Category Archives: Idaho

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Department of Labor to end long term unemployment help, even though job creation is slacking, Merry early Xmas!

“It’s a hard cut off, there is no phase out. Nobody gets squat after December 31!”-Bob Fick, U.S. Department of Labor

The U.S. government is ending long term unemployment help (stop calling it “benefits” main stream U.S. media!!!).  Emergency unemployment compensation is being reduced from 53 weeks, to just 13.  Another program known as extended benefits is being ended altogether.

As a result, in the state of Idaho overall maximum unemployment help will drop from 99 weeks to 39!

The official U.S. unemployment rate is at 8.2%, Idaho’s official unemployment rate is around 8%. But that doesn’t mean companies are hiring enough people.

April 9, 2012, U.S. stock markets dropped because of news that hiring is not what everyone thought it was. The U.S. Department of Labor announced that 120,000 jobs were created in March.  That’s 80,000 less than expected!

Many “experts” were sure it would be more than 200,000!   In fact many of those “experts” now think the job gains of the previous three months were temporary, and more losses are to come: “We’re thinking that the economic data is going to lose some momentum from here going forward.”-Bob Baur, Principal Global Investors

Even Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the recent drop in official unemployment numbers was “out of sync”.

Teenagers continue to get hit hard with lack of jobs.  The official rate of unemployment for them is 25%!  The highest rate since last year, and getting close to the all time record of 25.5% in 2009 (the highest since 1948)!

Here’s a fact: There are 5.1 million less U.S. jobs now, than in December 2007! The U.S. economy needed to create at least 4.7 million new jobs since then, in order to “recover”, and it has not!

Here’s another interesting fact about the official unemployment numbers game:  New York City is considered to have made a faster “recovery” than the rest of the country, yet their unemployment numbers have gone up!  They’re now around 9.6% unemployment, close to the 10% they hit in 2009.

This is just an example of how you can’t trust the “official” numbers.  Remember, the official unemployment rate does not count people who have been unemployed for so long they no longer qualify for unemployment assistance. Also, the Department of Labor issues at least six different “unemployment numbers”.

U-3 is the one the main stream U.S. media runs with.  It’s the one giving us the 8.2% rate for March.  The Department of Labor calls it the “official unemployment rate”.

But there is also U-6, and it says the unemployment rate is 14.5%!  It’s also known as the “under-employed”, which means people who are working part time but want full time work.  The Department of Labor said there were 7.7 million under-employed people in March 2012.

U-1 is also the “employment to population rate”, which looks at how many people have jobs, and it says 58.5% of the people have jobs.

Then there’s U-4 and U-5 (aka “long term unemployment” or “discouraged workers”) numbers which tries to count people who’ve been out of work for more than six months. It’s now at 5.3 million long term unemployed.

There’s also U-2 which tries to count people who just lost their jobs.

It’s confusing, especially when you get to the “discouraged” calculations.  Examples: U-4 is U-3 + “discouraged workers”.  U-5 is U-4 + “marginally attached workers”.  U-6 is U-5 + “part time workers who want full time work”.

The bottom line is that there are millions of people in the United States still without jobs, or without good paying jobs, and that is a sign that there is no economic recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fukushima, Idaho, Technology

Radiation mystery at Idaho National Laboratory, Cesium & Cobalt

U.S. department of Energy reported on April 6, 2012, that radioactive particles of cesium and cobalt are being found on construction materials.

A contractor discovered the contamination.  Officials think it could be from the demolition of old buildings in that area of the INL site, which would imply that the buildings were contaminated before being torn down.

A local east Idaho DOE spokesman said there was no concern “…unless you get it onto your skin…” and you had “…prolonged exposure…”

Employees and vehicles are now being checked for contamination as they enter and leave the site.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho’s Coldwater Creek loses a VP, Judge tells former employee to expect more prison time, makes store closings watch list

A 1st District Judge in Idaho, has refused to accept terms of a plea agreement.

The case involves a former executive assistant at Coldwater Creek.  She pled guilty in exchange for paying $251,943 in restitution, a suspended three to 10 year prison sentence, and 90 days in county jail.

She is accused of racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent personal expenses at Coldwater Creek, and taking money from a non-profit group involved in education.

The judge said he didn’t like the 90 day county jail time deal, because there are other cases of fraud, in Idaho, in which the defendants took much less money, and spent much more time in county jail, after making a plea deal.

