Caldwell, Idaho – We all knew Fido was man’s best friend but who know the Little Red Hen would run him a close second. Chickens as pets are gaining more approval in city ordinances these days.
Caldwell is the latest, in Treasure Valley, to revise their city ordinances, which took effect at the end of June. The new ordinance allows people living on less than an acre to own some farm animals that have been reclassified as pets, including goats, miniature horses, peacocks, and pot-bellied pigs.
Lonalee Hoogland is the owner of 5 chickens and for a while she was keeping them illegally until the new ordinance passed. The chickens are called “urban chickens” or “backyard chickens,” according to KTVB Local News Site.
“I was in noncompliance with the ordinance, and I had received letters from the city saying that I needed to get rid of my chickens, and basically said, no, I want to work on getting this approved,” Hoogland told KTVB Local News Site.
Hoogland was a big advocate for chickens as pets and spoke at city meetings on the subject. Now anyone living in Caldwell can keep up to ten chickens, even on less than an acre.
Gretchen Anderson, who lives in Eagle, has written a book about chickens as pets called “The Backyard Chicken Fight.”
Anderson says the backyard chickens are getting more and more popular for two big reasons, one being food security, wanting to know their food is safe and the second being people want to do what they want in their backyards.
Main concerns people usually have about chickens are noise, odor, predators and disease. Anderson says that with proper care those things can all be avoided.
All info was taken from the ktvb.com website. To read more visit this website:
Island Park, Idaho – What can happen when beehives get loose? People being stung, honey on the ground, and a possible threat of approaching bears.
Honey flowed from highway 20 in Idaho late Sunday afternoon when a truck carrying 400 beehives wrecked, as reported by NPR.
Once assistants arrived on the scene rescue personnel and the truck driver were forced to stay in their vehicles until they could dawn protective gear do to the swarm of bees.
There were 14 million bees aboard the semi truck, which was being driven from California to Minot, North Dakota when the accident occurred.
Fire Chief Kenny Strandberg and his crew were apart of the clean up on the highway. It is reported that many of the bees were killed after being sprayed by firefighting foam.
According to the local TV station KIFI Local News 8,
“It is not unusual for semi-trucks with bees to travel U.S. Highway 20. Strandberg said about three or four trucks come through every week.”
KIFI also reported that the bees have a street value of three cents apiece. This means that an estimated $400,000 worth of insects were lost in the crash.
The real concern now is the bears that will be attracted to the area due to the high bee population now.
“I am worried about the bears coming down now – the grizzly bears,” Strandberg said.
To Read more and watch the Local News 8 video on the story follow the links below.
Sugar City, Idaho – The Sugar City Planning and Zoning committee has assigned a three-person committee to represent Sugar City in an Impact Area agreement with Rexburg and Madison County.
The three members of the committee were picked and assigned by the Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Christine “Sam” Lines. The spokesman/negotiator is Tom Fleming, assistant secretary, and the advisers are Steve Hawkes, assistant chair, and David Ogden, commissioner.
Brent McFadden, a representative of sorts, was suppose to attend the meeting but was absent. He was suppose to present on the impact area agreement that is suppose to take place at a date that has not yet been arranged.
In McFadden’s absence it was the committee’s understanding that the proceedings at the impact area agreement will be to correlate Rexburg’s impact areas with Sugar City’s. Such as if Sugar had a Residential-Agricultural District in their impact zone that was aligned with a Highway Commercial District in Rexburg’s impact zone. They would hope to align another coinciding district to decrease any problems. This is the committee’s understanding.
The new impact area agreement must be signed by five different entities to make it official. These entities are Rexburg, Sugar City, Madison County, Newdale, and Teton City.
The three-person committee Sugar City is sending to the meeting will meet with two other three-person committees from Rexburg and the County. After the agreement has been signed this then nine-person committee will meet if someone in the impact areas wishes to build, to ether approve or disapprove the development. This way that person will not have to go to each entity individually to make an appeal to build.
