With the exception of a few locations I haven’t been able to figure out if there is any logic that goes into where the hotel locations develop.

The area of the Shilo and the Marriott by WalMart, those I get. Close to a freeway exit – ready to catch the Yellowstone traveler passing by visitors coming to town. But what about all the hotel development that has taken place around the Grand Teton Mall? Do enough people really come and spend the night to go to the mall?

The sad part of it all is with how they are kept up (or not kept up) it doesn’t seem like any hotel in Idaho Falls is doing exceptionally well. Many of the hotels are in desperate need for repairs and upgrades.

Maybe with the new nuclear business we have coming to town some of the hotels will finally be able to make the upgrades needed. Please feel free to review or comment on any hotels you are aware of that need repairs/upgrades or any truly great hotels you know of. Or please shed any light on what you think these developers were thinking when planning some of these locations.

LOCALLY OWNED RESTAURANTS/CAFES

Franko’s on First Street

Hawg Smoke on North Yellowstone

Little Deli on Walnut Street in the O.E. Bell Building

Apple Barrell off Grandview/US 20

The Mill House in Rigby (used to be the Sugar Factory).

Aussie Eats (several locations, including one on Hitt/Sunnyside).

Leo’s on 1st/Holmes.

The Crossing on Skyline.

GrandPa’s BarBQ on W. Broadway.

The GangPlank on Holmes/Elva.

Tom’s Gyro on Holmes/Elva.

There is a long-standing debate on the pros and cons of minimum wage. I am torn on the subject, because I have worked many minimum wage jobs in my life. I know what it is like to scrape and save, cut coupons, and drive a $1000 car with a broken heater. I’ve been a regular shopper at the local DI. Living off of minimum wage can be tough.

Are Labor Costs Killing Our Economy, Driving Jobs Overseas?
On a bigger scale, I understand the world is changing. We are now in a world economy, becoming more and more tied together. Emotions run high when the topic of outsourcing of jobs overseas comes up. I understand one of the major reasons for businesses outsourcing is due to lower manufacturing costs – which come from lower wages. But as competing companies based in other markets continue to produce the same (and sometimes better) goods (computers, cars, appliances, clothing etc) at a much lower cost, does it make it more difficult for a U.S. company to compete? Is the automobile industry possibly struggling in part due to the increased expense of US labor that other countries do not have to deal with?

When it comes to labor costs I can only imagine how much more it costs to make something in the United States compared with making goods overseas. I anticipate clothing made in the United States can cost several times more than clothing manufactured in a low-wage environment overseas. When it reaches the shelf of your local department store and if two identical products were sitting side by side – one costing $15.00, the other costing $45.00 - which would you choose? For those of us who need to make ends meet (everything else being the same) we’re taking the $15.00 item every time.

Is Minimum Wage Meant For Jr. High & High School Students or for Working Adults?
Someone presented to me an interesting question the other day. How many High School students are currently holding minimum wage jobs? Their guess was that Jr. High and High School students benefit most from minimum wage jobs. There are probably a higher percentage of workers in the 15-17 year age group earning minimum wage jobs than any other age group.

I have heard arguments to have a lower minimum wage for the younger Jr. High and High School age group because: 1) There is not the same “need” for a higher minimum wage as there is for an adult living on their own or providing for a family. 2) many of these individuals are “employees in training” - they have not had much, if any, previous work experience. “A job at this age is more like training for the future workforce.” And 3) an employer likely is taking upon higher risk with this age group as the employees may be – less mature, less able to make adjustments to the work schedule (due to school), less likely to stay on the job (due to other options and low need for income).

I don’t know how a lower minimum wage for “under 18” workers would be received by that group, but some of what they said made sense – especially when the minimum wage is meant for people who are out on their own trying to make ends meet.

Open Questions
What I’d really like to know is: How does Minimum Wage impact people here in Idaho? With Idaho having a substantially lower cost of living compared to other states, does minimum wage impact Idaho more or less than other states?

With Minimum wage being intended to help increase the quality of life for the lower income families – what percentage of household providers are truly impacted by the minimum wage? Is there anyone here - or do you know of any household providers who are currently holding minimum wage jobs?

Here in Idaho, minimum wage is currently set at $5.85, and set to go up past $7.25 by the end of July 2009. Should this increase be going to all age groups, or should it go to only to those 18 and above?

Minimum wage is a tough topic, because helping people get by is part of the great culture of America. What to do in today’s society?

