Category Archives: Idaho

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Idaho County violates Federal Law, Federal Judge orders the County to violate Idaho Law in order to pay off fine

In 2010, Boise County was found guilty of violating the Federal Fair Housing law.  They must now pay $5.4 million in fines, with 5.5% yearly interest.

Boise County tried to file for bankruptcy, but a Federal bankruptcy judge found the county can afford the bill.

Now, the Federal district court has ordered Boise County to violate the Idaho law on property tax limits, in order to raise the money to pay the Federal fine.

The Federal court wants Boise County officials to charge at least 3% over the state property tax cap.  Under state law a 2/3rds majority vote must OK such a move.

Idaho State Tax Commission officials are handling this like a hot potato, saying they don’t have the time to review the case, but they are working on a public press release to explain their position.

Boise County is required to make two payments per year, and have already made the first payment of $1.2 million.

 

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

U.S. increases embassy staffing in Brazil & China. Officially it’s to help foreign students come to the U.S. Unofficially it’s to bring in cheaper labor to the U.S., and help U.S. citizens leave the U.S.

“Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia. Asia’s where the money is.”-Brad Little, Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

Recently the U.S. Department of State announced they were increasing staffing in China and Brazil.

Most U.S. and Chinese media reports suggested this was due to the increasing number of foreign students wanting to go to school in the United States.  The Chinese media even said it was a money making scheme for U.S. colleges: “A number of state governments in the U.S. are tightening their grip on education spending, which means smaller subsidies for public colleges to pay teachers and fund research. International students on average pay far more for tuition expenses than U.S. residents.”-ChinaDaily

According to U.S. Department of Commerce (yes it’s a “department”, not an “agency” as Rick Perry said), it’s also about the money Chinese tourists bring to the U.S.  In 2010 those visitors contributed more than $5 billion to the U.S. economy.

What about Brazil? In 2008 there were reports that Brazilians working in the U.S. wanted to go back to Brazil.  Now the U.S. State Department claims they can’t keep up with demands from Brazilians wanting to come to the U.S.

In September a report showed that the U.S. government has been wooing new Brazilian companies to move to the U.S.

EverWrite and DeskMetrics were two companies mentioned.  Young Brazilian entrepreneurs say it’s much too hard to start a new company in their home country, so they move to the United States (that’s funny ’cause just this past week Idaho business leaders told our U.S. Congress that it’s too hard to maintain a business in the United States).

Chinese businesses are being wooed here as well.  This brings me to one of two points; that increasing U.S. Embassy staffing in China and Brazil is really about bringing foreign workers into the U.S.  You see, many of those Chinese and Brazilian companies are bringing their own employees.

In fact, here in Idaho our state leaders have made a deal with the Chinese.  They will have their own 10,000 to 30,000 acre industrial and housing zone south of the Boise Airport, with their own Chinese employees, and even some level of national sovereignty.

“I think China’s coming over here shows they are willing to collaborate on the re-invigoration of the American industrial base.”-Jeff Don, Idaho representative for the Chinese company, called Sinomach

Here in southeast Idaho the Chinese have already moved in.

Sinomach is China’s third-largest contractor, and pressured Southeast Idaho Energy for a contract to build SIE’s $2 billion goal gasification fertilizer plant in Power County.  In May, 2011, SIE closed its American Falls, Idaho, office claiming they were trying to reduce operating expenses.

A polysilicon factory is just about to start up in Pocatello.  It’s run by Hoku International, which is now a subsidiary of a Chinese company.  The few local employees hired went to China to learn about their job duties.  So far no more word on anymore local hires, which makes you wonder if the main Hoku labor force will be coming from China?

Officials in Boise, Idaho, admit they’re working with more Asian corporations: “We’re getting calls from investors from all across Asia who are interested in Idaho.”-Cece Gassner, assistant to the mayor of Boise, for economic development.

The other point (regarding increased U.S. Embassy staffing) is that U.S. citizens are flocking to China and Brazil.

Japanese, and even PBS, media reports show that many U.S. citizens aren’t waiting until they’ve been hired to move to China; there’s a growing number of U.S. citizens who’ve moved to China, and are still looking for employment.  In fact many U.S. job seekers in China, are finding that they’re competing not only against Chinese job seekers, but their fellow U.S. citizens.

