Opinion

I recently learned that Idaho voters are gathering signatures in order to restore a woman’s right to choose. After giving successful birth to two children, my niece learned that she was pregnant and that her third child had only half a brain. She decided to abort it and does not live in Idaho. If she lived here in Idaho she would have been forced to carry the child to term, deliver it, and care for it for the remainder of his/her life. I can’t imagine the mental, physical, and emotional trauma she would have had to endure for the rest of her life. Two out of every three Idahoans believe abortion should be legal.

July 1 2024, the law surrounding areas of impact in all cities in Idaho changed. The new law requires all Idaho counties to essentially hit the reset button regarding area of impact boundaries. The legislative findings and intent plainly demonstrate how the Idaho Legislature expect those areas surrounding cities to be governed. “The legislature finds that areas of impact are properly under the jurisdiction of the county because the elected representatives of citizens in areas of impact are county officials, not city officials.” County commissioners are tasked with making the final determination as to where an area of impact boundary should be located and also tasked with making land use decisions within the area of impact.

On Sept. 13, United Payette (UP) will host the 5th annual Clean UP! event, focusing on picking up and removing trash from endowment lands surrounding Payette Lake. For the past four years, numerous UP members and community supporters have gathered in early September to show a little love for the state-owned endowment lands that many of us enjoy for hiking, camping, gathering, hunting, bird watching, and many other recreation activities. We show our appreciation for the endowment lands by targeting key parcels that see heavy use during the summer for a Clean UP! effort, and we invite you to join us!

Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality has quietly rewritten cancer protection rules to benefit one gold mine — Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project — and in doing so, made our children the most vulnerable in the nation to pediatric cancer. Carefully crafted thirty years ago, the law has simultaneously protected Idaho’s children while minimizing regulatory burden on our industries. Now, to facilitate this mega-mine, both our children and our industries face unprecedented risks.

Building Pine Creek Ranch (PCR) as proposed will result in increased stress on the community of McCall. Community stressors include effects upon emergency, fire, medical and law enforcement responses, code enforcement, water systems, sewage disposal systems, community medical care, increased vehicle traffic with the corresponding increase in road maintenance, noise and air pollution, light pollution, waste disposal, increased endangerment to Payette Lake (McCall’s sole source of potable water), and impacts on McCall-Donnelly School District – and more.

As probably the newest residents in The Woodlands Subdivision, my wife and I have been amazingly surprised by the culture of this neighborhood. On our first drive through we encountered dogs lying in the street ignoring us, kids playing street hockey, numerous hikers, bikers, couples walking, etc. We are impressed by the “family” nature of all who reside here. These are local families that work in McCall and live here with children and pets of all ages. Long term and longtime residents. No Airbnb’s here. The streets are narrow and all who reside here actually drive 5 to 10 mph and respect the neighborhood culture.