Congress may actually pass an economic stimulus bill this week, which is good news for the short-term needs of the country. There is no question the economy is tottering, and could easily tip over from recession to depression, so a bill that focuses on saving jobs and creating jobs is desperately needed. The good news is that the bill will definitely help achieve some of those aims. The bad news is that it will lay a crushing debt burden on taxpayers for the future, which can only be addressed if government becomes far more efficient in the use of tax dollars than it has in the past. That could very well force, down the road, what many of us have wanted for years, a smaller, more efficient government. But somehow, that doesn't seem likely. Because Congress hasn't figured out that the model for government is, and should be, changing. And the best example is the stimulus package. Despite billions of dollars in cuts, it still contains way too much pork. And some of the cuts (to make way for that pork) seem to make no sense, such as dropping $40 billion to help keep schools from having to fire teachers. That's counter-productive. The bill is supposed to save or create jobs, not leave them threatened. Both sides of the aisle bear the blame. The Democratic leadership rolled over on way too many pet projects among its members, losing sight of the long-term goal of the bill. And Republicans kept insisting on sticking to the same failed policies of the past, and playing the same old games where personal and party political power carried more weight than the needs of the nation. One GOP leader actually admitted his goal for the bill, and the amendments he introduced, were designed to divide the Democrats and make them look bad. So much for caring about the people of this country. Both parties should be ashamed. It is time for Congress to look up from its myopic and petty party power games, and its proclivity for pork, and look at the desperate state of the nation, focusing solely on programs that stand a good chance of meeting the goal of keeping people working. Making things work should be a bipartisan issue. This bill should be about America, not the Republican or Democratic parties. -- Kelly Everitt

Don't be a statistic during search & rescue 'season'

Posted Wednesday, September 30, 2015, at 10:19 AM

There were a number of things that I did when I was much younger that tended to get me in a little bit of trouble now and then. But then there were those few moments in my life where I wonder how I managed to avoid getting seriously hurt... or worse.

One of the most memorable moments happened while I was a young airman stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, located about 25 miles from Fairbanks in interior Alaska. When I first arrived there, I was warned at least once that when you left the confines of the installation, you were essentially part of the "food chain."

Simply put, if you didn't respect nature, it wouldn't respect you. Many times, it meant that people ended up getting maimed by a moose or mauled by a very angry bear. In fact, there were books available in most stores that outlined in very graphic detail those who didn't survive these encounters.

But that was the last thing on my mind when a friend and I were driving back to the base one memorable afternoon following our normal routine of hitting the stores in downtown Fairbanks followed by lunch at one of our favorite stops. The weather was still fairly mild, but we still needed our winter coats to fight off the chill.

Once we got back on base, we suddenly decided to take an unscheduled drive to one of the decommissioned Nike missile sites located in the training range many miles behind the installation. I had been there a few times in the past, and they were something that piqued my youthful curiosity. It's probably the same thing that draws people to explore haunted houses.

Instead of stopping by the dorm to at least pack some water, food and a few other supplies first, we simply continued our drive past the ski lodge and up into the foothills. It was the first in a series of mistakes we made that afternoon.

Heading up into the mountains while driving my 1978 Chrysler Cordoba, everything went exactly as planned. That's when my car -- which weighed about as much as an M-1 Abrams tank by the way -- ended up hitting the only patch of soft ground on the road and bottomed out. Despite our best efforts, we were literally stuck in the mud.

"Great. Just great," I told myself. Actually, the exact words I said are ones I can't repeat in polite company.

To this day, I'm still not sure how far we were from the base. Someone later told me it was about 20 miles, but it didn't sound quite right.

In any case, we did what we thought was best at the time. Instead of staying put and waiting for someone to come find us, my friend and I walked all the way back to base using the road as our guide. It was well past sunset before we got back to our dorm.

About the only positive memory that I have from that trek was that I saw my first shooting star that evening. Other than that, I think I was pretty much terrified that I was going to end up in a chapter of the latest edition of "Alaska Bear Tales."

Since then, I've made it a point to avoid making that same series of mistakes. Anytime I decide to go somewhere, I always let my wife or family know before I head out the door. If plans change, or if I'm running late, I either call them or send them a text message -- a luxury I didn't have during that memorable day in 1987.

However, there are many others in this state that end up learning the same lesson I did. Each year around this time, the chatter coming from the police scanner in my office starts picking up as our county search and rescue team repeatedly ends up heading into the mountains having to look for people that got lost in the wilderness or simply got stranded.

In a number of these cases, the individuals forgot to let their families know where they were going and, more important, when they were expected to return home. Other times, their plans go awry when they set out for one destination in the mountains but change their plans at the last second without letting anyone back home know.

Over the last six years with the newspaper, I've lost count how many times those last-minute decisions ended up leaving these people stranded longer because our search and rescue teams were told to look in the area they were originally supposed to be.

Ironically, our annual "search and rescue season" each fall typically involves seasoned outdoorsmen and women who allow one moment of distraction to put them somewhere they didn't plan. As a small consolation, most of them come fully prepared to deal with the situation, but that's not always the case.