The County has made this request so that Sugar City’s zones and ordinances coordinate with Rexburg’s.
While some say New York City’s acid rain is eroding a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk others might say the 500 years spent in saltwater and having flaming camel dung thrown at it worse.
Cleopatra’s Needle, an obelisk that stands in Central Park since 1881, is undergoing a “weather study” this summer by the New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation. They are trying to answer the question if damage is being done to the artifact.
This study came about when the minister of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, wrote to the Mayor of New York City and the Central Park Conservancy back in January that the extended stay of the obelisk in New York was wearing away the hieroglyphs and it needs to come back to its home land. Hawass said he would “take the necessary steps to bring this precious artifact home and save it from ruin.”
However it is questions whether Egypt is the safest place for artifact these days. Not long after Dr. Hawass sent his letter looters broke into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo damaging many artifacts and leaving some missing.
The obelisk was built around 1500 B.C. to honor Pharaoh Thutmose III. It is true that the artifact has been through a lot in its history. It was knocked down in 525 B.C. when the Persians “sacked” Heliopolis. They threw flaming camel dung to burn off the hieroglyphics. But the hieroglyphics suffered more damage as it lay on its side in saltwater for about 500 years. It was then re-erected in 12 B.C. by the Romans in Alexandria. Finally in 1881 Cleopatra’s Needle it was given as a gift arriving in New York City commemorating the opening of the Suez Canal. A few years later the parks department noticed flakes of granite coming off the Needle. In 1885 Park officials removed 800 pounds of flakes from its surface in an attempt to clean up the monument.
In a prepared statement by the current New York City parks department they said,
“Cleopatra’s Needle undergoes physical inspections and conservations assessments on an annual basis.”
Until it is determined if New York’s weather really is bringing damage to the obelisk it will remain in Central Park.
Information for this post was taken from New York Times website and video concerning Cleopatra’s Needle, also from the Dr. Hawass website. Both links are posted below.
In celebration of our nations independence cities from east to west are having a celebration with parades, fireworks and barbeques.
In the city of Rexburg, Idaho events are happening from 7am – 12pm. It starts with a pancake breakfast in the park sponsored by Kiwanis, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Then they have a Day in the Park full of games and fun followed by the Whoopee Days Parade that runs from Smith Park down Main Street and ends at Porter Park.
Citizens lined the streets of Rexburg to watch the Whoopee Days Parade. The parade started out with the flag of our nation held by older men. People placed their hands over their hearts out of respect for our flag and our nation. The parade consisted of the High school marching band and flag team, also the cheer leaders from the high school and from the middle school were present.
There were also companies from around town who were present in the parade. An Asia restaurant featured a dragon and handed out sesame seed cookies. There was a very large grocery cart made for the local grocery store. Many floats with people threw candy to the crowds and children scrambled on the street filling their sacks with candy.
In the evening in the neighboring city of Idaho Falls there will be fireworks. The show is the best one West of the Mississippi put on by Melaluca.
Even with all the parades, candy, and barbeque it is important to remember why we celebrate this day. We are honoring our forefathers who fought for the freedom of this land and our liberty to be free of kings and let the people govern themselves.
We live in a choice land and should always be grateful for the privileges we’ve been give through others sacrifices.
Sugar City, Idaho – Mayor and councilmen approved the posting of and design for city park signs at the Sugar City Council meeting Thursday June 23.
In 2003 the current mayor and council approved the names of the parks in Sugar City and the
council today wanted to remain true to the names given then and respect the council’s decision.
Councilman Bruce King proposed there be a policy put in place to be helpful for the future in the chance of park names wanting to be changed. Sharen Bell the city clerk said that the council, back in 2003 when they approved the names of the parks, wanted the matter ended and for the names not to be changed.
