Archive for March, 2007
YOUR Unsecured Wireless Internet is the Dangerous Weak Link
What would you do if someone borrowed your phone to prank call innocent people, perhaps to some of your friends and family? Would you try to gain control of your phone again?
What would you do if someone borrowed your car to drive recklessly through neighborhoods and scare parents and kids, perhaps even your friends and […]
Reason vs. Fear: Combating the Second-Hand Smoke Debate
It seems that the reality of second-hand smoke has joined that club of politically-correct concepts commonly accepted by society - we seem to accept that second-hand smoke is dangerous almost blindly, without any real reason or facts to back up our conclusions. There may be no better definition of ignorance, and the purpose […]
Slums and Slum Lords of Idaho Falls
Today’s Post Register front page article featured an interesting subject that is not often publicly discussed around Idaho Falls: slums and slum lords.
The core subject for the article was that past city government hopeful Brett Manwaring (who confessed to fraud in 1983) is essentially accused of being a slumlord. The allegations include Brett not installing […]
Do Not Knock List Needed in Idaho Falls
I propose Idaho Falls creates a “Do Not Knock” ordinance to restrict door-to-door salespeople.
I get these traveling salespeople all the time, even sometimes after 9 PM evenings and today before noon on a Sunday.
I am not a cranky geezer yelling at kids to get off my lawn, but I do not appreciate these interruptions […]
Into the Woods of Anonymous Speech
I was surprised but delighted to read the local Idaho Falls Magazine blurb our IdahoFallz.com on page 10 of their March/April 2007 issue.
The piece was titled “Voices in the Wilderness”, and raised legitimate concerns about people who write anonymously. We had this discussion last summer in Our Anonymous Community, but it is a topic well […]
Is Low Pay Creating a Local Law Enforcement Crisis?
Editor’s Note: This originally appeared as comment #2 in another discussion thread. I felt it warranted its own discussion thread, because the issues raised are very serious for our local safety. If the guest commenter wants to register, I can change authorship to that person.
This is both about the Idaho Falls Police department […]
Straightedge: What Every Parent (and everyone else) Should Know
It seems like every parent’s dream - a group of kids who swear off of drugs and alcohol, abstain from careless sex, sometimes even refuse to eat meat, take prescription medicine, and take decidedly anti-violence, sexist, and racist positions (at least, politically).
So, what’s the big deal with straightedge in Idaho? If a social […]
Legislators Reveal Their Hypocrisy in Family Values
When the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) recently scored Idaho with the worst day care standards and oversight (52nd in 52 rankings), many thought our legislature would finally pass meaningful reform. When even the Department of Defense (one of the biggest federal bureaucracies) gets high marks for running child care […]
Local Youth Sports, Great for Kids, OR damaging to them?
I am the father of 5 boys, ages 10, 7, 6, 5, and 2. Two of my boys have recently expressed interest in participating in a local youth Soccer or Arena Football program. I like the idea of them participating in team athletics, as team sports teaches you values that can only be learned in […]
River City Weekly, the New Idaho Falls Newspaper
By now most Bonneville County residents have received their March 1 issue of the new weekly newspaper, River City Weekly. This was the inaugural issue, if you don’t count the test issue they sent to a few homes early in February. All pages are available in PDF format on their website rivercityweekly.com
What do you think […]
Open Mike for Idaho Falls City Workers March 2007
We republish this open forum for Idaho Falls city workers on the first day of each month. The July article for city workers was one of our most commented-on articles ever. Last month’s open mike thread also generated some healthy discussion.
This monthly open forum is a vehicle for city workers (or anyone with knowledge of […]
March 1, 2007 State of the City Blog
February 2007 was our seventeenth operational month, and we earned about 11,400 visitors! All you visitors and participants are awesome. We now have 477 articles, which have generated 3,872 comments.
Here is a screenshot of our monthly visitor counts for the last 12 month rolling period, showing our growth chart. November appeared to dip because our […]