Idaho News (Boise: agricultural, estimated, things to do)

[Syringaloid]

Typical for the first snow fall in the Boise area.
Newbies not knowing how to drive in snow?

Check out the photo slide show in the link:

Crashes snarl I-84 traffic after morning snowfall | KTVB.COM

Nampa Police say they responded to 21 crashes during the commute and Ada County reported a total of 54 crashes and 12 slide-offs. Idaho State Police were dispatched to 26 wrecks.

Weather report: Boise and the Treasure Valley, Dec. 6, 2016 | Idaho Statesman

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

Typical for the first snow fall in the Boise area.
Newbies not knowing how to drive in snow?

Check out the photo slide show in the link:

Crashes snarl I-84 traffic after morning snowfall | KTVB.COM




Weather report: Boise and the Treasure Valley, Dec. 6, 2016 | Idaho Statesman

It's always like this after the first storms of the winter.
Folks buy 4WD vehicles so they can go in the snow here, but they always forget that a 4WD doesn't stop any quicker than a 2WD drive vehicle on a slick street, so it's not the speeding so much as the stopping.

Once all traction is gone, inertia always takes over. When a car is going even a low speed, like 20 mph, when traction is lost, steering goes along with the loss, so a driver can't stop or steer. Locking the brakes makes things all worse, but it's a natural human reaction. Faster speeds only make the stopping much longer, and a longer time spent with no steering ability.

Panic stops are simply impossible on slick roads, even with the best winter tires. It takes a much longer distance to stop, and stopping only happens when the brakes are applied a little at a time, even at low speeds. On highways, the stopping distances only increase with speed.

That's why the cars pile up. Everyone can be driving slower than normal, but all can be going too fast to stop quickly.

My rule of thumb is; if it takes a second to gain traction, it will take 2 seconds to lose speed. If I leave one car length ahead of me on a dry road, I try to leave 3 car lengths between me and the car ahead on a slick road, or even longer if it's icy.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Plague Strikes 6 Cats in Idaho

Monitor your cats, you guys in SW Idaho. If they are outdoor cats, they may be hunting ground squirrels carrying plague bacteria. Antibiotics saved 2 out of 3 cats.

[Syringaloid]

Mayor Bieter Urges President-elect Trump to Follow Boise's Example When Addressing Immigration | Citydesk | Boise Weekly

In a guest opinion sent to Idaho newspapers, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter celebrated the city's diversity and noted the impact immigration has had on Boise and all of Idaho.

"President-elect Trump and Congress should keep Boise's experience and the experience of many cities in the United States in mind when addressing immigration and refugee issues," wrote Bieter, adding the city's many departments and agencies ensure refugees are safe and have access to programs. "We don't debate about who is more worthy or where they're from. We are a welcoming city. We all have work to do."

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Plague Strikes 6 Cats in Idaho

Monitor your cats, you guys in SW Idaho. If they are outdoor cats, they may be hunting ground squirrels carrying plague bacteria. Antibiotics saved 2 out of 3 cats.

The plague has decimated a lot of our ground squirrel population. The first wave of die-offs occurred in the late 90s, and it's been going in waves ever since.

Dogs and cats aren't the only secondary victims; all the predators who prey on the squirrels are all vulnerable to the plague in varying degrees.

Those that aren't vulnerable to the disease have a harder time making their living. Weasels, ferrets and badgers don't suffer many casualties to the plague, but they starve when their prey disappears. So do our birds of prey.

For some, the ground squirrel is like the buffalo was to the Indians. They can possibly survive on other prey species, but the ground squirrel is the big kill that will sustain them and their youngsters far longer than the alternatives.

Some species, especially the black-footed ferret, have become so specialized that when the ground squirrels disappear, they die too. While the ferrets are more connected to the prairie dog, a critter that doesn't live here, the prairie dogs are cousins of the ground squirrel, and our ferrets depend on them.

[Syringaloid]

11 Best Christmas Light Displays In Idaho 2016

[banjomike]

There's a neighborhood here in Idaho Falls that decorates all their homes with a single theme every year.
At Christmas time, the name of the street is changed to Candy Cane Lane; lighted candy canes line the street on both sides.

[countrylv22]

Originally Posted by banjomike

There's a neighborhood here in Idaho Falls that decorates all their homes with a single theme every year.
At Christmas time, the name of the street is changed to Candy Cane Lane; lighted candy canes line the street on both sides.

Do you happen to have pictures of the place? Is there a local newspaper that might have pictures of them?

Thanks in advance!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by countrylv22

Do you happen to have pictures of the place? Is there a local newspaper that might have pictures of them?

Thanks in advance!

I don't!
If I can dig some up, I'll post them.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by banjomike

I don't!
If I can dig some up, I'll post them.

This turned out to be harder than I thought!

Apparently, there's no candy cane lane this year due to lack of snow. After calling a friend who's a local reporter, some of the neighbors who put up their lights most often moved over the past 2 years, too, so there's less interest this year all around.

Since it's not a highly organized event- it's just a block or so of neighbors who put out the canes and lights as they want, it also varies from year to year in quantity, and, for the folks who cruise the street to see it, the quality.

I found a link to some photos, but I'm not sure if I should post it here, as its on a blog, and I don't like to forward blog stuff without permission.

A search for candy cane lane idaho falls ID will turn some pictures up, but mostly of single homes' lights.

Here are some of the best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCp5y16-bd4

I've seen many of the above; the folks like to put them up year after year, and most have music and a lot of light show motion. Around here, it's also very popular to really wrap trees with lights instead of stringing them on homes. Many of the tree displays have thousands of lights on each tree, along with motion and music.

Not so much this year. The weather has been so warm for so long I guess the spirit just wansn't as strong. It's been raining here in between snow flurries, which tends to dampen the spirit, too, I think.