Opinion

To all Mountain Home Citizens: As we enter the second week of Gov. Little’s 21-day Stay-Home order, I want to tell you how proud I am to be your mayor. The ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations are coming together locally to help one another during this national health crisis is truly astounding, and I am humbled to witness so many good deeds great and small in our community. ...

Editor’s Note: Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Allen Niksich or seeing him in action knows that, not only, is he readily available to military families and students, but he is an amazing advocate for all children, teachers and staff of all of our community schools. ...

The Mountain Home News, as your local news source is committed to keeping ALL of our community updated on critical information in reference to the Corona Virus along with being your local home delivery newspaper. Covid19 news releases will be available to everyone on our website. It will contain information that is critical to all here locally outside our pay walls. Please click on the Corona Virus banner to be directed to the information page on our website: www.mountainhomenews.com...

We must protect our children. More and more of them are using electronic cigarettes, putting their health at risk, and creating a lifelong addiction. H 588 can help stop this trend by educating Idaho’s youth so they are better prepared to make an informed decision about their well-being. But first, H 588 must get a committee hearing...

I want to protect women’s sports in Idaho. That’s what my legislation, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, helps to do. Any claims to the contrary are just noise. I love sports, and more importantly, I love the opportunities sports afforded me. I played basketball in high school and college, and I coached for 15 years at the college level. ...

Our responsibility as representatives of the people is to make decisions that make life better for Idahoans. Our legislation should be rooted in concern and compassion for our community. As a state representative, one of my chief priorities is supporting the mental health of all Idahoans, including the LGBTQ community. ...

If there is a culture war being waged, it is not the Idaho legislature waging it. Contrary to headlines you may have read, the Idaho Vital Statistics Act, H 509, does not ban transgender individuals from making changes to their birth certificates. This gender-blind bill addresses important constitutional questions raised by a federal lawsuit, F.V. ...

Dear Editor, Idahoans did the right thing in the 2018 election. They voted by an overwhelming majority to expand Medicaid. This year, Governor Brad Little (R) proposed a budget that expands Medicaid at no additional cost to the State of Idaho. As many as 91,000 Idahoans may be eligible. ...

Next week we will have the Presidential Primary Election results on Tuesday, March 10th after the March 11th issue of the Mountain Home News is published. We encourage you to exercise your right to vote. Included in this week’s paper are the sample ballots in the legal section, along with the polling places...

Dear Editor, I wanted to send a letter to your paper describing the very unexpected experience that my family and I recently had while in your town. Our son unexpectedly died recently while serving on active duty in the Air Force at Mountain Home. We live in East Texas so the distance between us is about 1850 miles. ...

The original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) needed to be re-negotiated. I voted against passage of NAFTA in 1993, because it was flawed. The agreement traded away sovereign rights of individual states and the federal government. Many goods and services originating in the United States received unfair treatment among trading partners. ...

When we talk about supporting teachers, we’re really talking about supporting students. The education a person receives during childhood has a meaningful impact on the kind of life they will lead. And an effective teacher is the primary contributor to student achievement in the classroom...

As the Publisher of your local official legal publication of Elmore County, The Mountain Home News, and a member of the Newspaper Association of Idaho, I have watched a bill to remove legal notices in printed publications be introduced over and over again over the last several years. ...

Medical bills are high enough without surprise bills that can be astronomical, but that’s exactly what some Idahoans are forced to deal with. People are being saddled with huge debt for out-of-network care, even after they go to an in-network facility and doctor. It’s not right, and it’s why we need to pass the No Surprises Act to protect patients...

Great news for Idaho parents and students regarding Early Childhood Education. Thanks to the successful collaboration of a bi-partisan committee of stakeholders convened over the summer and the support of Governor Brad Little, Idaho is the recipient of a $3.3 million Federal Preschool Development Grant. ...

Dear Editor, As I have been asked repeatedly in the last few days about the governance and oversight of your local library, I want to provide some clarification to the residents of Mountain Home and all Library users. In the State of Idaho, libraries, both city and district are governed under Title 33, Chapter 26 & 27. These laws dictate how a library shall be run. There is zero question about the day-to-day governance of a public library under State statute...

As members of JFAC (Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee), we set all budgets and approve all appropriations for the State. We were delighted when Governor Little made education his top priority in his State of the State address. However, we became concerned when we saw some of his proposed education budgets...

Dear Editor, Amy Alexander’s article on January 8th, titled “New Resolution creates discontent amongst County Employees” was excellent, very well written and compelling news. As usual, Mountain Home News presents the good, the bad and the reality of life in Elmore County...

The Service Extension for The Elmore County Salvation Army would like to thank the people and businesses of the Mountain Home area for their generous donations and the volunteers from the community who spent their time to “Man a Kettle” through the 2019 Christmas Season...