The Mayor Glenn Dalling also said that he thought the council needed to make a decision but also be careful about it. Councilman Harold Harris had a concern because of the proceedings in 2003 were they even allowed to change that motion and rename the parks. Smith, Moon and Neibaur parks in Sugar are named after people but the council would like to shy away from naming any future parks after people.
The current park names remained intact and it was proposed to place signs and plaques at each
park explaining how the parks were named.
The city parks receiving the new signs are Heritage Park, Thomas C. Neibaur Veteran's Park, Lyle H. Moon Park, and Smith Park. The sign for Heritage Park will be placed on Center Street about midway on the lot. The sign for Neibaur Park will also be placed on Center Street near the corner of Center St. and Maple Ave. The sign for Moon Park, located between South Front St. and Railroad Ave, will be placed on South Front Street midway around the bend in the road. For Smith Park the sign will be placed at the intersection of E. 3000 North and S. 7th West on the North West corner.
There was concern however about the name of Smith Park and it being confused with Smith
Park in the neighboring city of Rexburg. But a motion was carried to keep the current park names.
A motion was also carried for the design of the signs with a background of a silhouette of the
Teton Mountains, with 4 lines of writing with the park name shadowed in red.
[I thought I would do something different for this post and talk about city transportation instead of focusing on one city in particular.]
There is the so called top 10 list for cities with the best transit system or the one that is used the most but from all the sources I found none can seem to agree, why is that?
Well we’ll explore just some of those transit systems from the many sources I found. On quite a few of the sites I found Denver, Colo. was listed as one of the best transit systems in the nation. Also according to the Atlantic the percent of people using the Denver-Aurora-Bloomfiled, Colo. system is 4.6%.
On the chart in the Atlantic it says that 30.4% of people in New York, Northern New Jersey, and Long Island use public transit. I was a little surprised when Las Vegas, Nev. showed up at number 8 with 3.4% using public transit.
Anyway where is this going? It seems to me there are a lot of transits in the world that aren’t being used very much. I mean 4.6% for Denver that’s not a very big number. But lets face it sometimes the public transit systems aren’t the most clean, or carry the most friendly passangers.
With the world, at times, in a uproar about global warming I don’t understand why people are still driving their car to work with just them in the car when they could take public transportation.
What about college students and their cars? I live in a college town and live 2 blocks from campus which isn’t very bad. In the snow I walk and when the weather is nice I ride my bike. But there are people living near me and some who live even closer to campus who end up driving a car everyday. It’s nice outside so who cares if you have a class at the top of the hill, walk and get some exercise. Also it would save you some money so you don’t have to buy a parking permit, you’re already complaining you’re a poor college student any.
In other words, help save the earth and take the transit system.
[I know this is a rant but I thought it would be a little interesting and entertaining.] Site I used for the Atlantic information: http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/05/the-10-best-cities-for-public-transportation/239376/
As children we look up to our parents as an example, as young adults we find a role model we hope to become, and as adults we may look to the leaders of our country. But with the rising debt of our countries financial situation using them as an example for our own personal finances may not be the best thing.
The nations debt currently stands at approximately 14,429,497,208,000 and rising, according to www.usdebtclock.org.American households and individuals seem to be following suit.
Today’s society is full of instant gratifications, with the click of a button or swipe of a card and it can be yours. Every day there can be something new for sale being marketed that it’s a “must have” and “everyone has one.” With this kind of atmosphere it’s no wonder that in 2010 Americans were averaging around $10,168 in debt per person.
You may be thinking you don’t have any reason to be concerned about debt yet but college students are not exempt from the debt crisis. In April 2009 Sallie Mae reported that nearly 30 percent of college students put tuition on their credit cards, which is an increase from 24 percent in 2004. They also said that 84 percent of undergraduates had at least one credit card, up from 76 percent in 2004, and median debt grew to $1,645 from $946 in 2004.
“Too many students are at risk of overpaying for college by pulling out credit cards to pay for textbooks or even part of their tuition bill, instead of using less expensive financial aid to cover these items,” said Marie O’Malley, director of consumer research for Sallie Mae.
