Idaho News (Nampa, Clark Fork, Hope: driver, lodge, community)

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

yeah well there are just as many Leftist extremists and frankly I consider THEM the worst. Fortunately, fewer of them as opposed to the likes of Washington, Oregon and Kali........

There won't be fewer of them here for very long if Greater Idaho comes to pass.
Read my post on that topic. I've been thinking about Greater Idaho a lot this winter and have spent a lot of time looking the proposal over.

None of it looks at all good for us here that I've seen so far. And we are talking about 380,000 newcomers who would all arrive as residents at once, by the stroke of a pen.

They wouldn't be moving onto Idaho soil, necessarily. But they would totally be Idaho's responsibility, and they would all become Idaho voters while keeping their Oregon attitude in the booth.

[Syringaloid]

https://www.ktvb.com/video/news/loca...a-6847c96358d3

Gov. Phil Batt brought to Idaho State Capitol to lie in state

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

https://www.ktvb.com/video/news/loca...a-6847c96358d3

Gov. Phil Batt brought to Idaho State Capitol to lie in state

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo

I knew Phil well. His son was my best friend when I lived in Caldwell, and I spent many hours in Phil's home.

Phil Batt was one of the finest gentlemen I've ever known. He was one of the most intelligent men I've ever
known, and one of the most talented in every way talent can be described.

He was good at everything he ever did. He was a good farmer, father, husband, friend, boss, and politician. A kind and humble man, and a very brave man whenever courage was needed.

One of the best leaders a person could ever wish for in every undertaking he attempted. Nothing ever came easy for him, but his tenacity was very deep. As deep as his patience and his willingness to work very hard at everything he ever attempted.

Phil was always a farmer at heart. He was the first farmers to see the potential Idaho had for growing hops, the most expensive crop that can be grown; hops needs an entire industry nearby, requires massive poles and cables to support the hop vines, and produces tons of dead waste after harvest.

It was about as expensive as drilling for oil, I think. I never asked him how he was able to finance it on his own, but Phil figured it all out before he ever started, and somehow put it all together, mostly by himself, on the opposite side of the continent from where hops has always been grown before.

Phil had to sacrifice his best apple orchard to experiment with hops, but he took the hit and did it never knowing if hops would pay off or not.

Hops are now one of our agricultural specialties the rest of the world wants for brewing. Ours are simply the best that can be found, period. A big money crop for an agricultural state that delivers big premiums to Idaho.

If you were ever to meet him, his physical presence never showed his true qualities or, especially his courage. He was a rather small guy and so unassuming I'm sure a stranger would have never believed he had done so much and had accumulated so much political power as a farmer turned politician.

He never abused that power ever. But he sure put it to use when he blocked the federal government from shipping tons of industrial nuclear waste here without the state's permission. Overnight, he personally called up our National Guard to the border, and stepped out in front of them and blocked the highway personally when the trucks arrived.
And personally ordered the convoy to turn around and go back to where they came from. He stymied Ronald Reagan, who called in the middle of the incident and tried to persuade Phil to take just that one load, but Phil refused and ordered the convoy to turn around. Reagan couldn't stop him, so he had to give in.

But Phil never gloated about that. He could have, and it could have won him another term if he had wanted one, but Phil always believed one term was enough for any Governor and two was one too many.

I think he was one of the best Governors Idaho has ever had. It was just his capstone, though; Phil was the best leader in both the House and the Senate we've ever had, and he's largely responsible for the course Idaho is now on that has led to our present prosperity.

It was a great privilege I received when I got to know him as a friend, and he has my utmost respect.

And my utmost sorrow in his passing, even though he was granted a very long life. I've never met anyone who ever spent his many years better.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Not really an Idaho news story, but close enough for us in Clark Fork! A train derailed on the line along the Clark Fork River in Montana on Sunday, close to Paradise along Hwy 200. No injuries except to 26 rail cars, many of them full of Coors and Blue Moon beer...The pictures of the wreck are amazing (now that we know that nobody got hurt). The only way clean-up crews can get to the wreckage right outside the tunnel by Hwy 200 and 135 is by boat across the river.