The rise in gasoline prices has been blamed on many factors including:

Increased Demand In China
China is prospering. Their economy has been booming and more and more Chinese are starting to pick up on the luxuries that come with prosperity – that includes purchasing cars. What happens when you have a billion people buying cars who didn’t have them before? Demand goes through the roof – and they are all going to be filling their tanks to keep them running. Can you blame them?

Unstable Situation with Iraq.
Iraq is a factor, but not just oil produced there. 25% of the worlds oil passes right of the shore of Iran, and according to the national media, an unstable situation with Iran continue to drive prices higher.

Switch Over from MTBE to Ethanol
In years past, the Environmental Protection Agency have put more strict requirements on the percentage of oxygen required in gasoline. In the past gasoline companies used methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) to boost oxygen levels, but with concerns that MTBE may contaminate groundwater, more refineries are switching to Ethanol. But it is said there is not enough Ethanol available, and the shortage of Ethanol has caused some gas stations to run out of gasoline at times.

(I can’t help but wonder if there are other, yet bigger, factors happening behind the scenes? Price fixing? Planned limited supply? (remember Enron?) I’m not knowledgeable enough about the oil and gas industry to even speculate, but what I do know, is there is big money on the table, and sometimes the temptation is just too much for some people.)

With gas prices soaring, one news report said for the first time there is a notable decrease in how much Americans are driving. Many Americans are driving less, and some families are planning on cutting their summer travel this year due to increased gasoline prices.

We live in a fortunate situation, Southeast Idaho we have wonderful summer opportunities within just 2 or 3 hours drive - no need for 12-15 hr trek. Yellowstone National Park - Jackson Hole, Wyoming – Salt Lake City, Utah – all great destination locations with fun, excitement and adventure. And there’s likely dozens of other smart, fun, and inexpensive summer activities that you take advantage of right here.

For me, some of my fondest memories come from summers spent within 100 miles of here.

With so much available so close to home, will Idahoans be changing their summer plans?

Personally, I don’t think so, not this year. But if prices continue to rise and prices start to approach $15 - $20 per gallon, even that trip to Yellowstone may become something too expensive for the average family. Look out, because I think that day could be coming. And when it comes, oh how life will change.

Why write anything at all here? I said long ago, “The more people who write about local topics, the more comments get generated in response, the more engaged our community is both online and in the physical city.” If you care about our area, get involved. IdahoFallz.com is one unique way you can easily get involved locally.

What makes a good article? What makes a bare-minimum decent article? I think at least two healthy paragraphs about a topic of local interest is the low threshold. Maybe the topic is not something in which you are an expert, but you think it will generate vibrant discussions? Take a few minutes and write what you do know. Take a few more minutes to research the topic (mmmm, Google + Wikipedia) and write about what you find. Clearly cite sources if you re-use anyone else’s words, and be honest about writing your own words (not pasting someone else’s words as your own). You can include an image or two if you think they help your words, but images are not required or prerequisite to a good article.

You can simply email your article and related pictures to site administrator Joe Eagle at idahofallz@gmail.com. You can also register and use the writer’s tools in the IdahoFallz.com backend system. Register by clicking the “Register” link at the top of any page. Enter the user name you want to appear as your name (this can easily be changed later if desired), and the email you want to use with IdahoFallz.com correspondence (which can be anonymous). The system emails you a password within a couple minutes, then you can login.

Upon logging into IdahoFallz.com, you first see “The Dashboard”, which displays information about recent comments and incoming links. Skip this and click on the big “Write” link in the upper left corner. This takes you to the “Write Post” section where you write, save, and submit articles for IdahoFallz.com. The new system is much friendlier than the old, so it is mostly self-explanatory. If you don’t understand an area, you don’t probably don’t need to worry about it. Ask Joe if you have a burning desire to know what something does.

All articles need a title, which you type in the top “Title” input box. Try to make it short but catchy, and try to use descriptive keywords. “Five Ways to Improve Idaho Falls Parks” is much more descriptive than “I think we need some of these things”. Titles are important, but don’t sweat them too much. Great articles and discussions have happened under dreadful titles.

You’ll see the large “Post” area, which is obviously where you type your paragraphs. There are some word-processing formatting buttons which should be obvious to use, but don’t sweat the controls too much. The most important thing is just to get your words in there and saved. My favorite method is to free write as long as I can, then reread it to fix spelling and grammar errors, and then I also see how some parts need a little reorganization or trimming to make better sense. If your article goes long (like more than ten big paragraphs), consider cutting some parts out and entering them as follow-up comments to your own article. This strategy helps others digest your thoughts much easier.

