Emilie Ritter Saunders was StateImpact Idaho's multimedia reporter until the project merged with the Boise State Public Radio site in July 2013. She previously worked as the Capitol Bureau Chief for Montana Public Radio and was a Senior Fellow with NPR's Economic Training Project from 2009 until 2010. She graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2007.
Theresa Thompson/ERSaunders / Flickr/StateImpact Idaho
These are the five stories getting the most love this week. Thanks for reading, sharing and commenting...
Every week we look back at the five stories getting the most attention at StateImpact Idaho. These stories got the most clicks, comments and shares. In case you missed something, here are the essentials:
Idaho National Laboratory
INL's Materials and Fuels Complex in southeastern Idaho.
Officials with the Idaho National Laboratory say they need to cut 185 employees to reduce costs.
The Associated Press reports employees at the lab were informed of the job cuts today. Lab officials will ask for voluntary layoffs before deciding how many pink slips to hand out.
Human Resources Director Mark Holubar tells Boise State Public Radio the layoff process will continue until the end of March.
“This is obviously a very difficult situation for us, and any time that we are talking about the possibility of eliminating somebody’s job it’s not an easy thing,” Holubar says.
The Idaho National Laboratory cut about 100 jobs last year. INL, which is operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, employs more than 4,000 people. Thousands more on the site near Idaho Falls are employed by contractors and other agencies.
Micron Technology
Micron Technology, Inc. has scheduled a public memorial service for its former CEO Steve Appleton who was killed in a plane crash last week in Boise.
The service will be on Thursday, February 23, at 10:00 a.m. at the Taco Bell Arena, on the Boise State University campus.
Memorial funds have been established in Appleton’s name with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Boise State University Foundation. The Micron Foundation has donated $25,000 to each of the funds in honor of Appleton.
Boise Metro Chamber
A view of downtown Boise, Idaho
CNN Money and Realtor.com recently included Boise on a top ten list of post-recession ‘turnaround towns’. They slated Boise in sixth place behind Sarasota, Fort Myers, Orlando, Phoenix and Miami. While it might be nice for the Gem State’s biggest city to be recognized on this kind of a list, many of the facts supporting its placement are simply false.
Let’s start from the top. CNN Money reports Boise’s median home price is $120,000. They aren’t too far off. According to Intermountain MLS, Boise’s median home price in January was $130,000.
The post’s opening line characterizes Boise’s economy as an ‘offbeat combination of old and new’.
“The logging industry still pays a lot of the bills in town, but tech jobs have also become increasingly prevalent.”
That’s not exactly true either. Continue Reading
Two tax panels will join forces Wednesday to brainstorm ways to stimulate Idaho’s economy. The Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee and the House Revenue and Taxation Committee are hosting a joint forum on the subject beginning at 9:00 am. We’ll be liveblogging.
Here’s the agenda:
Siri Stafford / Getty Images
Idaho’s General Fund tax collections exceeded expectations for the second month in a row. The Division of Financial Management reports January collections were up $6.3 million above the forecast amount.
DFM’s monthly report says the uptick is due largely to better than expected sales tax revenues.
The sales tax contributed $103.7 million to the General Fund, which is $7.6 million more than was expected. This month also marks the second consecutive month the sales tax has performed above expectations. It should also be noted that January’s performance is an important milestone because it is the month with the year’s highest expected collections since it represents sales that took place during December. The fiscal year-to-date sales tax revenue of $627.1 million is up $9.6 million above the forecast.
Individual and corporate income taxes came in slightly below forecast predictions for the month of January.
Supervalu Inc.
Supervalu bought the Albertsons chain in 2006.
Supervalu Inc., the parent company of Albertsons grocery stores, is laying off about 130 employees at its Boise corporate office.
Supervalu announced today the reduction is part of a nationwide move to reduce operating costs. Spokesman Mike Siemienas says Supervalu will reduce its workforce by 800. That’s out of a total workforce of 135,000 nationwide. Those cuts will be complete by February 25.
Siemienas says corporate employees in Boise are getting layoff notices this week. He says the roughly 130 positions being cut include entry level corporate jobs, as well as finance, IT and marketing positions. Siemienas says the layoffs do not affect store-level employees. Continue Reading
Idaho’s unemployment rate continued to go up after the recession was officially declared over in 2009. The monthly jobless rate didn’t start to trend down until recently, and it’s an economic indicator we’ve followed closely over the last few months. Our coverage is driven in two ways: data and personal stories. This web-based data application combines both.
Our app will let you visualize Idaho’s unemployment rate over time, and in each Idaho county. You can use the map to get specific data for the county you live in. Then, you can use the slider tool to see how the rate has changed in your area overtime compared with the state and national data.
On the left-hand side of the app you’ll find the personal stories we’ve been reporting for the last few months. The series is called Jobless in Idaho. There, you’ll find compelling stories of people who found themselves out of work and in many cases, with few options. It’s a series of stories we’re updating regularly as each of the people involved finds their next opportunity.
The Knowles Gallery / Flickr
Little Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.
Each week we look back at the five stories getting the most clicks, comments and shares.
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