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/new...-memories-snp/

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Not really an Idaho news story, but close enough for us in Clark Fork! A train derailed on the line along the Clark Fork River in Montana on Sunday, close to Paradise along Hwy 200. No injuries except to 26 rail cars, many of them full of Coors and Blue Moon beer...The pictures of the wreck are amazing (now that we know that nobody got hurt). The only way clean-up crews can get to the wreckage right outside the tunnel by Hwy 200 and 135 is by boat across the river.

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/new...-memories-snp/

There have been a lot of train derailments of late

[Syringaloid]

https://www.telecompetitor.com/googl...catello-idaho/


Google Fiber to Build in Pocatello, Idaho

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Our local SoCal TV station website reported this tragic story today: The avalanche near Lookout Pass had one fatality. His body has been retrieved:

https://www.10news.com/body-of-skier...fter-avalanche

[volosong]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Our local SoCal TV station website reported this tragic story today: The avalanche near Lookout Pass had one fatality. His body has been retrieved:

https://www.10news.com/body-of-skier...fter-avalanche

There was an article about them in today's Coeur d'Alene Press. All three were seasoned, well-educated outdoorsmen. They all have had avalanche training and were experienced and well-equipped to handle the weather conditions. Just goes to show that even the most experienced and capable people are no match for Mother Nature. I have a new respect for those Garmin inReach GPS receivers.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by volosong

There was an article about them in today's Coeur d'Alene Press. All three were seasoned, well-educated outdoorsmen. They all have had avalanche training and were experienced and well-equipped to handle the weather conditions. Just goes to show that even the most experienced and capable people are no match for Mother Nature. I have a new respect for those Garmin inReach GPS receivers.

Yup.
Watching an avalanche on a mountainside a mile from me was one of the terrifying memories I have in my life. It happened over 30 years ago when I was out cross-country skiing with some pals. We we all well away from any danger, but we could clearly see, hear, and feel the rumble of it.

The speed that thing went was what scared me the most- 190+ mph, and that's not even close to how fast some of them can go.

They carry so much snow so fast, and there's so much huge hunks of rubble inside that white cloud- uprooted trees and big boulders along with dirt and undergrowth- getting out of one unscathed by even the best outdoorsman is a matter of good luck that combines with the training.

No one was on that mountain, so no one was injured, and I doubt the avalanche was even recorded, but the terror has woken me up several times after I heard something outside that sounded like it, or reminded me of it in some way.
The sound it made was just like the movies- a sharp crack, then a hiss, and then a loud deep roar.

They don't have to be big ones like the one I saw to be killers.
My cousin was out snow machining, high marking on a pretty gentle slope, and he started a small avalanche with his machine.
He said he gunned it, but it was nowhere fast enough to outrun the snow, and it tumbed the snowmobile over and over before it stopped and buried him.

Once that loose snow stops, it instantly turns as hard as concrete. He said the only thing that saved his life was he was knocked off the machine's seat and landed next to the tread when it overturned. It made an airpocket in the snow, and gave him just enough clear space to move one arm.
The air lasted just long enough that he managed to dig a little ventilation shaft in the snow above him. So for most of that day, he could breathe but couldn't dig his way out.

One of his buddies who didn't go up on the hillside found him. He knew the general direction my cuz was going, and just poked around that area with his pole until he hit the bottom of the snow machine with it.
His nightmares wake him up with the cold sweats.

[banjomike]

I just read a report of a man who survived an avalanche above State Line Canyon in the Tetons Friday.
He was skiing up there, and deployed his air bag quickly enough it floated him on the snow and remained above the snowfield.
So he lived, but suffered "significant trauma" by the debris and is now in hospital in Jackson Hole. He present condition wasn't reported, but he did suffer multiple upper-body injuries.

23 team members of 2 S&R units from Idaho and Wyoming were there in the rescue.