Some may feel secure with their finances because they have a while till graduation But Sallie Mae also reported that the higher the grade level the more secure students are in using their credit cards. The average college graduate has nearly $20,000 in debt and credit card debt has increased 11 percent for 18 to 24-year-olds according to www.demos.org.
The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and even the scriptures echo a plea to avoid unnecessary debt.
“Reasonable debt for the purchase of an affordable home and perhaps for a few other necessary things is acceptable. But from where I sit, I see in a very vivid way the terrible tragedies of many who have unwisely borrowed for things they really do not need,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley in a 1992 August edition of the Ensign.
We can read in 2 Kings 4:7 “Pay thy debt, and live,” in Proverbs 22:7 “the borrower is servant to the lender.” Also in Romans 13:8 Paul teaches, “owe no man any thing.”
Things of the world our being shoved in our faces making credit cards seem glamorous and making payments and being debt free as easy as pie. But the reality is that debt has a far more reaching affected than is portrayed by the media. Debt cannot only put stress on our lives and finances it can also put stress on our relationships with those we love.
There are some things we can put into practice that can help us guard against debt now and in the future. We can begin planning now, begin saving now, and create a budget. If a plan is in place determining needs and wants it will be easier to make a decision when you’re faced with a purchase. By beginning to save now you will be able to pay cash for bigger purchase instead of putting it on a credit card. When you create a budget it helps you see how much you’re really spending and where you can put limits on your purchases.
We need to be sure that we are in control of our finances and setting an example for family and friends. Especially when we have been warned by state, national and religious leaders to avoid debt we need to be more financially responsible. We do not need to get caught up in the buying frenzy of our generation or follow others into the pit of debt. Money and finances are something we need to have control over so it does not end up controlling us.
SUGAR CITY, ID – Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the Sugar City Stake have been working with city and school officials to do work needed in the community.
There will be a cleanup service project Wednesday June 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. The Sugar City stake also includes those in the communities of Teton and Newdale, with 9 wards and a single’s branch.
“This service project is the result of responding to the invitation of our Prophet to unite with our communities in doing service,” said Kevin Miyasaki, the first counselor in the Sugar City stake presidency.
Bruce King, a city council board member, said that President Richard Pocock of the Sugar City stake presented this idea to the city council and asked them to find things that they can clean up and service that can be given in the community. King also informed the Sugar City Planning and Zoning committee of the clean up asking for ideas for service saying, “anything is on the table.”
Projects proposed by the planning and zoning committee ranged from cleaning up the bike/walking path, the south side of the football field down to the ball diamonds, filling holes in the road, and helping out widows and elderly in the community with yard work and tree trimming. It was also questioned whether they could help with the cemetery and save their district money by providing labor to fix it up.
“There will be service projects in all three communities that evening,” said Miyasaki. “The youth of our stake will be focused in the schools, and the adults and children in the community projects. At this point the community and school district have been very responsive to our volunteering to assist in whatever they would like us to do.”
It is estimated that they can expect 20 to 40 member from each ward possibly 100 people total.
“We hope to not just involve the members, but have this be a community event,” Miyasaki said.
Brian Howard a resident of Sugar City and a member in the Sugar City seventh ward, and a faculty member of BYU-Idaho communications department, said that he had heard of the service project and would expect to participate on some level but is not sure what he will be doing yet.
“I think it is a good idea. The youth groups do service projects for the community on a regular basis, but the adults far less often,” Howard said. “It will be a good opportunity to give some service to the community as a whole. Large group projects like this don't happen very often.”
Although it is an LDS community no formal organization of refreshment is being provided.
Some people foreclose on their homes due to job loss, excessive debt, or even divorce but that’s not the reason why the bank is foreclosing on a house outside of Rexburg. It’s because the current residents, hundreds of garter snakes, won’t leave.
