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.
Idaho still clocks in at 16th on the housing data provider’s ranking of states’ foreclosure rates. But RealtyTrac’s numbers show the state’s rate fell by more than 10 percent from April through June, and by more than 50 percent over the last year. By comparison, 20 states saw their foreclosure activity go up between June 2011 and June 2012.
Non-judicial foreclosure states, like Idaho, continued to show improvement relative to those that have a judicial foreclosure process. Lenders in non-judicial foreclosure states do not have to prove in court that a mortgager is in default.
StateImpact Idaho has paid special attention to the Treasure Valley’s housing market turnaround. Stories that include the perspectives of home builders, home buyers, municipal officials, realtors, and more are available here and here.
Boise resident Will Cavanaugh says he started the SignOn petition on a whim last week.
Last week, Boise resident Will Cavanaugh, 77, found an email in his inbox. It was from left-leaning political action group MoveOn.org. Would he like to write a petition about anything? “Sure,” he thought. Healthcare was on his mind, given the recent Supreme Court ruling. “How about the Medicaid expansion?”
So Cavanaugh, who describes himself as an Idaho native and retired federal probation officer, did the modern version of taking a clipboard door-to-door. He wrote up an online petition. It was addressed to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. It was short and to-the-point. “We call on Governor Otter to honor the spirit of the Supreme Court decision on the health care act and accept the federal financial help offered,” it began.
It was posted last Wednesday. “On Thursday, there were 50 people who had signed up,” Cavanaugh said today. “Now I’m up to 1,824! They want me to take it to the Governor when it gets to 2,000!” Continue Reading →
Justin and Chris Black, outside the rustic home that serves as Chris Black’s cow camp
Black describes the lay of the land on his family’s ranch in the Owyhees.
The Blacks walk through the corral gate on their way to catch and saddle their horses.
Chris Black rides toward a small group of cattle seven miles from his cow camp.
Slowly, Black moves the cattle toward a different grazing area.
Mark Mahon explains how to tell the difference between a Douglas Fir and a Ponderosa Pine.
Mahon is a fourth generation logger. He hopes his own son, now in eighth grade, will follow him into the business.
Freshly cut logs line a newly cut road on the private land Mahon’s company has been hired to manage and thin.
While modern logging relies on large and expensive machines, these remain the basic tools of a logger’s trade.
After the Council School District lost its shop program, locals donated time, goods and services to start it up again.
On a Friday evening, Council’s small downtown bustles, but its main street is marked by vacant shop windows.
In Idaho, the timber and ag industries are heavy hitters. They play big roles in the state’s history and identity. But the recession has dealt them different hands, dividing rural Idaho into winners and losers. StateImpact Idaho takes a look at two industries, two counties, and two economic fates.
Rancher Chris Black and his son, Justin, manage a thousand head of cattle on 135,000 acres in the foothills of southwest Idaho’s Owyhee Mountains. They spend most of their time miles apart – miles from anyone, in fact – working cattle. But this day is a little different. They’re walking to the corral not far from the small solar and propane-fueled house where Chris Black lives on and off from April through November. Continue Reading →
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter during his State of the State and Budget Address early this year.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter will form working groups to “research and carefully examine” Idaho’s options in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the main components of President Obama’s health care law. That’s according to an opinion piece distributed to media by the governor’s office this afternoon.
The court’s ruling thrust large decisions back on state leaders, namely whether Idaho will form a state-run health insurance exchange, and whether it will opt into the Medicaid expansion that is a central component of the Affordable Care Act.
The governor’s office is in the process of establishing two working groups. One will take up the insurance exchange question, and the other will focus on the ramifications of accepting or rejecting the Medicaid expansion, said the governor’s press secretary, Jon Hanian. Continue Reading →
It's not yet clear whether Idaho will elect to expand Medicaid eligibility and accept federal funding provided under the health care law.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on the federal health care overhaul left states with important decisions to make. One of the main questions is whether to go along with the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
This graphic from The Washington Post lays out the problem. If states opt in, all residents with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty line will be eligible for Medicaid coverage. Continue Reading →
Boise home values have improved by nearly five percent from their post-recession low. That’s enough of an increase that a recent Brookings Institution report ranks the city first for its house price recovery. StateImpactreported that finding early this week.
The report also shows that Boise’s improved home prices are part of a broader recovery in Mountain West cities. As Brookings’ Mark Muro and Kenan Fikri write, “‘[o]n all fronts the region outperformed the nation.” Their analysis points to job growth in Denver, growing output in Las Vegas, and the general strength of Utah’s metro areas. Continue Reading →
Demand for new homes in the Boise area improved this year as existing home prices began to rise.
Boise earned sixth place in a recent ranking of cities’ economic recoveries, a strong finish that’s based largely on improvement in local home prices.
The Brookings Institution’s Metro Monitor sizes up the turnaround in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas based on four indicators: employment, unemployment, output and house prices. It focuses on how much each city has improved from its low points in those areas. The current report is based on the economy’s performance in the first three months of this year.
While Boise’s high overall ranking is certainly good news, Brookings Policy Analyst Kenan Fikri cautions against giving it too much emphasis.
A day after the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, let’s take a look at the percentage of Idahoans who are uninsured, and how Idaho’s rate compares to other states. Continue Reading →
Rep. John Rusche (D-Lewiston) advocated for a state-run health insurance exchange before the start of the 2012 legislative session.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its most anticipated decision since Bush v. Gore yesterday, when it upheld the central provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Obama's health care act tomorrow.
News outlets across the country are gearing up for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That decision is expected to come down at 8:15 tomorrow morning, mountain time. Our mothership, NPR, has planned a robust lineup of coverage. Boise State Public Radio’s news team will be hard at work to gather local reaction.
In advance of the ruling, StateImpact reached out to a number of Idaho lawmakers for insight into how the decision could affect the state. Rep. Fred Wood (R-Burley) says he hopes for an up or down vote, upholding or striking down the law in its entirety. He dreads a mixed decision, one that upholds parts of the law but strikes down others.
“That truly is a nightmare scenario, striking down a portion of that law,” says Wood. Continue Reading →
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