Opinion

We all love Big Payette Lake, the crown jewel of West-central Idaho. Unfortunately, like so many places now, it is at risk for being loved to death.

We have a unique opportunity on July 31 to voice opinions and ask questions about what would be the largest development in McCall history - Pine Creek Ranch (PCR), a proposal to build more than 630 units on 158 acres to the east of the middle/elementary school complex. Please join us on July 31, at 6pm at the Idaho First Bank community room, for the neighborhood meeting organized by Pine Creek Ranch and intended for all neighbors and affected people.

Tips for newcomers Here are some important road tips for newcomers to McCall and those from out of state. Many of our roads are narrow,… Login to continue reading Login…

There is still time to speak up about the Valley County Commissioners’ effort to scrap nearly 50 years of county-city collaboration and all but eliminate the Area of Impact (AOI) that surrounds McCall and much of Payette Lake. Their plan is to shrink the AOI by 97%, from 22,000 acres to just 684, removing current planning and zoning protections from established neighborhoods, the Idaho 55 scenic byway leading into McCall, and from miles of critical shoreline and state land wrapping around Payette Lake.

Last week The Star-News reported on a presentation at a public meeting of the Big Payette Watershed Advisory Group (WAG) by staff of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) discussing efforts to control Eurasian water milfoil. The article appeared to accurately describe the problem: 1) this non-native invasive aquatic plant is increasingly growing at nuisance levels around the entire near-shore area of Payette Lake; 2) it can form dense monoculture mats that choke out native aquatic habitats and make large areas of the near-shore waters unusable for recreation; 3) it can hybridize with native milfoil posing additional challenges for control; 4) the level of diver-assisted mechanical removal effort ongoing from 2002 to 2021 (with substantial financial support from Valley County), and 2022-23 (when ISDA assumed responsibility) could no longer maintain a desired level of control; and 5) ISDA is now seriously considering the need for additional control measures including the widespread use of chemical herbicides.

Trump and his Republican Party politicians promised that things would be better with Trump as president. They lied to you, we are not better off, we are worse off.

Chickens were my first foray into the world of modern homesteading, if you don’t count pockets of raised bed gardens throughout the years. Most years I couldn’t really say that raising chickens was a profitable venture. It cost me more to raise my own than to buy eggs in the store. But oh, what eggs! They have bright orange yolks and amazing flavor.