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Recently added Classifieds - The Valley's Dead-tree free classifieds. Always free & green.
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Matching Wicker Couch, Chair and End Tables.
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Only 3 Blocks From Everything! Old Hailey Charmer $397,950
Beautiful Old Hailey (3 blocks East of Main) with extraordinary "Old World Quality Craftsmanship" this...
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Custom Executive Log Style Home On 9+ Acres $499,000
Unique custom built log ski lodge & retreat with extraordinary views loaded with designer features &...
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Professional Horse Facility on 39+ Irrigated Acres $795,000
Professional Horse Facility on 39+ irrigated acres. Large Coverall indoor arena complete with heat,...
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Bank Owned - View Acreage, Water, Fenced, Paved Road
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As word comes of Sen. Larry Craig's reconsideration of his announced resignation from the U.S. Senate, it turns out that his best ally in getting rid of his guilty plea for his conduct in a Minneapolis airport restroom may be the United States Constitution.
If the senator had been a better student of the U.S. Constitution, his arrest may never happened at all, and if the U.S. Constitution is followed, as of course it should be, the senator's arrest and guilty plea will have to be vacated. This is because the Constitution, in a straightforward and unambiguous manner, states in Article 1, Section 6 that "Senators and Representatives. shall. be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same." (emphasis mine) The only exceptions are for treason, felony and breach of peace, and the senator, of course, was charged with a misdemeanor. Since the senator was on his way to Washington, and did in fact cast a vote on the evening of the day...
For a few months now, I've been reading about the plight of Iconoclast Books and various merchants in the Wood River Valley. I've been waiting for someone to state the obvious. It hasn't happened. I, like everyone else, have to shop. I suppose that is a universal theme for everyone.
So, I am going to make an attempt here. Iconoclast doesn't really fall into the categories I am going to talk about. I think big web retailers like Amazon are just too tough to compete with. Even the big box retailers, like Barnes and Noble, are getting hurt and not making much these days. Now, I am going to try this without whining or sounding like a victim. I chose my career path and I knew it would never pay much. In 1982, I came here and was making 1000 bucks a month. I had student loans and other things to pay. I have never owned a new car. By 1989, I was making a whopping 1300 per month, or about 8 something an hour. Throughout those 7 or 8 years, I always had a room mate or occasionally house sat. At no time, could I have afforded...
About five years ago, my brother moved here from Pennsylvania, financially and emotionally devastated from a divorce. He got an average job and was offered deed restricted housing and asked me for advice. My answer “It’s a trap. Run, run, run away from itâ€. I’ll give you the reasons below, why I gave him this advice. Instead of letting him get trapped into affordable housing, we gave him emotional support and supported him to purchase acreage in Fairfield and a small house in Hailey. He rented his house in Hailey as he could not afford to live in it, built a temporary shack on the land in Fairfield, roughing it and commuted to his job in Ketchum for two years. The property value increased and he is rich on paper, living in his house that he has since remodeled and once again is part of the American dream. He was able to delay gratification, but only for two years in this great land of opportunity. I assure you that had he taken the affordable housing, he would still be working at the same job,...
"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents.†~ Todd and Sarah Palin
“I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.†~ Sen. Barack Obama When left-wing bloggers began to spread the malicious and unfounded rumor that Sarah Palin had faked her pregnancy with her recently born son Trig in order to protect her 16 –year-old daughter, Ms. Palin and her husband released a statement revealing that their now-17-year-old daughter is five months along in an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Prior to this announcement, Alan Colmes, Sean Hannity’s counterpart on Hannity & Colmes, suggested that Palin herself was to blame for her son’s Down syndrome condition by failing to give him adequate pre-natal care. I’ve received some snarky emails over the weekend... 
[Editor Note: This archived article from 3 years ago originally had an error when you went to the page so if you had a problem before, it is now fixed. Thanks again to Charlie Webster for the great imagery!] By Charlie Webster.
Some people are jumping on Sun Valley for not continuing giving its public tax money to the YMCA. This includes the Mountain Express which gets lots of advertising dollars from the YMCA.
There was never a resolution or an ordinance that the city of Sun Valley would "pledge" or "promise" an ongoing commitment of public moneys to the YMCA. The previous administration may have made some kind of an inference of continuing donation, but such is totally illegal, as one administration should not and can not make something incumbent onto a succeeding administration. Maybe the YMCA now feels it has an entitlement of Sun Valley's taxpayers' moneys. If there is the feeling that somehow it is Sun Valley's responsibility to "support of our valley's community efforts" for the private YMCA, then where is the public cash from Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, and Blaine County for the YMCA? Shouldn't it be their responsibility, too? Shouldn't they be dunned, also?
