The Courier
News New Life for Wendell Snack Bar
Earlier this year, the residents of Wendell said goodbye to an old friend when the Snack Bar closed its doors. Last Thursday, the building at 319 South Idaho Street came back to life with the opening of BB’s Burgers & Shakes. For nearly a decade, Blake and Ginette Ruffing have owned several Arctic Circle restaurants throughout the region. While they love the franchise, it has a few limitations. So, just one year ago, they started Burley Burger, LLC, and opened their own restaurant. The goal was to make the best burgers in town. When the Snack Bar building came available, Blake saw it as an opportunity to expand his new business and return to the place where he grew up (little did he know milking cows south of Wendell would turn into a lifelong love of burgers). The building has gone though a total makeover, inside and out, to provide extra room for diners to enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and great ice cream desserts. The staff, led by manager Joey Avalos, is excited to be part of this new business venture in Wendell. So come on in, and enjoy! BB’s is open from 6:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night.
Proposition Two:
Medicaid Expansion
Ever since the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was passed by Congress in 2010, states have struggled with implementing various aspects of that law. Subsequent changes to the mandate to have insurance have further complicated this issue. In Idaho, legislators have resisted taking federal funds to expand Medicaid because they believe it would create a financial obligation for the State of Idaho with no long-term guarantee of funds from the federal government. Earlier this year, a group from Northern Idaho called Reclaim Idaho successfully collected about 70,000 signatures (over 6% of registered voters)
News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
October 24, 2018
Vol 42 ~ Num 43
Lincoln County Pie & Politics
This Friday, October 26th, the Lincoln County Community Center (201 S. Beverly Street in Shoshone) will host the Lincoln County Pie & Politics Debate. Serving of pies, desserts and beverages will begin at 6:30 p.m.and the Debate begins at 7:00 p.m. While the local politics of Lincoln County will be an important part of this event, all of the candidates for Legislative District 26 candidates will be there as well: Michelle Stennett and Julie Lynn (senate), Steve Miller and Muffy Davis, and Sally Toone and Mike McFadyen. This years Lincoln County election includes three writein candidates: Ken Ward is running against Linda Jones for County Assessor; Roy Hubert is being challenged by Larry Kerner (District 3 Commissioner); and Terry Zeck’s write-in campaign makes a three-way race for District 1 Commissioner along with Richard Ellis and Julia Oxrango-Ingram. The Pie & Politics event in Shoshone is a great place to get to know local and regional candidates. Candidates will answer questions from a moderator, and time permitting, questions submitted by the public as well.
to put Medicaid Expansion on the November 6th ballot. If approved by the voters, Proposition Two would essentially force the State of Idaho to amend Idaho Code Chapter 2, Title 56, to expand medicaid eligibility to include individuals under 65 whose gross income is less than 133% of the poverty level, and are not eligible for other coverage. The proponent of Proposition Two say Medicaid Expansion would help more than 62,000 Idahoans gain access to healthcare by bringing Idaho taxpayer money back from Washington D.C., something that 33 other states are now doing. They also say this will save the state millions of dollars by reducing the use of emergency services for general care. The opponents of this proposition claim it would put tens of thousands of able-bodied adults on Medicaid, and discourage many of them from finding
work, paying taxes, and buying health insurance. They also point out that states that have expanded Medicaid have seen skyrocketing costs and taxes. What you need to know: First, there are individuals in Idaho who are in the “Gap” of making too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to buy insurance. Statistics put that number at 62,000 (the number used last year was 78,000), but that number could be as low as 25,000 to 30,000. Regardless of which number you use, it must be understood that this is not the actual number of people who need Medicaid, but only the number of people who ‘might’ qualify under the expansion. There are people who really need help paying for medical expenses, and our state legislators have concontinued on page 2... sidered several proposals