Also, Overstock.com has hired away Coldwater Creek’s vice president of marketing.

Timothy Dilworth worked for Coldwater Creek since 2000.  But is Overstock.com getting a good executive?  After all, hasn’t Coldwater Creek been losing sales for the past several years?

According to Internet Retailer, out of the top 500 U.S. retail companies Coldwater Creek ranks 93rd (not to bad, if that’s 93rd from the top).

Towards the end of March, Coldwater Creek stocks led a small rally in the retail sector. This was due to a smaller net loss than expected.  However, their sales were less than expected as well.  Coldwater Creek stock is now trading for just over one dollar per share.

A Florida based group called Turnaround Management Association, listed Coldwater Creek as one of dozens of troubled U.S. retailers to watch for store closings, right along with Sears.

Turnaround Management Association specializes in distressed debt, liquidations and bankruptcy proceedings concerning retail companies.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Good and Bad news for Idaho’s Hoku Materials

On March 22, 2012, Hoku Solar (a subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, in turn majority owned by China’s Tianwei New Energy) was selected to build a 7.2 megawatt solar farm in Kaua’i, Hawaii.

In December 2011, Hoku Solar actually delivered a 1.18 megawatt solar energy facility, the largest solar power plant in O’ahu, Hawaii.

After the announcement of the 7.2 megawatt solar farm contract, Hoku Corp stock went up 11%.

Now the bad news, another subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, Hoku Materials, is getting hit again by the construction contractor in charge of completing the southeastern Idaho polysilicon factory.

There are reports that once again Hoku has not fully paid its contractor JH Kelly.  This has happened before, and is part of the main cause for many construction delays in the past.  JH Kelly officials say they are taking “action” against Hoku.

Hoku Materials has also played the same game with electricity supplier Idaho Power.  Their latest battle was settled by an Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) decision.

According to an 15 March 2012 IPUC statement, Hoku got a new electricity contract which: “… reduces Hoku’s monthly minimum payment to about $800,000 for up to 18 months through June 2013.  To protect customers and the company from the lost revenue from the lower minimum payment, Hoku will reimburse the difference between the current and the revised minimum charge in payments spread through November 2014, plus 6 percent interest.  Hoku will also make an initial payment of $3.8 million, with $2 million of that coming from a $4 million deposit already provided by Hoku. The remaining $1.8 million will be paid over the next 18 months at $100,000 per month.  Hoku must give Idaho Power 30 days’ notice when it plans to exceed 10 MW and six-months’ notice when it plans to exceed 20 MW.”  

HOKU MATERIALS’ CUSTOMERS WHO ‘PREPAID’ ARE GETTING IMPATIENT!

Idaho, U.S.

Dumb ‘Mericans: South East Idaho’s School District 25 “flagged” for “suspicious” test scores, again!

In an independent investigation into public school federal test scores, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found the Southeastern Idaho School District 25 had suspicious test scores three years in a row.

The Pocatello/Chubbuck/Bannock County school district was “flagged” because it had test results that varied from year to year “outside the norm”.

A normal variance is considered 5% from year to year.

In 2008 there was a 13.1% variance.  In 2009 it was 8.54% variance.  In 2010 it jumped to 14.29% variance in test scores from the previous year!

Compare School District 25’s test score variance to Eastern Idaho’s School District 91 (aka Idaho Falls district): 2008; 1.28%. 2009; 6.41%. 2010; 6.41%.  Much closer to the 5% “normal” variance.

Researchers say if education is consistent, and the children taking the tests are answering the questions from their own knowledge, then there shouldn’t be such high shifts in Idaho School District 25’s test scores from year to year. 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

Class Warfare: Elitist Canada to increase the cost of college, again! This time by 75%! University is a “privilege”?

Provinces across Canada have been increasing the cost of college, just as their neighbors to the south (U.S.A.) are doing.

Currently the cheapest place for Canadians to go to college/university is Quebec. As of March 2012, the average yearly cost for attending college in Quebec is $2,519 CAD ($2,539.91 USD).  But provincial officials want a 75% increase over the next five years!