By: Ed Simon
The Ketchum City government continues on a maddening course of deception, and obfuscation, acting with brash and imprudent impunity. On January 9, 2009, the Mayor executed an “Agreement Donating Property to the Cityâ€, a misnomer, the magnitude of which has been hidden from the public, and one which has been ignored by the local press. It should emphasize to all Ketchum voters, that you can’t believe what you read on City of Ketchum agendas, as noted below: FICTION 09-002 A resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute and accept all documents and instruments to accept donation of real property. FACT If the truth be told (it will), the City of Ketchum has entered into an agreement which requires the City “to utilize its reasonable efforts through any and all legal means (emphasis added), including administrative proceedings, judicial proceedings or otherwise (all collectively “legal proceedingsâ€), to remove any and all restrictive plat notes and restrictive...
Ok, it's time for me to open up Pandora's Box.
Please everyone-don't take this personal. It's not. It's simply business. For the record, I am a former City of Hailey employee, with just a shade over 18 years with Hailey. I also sat on the consolidated dispatch board for a little, as Chief, before my term briefly and thankfully ended. Let me explain. The original intent of hours of meetings was to consolidate dispatch under one roof. Without the control of the Sheriff's Office. Agencies were disgruntled over the quality of dispatch and their inability to influence changes. Many people were involved in that process. At least one of those meetings, chaired many years ago by Commissioner Len Harlig, was facilitated by Bob Werth. I believe it was at one of those meetings, that we voted. It was unanimous with the exception of the Sheriff's Office. This vote included virtually every stakeholder in the valley. It was something like 26-1. A free standing, civilian run dispatch, beyond the political control of the Sheriff....
There is a scene in the movie, "The Fugitive", in which Tommy Lee Jones is chasing the fugitive doctor played by Harrison Ford, through a giant culvert. Just before jumping, Ford turns and exclaims, "I did not kill my wife!" Jones says, "I don't care!" I have always loved that simple scene. It illustrates perfectly how some people perceive the law and law enforcement and it also illustrates how law enforcement often sees itself. We don't make the laws, we simply enforce them. Law enforcers are a tool. There would be no point in passing laws without an enforcement tool.
So it was with great interest that I have watched the efforts of the Liberty Lobby. They have actually had to sue to get an initiative placed on a ballot. Once that was finally done, local officials and one in particular, tried to torpedo that effort with scare tactics in the form of an editorial printed in the Mountain Express. Sore losers, I suppose. Imagine free speech and the democratic process winning out over the will of a few people who...
Just think...I used to believe that some of those blogging Neanderthal's that commanded the SVO blogosphere and dispensed their particular brand of brow beating, bully pulpiting and righteous indignation over the past few years were in fact a power unto themselves. Little did I imagine that they themselves were the only one's capable of self-induced euthanasia. I don't know about you... but have you checked who is blogging lately? With all due respect to the Animal Shelter, the good ladies and gentlemen who monitor the status of our trail system, our esteemed former Chief and the Animal Shelter... the rest is just so much fringe politics and the irrelevance that goes with either the far left or right. I am afraid that the trend for blogs on SVO was etched in stone by none other than the illustrious founder and previous owner. My image of that bloggers' missives was one of bulging neck viens, clenched fists and that oh so reasoned and dispassionate cry of "come out and fight like a man, you gutless weinie"! Is...
      As new economic realities develop, it may be time to take a fresh look at the airport relocation issue.
      Due to consolidation in the airline industry and high fuel prices, southern Idaho will be fortunate in the years ahead to have ONE reliable and profitable air carrier, let alone two or three. A truly regional airport must be established with all eight counties in the region participating. Although Twin Falls area residents are somewhat reluctant to join an airport effort north of the Snake River, due to what they believe is a disproportionate share of the cost, negotiations may be able to somewhat reduce their financial burden. It will be a long shot for two regional airports to be economically viable.
      Even though considerable time, funds and effort have been expended to reach the current relocation scenarios for moving Friedman Memorial Airport, the existing, and likely continuing, economic conditions require other approaches to solving the airport dilemma. Rapidly...
Copied from an e-mail from Michael Moore:
To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,
In a disturbing indication of where we are headed in America if the homosexual agenda is not stopped in its tracks, a new law has been introduced in England which will make criminals of Christians who publicly oppose the normalization of homosexual behavior, if a subjective determination is made that expressing their views led others to harassing gays.