In Brazil, the current population, according to the World Bank, is more than 194 million people. That’s an increase of almost 3 million since 2008!  Most of those people moved to Brazil, many from the United States.

 

 

 

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

What Economic Recovery? After donating $1 million to charity, HP will lay off Idaho employees

At the beginning of November, Hewlett-Packard reported they had donated $1 million to charity, for the fiscal year which ended October 31.

Now, according to a Boise TV station, HP employees called and reported a major layoff at the HP Boise operation was in the works.

KBOI says they contacted HP officials.  The officials stated they are still working on the details of a forthcoming press release, which will explain the layoffs.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Occupy America: Foreclosure is not the end, Idaho one of many states that allow banks to sue you for money they lost on your home foreclosure. It’s now part of Wall Street’s new investment scheme

“I wish somebody had come to us, you know, in the months before all of this happened and said, look, you really, really should look at a short sale or taking any other option other than foreclosure.”-Ben Jensen, Idahoan who lost home to foreclosure and was still sued by Bank of America

Did you know that as many as 40 U.S. states allow banks, and debt collectors to sue you even after a home foreclosure is finalized?  It’s called ‘deficiency judgment’.

Idaho attorney Brian Webb, says he’s seeing a sudden increase in such legal action by Corporate America:  “I only probably handled five or six in 2010; versus 2011, it’s been, you know, off the top of my head, between 15 and 25 deficiency cases.”

If you lose your home to foreclosure you could get hit with a lawsuit fives years after the fact: “In many other states around the country, homeowners find themselves subject to deficiency actions one, two, three, four or five years after they’ve been foreclosed.”-Geoff Walsh, National Consumer Law Center

Another Idaho attorney, Terri Pickens, says the sudden increase in deficiency judgments are due to a disturbing new trend; banks are selling their deficiency claims to collection agencies.  It’s all part of Wall Street’s new “investment” strategy: “I do know some private investors who are coming in and purchasing up bank loan packages and have been paying literally pennies on the dollar; just sitting on the paper, waiting for the right time to collect on it.”

 


 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Occupy Idaho: Bank sues Mayor for business loan, Mayor says her business is not in trouble

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem was shocked to learn that her jewelry store is being sued for more than $80,000.

Panhandle State Bank says the lawsuit is over a $75,000 loan made back in 2005.  Bloem says she was in the process of renegotiating the loan, and never had any indication the bank was going to sue.  She says her jewelry store is not in financial trouble, even though the bank says she failed to pay off the loan.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. Home foreclosures on their way back up, Idaho makes top ten list (again)

After several months of what looked like a downward trend in home foreclosures, October had a 7% increase from the month before.

The reason for what looked like a downward trend was because the big banks and mortgage companies had been holding back, mainly due to red tape and just too many cases to go after: “The October foreclosure numbers continue to show strong signs that foreclosure activity is coming out of the rain delay we’ve been in for the past year as lenders corrected foreclosure paperwork and processing problems.”-James Saccacio, RealtyTrac

Nevada is still the number one state for foreclosures, although Las Vegas dropped to 5th place for cities.  Stockton, California, is now the number city in the U.S. for foreclosures.

Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan are the top five losing states, making up 53% of the country’s home foreclosures.

The next five most losing states are Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Oregon and Colorado.

 

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

Global Economic War, Global Food Crisis, What Economic Recovery? Big Potato producer Simplot to close plants, laying off 800 east Idaho workers (updated with pictures)

In the name of efficiency, and international competition, J.R. Simplot is building a new potato processing plant.  It will use only 250 employees.  The problem is that the new highly efficient Simplot potato factory will replace three existing plants (in Nampa, Caldwell & Aberdeen), resulting in 800 Idahoans losing their jobs.  That’s a net loss of 550 jobs.

East Idaho doesn’t have a big population so the job loses will hit hard: “It’s going to have a negative impact on Nampa and Caldwell and the whole country. We’re encouraged that they will remain in Caldwell, but certainly concerned about the overall impact of job loss.”-Steve Fultz, Caldwell Economic Development Council

J.R. Simplot officials say it’s necessary to build such an efficient factory, because global competition in the food market is getting tougher.  In fact potato prices for this years potato season have fallen to the point that Idaho farmers will be lucky to break even.

