April 2024

Green, Penny snare all-state

Both league MVPs already, a McCall-Donnelly duo has now also earned statewide praise for their play on the basketball court.Gabi Green and Sam Penny have been included in All-Idaho selections made by state coaches, with both players earning a second team nod for the 3A classification.Both Vandals were also recognized as All-Snake River Valley Conference Player of the Year following the 2023-24 season, sweeping the honor for both girls and boys.Green has spent her entire senior year racking up accolades.

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M-D struggles versus Homedale ace

Vandal hitters will likely not miss Homedale’s Dani Sitts after she graduates in the spring.The Trojan ace again proved problematic as the McCall-Donnelly softball team hit the road for a Snake River Valley Conference tilt on Monday, but was promptly dismissed with a 15-0 loss.Izzy Pietri came up with a single on one trip to the plate, but otherwise Vandal bats came up empty against the reining SRV Player of the Year and two-time all-state first-teamer.Trojan hitters were no less sympathetic.

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Vandals stymied in SRV clash

The McCall-Donnelly baseball team struggled to get going against Homedale on Monday, falling 14-0 during a Snake River Valley Conference tilt played on the road.Cole Naugle provided the Vandals with their lone hit during the game, going 1-for-2 at the plate with a single.Trojan pitchers Chance Martell and Payton Fine did not make things easy, combining for 10 strike outs without giving up a single walk.Homedale also sprang for 10 hits, including a triple and a pair of doubles.Despite coming off spring break, the M-D defense held the home team down for two runs in the first inning and one in the second.But Trojan hitters got hot and posted 11 runs during the third inning alone.M-D fell to 2-7 with the loss, but with a short turnaround were back in action Wednesday against Parma with hopes to halt a three-game slide.

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Perpetua sells Stibnite silver for $8.5M

Perpetua Resources will receive $8.5 million for all the silver expected to be mined as part of its Stibnite Gold Project, the Boise mining company announced last week.The silver was sold to the Franco-Nevada Corporation, a Toronto mining company, through an agreement that nets Perpetua $8.5 million in cash.The $8.5 million will be used to pay for the company’s general corporate expenses, Perpetua President and CEO Jon Cherry said.The sale leaves Perpetua with about $80 million in on-hand funding to pay for expenses related to permitting the company’s proposed gold and antimony mine near Yellow Pine, said Perpetua CFO Jessica Largent.“We will continue to evaluate various financing options that unlock shareholder value as we receive permits for our world-class project and transition towards construction,” Largent said.Silver makes up less than 1% of Perpetua’s estimated $6 billion in mineral reserves at Stibnite, which include 4.8 million ounces of gold and 115 million pounds of antimony.Plans call for gold, silver and antimony to be extracted from three open pit mines totaling about 473 acres at Stibnite.Perpetua is currently awaiting the release of a draft decision on the project by the Payette National Forest, the lead permitting agency for the federal review process.A draft decision is currently slated for release this spring, with a final decision expected by the end of the year, according to an April 1 project update issued by the Payette.Overall, Perpetua has spent more than $300 million on its Stibnite proposal since exploration began in 2011.The company has received $75 million in the last two years from the U.S.

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Local vaulters resurrect indoor trainer

It took time to plan, months to execute, weeks to transport and days to assemble, but a new indoor training set up for area pole vaulters now resides erect – alive again — inside the Meadows Valley gym.Mountaineer track and field coach Jared McIlvain proudly hosts the sizable structure, which he and others believe could help pole vaulters from MV, McCall-Donnelly, Cascade – even Salmon River – get an edge on the competition.“I’m excited,” McIlvain said.

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Tracking snow to guide water

Once a month from January until May, Sarah Armstrong shoulders a 20-pound pack as she skis out into forests around Idaho to take snow surveys.The surveys collect data which help determine the water content of the winter snowpack, which can aid decision makers in managing and distributing water for agriculture, reservoirs and recreation.“Little Payette Lake is a great example of how important snowmelt is to our community,” Armstrong said last week during the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation’s Outdoor Conversations series held in McCall.“Without adequate data to estimate our snowmelt runoff, management of the lake in the early season would be difficult and lead to drought and flooding concerns to the downstream users,” she said.Armstong, who grew up in McCall but now lives in Hailey, began conducting snow surveys in 2009 when she started work for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.Armstrong demonstrated some of the gear and devices she uses to conduct her surveys during last week’s presentation, including the Mount Rose Sampler.The device, created by James Church in 1908, is an elongated and hollow metal tube which weighs the snow to determine the water content.Armstrong weighs the empty metal tube then fills it with snow from the survey site.

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Correction

CORRECTION: A story last week in The Star-News incorrectly stated that the Idaho Department of Lands changed its policy regarding local planning laws for a request for lease applications on a 12.5-acre state land parcel on Deinhard Lane.

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