Business

County Fair opens Monday in Glenns Ferry (07/10/08)
The Elmore County Fair will kick off next week, July 14-19, at the Glenns Ferry fairgrounds. The fairgrounds are located just off the second exit I-84 to Glenns Ferry (from Mountain Home). There is a $3 per person cost for admission to the fair with free parking provided...

SRA speakers rip nuke plant (07/09/08)
Representatives from the Snake River Alliance held a meeting Tuesday night in Mountain Home to discuss views on the nuclear plant proposed by Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., to be built in Elmore County. For more information, see the Home News...

Rising gas prices playing havoc with government budgets (07/06/08)
Gas prices that have seen each station in town exceed prices of $4 for regular and $5 for diesel are having a significant impact on local government budgets. According to Mountain Home Mayor Tom Rist, the city's budget has been readjusted to reflect the high cost of fuel...

Fair carnival tickets on sale (07/05/08)
The Elmore County Fair will be held July 14-19 in Glenns Ferry. The theme for this year's event is "Country Dreams and Old Blue Jeans." Beverly Lucia, a longtime volunteer and supporter, will serve as the Grand Marshall of the fair. For the first time, the rodeo and the fair will be run at separate times. The ICA/IPCA Rodeo was moved to July 25 and 26 (starting at 8 p.m.). The rodeo date was locked in for this year and the county fair had to be moved up so it could include a carnival...

I-84 resurfacing work to begin Monday (07/03/08)
Roadway resurfacing work to level a section of I-84 near Mountain Home is scheduled to get under way on Monday (July 7), the Idaho Transportation Department announced Thursday. Both the eastbound and westbound travel lanes of eight miles of the interstate, from Simco Road (milepost 82) to the first Mountain Home exit (milepost 90), will be milled and paved. All lanes will then be treated with an edge-line to edge-line seal coat that will protect the surface and improve traction for motorists...

Old Carnegie Library building celebrates its 100th birthday (07/02/08)
The Mountain Home Museum celebrated the 100-year ground breaking anniversary of the Carnegie Public Library Building on Monday afternoon. The building now houses the Mountain Home Museum. The special guest speaker for "A Walk Into History," was the son of one of the original architects of the Carnegie Library, Charles Hummell...

Centennial of original library begins Monday (06/29/08)
On June 30, the Mountain Home Historical Museum will be commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Carnegie building, which served as the city library for 66 years and presently houses the Mountain Home Museum. The event will feature speeches from staff at the Mountain Home Public Library, the Women's Civic Club and special guest Charles F. Hummel, grandson of one of the library's original architects and representing Hummel Architects out of Boise...

(Untitled) (06/20/08)
Tammy Law, 33, of Mountain Home, pleaded guilty June 16 in Boise's federal court to embezzlement of more than $400,000 from the Pioneer Federal Credit. Law had worked at the Mountain Home branch since 1995. In October 2001 she became manager of the collections department and authorities believe she started embezzling funds in mid-2002 until she was caught in March. Anita Twitchell, president and CEO of Pioneer Credit Union, said managers discovered the embezzling internally during the course of normal business on March 26. Bank officials notified the Mountain Home Police Department which worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate further. Mountain Home Police Chief John Walters said the FBI was initially involved because both state and federal government has jurisdiction over the crime. Walters said the department originally thought the amount embezzled was far less than $400,000 but once the high dollar amount was determined, letting the federal government proceed with the case became an easy decision. Law waived her right to a grand jury indictment and agreed on June 6 to plead guilty to a felony charge of embezzlement. She appeared voluntarily in court Monday to formally enter her guilty plea. She was never arrested. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Breitsameter, who prosecuted the case in federal court, said Law never offered an excuse for embezzling the funds. Her attorney, Boise attorney D.C. Carr, declined to comment on her motives for the crime or how the funds were used. Twitchell said Law used many different methods and mixed up the way she embezzled money, which enabled her to prolong the time she avoided getting caught. She was able to use her position as a manger and her length of employment at the credit union to facilitate her actions. The majority of the embezzled funds occurred in the last 18-24 months before she was caught. Only one credit union member's account was affected by the crime, where she took an undisclosed amount of money. Law had a non-business related connection with that member. However, Twitchell said the funds embezzled from that account were small in comparison to the credit union funds she misappropriated through the diversion of credit union operating monies and/or assets and the falsification of expense invoices. Those amounts were than channeled by Law, using several fraudulent means, to her for her own personal use. According to Law's plea agreement, she admitted, for example, that she caused credit union checks to be issued to Magic Valley Collections, which she then presented for payment. That was one of several methods she used to steal from the credit union. She used the proceeds from the checks for her own personal benefit. The credit union expects to be recover the loss funds from CUMIS, a credit union insurance company, and the loss of funds will not negatively affect any member's accounts. Twitchell said she is willing to talk or meet with any customers who have questions about their account regarding Law's guilty plea. Law's sentencing is set for Sept. 15 before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge in Boise. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and supervised release of five years following the term of incarceration.

Updated: Anti-nuke activist arrested at nuclear plant meeting (06/19/08)
The Glenns Ferry Opera Theatre was filled nearly to capacity on the evening of June 16 as Elmore County citizens gathered for an informational meeting hosted by Idaho Energy Complex (IEC).