At least Simplot employees have been given a decent heads up; it’ll be at least two years before the new super efficient potato processing plant will be completed.

J.R. Simplot has been streamlining operations in Idaho since the 1990s.  Simplot’s corporate headquarters used to be in Chubbuck, Idaho.  But they closed it down and moved to Boise right after I moved to Chubbuck.

Their Chubbuck HQ was replaced with the TJ Maxx/IHOP strip mall.

Former location of J.R. Simplot Corporate HQ, Chubbuck, Idaho

The metal awnings/canopies covering the Simplot HQ entryway can now be seen in front of the Pocatello City Hall.

Ex Simplot Chubbuck HQ canopies adding charecter to the otherwise drab Pocatello City Hall

 

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

Corporate Incompetence: Idaho radioactive Plutonium & Americium contamination update

On November 8, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announced that 17 employees were exposed to plutonium.  The INL now says it is 16 employees who were exposed, but, the number of those testing positive for contamination is going up.

The INL has also released more info on how their employees got exposed to deadly plutonium.  The affected area at the decommissioned Zero Power Physics Reactor has been isolated.

Japanese media are reporting that seven workers are now confirmed to be contaminated.  At least three workers are undergoing additional checks after lung examinations pointed to possible internal exposure.

Local east Idaho media are reporting that two employees tested positive for Americium 241 in their lungs.  INL officials say it’s almost sure that their lungs are contaminated with plutonium as well.

The Japanese and Idaho media are giving conflicting info on how the workers were exposed.

Idaho media says INL employees accidentally ruptured 30 year old containers filled with plutonium.  Japanese media says the workers found the containers already ruptured, with powder spilling out.  They opened the containers to see what the powder was.  It was oxidized plutonium that had turned to dust.  The Japanese media says the INL is trying to find out how the containers were ruptured.  INL officials suspect the containers were ruptured a long time ago, which would explain the oxidized (rusted) plutonium (it also means employees might have been exposed to plutonium since 1981).

The INL is currently run by contractor Battelle Energy Alliance.

 

 

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

Corporate Incompetence: Idahoans exposed to radioactive Plutonium

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announced that on November 8, seventeen employees were exposed to plutonium.  At least six show signs of contamination.

It happened inside the decommissioned Zero Power Physics Reactor.  A container containing plutonium was opened by the workers.

The employees went through decontamination procedures, and are being checked at the INL’s Central Facilities Medical Center.

The INL is run by contractor Battelle Energy Alliance.

This is the second ‘event’ this year involving radioactive material from the INL.    In January, 2011, an employee was nearly exposed to a full years worth of radiation, after a miscalculation as to the amount of radiation the worker would be exposed to for a specific task.

Also, in September, 2011, a small container was found on an Idaho Falls street, it was labeled as containing radioactive Iodine 131.  The INL was called in to investigate. They claim the container was empty and not radioactive. They discovered it was used for medical purposes.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Government Incompetence: Confusing & conflicting plans to “save” United States Postal Service, thousands will still lose their jobs

On November 2 the U.S. Senate presented a plan to “save” the USPS.

That plan would pay back U.S.$7 billion of the funds Congress stole, I mean, that Congress forced the USPS to overpay in retirement funds.  However, the $7 billion is to be used to buy out employees (a nice way of laying people off, as many as 100,000 employees will lose their jobs in the buy out).  It would also require a two year study before ending Saturday deliveries. The draconian retirement fund payment schedule would be ended as well (it’s the main reason the USPS is in financial trouble).

Then on November 7, the U.S. Postmaster General announced that he will officially present plans to “save” the USPS on November 21!

His plan will include laying off thousands of workers, closing offices and sorting facilities, and ending Saturday deliveries.  He’ll make his official announcement at the November 21, National Press Club Speakers luncheon in Washington DC.

Local Idaho postal workers told me what ever plan is official announced that it’s basically a sham, what’s going down with the USPS is a “done deal”.