A home that was built in 1920 has five bedrooms and has been remodeled about five years ago. But because of the snakes those who buy the home quickly move out or stop paying their mortgage.
Two families have moved in while the snakes were hibernating only to find out come spring that they’re not the only ones who call the house home. The Ard’s bought the home a few years ago and soon discovered snakes in the walls, under the floors, in the year and everywhere else you can think.
“It’s really hard to rest assured at night to not think you’ve got a snake in your bed with you or going to step on one when you get up,” Neal Ard told reporters.
Once the Ards moved out they contacted KPVI-TV in Idaho Falls to document their story so people would believe their story.
The house sat vacant until the Sessions moved in August 2009. When the Sessions bought the house the realtor told them about snake rumors. Then in the fall the snakes made their triumphant return even contaminating the drinking water too.
Ironically the house is located in the Upper Snake River Valley in Idaho. The bank is working to seal the foundation to prevent snake from getting back inside.
Yes the house will be up for sale once again.
For more info, full stories, and video visit these sights:
Rexburg, ID – For the city of Rexburg snow isn’t just a four-letter word it’s almost an 8-month way of life. Then why might you ask are they building a new outdoor swim park when it’s been heard that on record it’s snowed everyday of the year in this city.
The city of Rexburg is building a water park that will include among many things a lazy river and water slide. It has been rainy and cold keeping the construction from moving as fast as it can for it’s opening date Memorial Day May 30.
Actually the facility never opened on Memorial Day because of the weather delays. So if they can’t even get the park open in time because of the weather what will that say about who will go to it or even how many days out of the year it’ll be open due to the cold or rain.
Rexburg is a college town, believe it or not, and in the dead of winter there are over 12,000 students with nothing to do but sit in their apartments and try to keep off the frostbite. So wouldn’t it make more sense to build this water park indoors so this way it can make more money and everyone in town will have something fun to do in the wintertime?
This is just one student’s point of view so don’t take my word for.
[disclaimer: this is an exaggerated opinion article some information stated maybe not be true.]
Sarasota, Flo. - While school children around coming out of classes some public officials are stepping into them. Sarasota, Flo. is holding a training session for all public officials June 1 and 2.
The lucky candidates for these classes will include commissioners, council members, advisory board members, city managers, clerks, and administrative staff members. But these students won’t have to push and shove to find a seat on the bus because they’re each given their own parking permit to park on the street between First and Second. But never fear these officials won’t get away with someone else paying their parking meter or getting reimbursed if they get a parking citation.
Not sticky floor lunchrooms for them ether because they’re treated to a Complimentary lunch. All in attendance have to register when they arrive and classes begin promptly at 9 a.m. and will get over at 4 p.m.
The course material for the two days will consist of Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, including public records and parliamentary procedure. It’s good to know that all this information is stated as “essential” for newly elected or appointed public officials. But I would have thought they’d have known these things before they got into office. The courses are considered an“excellent refresher” for officials who are currently serving as well.
Also to make sure the kiddies are behaving themselves all of the sessions will be videotaped, but only for future use not for disciplinary action. Hopefully the officials will have a good day back in the classroom.
[ For more information and to read the entire letter go to: http://www.sarasotagov.com/InsideCityGovernment/Content/CAC/Communications/Releases/Manasota_Sunshine_training_tomorrow.htm ]
A massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing at least 89 people on May 22. It is reported that 2,000 buildings were destroyed, and 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, city officials told the Associated Press. The Joplin tornado was only one of 68 reported tornadoes across seven Midwest states over the weekend, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin, according to the national Weather Services’ Storm Prediction center. The tornado “cut a path nearly six miles long and more than half-mile wide through the center of town,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Tornado sirens gave residents about 20 minutes warning before the tornado hit the city’s west side. One of the worst hit buildings was St. John’s Regional Medical Center. The storm hit the building blowing out windows and leaving the facilities useless. St. John’s patients were evacuated to other hospitals in the region, said Cora Scott a spokeswoman for the medical center’s sister hospital in Springfield, according to the Associated Press. On Tuesday May 24 teams of search dogs, police, volunteers and firefighters search for the hundreds of missing people. The death toll has climbed to 122 according to the Joplin City manager Mark Rohr as of late Tuesday afternoon, according to the Wall Street Journal.Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges predicted the death toll would continue to rise, “we’re getting more bodies. We’ve been running calls [to pick up bodies] all morning,” Bridges told the Wall Street Journal
Sugar City ID – A $100,000 grant has been issued to Sugar City to fix up 7th E widening the road and putting in a turning lane the Mayor said.
