CSI to hold Summer Spanish Institute
The College of Southern Idaho Blaine County Center will hold its eighth annual Summer Spanish Institute at the Community Campus in Hailey June 16-20.
CSI is now accepting registration at www.csi.edu/blaine or by calling the CSI Blaine County Campus at (208) 788-2033. Tuition is $350.
The institute is intended for teachers, healthcare staff, travelers or anyone else who wants to learn Spanish. The program is for either beginners or advanced students. In addition to teaching the Spanish language, cultural and historical aspects of Mexico will be presented through a partnership with the Consulate of Mexico.
A photographic exhibition, “War Testimonials: Photographs of the Mexican Revolution,” will open at 4:30 p.m. on June 19 and be on display at the CSI Blaine County Center until Aug. 1. Also, a Spanish language film, “El Santo and the Blue Demon,” with English subtitles, will be screened at 6 p.m. The event is open to the public free of charge.
For more information on the institute, contact CSI at (208) 788-2033.
Idaho cost of living edges up
Idaho’s cost of living moved closer to the national average in 2012, rising from 92.8 percent a year earlier to 93.6 percent, according to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The eight-tenths of a percentage point increase moved Idaho from 32nd to 31st among the states in comparative cost of living. Idaho was one of 27 states and the District of Columbia to see the cost of living increase relative to the national average.
The increase for Idaho returns the cost of living to 2008 levels, when the national recession was taking hold across the state. At the time, Idaho ranked 32nd among the states before dropping to 33rd in 2010 during the depths of the downturn.
In 2012, Idaho’s average wage was $36,136, compared to the national average wage of $49,287.
Local bridge players win in Twin
Six Wood River Valley bridge players won events and eight others placed in a recent American Contract Bridge League section tournament in Twin Falls.
Winning first place victories were the pairs of Cathy Barbouletos and partner Mary Jo Rutherford, and Jim Churchill and partner Linda Parsons. M.B. Davis and Nancy Mulroney earned a first-place tie.
In other events, Barbouletos and Rutherford placed second; Churchill and Parsons, third; and Davis and Mulroney, second.
Other local players placing in the tournament were Chuck Abramo and Jo Murray, Deanne and Jerry Drake, Cunnie McGowan and Al Poynter, and Marilyn Nesbit and Robert Probasco. Abramo and Murray also took a first place in a recent bridge tournament in Morganton, N.C.
There are four duplicate bridge games a week in Ketchum and Sun Valley, with two of the games designed for newer players. For information about games or bridge lessons, contact Murray at jo@sunvalleybridge.com or 720-1501 or visit the web at www.sunvalleybridge.com.
Public radio now has stronger signal
Boise State Public Radio’s new 125-watt translator at the top of Bald Mountain is now live after the federal government shutdown last year delayed the launch of the signal.
Now, listeners in parts of Wood River Valley will have a more reliable signal at 100.3 FM. Listeners who had tuned to KBSS 91.1 FM will have a stronger signal in Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley. The new signal, 100.3 FM, also reaches into north Ketchum, an area previously not served by Boise State Public Radio.
Boise State Public Radio is Idaho’s largest NPR affiliate, reaching Idahoans from Salmon and Sun Valley to Twin Falls and Boise.
3 join Wood River Land Trust board
The Wood River Land Trust board of directors recently elected three new members.
Kathie Levison has vast experience as an attorney in real estate, tax law and estate planning, in addition to her extensive service on various boards of directors here and in Ohio.
Dan Smith is a longtime resident of Idaho and the Wood River Valley. He has served on various committees, including the Pocatello Historic Preservation Commission, the Idaho State University College of Science and Engineering Advisory Council and The Greenway Foundation, a privately funded organization creating non-motorized trails in the Pocatello area.
David Woodward is an avid angler concerned about the health of the Big Wood River watershed. With a background in finances and investment, Woodward runs a small investment firm in Ketchum.
