Stories from Wednesday, October 26, 2022

The County Commissioners met the first Friday of October as scheduled to work their way down the list of action items provided to them. They began by approving the expenses, as well as minutes from their prior two meetings. Following this, County Clerk Shelley Essl informed the Commissioners that through Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) funds, the county would receive funding of approximately 6 million dollars. ...

In a second, short October meeting the Commissioners met at the Elmore County Courthouse; Commissioner Rodgers was absent. The meeting began by approving the minutes for the October 7th meeting. Following this, there was a short discussion about the reimbursement of an employee regarding the purchase of drill steel for the fairgrounds. Afterwards, the commissioners approved a catering permit for “Stew’s Place”...

The Mountain Home City Council met on Tuesday the 11th in regular session. The meeting began with briefings from department heads. Library Director Hochstrasser reported good turnout at recent library events, and listed a plethora of activities hosted by the library and available for members of the public to attend...

The Elmore County Landfill Dump and Recycling Center, located off Exit 99, extremely close to Mountain Home is asking again to make citizens aware of the ongoing never-ending problem of garbage and miscellaneous household items being dumped in the deserts surrounding our community...

Also Announces 30-Month Sentence for Defendant Convicted of COVID-19 Fraud and Campaign Finance Violations 10.19.22 - BOISE – U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announces the formation of the District of Idaho’s COVID‑19 Fraud Task Force and highlights the District of Idaho’s ongoing efforts to combat pandemic‑related fraud. Those efforts have included complementary actions by the Criminal, Civil, and Asset Recovery Divisions, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies...

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up from 2.7% in August to 2.8% in September – the eighth consecutive month the state rate has been below 3%. September’s labor force saw gains in both employed and unemployed workers. The number of Idahoans employed or looking for work grew by 2,938 people (0.3%) to 959,734. Total employment grew by 1,714 (0.2%) to 932,813. The total number of unemployed increased by 1,224 (4.8%) to 26,921. Labor force participation remained at 62.7%...

Commander of Air Combat Command, Gen Mark Kelly has named Mountain Home AFB as one of five Lead Wing Units that are part of the Combat Air Force’s transition to the new force generation model. Gen. Kelly stated that “this shift takes us from a reactive force optimized for counter-insurgency ops over the past 20 years in permissive environments, to wings ready to deploy as high-performing, task-organized combat teams, and operate in a contested environment with joint and coalition partners.” Lead Wings are certified to deploy with agility, hard and fast. ...

10-24-22 - (BOISE) – Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has announced Idaho has received more than $26 million in opioid settlement funds following the state’s final 2022 payment last week. The money is being distributed to the state, regional health districts, cities and counties to fight the opioid addiction epidemic...

When large animals like moose, elk and deer are in rut, or breeding, males can become increasingly aggressive To Idaho’s wildlife, fall is the time of year when many species of wildlife such as elk, moose, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and mountain goats breed or go into rut. When in rut, they begin searching for a receptive female(s) to mate with...

(BOISE) – The latest scores in the National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) provide some encouraging news for Idaho as schools continue working to boost student achievement in mathematics and reading. Nationwide, student scores have dropped since the NAEP assessments were last administered to fourth- and eighth-graders in 2019. While Idaho scores also declined since 2019, they remain above national averages for eighth-graders and near the national average for fourth-graders...

The City Planning and Zoning Commission met on the 17th in regular session to work through their agenda. They began by approving the minutes of their last meeting before jumping into public hearing and action. Two action items, a Conditional Use Permit and a Preliminary Plat, were placed before the Commission regarding a proposed housing development...

The Mountain Home School District Board met on the 18th in regular session. Superintendent Gilbert spoke regarding conversations between himself and developers of the Mayfield Springs Development planned alongside I-84 West of Mountain Home. He reported that he asked developers a number of questions. ...

Congratulations to the varsity football team as they defeated Jerome 27-14 in their final game of the season! A special thanks to Coach Clark and the coaching staff for all of the hard work and time they put into the program and kids!

MHHS varsity swim team competed at the district swim meet that past Saturday. Coach Tibbitts said, “Maya McCray qualified for state by placing 5th in the 50 free and 3rd in 100-yard butterfly. Everyone swam very strong and most of them got a PR.” State will take place at the Boise City Aquatics Center / West YMCA on Nov. 4th & 5th...

Congratulations to our boys & girls cross country teams on the excellent performance that they had at the district cross country meet in Twin Falls. Our varsity girls team placed 2nd and advanced to the state meet. State Cross Country will be held in Lewiston Idaho Oct. 29th. Congratulations Ladies!...

Shane Mullen had a hole in one, the weekend of Oct. 15-16, at the Desert Canyon Golf Course. Mullen used a 9 iron. 155 yards on #14. Witnessed by: Steve and Debra Richerson