Under the “Post” area is a “Tags” input box. These are not currently implemented so don’t worry about it. Under this is “Categories”, where you can pick one or more logical categories, or topics that you think relates to your article subject. This does not have to be perfect, and Joe can hone it later, so again don’t sweat the details. Ignore everything else below the categories part.

At the page top, next to your title, you will have noticed the nuclear buttons: the “Publish Status” and “Save” and “Submit for Review” buttons. If you want to save and work in your article later, simply leave the publish status on “Unpublished” and hit save. When you login later, you will see your article by the title. Click the title and you will pull up your draft again.

If you are ready to publish, hit the “Submit for Review” button and an email notifies Joe that a new article is pending. As soon as he can review your article he will most likely release if for publication on the IdahoFallz.com main page. This is the current process simply intended to ensure spam and nasty junk does not get published.

So registering, writing, and publishing articles about our area is super simple. I think the IdahoFallz.com platform is the easiest and friendliest publishing platform in all of southeast Idaho, and certainly among Idaho Falls media companies. I hope to read many new articles from a broad range of local folks.

What questions do you have about writing or publishing at IdahoFallz.com? What kind of content would you like to read more about at IdahoFallz.com?

No questions? Write your own article!

Politics is an interesting profession. You campaign to get people to like you and give you free money to get you elected, then you work for the government, which appears to me to be a much less results oriented operation than any place I’ve ever worked for.

With all the work that someone puts into getting elected and all the promises that are made on the campaign trail, you would think that they would be anxious to get to work to get some things done for the people who elected them. Unfortunately that isn’t always the case. Sometimes it looks as though they just want a cushy job with an office and no one looking over their shoulder pushing for the critical deadlines to be met.

Dave Radford is the local county commissioner who doesn’t seem to be around all that much. I’ve even heard he has a problem showing up at some of his own meetings.

This is not always the norm, however. If you stop into the office there, you’ll likely see the other county commissioners, Roger Christensen and Lee Staker, hard at work, however Dave Radford just doesn’t seem to be around all that much.

Then again, could it be Dave is hard at work elsewhere (don’t ask me where) getting the community needs taken care of (on the golf course or the ski hill?)

Should government officials be accountable for the time they spend on the job and in the office?

If you know anything about these three men, their qualifications, and/or work ethics, please share your views.

Some months ago I was researching some information on the internet, and I came across a website dedicated to discussion in our home town of Idaho Falls. I was very impressed with the some of the articles and the quality of discussion that took place among the other residents here in the community. Since then I have visited the site from time to time and found the discussion quite enjoyable, though I myself have not been an active participant in the discussions up until this time.

When I stopped by the website again several weeks ago and saw the “For Sale” sign up, I was a little disappointed to see such a great resource up for sale. I was worried it could get picked up by someone who wouldn’t value the free exchange of discussion or promote the community spirit that I and so many others had found here. I read some concerns form the chat box of people concerned about the same thing as I was, and when an asking price was lowered a bit, I decided to contact Joe to see if his price was negotiable and after working out a price that was a bit more affordable, we signed the deal.

Buying the site was a bit of a difficult decision. Even with a lower price, it was a hefty chunk of change that I don’t think I’ll ever really get back. But there is real value to everyone if we can keep the site alive, interesting, and engaging. And I certainly didn’t want to see a site like this hacked up or destroyed. I can tell you this for sure, Joe really loved this project.

With that, I anticipate there are a few questions (partially because I’ve seen them pile up in the chatbox over a few days). I’m delighted to answer as many of them as I can. But as with the previous “Joe”, I would like to maintain my privacy and anonymity, so please understand if I don’t answer some of the more “personal” questions. But here we go with some possible questions you may (or may not) have.

Q: So, who are you, anyway?
A: I am a long-time Idaho Falls Resident who has grown up in and really loves Idaho Falls. (though I have my fare share of concerns about the city as well) I have run some websites in the past, so I have some experience with website management, though managing websites is not my full time job. I do have a real job, that takes the majority of my day (and sometimes longer).

I love dogs, but can’t stand cats. I was tempted to ban all the ip addresses taking about cats in the chat box the other day. (j/k)

In the tradition and honor of Joe, I have decided to continue the “Joe” legacy and go by the name of Joe Eagle. This will help distinguish the “old” Joe from the “new” Joe, as well as represents a bit about myself. Please feel free to call me “Joe”. ?