One student pointed out that college students in Quebec have less debt than other Canadians, and implied that forcing young Canadians into debt was the intent:  “Tuition fees are lower in Quebec than the rest of Canada, but so is the student debt, which is a good impact of low tuition fees.”-Hugo Bonin, attending Concordia

Many people are torn over whether college should be made more expensive, or free.  Many with an elitist attitude say it is a “privilege” not a “right”.  Well in actuality it’s neither!  If our business leaders, and government leaders, are constantly harping about the lack of “skilled” employees, and they are constantly pushing grade school students to “Go On” (higher education campaign slogan used by the state government of Idaho, U.S.A.) so that we can be more competitive in the global economy, then it is not a privilege or a right, it is a requirement!

Why should we pay for college (more like getting into massive debt for life) for the benefit of industry and government?  Unless our leaders are lying to us (would they?) it is obvious that higher education is now a requirement, which means if they want qualified workers then they need to pay for the education to create the qualified workers, goddam it!

So how much is the average price of a “privileged” higher education in the rest of Canada?  $5,366 CAD ($5,410.55 USD)!

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

Idaho’s Hoku Materials better get its rear in gear, Customers who have prepaid are getting impatient could go elsewhere

“For Hoku and its majority shareholder Tianwei New Energy Holdings, things cannot be worse.”-Rober Dydo, CEO of Solar PV Investor

March 18, 2012, customers who have pre-paid for Hoku’s polysilicon are getting restless.  One buyer, Jinko Solar, has already reduced their original purchase contract of ten years down to eight.  And there’s rumors they want to reduce it even more.

Hoku also owes two other buyers, Hanwha Solar One and Solargiga.  In total the three customers already paid Hoku $140 million!

To make matters worse, Jinko Solar is the only Chinese customer that is not in trouble financially.  This means that Hanwha Solar One, and Solargiga, are more likely to cancel their contracts all together.

To top everything, Hoku Materials, in Pocatello, Idaho, is still not ready for production and the delays are only costing more money: “The current estimate for the cost of facility is now $600 million to complete Phase I of 2,500 metric ton (MT) of capacity. Phase II with the complete capacity of 4,000 MT will cost another $100 million to complete. All told the $700 million dollar price tag is 70.7% more than its previous estimate…“-Michael Lofing, CPA and market analyst

IDAHO’S HOKU MATERIALS LOSES $28 MILLION, BLAMES IDAHO POWER. 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho’s Republican governor pays his female officials less than his male officials, much less

Governor Butch Otter pays the females in his administration an average of $20,000 less than his male administrators.

“Director Gould is about $38,000 under the newly employed Jeff Sayer. You can’t argue she doesn’t have as many employees. Our state is no different than the national averages that show women reach a ‘glass ceiling’ for promotion and pay.”-Representative Wendy Jaquet of Ketchum

Idaho Agriculture Director, Celia Gould, has worked for Butch Otter since 2007.  She’s paid $106,621 per year.   Jeffrey Sayer, Commerce Director (running a smaller agency), has worked for Butch Otter since October 2011, yet he gets paid $145,018 per year.

The median salary for females in Butch Otter’s cabinet is $85,446.  The median salary for males is $103,002.

Oh, but Idaho is a Right to Work state.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Hoku Materials loses $28 million, blames Idaho Power. Takes on 19 new loans to continue operation, beggars China for more money!

On March 5, 2012, Hoku International released its Quarterly 10-Q Report, ending December 2011.

Specifically their Pocatello, Idaho, Hoku Materials polysilicon operations (which has yet to actually begin operations) lost $28.4 million in the nine months ending on December 31, 2011.

Their 10-Q report blames part of the loss on Idaho Power’s electricity bills.  Idaho Power has reported that Hoku has consistently failed to pay their electric bill on time (actually in advance, under Idaho Power’s rules for large businesses)!

Hoku’s March 5, 2012, 10-Q report also revealed that they’ve had to “…obtained an aggregate of $315.5 million of debt financing through 19 bank credit agreements to support our operations.”  

That was as of December 31, 2011.  Hoku has also revealed that they’ve had to beg China for more money: “In January 2012, we entered into a credit agreement with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Limited, New York Branch to provide for one or more term loans in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $10.0 million. And in February 2012, we entered into a credit agreement with China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., New York Branch to provide for a loan in an aggregate principal amount of $10 million.”

AS I WARNED: IDAHO HOKU SILICON FACTORY GOING UNDER, ANNOUNCING LAYOFFS, VIOLATED STOCK MARKET TRADING RULES