INL's Materials and Fuels Complex in southeastern Idaho.
CNN Money recently published a list of the 25 best counties in the country to find work. At number 15, nestled between Houston County, Georgia and Cass County, North Dakota is Bonneville County, Idaho. That includes Idaho Falls and part of one of Idaho’s biggest employers, the Idaho National Laboratory. The lab is spread across a handful of southeastern Idaho counties.
CNN used Census data to find counties where jobs and population were increasing, and where the jobless rate was below the national average. According to their list, CNN says Bonneville County saw a 28 percent increase in jobs between 2000 and 2011. Continue Reading →
Here’s a look at the five stories numbers show are this week’s must-reads. They’re the stories getting the most clicks, comments and shares. Don’t miss out, and let us know what you think!
A 2011 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges ranks Idaho second to last when it comes to the number of physicians per capita. By this measure, Idaho is short on doctors.
According to the report, there are 2,873 active physicians in Idaho. That’s 184 doctors for every 100,000 people. The only state with fewer doctors per 100,000 people is Mississippi.
Over the coming months, StateImpact will explore how we got here, and if the numbers are as dire as they seem. But we need your help. Have you had a hard time getting a doctor’s appointment? Do you know someone who has? We’d like to hear your stories. Send an email to ersaunders@stateimpact.org with the subject line Doctor Shortage and we’ll be in touch.
Workers prepare the main stage ahead of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
Many prominent Idaho Republicans are packing their bags and heading to Tampa for the 2012 Republican National Convention.
The list of Idaho delegates includes Gov. C.L. “Butch” and Lori Otter, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, and multimillionaire Romney backers Frank and Belinda VanderSloot. The full list is available here.  Continue Reading →
Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies was released this week, and 18 Idaho businesses made the cut.
To qualify, companies apply by providing relevant financials and a general description of their business.
Some familiar companies that frequent these kinds of rankings were again included. Scentsy ranks 516, Balihoo ranks 853 and Pita Pit ranks 4,256.
Four newcomers to the list are based in Idaho. Lucky Bums makes outdoor recreation gear for kids. The Boise-based company made $3.4 million last year and is expected to grow by more than 600 percent in the next three years. Husband-and-wife teamJeff and Julie Streeter founded the company in 2004. It currently has 12 employees.
Jeff Streeter says he has often considered applying for the magazine’s annual ranking, but has never before made the cut. “And to come that close to the top 500, we were really pleased with the results,” Streeter says. Continue Reading →
Craig Nolte is a Regional Manager for Community Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, one of the event's sponsors.
A foreclosure counseling event in downtown Boise Wednesday offered a window into how homeowners are faring, years after Idaho’s foreclosure rate began to climb. The basic message was this: we’re not out of the woods yet.
In August 2011, Idaho’s foreclosure rate was the fifth highest in the nation, based on data from RealtyTrac. But the last twelve months brought positive change. Property values took a turn for the better, homebuilders reported rising demand, and the state’s foreclosure rate began to fall.
Still, the rate remains high, and that may not change soon. Gavin Gee heads the Idaho Department of Finance, one of the foreclosure workshop’s sponsors.
“Our economy, I think, overall is getting better, but we still have a lot of challenges in the general economy and the overall broader economy, and as long as we have those challenges, I think we’re still going to have foreclosure issues,” he says. Continue Reading →
Micron Technology CEO Mark Durcan is scheduled to speak at next week’s City Club of Boise luncheon.
Duran took over as CEO in February after longtime CEO Steve Appleton died in a plane crash.
Micron employs more than 5,000 people in Idaho, but has gone through a series of layoffs since 2005. The company shuttered its solar panel venture this year, laying off 250 people. It’s also in the process of purchasing a bankrupt Japanese chip-maker, a move intended to strengthen its manufacturing capacity.
Durcan is expected to address key trends in the tech sector and explain how Micron plans to maintain its spot in the industry.
The luncheon takes place Tuesday, August 28 at 11:45 a.m. at The Grove Hotel in Boise. The reservation deadline is Friday, August 24 by noon.
Gov. Otter speaks with Col. Brad Richy, left, after a helicopter tour of the Halstead and Trinity Ridge fires.
*StateImpact received new information this afternoon from the Idaho National Guard that the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost to activate Idaho soldiers and airmen for support on the Trinity Ridge fire. The federal government typically shares this cost with the state, but in this case, the federal government requested Gov. Otter activate the guard, therefore, they’ll pick up the full cost.Â
More than 100 Idaho National Guardsman have been activated to support firefighting efforts in the state, costing $25,000 per day.
On Sunday Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter activated 101 soldiers and airmen to help with the Trinity Ridge Fire. They’ll provide security and helicopter support.
Col. Tim Marsano anticipates the guardsmen will be active through September 14. That would put the estimated cost at $675,000. The federal government will reimburse the state for 100 percent of the cost.
The Trinity Ridge Fire, burning near the towns of Featherville and Pine, has burned nearly 100,000 acres so far.
The Idaho Department of Lands says the state’s general fund paid for almost $6 million in fire suppression costs for the year ending June 30, 2012. The average general fund cost over the last five years is $8.6 million. The Department of Lands reports as of August 1, Idaho had already spent $9.1 million.
IDOC says inmates who have been convicted of serious or violent crimes won't be considered for a move to Colorado.
The Idaho Department of Correction flew 130 prisoners to Colorado this morning in an effort to relieve crowding as Idaho’s inmate population goes up.
“We know how hard this is on the inmates’ families but the fact is we’re running out of room,” Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke says in a press release.
The Department could eventually move as many as 800 inmates to Colorado over the next couple of years. It’s unclear how long the inmates will be housed out of state. A written press release says it could be “several years.”
On average, it costs the state $52.82 per day to house an inmate at an Idaho correctional facility. It will cost, on average, $54.19 per inmate per day at the Kit Carson Correctional Center (KCCC) in Burlington, Colorado. Continue Reading →
St. Luke's CEO David Pate started blogging on health and policy issues in the fall of 2011.
The results are in on an informal Medicaid and insurance exchange poll by St. Luke’s CEO.
As StateImpactreported last week, Dr. David Pate wanted to hear his blog readers’ thoughts about whether Idaho should expand Medicaid eligibility and create a state-run health insurance exchange. Both are fundamental pieces of President Obama’s health care law which was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
As Pate writes on his blog, about 140 people responded to the unscientific poll:
“In all, 142 people answered the question, “Should Idaho implement a state-operated exchange or allow the federal government to implement the exchange in our state?”  Continue Reading →
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