It is designed to punish not only those who explicitly call for discrimination against gays, but even those who simply create an “atmosphere or climate†in which discrimination or harassment could be fostered. In what is not likely to relieve the concerns of ordinary citizens, the entirely subjective decision of whether or not someone has “crossed the line†will rest with the police. Thus if a pastor teaches that homosexuality is a form of sexual expression which is contrary to God’s design, and is unhealthy and sinful, and someone who listens to him – even on the radio – or reads something he has written and then proceeds to discriminate in some way...
I was driving home from Alturas yesterday afternoon and saw a wolf eating an elk right next to the road. Quite a few people were stopped taking pictures. Does anyone have pics or video they could post on here?
Here are some pics.   Â 
When our forefathers penned that Bill of Rights, they placed free speech in the very first one. It is actually a pretty broad and simple statement. I just read it on Wikipedia. No where in there, could I find anything about "political correctness."
Apparently our forefathers had no need for such a phrase. Or they just didn't have the "wisdom" or vision to coin such a phrase. Throughout the ages, various cultures have had to endure the downside of coming to America. Just about every race and nationality has had to endure various hardships. Slavery, reservations, internment camps. For various reasons, we made those mistakes. We made them out of greed, or fear, or whatever human insecurity was evident at the time. This is the evolution of things. History. We haven't always gotten it right, but we've been right more than we've been wrong. I think most rational people would agree. Then in the 90's, someone coined the phrase, "politically correct." Apparently after a couple of hundred years or so, all that free speech...
If Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, the GOP will – and should - forfeit any chance it has to become the majority party in Congress for years to come.
Giuliani is pro-abortion and a supporter of the homosexual agenda, positions which are starkly out of phase with the core, pro-life, pro-family principles clearly articulated in the Republican Party platform. A coalition of around 50 influential Christian conservatives, including James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, met Saturday, and emerged with a threat to back a third-party candidate if the GOP runs Giuliani as its presidential candidate. The pro-faith, pro-life, pro-family community in America simply will not support a pro-abortion candidate, nor should it. If the Republican Party truly stands for the sanctity of life, it should no more run a pro-abortion candidate than the Republican Party of 1860 would have run a slaveholder for president. Many will argue that pro-family conservatives... 
A United States Marine was laid to rest last week [Editor Note: This was originally published a few years ago.] at the Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City Nevada. He was an American hero. A World War II and Korean War veteran. He was a member of what Tom Brokaw calls the "Greatest Generation". Private First Class, George Donald Lotz was a man I barely knew. This Marine was my father.
Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. One of the things that is great about our community is how people rally to the side of someone in our community when they face adversity. Ivan Swaner and Teresa Hukari are two recent examples where people have rallied to support our fellow citizens.
Though I don’t know Randy well, I do know what it is like for someone to face medical challenges – you can never have too many well wishes. With Randy’s paramedic background, I’m sure he is a resilient guy but all the same would appreciate support from the community. I’d like to start this by saying that I wish Randy to have a complete and speedy recovery and that he knows that the community is behind him all the way in his fight against cancer. Please add your well wishes in the comments below or email them to letters@sunvalleyonline.com and we’ll add them. If Randy isn’t able to get online to see your well wishes, we’ll make sure he sees all the support that is with him. technorati...
As a candidate for public office, Sun Valley Online has given me an opportunity to state my views, and you the public have an equal opportunity to respond with your comments. Whatever they are, I will NOT delete them.
One candidate for Mayor has chosen censorship when confronted with negative comments. Randy Hall, you owe the public an explanation: Why did you delete the negative comments to your blogs? "I stand on my record of open and honest leadership, listening to all viewpoints and building consensus and creating open dialogue." Open and honest leadership has the INTEGRITY and CHARACTER to take criticism, and to respond to it. INTEGRITY DOES NOT DELETE. YOU OWE AN EXPLANATION???? My pledge is no deletions. To assure that all comments are available for public review, I will welcome comments to my blogs and to those of candidate Hall. You'll know where I stand, and the public deserves no less from Randy Hall. P.S. to Dan Stein: City Resolution provides that...
Last night, the Moscow City Council voted 4-2 to violate the Idaho state constitution and the 2006 marriage amendment by granting health benefits to domestic partners of city employees.