Pieces of dynamite discovered near gas pipeline (06/13/08)
About 15 residents from eight homes in the Tipanuk area were evacuated for approximately five hours Thursday night after residue and pieces of an old stick of dynamite, which may have been there since the 1950s, was found underneath a natural gas pipeline.

MHHS gym roof repair begins (06/11/08)
Work to repair the high school's gym got underway June 3. See the Mountain Home News for more information. http://mountainidhomenews.id.newsmemory.com/

Nuclear power info meetings underway (06/11/08)
Idaho Energy Complex, the company that seeks to build a nuclear power plant in Elmore County, held a public information meeting in Mountain Home Tuesday, June 10. Don Gillispie, Chairman and CEO of the company, made a brief presentation to the approximately 60 people in attendance before opening the floor for questions from Elmore County residents...

Nuclear power plant meeting set for June 16 in Glenns Ferry (06/11/08)
Idaho Energy Complex representatives have begun a series of public information meetings meetings to inform the public about their plans to build a 1,600-megawatt nuclear reactor in Elmore county. A meeting was held Tuesday night in Mountain Home. Check www.mountainhomenews.com later today for coverage of that meeting...

Youth center looks for new home (06/11/08)
The Mountain Home Youth Center will be moving to a new facility it hopes to build on South 5th West Street. See the Mountain Home News to find out more. http://mountainidhomenews.id.newsmemory.com/

Info meeting on nuclear power plant set Tuesday (06/07/08)
Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., which is proposing to build a nuclear power plant in Elmore County, will hold a public information meeting on its plan this coming Tuesday night, June 10, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Mountain Home Jr. High School gymnasium.

Special anniversary activities scheduled all day Saturday (06/06/08)
The Mountain Home Fire Department will celebrate it's centennial anniversary Saturday at Fire Station #1. The day will begin at 11 a.m. with a parade of antique and new fire trucks at Fire Station #1, 220 South 2nd East Street. The parade will go down 2nd East Street, turn around at Albertson's, and come down Main Street...

Glenns Ferry Opera Theatre opens (06/03/08)
Glenns Ferry Opera Theatre will open its 15th Summer Season on Friday, June 13 with the comedic murder mystery "In Memoriam". On Saturday, June 14, the theatre will begin its performance of the melodrama "Stop the Presses, She's Not My Type!". Showtime is 7:45 p.m. with dinner service beginning, both evenings, at 6:30 p.m...

Fire department plans centennial celebration June 7 (06/03/08)
The Mountain Home Fire Department's centennial celebration will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 7. It's a day that took 100 years to get to and the fire department is going to make it last all day. At 11 a.m., a parade of antique and new fire trucks will begin at Fire Station #1, 220 South 2nd East Street...

Newest IP plant turbine goes online (06/02/08)
The new 170-MW gas-fired turbine at Idaho Power's Evander Andrews power plant near Mountain Home officially went on line last week, prepared to provide power for periods of peak demand this summer. The project came in ahead of time and under budget, Idaho Power officials said. Including transmission lines associated with the project, the overall cost of the expansion of the plant was just under $80 million...

Survey shows Mountain Home is a great place to retire (05/22/08)
Mountain Home is a great place to retire and enjoys good neighborhoods but isn't necessarily a great place to raise kids a city commissioned survey of city services shows. Diane Kushlan, a consultant hired by the city council gave the official results of the community survey during the recent city council meeting...

... NEW ... Road maintenance operations on I-84 (05/09/08)
Road maintenance operations & slow moving maintenance vehicle on I-84 - in both directions from The Oregon State Line to Exit 121 - Interstate 84 Business. THIS WORK IS BEING DONE AT NIGHT FROM 10:00 PM TO 7:30 AM NIGHTLY. The Herbicide Application truck will be spraying the roadway shoulders along I-84. This vehicle is slow moving so minor delays may be encountered starting at 10:00PM on 5/9/2008 until 7:30AM, 5/16/2008...

McKenna Charter school breaks ground on new $2.3M building (05/09/08)
Founder Larry Slade was joined by faculty and the entire student body on site last Thursday for the official groundbreaking of the new building to house the Richard McKenna Charter High School. The School will be moved from the current location at 1993 E. 8th North. The school shares the building with the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor office...

Craig receives commitment for Mountain Home AFB (05/08/08)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An Air Force representative assured Idaho Senator Larry Craig today that the construction of a new Logistics Readiness Center at Mountain Home Air Force Base will be in the Air Force budget for fiscal year 2010. The commitment came during a budget hearing by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, during which Craig called attention to the dire conditions of the Base's Logistics Readiness Center which was condemned in the late 1990s.. ...

New lodge for Elks may begin soon (05/02/08)
Leaders of the Mountain Home Elk's Lodge believe construction to rebuild the lodge, which burned to the ground last September, could begin within one to two months. Only final approval from the Grand Lodge remains for the plans of the new -- and expanded -- lodge facility, and once that is received the local lodge already has a contractor standing by to begin construction...

Doug King hopes to upset Rose for county commission post (04/30/08)
King Hill resident Doug King has announced his candidacy for District 2 County Commissioner. King is running on the Republican ticket and will face incumbent Larry Rose in the May 27 Primary Election. This will be King's second attempt to unseat Rose who has served as county commissioner for District 2 since 1997...