Stories from Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Bright skies and relatively warm weather helped draw an estimated 300 children to Carl Miller Park Sunday for the annual community Easter egg hunt sponsored by Masonic Sabre Lodge #7 (PHA). Promptly at 2 p.m. the children, many dressed in Sunday Easter outfits, were released into the park to find the more than 1,500 eggs hidden there, while toddlers searched the playground at Eastside Elementary and several special needs children looked for eggs hidden in a special area of the cookshack picnic tables that had been set aside for them.. ...

LONDON (AP) _ The husband of reality television star Jade Goody, who died of cancer last month, has been jailed for 12 weeks for attacking a cab driver. Jack Tweed, 21, was sentenced Tuesday at Harlow Magistrates' Court northeast of London. He had denied the assault charge...

GOODING, Idaho (AP) _ A southern Idaho soldier has been awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan. Army Staff Sgt. Jefferson Tews, a 2000 graduate of Gooding High School, received the medal earlier this year while in Afghanistan, where he was stationed from March 2008 to last month...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ The Senate unanimously passed a plan lawmakers hope will resolve long-term state funding for a program that helps save the lives of adult cystic fibrosis sufferers. The vote Monday came after the chamber had previously supported a bill that would have ended funding, but which died in the House Health and Welfare Committee...

(NewsUSA) - In the current economy, the over 75 million chronic and acute pain sufferers in the U.S. need to take a good look in their medicine cabinets. Americans have been conditioned to buy specific products for different kinds of pain -- something for arthritis, a different product for lower back pain and yet another for carpal tunnel. Many of their purchases prove ineffective or only treat symptoms -- not the actual problem. Sometimes they provide no pain relief whatsoever...

(NewsUSA) - As the weather warms and children gear up for little league t-ball, baseball and softball, parents know to ask certain questions. "Do you have your glove, your bat, your baseball?" But many parents let one piece of equipment slide -- protective eyewear...

(NewsUSA) - As children enter their pre-teen years, their world becomes an exciting place of new experiences and newfound freedoms. But adults know that adolescence also brings new risks and potential dangers, and parents can't be there every minute...

Simple Ways to Raise Your Credit Score (NewsUSA) - You probably know the importance of a high credit score, as many companies, from lenders to insurers to cell phone service providers, use it to evaluate your credit risk. In today's tough economy, keeping your credit score high is more important than ever, as your ability to secure a loan or refinance your home for a better mortgage depends on it...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ For the first time this year, state and federal water experts say Idaho has gotten its fair share of rain, dramatically improving the state's water supply outlook. ``The moisture was like our bailout, and now there's money _ or water _ in the bank,'' said Ron Abramovich, a hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Idaho. ``Now we'll see how efficiently it's used.''...

The Friends of the Library will hold a spring book sale this Saturday, April 18, at the Mountain Home Library, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The group has sorted out thousands of donated books for the sale. Friends of the Library is a non-profit committee that uses the proceeds from its book sales to help the Mountain Home Public Library with equipment and displays improvements...

Marsha Sellers has been selected to fill the vacancy on the Western Elmore County Recreation District board of directors. The opening on the three-person board had been created when Dee Pate resigned due to health concerns. Sellers will represent sub-district 1 of the district...

Supporters and opponents of the Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., proposal to build a 1,600-megawatt nuclear power plant in Elmore County will offer their final comments on the issue next Wednesday night, April 22, during a hearing before the county commissioners that will begin at 6 p.m. at the junior high...

When the county commissioners sit down next week to make a decision on the nuclear power plant proposal, they will face the classic quality of life versus jobs dilemma. We have no problems with nuclear power, per se. Probably the most heavily regulated and monitored industry in the country, it really is a safe industry despite what the scaremongers say. The new third- and fourth-generation reactor designs are extremely safe...

Dear editor: Who really benefits from the rezoning of Elmore County agricultural land to industrial in order to build a nuclear power plant? AEHI, the company behind the proposed nuclear plant, would have Elmore County citizens believe they would be the beneficiaries with job production and economic wealth. But how would AEHI benefit and does it matter?...

Dear editor: In order to increase community involvement and implement an approach that has produced successful YMCAs, the Western Elmore County Recreation District is exploring a working relationship with the Treasure Valley YMCA. The Treasure Valley YMCA has suggested the WECRD form a Community Leadership Development Committee. ...

Dear editor: The Mountain Home Golf Advisory Board is truly disappointed that the Idaho Couples Golf Association (ICGA) no longer schedules tournaments at Desert Canyon Golf Course (DCGC). The board takes great care in recommending annual fees to the city council. ...

Hello again, Senate Bill 1112, concerning child care licensure and sponsored by Senator Corder, was introduced into the Senate on the 16th of February. Almost a full month later it passed the full Senate with amendments and was assigned to the House on March 13th...

The engagement of Katie Hurley to Neil Barker, both of Mountain Home, has been announced. Katie is the daughter of Donna and Russell Griggs, and Wayne and Minda Hurley. Neil is the son of the Joanne and Wilford Barker. A Sept. 5, 2009, wedding is planned...

Kirstie Metzer of Mountain Home, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Metzer, was united in marriage to James Matthews, son of Mrs. and Mrs. Arden Matthew of Cody, Wyo,, on April 4, 2009, at Grace Lutheran Church in Mountain Home. The couple will reside in Boise where they are both employed...

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers improved to 8-0 in conference play last week with home wins over Emmett and Middleton. Mtn. Home 4 Emmett 0 Mountain Home got some clutch hitting in the sixth inning to score four runs to down Emmett, 4-0, in conference softball last Tuesday at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home...

The Mountain Home Tigers moved up to fifth place in the SIC 4A conference baseball standings with a sweep of the Kuna Kavemen last week. Saturday the Tigers went to Jerome for a non-conference doubleheader and came away with a split. Tigers 3 Kuna 2...

The Mountain Home Tigers girls golf team won their conference tournament, while the boys were a close second during competition April 7 at Centennial Golf Course in Nampa. The Tiger JV boys also won the JV tourney. The Mountain Home girls, led by Shayla Streeter's first place 49, won with a team total of 207. Skyview was a distant second, 12 shots back, at 219. Nampa finished third at 240 and Kuna did not have a complete team...

Mountain Home faired well at Friday's Vallivue Invitational Track Meet. The format was a relay format, with the top three people on a team in any event counting as a team's score in that event. Mountain Home ended up winning 13 of the combined 34 events for girls and boys...

Six Mountain Man wrestlers traveled to Melba and encountered tough competition. Bantam Trevor Dockstader finish second in his division. Cadet Jon Ryan also secured a second-place finish. Finishing with third-place honors was Bantam Jakob Lichdi. A fourth-place finish went to Charlie Shoemaker in the Schoolboy division...

Dear editor: April is National Cancer Control month. The American Cancer Society (ACS) is dedicated to improving the cancer outlook for minorities and the medically underserved. Eliminating disparities in the cancer burden is one of the overarching themes of the Society's 2015 challenge goals...

Residents in the Mountain Home area who file their federal and state income tax returns on April 15 can mail them at the Mountain Home Post Office as late as 5 p.m. and still have them postmarked by that date. The post offices in Boise will not be extending their hours of operation, but last minute filers can drop their returns at the Boise Post Office Plant at 2201 South Cole Road until midnight. ...