This action cannot go unchallenged, and cannot be allowed to stand. If Moscow gets away with granting domestic partnerships – including same-sex partnerships - equal status with one-man, one-woman marriages, the state’s marriage amendment will become meaningless. Idaho voters approved the marriage amendment in 2006, which states that "a marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state." The statement of purpose included with HJR2, the bill that led to the marriage amendment, clearly bars the insurance proposal. The statement of purpose unambiguously affirms that the amendment's language is intended to “prohibit†any “political subdivision†of the state from "granting any or all of the legal benefits of marriage to civil unions, domestic partnerships, or...
Quietly and with no fanfare, Alaska and Horizon Airlines have begun offering travel specials that are only available to gays, lesbians and transgendered individuals. Ordinary heterosexuals? Well, you’re just out of luck.
Alaska and Horizon employees received an email on September 13 about a “very soft launch†of a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LBGT) “micro-website†that is devoted to people who practice non-normative sexual behaviors, and offers them special deals unavailable to those who are sexually normal. When one employee complained that this was “reverse discrimination,†since there is no “micro-website†for heterosexuals, or for Blacks or Hispanics for that matter, the employee was informed essentially that moral values don’t matter to corporate officials because the LGBT community represents a “gigantic profitable segment of the market.†Sure enough, if you go to Alaska’s special “Gay Travel†section of the website, you will discover that a special 10% discount...
Earlier this week, I was speaking with Tracy Lotz when he suggested posting a police blog. Initially, I loved the idea. It would give the police department a chance to exchange ideas with the public, take suggestions and comments, answer questions, and give people a chance to air their grievances. But I also realized that there was some downside risk and I mulled that over as well. Ultimately, I think the benefits outweigh the negative consequences.
So, I am here with just an online caveat or two. I don't mind anonymous bloggers. I don't mind tough questions, either. This biz can be very unpopular at times. Undoubtedly, there will be some questions, issues, or comments that I won't be able to address for a variety of reasons. When that occurs, I will try to explain why. All I ask, is that people keep it relatively clean and in good taste. My hope is that this can be a very positive forum and that we can all learn something from it. With that in mind, I have a question I'd like to ask SVO readers. This summer...
I own a house right in the middle of the maelstrom of flames that has been the Castle Rock fire; the "house" is an historic (read: ramshackle but loved), half-log sided (read: tinder box), miner's cabin next to Warm Springs Creek out in the Upper Board Ranch a few miles east of Warfield Hot Springs and the country where this monster was born 12 days ago.
It's been sitting in a virtual donut hole while the inferno has raged around it until yesterday or so, when it appears as though that area has finally filled in under the watchful eyes of those 1,670 firefighters with their 15 helicopters, 10 bulldozers and 104 engines. Whew! As of August 30, "no lives or structures have been lost" yet, so it's still looking good for my little Pinecone Cottage at Ye Olde Bedd Springs. While I feel incredibly lucky to be able to keep up with the hourly progress of the firefighting effort through the reports on the Internet from SunValleyOnline's videos, inciweb.org and the articles, updates and KECH reports, etc. sent to me by...
Another chapter in the “Truth is Stranger than Fiction†book is being written in Ketchum. In response to the girdling of three giant spruce trees in front of the old Sun Valley Athletic Club construction site, Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall released this bizarre statement. Said Hall, "I want to address the outrageous behavior of an "Out of town developer" who came into our house and defecated in our living room". ROFLMAO! Come again??
If Mr. Hall is outraged at the loss of these trees he needs to look in the mirror. The Evergreen project next door, being built by the same developers, scraped the lot clean- trees and all prior to starting construction. Randy Hall approved that project. Where was the contempt then? What did the Mayor think was going to happen when construction at the old Sun Valley Athletic Club starts? It's sad that these trees were not saved but this Mayor is asleep at the wheel. Bizarre quotes aren’t limited to the Mayor. Councilwoman Terry Tracy said that the trees were killed...
In today's article about the fatality near Galena Summit last weekend, Mr. Stivers writes:
" Of interest to the Sheriff's Department is how long it took for bystanders to contact emergency 911. "The 911 call came from a Custer County phone," Davis said, 12 miles or more from the accident site. With no cell service in the southern Sawtooth Valley, emergency officials may not have learned of the accident for 20 minutes or more after it happened. Whether the recently denied cell tower might save lives in the future is apparently of less concern to those concerned about the aesthetics of Galena Summit." First of all, that is presumptuous and POOR journalism. I would argue that cell service over Galena Summit may result in more danger for those using the highway. I am a cyclist and the thought of people driving that stretch of road having the ability to be distracted even further by yapping on a cell phone is not a pleasant one. Let's just imagine the article read something like this: A cyclist was killed on Saturday... |