Q: Why did you buy the site, anyway?
A: I love what the site stands for – free exchange of communication among the citizens of Idaho Falls and the surrounding area.

Q: Did you REALLY pay the $7,000.00 asking price for the site?
A: No, Joe and I negotiated a lower price than that (thank you Joe for helping make the site more affordable.)

Q: Are you going to require users to start using their real names?
A: No. I think the anonymous nature of the site has helped users more freely express their views. With that, although anonymous, it’s good to remember that we are talking with real people on the other end of the “wires”. Lets try to be civil at the same time. ?

Q: Do you have any plans to change the site?
A: That all depends on what you all want. I have every intention of keeping the site the way it is if that is what the team wants. I do have some ideas, however, that I think could really get some good traffic moving to the site and involve a lot more people in the community. I am very open to ideas, suggestions. I’ll list some of my thoughts at a later time.

Q: Are you going to be online 24/7 like “old” Joe was?
A: I will be online when I can. I have a very busy job that takes a lot of my time, because of that I will not likely be online as much as Mr. Vandal was. I want to make this site as “Community Oriented” as possible. With that I am looking for people who would be interested in having moderator privileges to help keep the site “cleaned up”. I would love to have the site be “by the people, for the people.”

Q: I want to help! How do “I” become a moderator?
A: Just email me at idahofallz@gmail.com and we’ll talk.

Q: Can we expect to see regular new articles and polls?
A: I have already put together a list of articles the length of my arm. I plan to publish them as they become available (which means when I get around to writing them). With that, I am hoping people will write their own views and articles for the community as well. I know there are hundreds of others in the city with better writing skills, spelling and grammar than I. So, if you have something you want to discuss, WRITE AN ARTICLE ALREADY!

Q: So how do I submit an article?
A: If you are a registered user, you can write one and submit it for approval. (I plan on being pretty lenient on approving articles). If you don’t want to have your name attached to the article, just email your article to idahofallz@gmail.com. Please send it from a valid email address we can communicate.

(Please feel free to ask any other questions I may have missed that you are curious about. I’ll answer all I can.)

With that, let’s get into the good stuff… what would you all like to see changed/enhanced with the website? Or would you like it to just continue as it is? Any desire for additional tools? (photo/video uploads, favorite links, calendar, etc?) How about the layout and color scheme – go or throw?

And while we’re at it, any requests for article topics or poll topics?

I think it did not register in my mind at first because I use debit cards almost exclusively. A business not accepting checks is not much of a problem for me. However, when I paid and read the sign again, I realized this must have been a hand-wringing decision for Smitty’s management. Smitty’s serves a large number of elderly customers every day, folks who probably use paper checks much more than debit cards. Checks are a decades-old habit for elderly folks, and checks are also probably easier for them to understand than debit cards. Smitty’s will likely receive some complaints and outright revolt among their older patrons.

Why would Smitty’s make this decision to stop accepting personal and business checks? I have not asked them, but I think it is fairly obvious that checks are too risky nowadays. There are numerous ways to rip a business off using checks, and businesses waste a lot of time and money trying to collect on bum checks. There are the check-kiters who monkey around with writing checks for money they don’t have, then try to deposit the funds before the money hits. There are divorces where one person withdraws the money without telling the spouse, who unwittingly keeps writing checks. There are folks who are not tracking their deductions well enough so they do not realize they are already in the hole when they write checks. Then there are the people who blatantly practice fraud with stolen or fake checks.

Smitty’s must have watched the numbers for awhile and finally decided they were losing too much money chasing down and writing off bad debts. I give kudos to the Smitty’s management for making this difficult decision, and I hope die-hard check users do not blame Smitty’s. We have to face the fact that paper checks are too risky, and we need to cast them off if costs are to be controlled. I wonder what percentage of the price I paid for those wonderful Smitty’s dinners had to help pay for the check-writing deadbeats? If anything, I will go to Smitty’s more often now that I know they have trimmed this expense.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise for older folks who are beholden to their paper checks? Unfortunately we know a lot of elderly people are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with newer technologies and practices. If they have to give up their paper checks and completely immerse themselves in the debit card world, perhaps they will become more comfortable learning other new technologies they have thus far resisted?

Do you know any other businesses around Idaho Falls which have forgone checks, or any businesses who are considering it? What do you think about accepting or denying checks?

