Maxfield Silverson

New forms, waivers, and training round out the changes at local public libraries in response to a new state law that took effect July 1.The law, previously known as House Bill 710, requires all libraries in Idaho to have separate sections for adult books and children’s book, as well as a complaint process for offensive materials.Among the most affected by the law has been the 1,000-square-foot Donnelly Public Library, which cannot separate books due to space constraints, Library Director Sherry Scheline said.The library’s 13,000-book collection is currently organized into sections for children, young adults and adults, but there is no physical separation between the sections.

Nearly 65% of the City of McCall’s tax on short-term rentals and motel stays in 2025 will be devoted to funding city operations, under allocations recently approved by the McCall City Council.The council approved a budget for next year’s tourism local-option tax revenue that directs $585,000 of the $900,000 the tax is projected to earn for city projects, programs, and operations.Most of the money earmarked for city operations will go to the Parks Department, including about $185,000 to do snow removal and summer cleaning of sidewalks in downtown McCall.Another $200,000 will be spent to re-pay the city’s reserve fund, from which $1 million was borrowed to build a new shop for the Parks Department on Forest Street in 2021.

Fire restrictions are likely to go into effect early next week on the Payette National Forest and other public lands as historically hot and dry conditions usher in a frightening fire forecast.At this point in the year, only 3% of the days over the past 20 years have had worse conditions for wildfire potential, said Payette National Forest Fire Management Officer David Vining.Restrictions like limiting campfires to Forest Service provided fire rings in designated campsites and prohibiting smoking outdoors are likely to be put in place early next week, Vining said.Rules would apply on land managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Idaho Department of Lands.Fire restrictions in Central Idaho are not typically enacted until late August or September, with many years having no restrictions at all.“Smokey Bear is pointing at ‘very high’ fire danger now and that’s about a month early for us, and that’s going to continue to rise over the next few weeks,” Vining said.In preparation for dry lightning across the area on Wednesday, Vining ordered extra firefighters to aid the Payette’s crews already on duty, including two fire engine crews, a helicopter rappel crew and one twenty two-person hand crew.Already stationed on the Payette are about 200 firefighters, six fire engines, two single engine air tankers, two Twin Otter smokejumper airplanes an “air attack plane” and a helicopter.As of Tuesday, there were no active fires on the Payette, but smoke moved into the region from fires in Eastern Oregon and California.The main sources of smoke are the Cow Valley Fire about 80 miles southwest of McCall in Oregon, that had grown to about 133,000 acres as of Tuesday and the roughly 66,000-acre Falls Fire near Burns, Oregon.

An approval that allowed Perpetua Resources to begin preliminary work on a new roadway to the company’s proposed Stibnite mine near Yellow Pine was withdrawn last week by the Boise National Forest.The decision, issued by Cascade District Ranger Chris Bentley, rescinds a March 1 approval that allowed Perpetua to conduct drilling for geological studies needed to finetune the design of a new roadway proposed as the main route to the mine.Bentley’s decision followed Perpetua’s request on July 1 to withdraw the approved plans and instead have the plans evaluated as part of a final environmental study of the entire mining proposal that the Payette National Forest currently expects to release this fall.“This comes down to our team’s prioritization of work this summer,” said Mckinsey Lyon, a Perpetua spokesperson.