional Speaking division over Stephen Holsinger of Meridian’s Renaissance High School and third-place Chen Li of Idaho Falls High School at the state speech event. His teammate Gus Kimball placed 10th. Earning superior ribbons were Matt Reidy in Oratorical Analysis and Sadera Shultz, Retold Story. As a team Wood River finished seventh of 19 “B Division” schools in speech.
At state debate, Hutchinson and Lane Coulthard of Wood River were semi-finalists in Lincoln-Douglas competition and earned third-place medals. Taking fifth place were quarterfinalists Connor Hayes and Sam Burns. Also competing were the debate teams of Max Mihalic-Joey Reidy, and Annie Ashfield-Liza Buell. Wood River moved up four places and 50 points in the team standings compared to its 2012 results, earning 83 points at Highland High for fifth place of 16 “B Division” schools. Top teams were Bonneville of Idaho Falls (145 points) and Mountain Home (126).
Wake Up Hailey scheduled
The Hailey Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly Wake up Hailey event from 9-10 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, in the Blaine County Annex conference room, at 219 First Ave. S. in Hailey.
The Weed Department and 5B Recycles are hosting the meeting. Attendees can hear updates on noxious weeds and recycling while they network with community members.
For more information, call the Hailey Chamber at 788-3484.
Kiwanis leader gets fellowship
The Kiwanis of Hailey and the Wood River Valley has announced Jim Spinelli as the George F. Hixon Fellowship recipient.
The award was chosen by club membership for commitment to the children of the community and involvement in the club. Funds were donated to help with the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus.
Spinelli is the governor-elect for 2012-2013 and governor for 2013-2014 of the Utah-Idaho District.
Papoose Club supports valley groups
The Papoose Club awarded $5,100 at its April meeting to the BCRD Aquatic Center, Wood River YMCA, Idaho Business Professionals of America and Tegernsee Youth Exchange.
The BCRD Aquatic Center received money to help fund the purchase of a new log roller. The Wood River High School Idaho Business Professionals of America chapter received funding to help pay for students to attend the National Leadership conference in Orlando. The Wood River YMCA was provided assistance for the cost of transporting summer camp attendees to Camp Perkins for a weekly outdoor camp experience. Students participating in the Tegernsee Youth Cultural Exchange will spend three weeks in Ketchum’s sister city Tegernesee, Germany, and visiting Sun Valley’s sister city, Kitzbuehl, Austria.
Bridge players place in tournaments
Seven Wood River Valley bridge players have placed in tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League.
Mary Jo Rutherford and Jo Murray placed second, and Jim Churchill and Linda Parsons placed third, in an event in Twin Falls this month.
Marilyn Nesbit, Robert Prosbasco and Jim Siegel also placed in events in the largest regional bridge tournament in the country in Gatlinburg, Tenn. “We are especially proud of Jim and Linda, who took my beginning bridge class only last year,” Murray said. “They had never played in a tournament before.”
For information about bridge lessons or bridge games in the Wood River Valley, contact Murray at 720-1502 or visit www.sunvalleybridge.com or www.woodriverbidge.com.
Field & Stream to host Hailey event
On Saturday, May 18, Field & Stream will join Trout Unlimited and local volunteers in a one-day, hands-on outdoor conservation project to aid the group’s efforts to improve trout habitat in the Wood River Valley, as part of the magazine’s Hero for a Day program.
Now in its third year, Field & Stream’s Hero for a Day program works to connect volunteers with conservation workdays across the country and raise awareness of conservation group’s local efforts. The projects serve as a unique opportunity for residents to take action in sustaining and protecting fish, wildlife, and habitat in their area.
Field & Stream will spotlight 10 Hero for a Day projects throughout the spring and will report on the work efforts in the magazine and online.
The two-part Hero for a Day event will benefit both of the valley’s river systems. In the morning, volunteers with TU, the Wood River Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy will work on a popular fishing access point at Boxcar Bend on the Big Wood River by pulling noxious weeds, mulching a trail, and restoring soil and native vegetation in the critical riparian zone.
In the afternoon, Field & Stream’s film crew will meet up with middle school students from Ketchum, who have been learning about fish biology, ecology and stream health through Trout Unlimited’s Adopt-a-Trout curriculum. The kids will perform insect sampling in a previously restored section of Loving Creek, monitor water quality, assess native vegetation and provide data to the Nature Conservancy.
Volunteers should meet at Boxcar Bend at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 18.
Judge to speak at Community School
In a recent letter to Community School graduates and parents, Head of School David Holmes announced the commencement speaker for the June 2 graduation ceremony in the gym at the Sun Valley independent school. He is Judge Anthony Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Scirica, 72, from Norristown, Pa., plans to meet over lunch with the seniors and Holmes the day before graduation. Scirica and his wife Susan first visited Sun Valley in 1973 and since have called the Idaho resort a second home, Holmes said. Their daughter and son-in-law and three grandchildren live and work in the Wood River Valley.
Scirica is the former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit based in Philadelphia, Pa. In 1984, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 1987, he was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, where he served as chief judge from 2003-10.
Idaho is No. 1 for starting a business
A recent survey of nearly 7,800 small business owners nationwide has ranked Idaho the easiest state to start a business.
The second annual Small Business Friendliness survey, released on April 15 and prepared by Thumbtack.com and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, states that those surveyed gave Idaho top marks across several categories, as well as ranking it first for the ease of starting a business. The state scored among the top in the nation in last year’s survey as well.
“In surveying thousands of small businesses across America, we found that clear and consistent regulations and relevant training programs are among the most important things a state can provide,” stated Thumbtack.com co-founder Sander Daniels in a news release.
According to the survey, Idaho’s lowest grades were a pair of A-’s for its zoning requirements and environmental regulations.
The top-ranking states were Utah, Alabama, New Hampshire, Idaho and Texas. The lowest rated were Illinois, California, Hawaii, Maine and, in last place, Rhode Island.
Valley women give back
The Wood River Women’s Charitable Foundation’s 160 members have voted for its 2013 grant recipients. Eleven Blaine County nonprofit groups are the beneficiaries. Finalists gave oral presentations to members on March 13. Members then voted by way of Survey Monkey ballots to determine the distribution of pooled grant money. Grants will be given in the amount of $163,700 this year.
The grantees include: Advocates/St. Luke’s Center for Community Health; Blaine County Education Foundation; Crisis Hotline; Flourish Foundation; Girls On The Run; The Hunger Coalition; I Have A Dream; Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest; Senior Connection; and Wood River Community YMCA.
Formal recognition and detailed presentations by the recipient organizations will be given at the group’s annual meeting Aug. 6.
Be aware of bears this spring
Having recently emerged from their long winter’s sleep, Idaho’s black bears are now on the move, looking for any and all food sources that might help them regain weight lost during hibernation.
High-calorie human foods are a major attractant, particularly if they are easy to obtain.
With that in mind, Fish and Game officials are urging homeowners who live in more rural settings to use common sense and be “bear aware.”
Homeowners can help keep bears wild and avoid costly property damage themselves by taking the following simple precautions:
- Bears like pet food as much as your dog or cat. Keep this food secured as you do your own, and not in a bowl outdoors.
- Keep garbage in a secure location and place it at the curb only on the morning of pick up.
- If you encounter a persistent and/or aggressive bear, contact your local Fish and Game office with the details.
