Category Archives: Idaho

Idaho, Kit Bashing, U.S.

Kit Bashing & Education Reform: Idaho Students Building Model Kits

Buhl Middle School, in Buhl, Idaho, is using model car kits to help students with reading and researching.

6th graders are not just putting together models, they’re spending time doing historical research about the cars they’re building.  They’re also learning about different styles of customizing cars.

The building of model kits has made some huge progress in the past 4 decades.  Many builders don’t just slap the kits together; they spend lots of time researching their subjects to create the most accurate representations they can.  If you want to compete in the big time model contests it’s a necessity that you’re historically literate.

When it comes to the history of cars, it’s not just the technical history that kids can learn, it’s also the cultural history, especially when it comes the “fads” of car customizing trends.  So don’t think of model kits as “toys” (especially when you realize how expensive they’ve gotten over the decades), think of them as “educational tools”.

Idaho, International, U.S.

What Global Warming? Coolest Spring for Idaho since 1984

According to the National Weather Service, Idaho is going through the coolest spring since 1984.

High temperatures for Idaho have been as much as 17 degrees (Fahrenheit) below average.

Even though there’ve been lots of rainy days for Idaho (and rivers are flooding, mainly due to snow melt), the Weather Service says the actual amount of rain, so far, is not enough to set any records.

Local weather forecasts, calling for warming up to the 70s, seem to get pushed back week after week.  No global warming here.

Idaho, International, U.S.

Global Food Crisis: Idaho hit by cold, wet weather, and Potato Worms

The planting season is way behind schedule in the U.S. state of Idaho; at least two to three weeks according to some farmers.  The weather has been too cold, and too wet.  Here in eastern Idaho the Snake and Portneuf rivers are flooding, making it worse.

The flooding Portneuf is hitting farmers in Inkom: “We’ll lose about 4 to 500 ton of hay and probably, I don’t know how much barley, 150 ton of barley. The problem is there’s still a lot of snow to come down, and I think it’s probably gonna be in July or August before we can get in here, and it’s gonna be to late to crop.”-Jim Guthrie, Inkom farmer

The cold is keeping seeds from sprouting: “The cold weather has probably been as much of a delay as the moisture has been. My sugar beets have been in the ground three weeks and they haven’t sprouted yet. With the cold weather we’ve been having, maybe it’s a good thing they haven’t.”-Jim Tiede, American Falls farmer

Potatoes need relatively dry soil to be planted, and they need a hot summer to help them grow big.  Farmers are worried this summer might not be hot enough, or long enough.  Add to that a little worm that likes to eat spuds: “It’s an extremely difficult pest to get rid of.  The thing can last in the soil for decades, and so the process that you go through to get rid of it is extremely long.”-Larry Hawkins, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Hawkins is talking about a microscopic bug that has seen $36 million spent over five years, trying to get rid of it.  It’s shown up in several eastern Idaho potato fields this year.  The nematodes are not native to Idaho; they first showed up in Bingham county in 2006.  They’re not dangerous to people, but can reduce potato yields by 80%.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International

Canadian oil company equipment stuck in Idaho, Montana suing

Canadian Imperial Oil (a subsidiary Exxon Mobil Corp) has massive equipment, called modules, stuck in Lewiston, Idaho.  They need to get it to their Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta, Canada.

The problem is their size.  Idaho Transportation Department has yet to approve transportation of the equipment through Idaho, one of the problems is that the modules won’t fit under any overpasses in Idaho.  Oil company officials say they will have to cut them in half.

In Montana, there are lawsuits to stop the transportation through its territory. Montana officials say the size of the Imperial Oil equipment will require burial of overhead power lines, upgrading existing roads and building new turnouts (who’s gonna pay for that?).  Montana environmentalists say the company needs to do an environmental impact assessment.

Imperial Oil is complaining that their construction schedule is being compromised.  Maybe they should have worked this out before hand?

