Molly Messick was StateImpact Idaho's broadcast reporter until May 2013. Prior to joining StateImpact and Boise State Public Radio, she was a reporter and host for Wyoming Public Radio. She is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Home construction has picked up in Idaho even as foreclosures persist.
Idaho saw more foreclosure filings from July through September than it did in the previous quarter of the year, according to RealtyTrac data released today. The number of filings inched up by 5.6 percent from the second to third quarters.
Idaho has the 14th highest foreclosure rate in the nation, with one of every 294 housing units experiencing a foreclosure filing over the more recent quarter. While that might not sound great, the state’s housing market has seen substantial improvement over the last year, based on RealtyTrac’s numbers and other statistics.
The number of Idaho properties experiencing foreclosure filings has decreased by 45 percent compared to a year ago, RealtyTrac says.
Ada County Republicans arrived hours early to attend the March caucus.
The Ada County GOP has beenstingy with contributions to local candidates in the run-up to the Nov. 6 election. When asked how much the Ada County Republicans have been able to spend on races so far, treasurer Darrel McRoberts gives a dejected response.
“Not one penny this year,” he says. “We haven’t been able to. We had to pay it all to Taco Bell.” Continue Reading →
Idaho is the nation's third-largest cheese producer, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Days after the Idaho State Department of Agriculture touted that Wal-Mart has begun carrying cheeses from Nelson-Ricks Creamery Company’s Rexburg plant, the company announced it will end production this month.
“What’s happened to the company has been devastating,” president Reagan Wood said Monday. “The community and the employees have been impacted, and we did everything we could to not have that happen.”
More than 15 people will lose their jobs because of the closure, Wood confirms, but the company will continue to operate in a different form. It will now get its cheeses from other Idaho manufacturers, and package that cheese at its facility in Salt Lake City, Wood says. Continue Reading →
Idaho Power CEO J. LaMont Keen rose through the company's ranks.
Idaho Power CEO J. LaMont Keen‘s base salary rose by 45 percent between 2006 and last year, compensation records show.
Keen’s salary was $436,538 when he was appointed just over six years ago. By 2011, it had risen to $634,423.
“That’s a highly significant increase, especially in the years of recession,” said Harry Schum of Compensation Resources, Inc., a New Jersey-based consulting company that specializes in executive compensation plans. “It would tend to make me believe he was brought in below market level with an aggressive increase to market levels.”
In fact, that does appear to be the explanation for Keen’s rising rate of pay. According to Idaho Power, former company CEO Jan Packwood earned a base salary $630,000 in 2005, the year before Keen took the reins. Continue Reading →
Thompson Creek Mine is the company's one Idaho location.
Thompson Creek Metals Company answered questions from investors today after announcing yesterday that it will suspend a planned phase of activity at its molybdenum mine in Custer County, resulting in job cuts.
The company expects to lay off 104 of its approximately 400 employees, CEO Kevin Loughrey said today. “They’re going to be primarily truck drivers and then some maintenance people who deal with those trucks,” he explained.
Molybdenum is used in alloying steel. Thompson Creek’s underlying problem is widespread economic weakness, which has driven down prices. Continue Reading →
Lately, we’ve covered the wind industry’s aggressive move into Idaho, and utilities’ attempts to rein in the industry’s expansion in the state. Related to that reporting, it’s worth taking a look at the big picture of electricity generation in Idaho. With that in mind, we posted this map last week. Now, let’s size it up from another angle.
Nelson-Ricks Creamery will provide cheddar, mozzarella and other varieties.
“The brand is “Idaho Cheese,” says Idaho Preferred program manager Leah Clark. “When you look at it in the case, it’s got a big State of Idaho and “Idaho Cheese” and then the variety. It’s a big, white, plain, not pretty label.” Continue Reading →
Wind producers aren't the only ones pushing back against Idaho utilities over independent power production.
The federal law that helped 30 Idaho wind projects get underway over the last four years was initially championed by an entirely different breed of business: timber companies, canal companies, and Simplot. That adds a twist to a story that is, on its face, about a dispute between the renewable energy industry and utilities, primarily Idaho Power. Continue Reading →
Sometimes, in reporting, you stumble across something that is just plain great. Lately I’ve been focused on wind development, and this wind map is one of those awesome things I happened to find. Go ahead: click on it. You’ll see.
Martin Wattenberg and Fernanda Viegas
The live wind map is an art project, as the site explains. It’s based on data from the National Digital Forecast Database, and it’s updated hourly.
My recent reporting has given me an excuse talk to landowners and lawyers and utility reps and folks at the Idaho Public Utility Commission. Those are fascinating conversations, but it’s complex stuff. That is to say: this mesmerizing, real-time representation of winds blowing all across the U.S. came as a breath of fresh air. Pun intended. Couldn’t resist.
Courtesy: Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Most of us don’t think about where the electricity that powers our lights, televisions, computers, phones — our lives — comes from. And if we wanted to find out, how many of us would know where to start?
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