It’s no secret that Elmore County’s main economic driver is agriculture and ranching operations, whether it be smaller family farms or ranches; or rather large agricultural and dairy operations (many of them also being family operated/owned). Our major crops include corn (typically for silage and grain purposes, sometimes for earlage or snaplage), potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, sugar beets, beans, onions and other specialty crops. During September and October agricultural operations are fast-moving in Elmore County, as this is the time to harvest their valuable crops from the field to the market. This means our local municipal and county roads are fraught with pickups, trucks, trailers and very large specialized farming/ranching equipment that needs to be moved in a quick manner to accomplish the harvesting of over 360,000 acres in a short time period.

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Sept. 17, 2021 - BOISE, Idaho (AP) - As the spread of the delta variant continues unabated in much of the U.S., public health leaders have approved health care rationing in Idaho and parts of Alaska and Montana.

At least five more states - Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas - are nearing capacity with more than 90% of their intensive care unit beds full, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The move to ration healthcare comes amid a spike in the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. Crisis standards of care allow health care providers to give scarce resources, like ventilators, to the patients most likely to survive.

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9.16.21 - The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) has activated Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) in accordance with IDAPA 16.02.09 – Crisis Standards of Care For Healthcare Entities. CSC is activated statewide because the massive increase of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in all areas of the state has exhausted existing resources. CSC was activated on Sept. 6 in North Idaho. This activation, declared 9.16, expands the declaration to the rest of the state.

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Tuesday's early morning power outage that affected a large portion of Mountain Home was due to a vehicle vs. power pole accident on E 8th. At approximately 1:14 am a passenger vehicle, at what appeared to be a high rate of speed struck a power pole and sheared the pole off to the ground causing a small fire that was quickly put out.

At last night's school board meeting the trustees approved a three week universal masking requirement for all staff, students, and visitors inside the school facilities and for students riding the bus. This requirement will go into effect tomorrow morning, September 9th, and run through September 30th. Universal masking will not be required outdoors or during physical activity and lunch as long as appropriate social distancing is occurring. After three weeks the data on infections, student attendance, staff absences, and quarantines will be reviewed and compared to the first three weeks of school without masking. The trustees will review the data to determine the effectiveness of this additional mitigation. The only exemptions are for those with a valid doctor's note stating that they cannot mask and for special education students who have an exemption written in an IEP. Staff and student quarantines will not be required during this time for those identified as close contacts. This action follows Central District Health's recommendation. Those identified as close contacts will simply be asked to monitor for symptoms for five days. This should greatly reduce the number of students that are out of the building and missing direct instruction. I do believe this action will provide the trustees with the information needed to continue to navigate the district safely and effectively through the school year.

Tuesday August 31, 2021

Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little announced today a last-ditch effort to avoid the first-ever activation of statewide crisis standards of care by adding hundreds of new medical personnel for Idaho hospitals, but he said the real solution to the crisis is more Idahoans choosing to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.