Imperial Oil does not have a good business track record, or a good safety track record.  Recently they’ve apologized for the release of a mile-long plume of sulfur dioxide, in Ontario, Canada.

Idaho

Albertson’s tries to make up for Idaho education budget cuts

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation is donating $21 million to help fund the Idaho SchoolNet program.

The Albertson Foundation is a supporter of current Idaho education reforms.  They felt the donation was necessary after state legislators cut taxpayer funding for the SchoolNet program.

The Foundation says the $21 million donation is part of a total $25 million grant for the next school year.

Idaho

Idaho teachers use public property to promote their personal politics

“Those whose certificates are suspended or revoked can no longer be employed by an Idaho public school.”-Tom Luna, Superintendent of Public Instruction

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, is warning educators they could lose their jobs if they continue to use public property to promote their personal politics.

Luna claims his office has received reports that teachers are using school district emails to campaign against the state’s new education policy.  He also claims (and I have a daughter in school who can testify to this) that teachers are “proselytizing” in the classroom concerning political activities, and using students as political couriers.

A teacher who does so is in violation of state policies, and could result in losing their job, or teaching certificate.

State Legislator Brian Cronin thinks Luna is threatening the teachers: “I think the superintendent is using fear and intimidation to stifle the opposition.”

Other education officials say Luna’s statement came after his office got flooded with complaints from parents: “We’ve received phone calls and emails with complaints from parents and legislators and others about this happening in their schools and we wanted to send a reminder to school districts about this provision in the code of ethics. It really honestly was a reminder because we’ve received so many phone calls.”-Melissa McGrath, Department of Education

 

Idaho, International

Idahoan interviewed by Iranian media, says U.S. foreign & domestic policy is two headed beast, not about democracy

An Idaho political commentator was interviewed by Iranian PressTV, which aired on May 13.

Controversial Mark Glenn, high school teacher turned political commentator,  stated that United States foreign policy is controlled by corporate America, and Israel: “…with Tel Aviv as well we have to keep in mind that this is a two-headed beast, it’s not just the U.S. and her political/business interests.”

Glenn also said that corporate capitalism and true democracy are not compatible: “Where there is freedom as far as capitalism goes where there is true freedom to choose, capitalism cannot thrive. Capitalism as much as we are told it is a supporter of a free market and competition, in true essence it is not. We do not want the people to have the opportunity to choose for themselves to make choices in their own best interests and so America at the highest political level is not in the least bit interested to have any form of democracy- it is the iron fist in a velvet glove.”

Events in the Middle East and North Africa will only make the U.S. government more aggressive:  “…if the U.S. and Israel manage to lose control of these governments in that part of the world they are going to up the ante as the saying goes and they are going to apply even more desperate measures to maintain the kind of control that they have enjoyed…”

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Florida cutting unemployment benefits, to benefit corporations. Idaho’s high unemployment rate holds steady

Starting in 2012, Florida will cut back the maximum number of weeks that unemployed people can collect benefits.

This is not to save the state money, but the corporations.  Like Idaho, companies in Florida are the ones who pay into the unemployment system.  Florida lawmakers said by reducing the number of weeks a person can collect benefits, it will reduce the cost to the companies paying into the unemployment plan.

In Idaho, companies actually get a refund at the end of the year, if they don’t have over a specific number of unemployment claims filed against them.  The idea is to encourage companies not to let workers go, but it hasn’t helped reduce Idaho’s high unemployment, which is holding steady at 9.7%.

Idaho, International

Bosnia on verge of new civil war

The Bosnian Serb government is refusing to recognize the Bosnian national government.  This over the country’s national court, which has been hearing cases of war crimes.

Austrian Valentin Inzko, is the supreme decision maker in Bosnia, and has ordered the Serbs to back off their plans to officially refuse to recognize the Bosnian national government.  In retaliation, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, sent a letter to the United Nations accusing Inzko of abusing his power.

Since the end of the Bosnian Civil War, the Idaho Air & Army National Guard has supported several peacekeeping missions to Bosnia.