Stories from Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Miranda Hannah presents a check for $100 to Patty Hawkins for winning the Mountain Home News Monster Hunt Contest. Hawkins won the prize, sponsored by the newspaper and participating merchants, for correctly identifying the location of six monsters lurking in selected businesses across the city.

A second half rally gave the Mountain Home Mongrels a 12-point advantage on the pitch but it wasn't enough to keep visiting Rexburg from taking a 42-29 win during Saturday's rugby match at Eastside Park. "The turning point was the first half. If we had played the first half like we did the second, the outcome would have been much different," said team spokesman Joshua Mann...

Mountain Home High School's Encore Company will present the children's classic "James and the Giant Peach" as its first production of the season. The show begins at 7 p.m. and runs from Oct. 28--30 in the MHHS gym. Tickets, $3 for students and $5 for adults, will be sold at the door...

On a unanimous vote Monday evening, the Mountain Home City Council voted to restore subsidies for the city's youth center following a recent funding suspension. Earlier this month, the council halted $15,000 in yearly funding for the downtown facility, citing a lack of accountability involving its board of directors...

Voters will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in the "off-year" general election, selecting political leaders for federal, state and local offices. Besides the general election, citizens in the Western Elmore County Recreation District also will cast ballots for two at-large members of the three-person WECRD board of directors...

At least four cases of counterfeit $50 bills are being investigated in the Mountain Home area by city police and the United States Treasury Department. Of the four cases of counterfeit bills being discovered by merchants, three occurred in the last week...

Dear editor: Be an informed voter. Unless you are the direct witness to a process, you have no way of knowing how things transpire. It's very difficult for taxpayers because we are forced to trust and hope that those we elect will follow through with the promises they made during the campaign process...

Dear editor: On Saturday, "Be The Match Idaho" had the opportunity to participate at the Adult Health Fair at the Elks Lodge. We are happy to announce that 64 new donors were added to the National Bone Marrow Registry. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, the cost of the tissue typing tests were covered...

Dear editor: I have been following the Western Elmore County Recreation District (WERCD) closely for the last couple of years and find interesting the opinions of those in our community. This year's board of directors' elections have even peaked my interest to the extent of attending a couple Community Leadership Development Committee (CLDC) meetings...

Dear editor: In next week's election for the Western Elmore County Recreation District, I strongly recommend voting for Art Nelson and Judy Mayne. Both Judy and Art will provide the open, transparent, responsive, and accountable leadership needed on that board. They both have the intelligence and leadership skills needed to properly govern the district in fulfilling the mission for which it was formed: Recreation...

Dear editor: The WECRD has been in existence for 10 years now. They have collected millions of tax payer dollars and we still have no facility and no new recreational programs for our kids, families or seniors. The pool is a nice idea, but that's the most expensive part of the plan to build and maintain and shouldn't keep the WECRD in a holding pattern forever, delivering nothing...

Dear editor: We respectfully disagree with your endorsement in last week's paper in the governor's race. You acknowledge Keith Allred's strong campaign but then say he "would have no hope of governing effectively in a Republican-dominated legislature and the last thing we need in government these days is more gridlock."...

Dear editor: I agree that it is time for a change and your editorial board's endorsement of Judy Mayne and Art Nelson for election to the WECRD Board. My agreement with you is not a personal attack on Marsha and Jana. They are both fine people and have been serving the taxpayers as best they can since their appointment to the board to fill the seats of two board members that resigned...

Dear editor: This is a letter in support of Connie Cruser for re-election as Elmore County Commissioner. Idaho Code provides for staggered openings in public offices on boards such as schools, cities and counties. This ensures that there is continuity on these, special and very important boards, so everyone is not new at one time...

Dear editor: Doug King wants to help make the right decisions for all the citizens of Elmore County, and listen to the people of Elmore County, something, the current commissioners have seem to have forgotten. He will take the time to look and read things over before just voting. Again, something the current commissioners have forgotten...

Dear editor: Wes Wootan is out of touch with what today's responsibilities and work loads are for an Elmore County commissioner. Forget party lines and politics. Cast your vote for somebody that can get the job done for the people of Elmore County. When I hear around town, that Wes didn't "realize" how much time, money and energy he would have to put into this campaign, tell me why we would want someone in that office who doesn't even want to really do it? He only ran so we could remove Larry Rose and now he's complaining about all the "time" that he might have to spend at the meetings. ...

Dear editor: It is time for a change. The WERCD has been asked to help with the bike path and youth recreation by the city. They have turned a deaf ear towards any projects. They were not big in price but would have went along way in PR. I support Mayne and Nelson for the WERCD board...

Robert W. Hayes, 45, of Mountain Home, passed away on Oct. 26, 2010, at a local hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.