Idaho personal income down slightly
A decline in investment earnings offset rising business profits to push down Idaho’s total personal income for the first three months of 2013, the Department of Labor announced last week.
Estimates released June 28 by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis put personal income—the value of all wages, business profits, investment earnings and transfer payments like Social Security, unemployment benefits and pensions—at $54.7 billion on an annualized basis. That was down 0.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012.
Farm income was up 0.8 percent while nonfarm income, which accounts for 95 percent of Idaho’s total personal income, was off 1 percent from the last three months of 2012.
But the decline in Idaho was not as bad as the reduction nationwide. National personal income fell 1.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013. Investment earnings were off substantially from the previous three months, and wages fell fractionally.
In Idaho, investment earnings were down 4.2 percent from the final three months of 2012, a tenth of a percent greater reduction than reported nationally. Wages rose three-tenths of a percentage point while business profits were up 1.7 percent—0.8 percent on the farm and 2.1 percent in the rest of the economy.
Nationally, wages fell three-tenths of a percentage point while business profits—both on and off the farm—were up 2.4 percent.
While Idaho’s wage increase was fractional, it was sixth highest in the nation. Twenty-seven states recorded declines in wages.
Grants assist suicide hotline
The Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline (800-273-TALK) recently received two gifts of $37,500 each, which will help the hotline add an additional evening phone responder shift and expand its hours of operation from the current 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
United Way of Treasure Valley connected the organization with donations from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation and St. Luke’s Health System. The organization, the state’s only suicide prevention hotline, is a program of Mountain States Group.
With expanded hours that started on July 1, trained Idaho phone responders can field substantially more calls from Idahoans who are in crisis or suicidal — and connect them with key resources in their communities.
Idaho has the sixth-highest suicide rate in the United States. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults in Idaho.
Help Arbor Day Foundation help America’s forests
People can help the nation’s forests by joining the Arbor Day Foundation this month.
Through the Replanting Our National Forests campaign, the Arbor Day Foundation will honor each new member who joins in July by planting 10 trees in forests that have been devastated by wildfires, insects and disease. The cost for joining the Arbor Day Foundation is a $10 donation.
“America’s national forests face enormous challenges, including unprecedented wildfires that have left a backlog of more than one million acres in need of replanting,” the foundation said in a news release. “The foundation has worked with the United States Forest Service for more than 20 years to plant trees in high-need forests.
“Our national forests provide habitat for wildlife, keep the air clean and help ensure safe drinking water for more than 180 million Americans.”
To join the Arbor Day Foundation and help plant trees in our national forests, send a $10 membership contribution to Replanting Our National Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410, or visit arborday.org/july.
Ride Sun Valley named top festival
The Ride Sun Valley bike festival, presented by SCOTT Sports, was honored last week by Outside magazine when it was named to the list of the Top 10 Bike Festivals in North America in 2013.
The event, established and run by local marketing agency Visit Sun Valley, is now in its third year.
“This is truly an honor. We have some of the best riding and hands-down one of the best bike communities anywhere,” said event director Greg Randolph. “This recognition speaks volumes to the hard work of our team to make this event what it is today.”
For more details on events, course maps and other information about Ride Sun Valley, visit www.ridesunvalley.com.
Idaho Power hits record peak electricity demand
Idaho Power and its customers reached a new milestone Monday, July 1, with a record 3,402 megawatt overall peak-hour average system load.
A string of 100-degree-plus days culminated in the record, as irrigators took to the fields and air conditioners were pressed into service. Monday’s usage tops the previous record of 3,245 megawatts from July 12, 2012.
“At the time of the new peak, all generation resources from our diverse energy portfolio were dispatched; we also had sufficient reserve power in place,” said Lisa Grow, senior vice president of power supply. “Our company has learned from nearly a century of operations that energy diversity means energy security. Because our resource portfolio is among the most diverse in the nation, customers can count on the fact that it is also highly secure.”
Idaho Power’s newest generation resource, the Langley Gulch Power Plant, helped satisfy the record electricity demand during the triple-digit heat, including Monday, when temperatures in Boise reached 110 degrees. The 318-megawatt, natural gas-fired plant near New Plymouth, Idaho, went into commercial production on June 29, 2012.
Idaho Power experiences its highest demand during the summer months, when air conditioners and irrigation pumps add to everyday electrical usage. An increase in customer growth over the past year has added to that demand.
BASE jumping accidents up
The number of BASE jumping accidents in the Twin Falls area is up this year.
But rescue crews and local law enforcement say there is no cause for concern that the rescues are draining staff time or valuable resources.
So far in 2013, rescue teams have responded to five BASE jumping accidents, up from two last year and three in 2011.
Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Lori Stewart says the bottom line the rescues pose no major threat to agency resources.
In fact, law enforcement devotes more time and energy to suicide attempts or the hundreds of car crashes that occur each year, officials said.
In most BASE jumping rescues, it is volunteers from the county’s 50-person Search and Rescue Team who respond.