While advances in cell phone technology have helped in these searches, they do have their limits. Although search teams can "ping" a phone to help find someone, it only works if the cell phone battery hasn't conked out.

With people across southern Idaho gearing up for this year's hunting season, it's only a matter of time before the first calls for search and rescue come in. However, let's see if we can cut down those statistics a bit this year.

Before you leave home on your outdoor excursion, make sure at least one person knows where you're going and when you expect to return. By the way, make sure that person isn't going on the trip with you, which I've seen happen.

Next, be sure you have everything you need just in case you end up getting lost or stranded. Food and water are good ideas, but so are other essentials, including extra clothing, blankets and supplies to build a fire to stay warm once the sun sets.

Above all else, don't leave your vehicle behind and try to get home on foot. Statistically, you're better off staying with the vehicle, especially since it serves as a temporary shelter from the elements until help arrives.

Enjoy the great outdoors this fall, but remember to do it safely.

-- Brian S. Orban

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Always be personally prepared when gong outdoors.

I wish I would have read your article prior to going out Deer hunting this year. I did have all of my survival equipment and materials every day I hunted except for the last. I have always put myself in areas that have little or no pressure during hunting season which mean you really have to get off the beaten trail. Well 2015 was to be no exception. I had a life long friend come down from Washington to hunt for very Large size Mule Deer. We started out in the Lava Flows near Craters of the Moon and after not seeing the quality of bucks we were looking for traveled to the 10,000ft. peaks behind Arco where we ran into more people than deer. So, from there the next day we traveled across the flat lands and canyons such as the Bruneau canyon down to the Nevada Boarder in unit 46. At no time would my wonderful wife of 24 years have any idea where I would be found other than my occasional text when we had coverage. At all of these locations I was always prepared with food, water, ignition sources for a fire and clothing. We finally ended up after about four days of long hikes and many miles driving up in the Sawtooth National Forest. Our idea was to hunt the border of a draw tag unit in hopes of locating a very respectable Mule Deer Buck. I had received some good information about an area and was told that it was only a six mile walk down the canyon. With this travel plan in mind we even staged a vehicle at the bottom of the mountain knowing we would just hunt down the drainage that day. This is were the stars of bad times ahead start to align. I have a pack board that I always carry into areas where there is no vehicle or off road devices capable of getting into or out of these types of locations. I also bring my backpack but since my buddy was taking his I asked him if he had everything we needed and he said yes I just assumed we would be good. In my pack I did put two new head lamps with new batteries and a big water container along with several extra shells. We departed the vehicle at 0630 and dove into the drainage about two to three miles and really started hunting hard. We observed several does and bucks but none were the size we wanted to harvest. At about 1400 or 2pm my partner who was working the higher peaks ran into the once in a lifetime buck he and I were looking for. He made a very good shot on the animal and by 4pm we had it all boned out and put on our packs. We continued what at this time was assumed to be a easy 3 to 4 mile descent down to the vehicle that was staged at the bottom of the mountain. At approximately 8pm when the canyon walls made it impossible to continue our decent we had to get into the stream. After some distance I lost my footing and did a swan dive into the frigid one to two foot water. Upon getting out of the creek soaked from head to toe I told my partner that things would be fine we just needed to get a fire going. The temperature was close to freezing and I removed two of the three sweat shirts I had on that were drenched. When my buddy pulled out his water proof matches container we had tree pitch, gun power, twigs and everything for fuel ready to ignite. No matches came out of his container when he turned upside down. I was shaking very continuously at this point in addition to my buddy saying my speech was slurring. I really wanted to just lay down and go to sleep because I was all of a sudden extremely tired. I said here put these batteries together and touch the wires together and get spark to no avail. I then said you need to lay down here with me and cover us up with pine needles and pine branches of which he said it's too late you have to get up and walk and not stop. After some choice words about him saying he was not going to lay down with me and watch me die and he was leaving I said I'm not staying here by myself so we took off down the mountain. We then walked for the next 20 hours until some other hunters located us at 4pm the next day. During our walk all night we were accompanied by a pack of wolves and passed 9 wolf kills during the night. The total hours from the truck was thirty two. My wife had called 911 at 0400 that morning we were to have returned and Search and Rescue were out looking for us for several hours that day. The estimated walk was about 26 miles on shear rock slides, tons of stream crossings and thick, thick brush. I was most upset about all the people we had worried and all the folks that had to change there plans to come and look for us. Because of assuming my hunting partner had everything we needed I almost lost my life. So you are spot on with communication, planning and knowing the area you are going to be visiting coupled with letting your loved ones or friends know when you will be expected to return. A very special thanks goes out to Teresa at the Elmore County Dispatch, my great friend Officer Mac Saterfield of the Mountain Home PD, the team at ELSAR, my close friend Jeff Day with Idaho Fish and Wildlife, my wonderful wife Sydnee who I scared the hell out of along with my mother and my three children and my life long buddy Justin Brunson of Milton Freewater Oregon.

-- Posted by spodesek on Thu, Nov 5, 2015, at 3:27 PM

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