Admin Note: IdahoFallz.com has for some time has had a “no religious discussion” policy. It is a good policy to maintain. Let’s keep this the discussion away from religion and keep in on the legal accusations and police involvement – and what should and should not take place given the facts of this specific situation.

Many people have been following the daily news coverage of the Polygamist sect in San Angelo, Texas.

The premise of the situation is that an underage girl (16) called an abuse hotline saying she had been raped and beaten by her 50 year old husband. To date, however, they have not found or identified the girl claiming to have made the phone call, and there has been some speculation that it was made by someone outside the ranch.

Since then police have raided the compound removing 416 children from the ranch and have obtained custody of them. The news reported that several teenage girls were found pregnant.

Abuse should not be tolerated in any. However, at this stage in the game the alleged abuse appears to have come from a man (apparently not the girls father). There have been no reported cases of abuse from any mothers (that has been reported) and a situation like this can be traumatizing to a child alone, taking the children away from parents and placing them with strangers could have an even greater impact.

Based on the situation, should authorities be separating the children from their mothers and placing them into stranger’s homes or shelters? Should the authorities be more aggressive or more careful as they investigation the possible abuse?

I foresee that if America’s War on Drugs ever does end, it would happen in three steps or stages. The first step would be to legalize agricultural hemp production. The second step would be to legalize marijuana production, sale, and use. The third step would be to legalize all other drugs, including meth, cocaine, heroine, etc. Some will call these three steps a slippery slope, and I cannot fault that viewpoint. These three steps are clearly stages of an overall agenda, but the question is if you think the agenda is intended to weaken or improve America? Let’s discuss these steps one at a time, and when you comment please refer to what you think of each distinct step, or if you think there are other stages I’ve overlooked.

I think the first step America needs to take is decriminalizing hemp for agricultural purposes. Hemp is closely related but distinctly different from marijuana. You cannot get high from smoking hemp, but Congress has confused the issue and outlawed hemp. Why is legalizing hemp important for America? I think hemp is important because it brings us to the table of science, discussing and realizing there is a difference from marijuana, and that we can enjoy the benefits of one without endorsing the other. I’m sure many folks will discuss the virtues of hemp, but to start I encourage you to read the Wikipedia page about hemp.

I can foresee America easily waking up to the distinction between hemp and marijuana, and that first step would be an easy baby step for us. The second and third steps are the doozies, which would require a huge leap that I’m not sure America is capable of right now. The second step involves recognizing that marijuana is much more like alcohol than cocaine or meth. The third step involves deciding whether we want to spend money and energy on punishing drug use or treating drug use.

Regarding the second step, I’m just trying to kick start this discussion so I won’t go into all the details of marijuana, such as what’s supposed to be good or bad about it. I will encourage you to read the Wikipedia page on marijuana/cannabis, and I encourage folks to share their knowledge and experience with marijuana vs. alcohol in our society. What do you think?

The third step would certainly have to occur after the first two, because America must be willing to challenge the government’s propaganda about hemp and marijuana for the past decades. The third step is a much bigger leap of faith, and requires shifting our priorities. I don’t think we need to give up our values, or our principles for the third step to occur. I think our principles are that we want our folks to better themselves, and we all believe drugs get in the way. Our priorities to enforce these values, however, have been focused on prohibition, punishment, and penalizing users. We treat drug use as a criminal problem, and I think we can treat it more honestly and effectively as a medical and mental problem.

I was fortunate to visit Europe a couple times during high school. My brother and I once walked through a Frankfurt downtown park, and he pointed out the large group of drug users in a seating area. While we walked several hundred feet away from this area because my brother said the users could get sketchy, an ambulance came screaming onto the scene. The ambulance drove right into the middle of the drug user group and loaded up someone collapsed on the ground.

While we walked and looked over our shoulder at the ambulance, a young woman with a decimated body staggered up to us with a needle in her hand, crying and pleading to my brother in German. I did not understand what she said, but my brother was clearly alarmed and shouted at her “Nine, nine!” while he told me to pick up the pace. When we were away from her, he said she was begging him to hold her arm still so she could inject her drug syringe, that she was too shaky and had no strength to do it herself. I was fairly shocked because you do not usually see this kind of thing in Idaho’s public parks. I think that experience of seeing the effects of actual drug use had much more impact on me than any silly “Just Say No” or “D.A.R.E.” marketing campaign ever did. This experience has led me to believe that legalizing all drugs would have a better effect on discouraging drug use than what we currently do.

What do you think?