Seventh East lies between 3rd S and highway 33 on the east side of the high school. The Mayor of Sugar City, Glenn W. Dalling, said that this is a main source of entrance to the high school and will help buses and vehicles get in and out easier.
Aaron Swenson, a project engineer for Forsgren Associates Inc., the company who helped lobby for the grant, said that 100 applications were submitted and Sugar City was ranked number eleven.
The grant came from Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) who assists cities and counties, with small populations, manage their streets and the highways running through them.
What helped boost Sugar’s chances of getting the grant was that they were able to partner their small road construction with Madison County and the city of Rexburg’s bigger project in paving the east corridor.
“The county and the city of Rexburg just want to preserve a right-of-way for future growth,” Swenson said.
This street will go around Rexburg but where it will finally terminate is still being discussed, 7th E in Sugar City has been one of many suggested alternatives.
The grant was applied for in fall of 2009 and Swenson said,
“They were formally notified of their award in January of this year, however we were informally told sometime last fall that they would be getting the money.”
Swenson said that Forsgren Associates Inc. has been working with Sugar City as a “private consultant” and had helped them in past years in planning out their needs and planning how to use their budget most effectively. They also discussed what projects they needed done that would work well with outside help, or had the highest probability to get funded, such as with LHTAC.
Swenson attended the Sugar City Council meeting Thursday May 12 talking to the council about the grant and what they can and cannot do with the money. It was clarified that the city is only allowed to use the money on construction and not for engineering fees. Any design services the city uses will have to come out of their own pocket, not from the grant.
The city is also not allowed to use any of the money to improve other roads in the city, not even for crack or chip seal.
The city has to use the grant money by the end of LHTAC’s fiscal year, which will be ether the end of September or the beginning of October of this year.
Swenson said that he will be having a follow up meeting with the city council to possibly help them put together a simple design plan they can put up for bid to contractors.
Back in fall of 2010 cities were worried about drought and water loss, but as for Tennessee and many other southern states water is not going to be a problem for a long time.
The weekend of April 29 rain clouds dropped over 13 inches of rain on Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi, overflowing all water sources covering roads and causing 24 deaths as of May 5, according to www.boston.com.
“The Cumberland River, which winds through downtown Nashville, Tennessee, crested Monday at 51.9 feet, 12 feet above flood stage, spilling into the city and surrounding neighborhoods.”
The Mississippi river reached it’s highest level in 75 years on Monday, May 9. It’s expected to reach 48feet late Monday or early Tuesday, barley below the state record of 48.7 feet in 1937, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Downtown Memphis was out of harms way sitting atop a bluff but other parts of the city were badly hit including at least four trailer parks. About 3,500 homes could be affected by flooding, said County officials to the Wall Street Journal.
The Army Corps of Engineers for that district are saying that,
“There is no concern of a levee failing, no concern of a levee overtopping,” as stated in the Wall Street Journal.
One economist said all of the damage toll for the flooding could reach 4 million dollars, according to www.msnbc.com.
One man affected by the flooding is Michael Oxner who’s had his 5,000-acre farmland covered in floodwater, with depths ranging from 6 feet to 12 feet in some places.
“I'm exhausted. It's in the Lord's hands. I've tried all I could do," said Oxner to CNN.
All that’s left to do now is prepare for where the flood waters might strike next.
