Stories from Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Mountain Home Air Force Base is one of three bases under consideration to host an A-29 training mission for Afghan pilots and maintainers, the Mountain Home News has learned. Members of Idaho's congressional delegation and select local leaders have been briefed on the mission, which the U.S. Air Force is attempting to fast track because the current air-to-ground capabilities (Mi-35 helicopters) of the Afghan military forces are expected to begin reaching the final stages of their service life around the end of 2016.

The engagement of Alyssa T. Murphy to Michael C. Maneval, both of Williamsport, Pa., has been announced. The groom, son of Mickey and Lois Maneval of Hughesville, Pa., is a 1999 graduate of Mountain Home High School, a 2003 graduate of Penn State, and works as a copy editor for the Williamsport Sun-Gazette...

A supersized symbol of Idaho's potato industry made a brief appearance in Mountain Home last week. The Famous Idaho Potato Truck stopped at the Mountain Home Visitor's Center for about an hour on April 16 following a similar visit at Mountain Home Air Force Base...

To an exhausted public: We all have read or heard of the term RINO, which stands for Republican In Name Only. We know they exist in Idaho and they have infiltrated the Republican Party to a point that they vote to the left of Democrats in our state at times...

Dear editor: Is Otter running from Idaho and for D.C.? It appears Butch has taken a left turn, while the state Republican Party went right. I recall when the party voted overwhelmingly against the state insurance exchange. Otter rallied a "gang" of 16 freshman legislators to push it through...

Dear editor: Kelly Everitt wrote a good article last week about what's happening in the Ukraine. Clear back to the days of Lenin, the Russians have never been able to be trusted. I'll bet even John Kerry figures that out eventually. Republicans and Democrats aren't the only ones who watch American administrations though, so do our sworn enemies, and Putin sees right through Barack Obama, and he sees Obama far better than any Democrat ever has...

Dear editor: The editorial, "This is what peace looks like," published in the Feb. 26 Mountain Home News, is a good wake-up call to our community and local area. The drawdown of our military and cuts in their budgets and personnel are very real. It is important that we watch closely and support our military to help insure they are allowed the flexibility to maintain a healthy and creditable national defense...

The deadline to pre-register to vote in the May 20 Primary Election is this Friday, April 25, at 5 p.m. In-person absentee voting at the courthouse will begin on April 28. Voting hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last day to vote in-person is May 16 at 5 p.m...

Mountain Home's letter carriers will do more than deliver the mail on May 10. They'll also collect food on their routes to donate to local food banks. That Saturday is the annual letter carriers food drive across America. Postal customers wishing to donate food should put canned, packaged and non-perishable food items in a plastic bag, and leave it by your mailbox on Saturday before mail delivery...