The Courier
News A Free Ride to the Hospital
Last year, during a community assessment, the North Canyon Medical Center discovered a big need in the area it serves. Many people were having trouble getting to hospital for needed services. For some it was a physical disability due to age or illness. For others it was because they didn’t have access to a vehicle or didn’t have a drivers licence. Whatever the reason, the folks at NCMC wanted to eliminate that roadblock to healthcare. After a long process of developing a transportation program especially for our area and acquiring a handicap accessible vehicle, NCMC announced two weeks ago that, beginning Jaunuary 20th, they would offer a free patient transpor-
tation service. iCare-A-Van is available to patients in need of transportation to and from the hospital for health care services. This free service runs Monday through Friday and is available to residents in Gooding County, Camas County, Lincoln County, and Glenns Ferry. Shellie Amundson, Community Relations Director for NCMC, was quoted on
KMVT as saying, “it’s for individuals who simply need a ride, whether they have a physical disability, whether they’re a senior citizen, whether they’re someone who simply isn’t able to drive so there are no restrictions with the program.” Patients wanting to schedule a ride should call 208– 934–5285.
USDA Easement Program Helps Conserve Working Lands 2014 Applications Due by March 10, 2014 Boise, Idaho, January 31, 2014 – Land trusts and entities interested in permanently protecting farm or ranchlands in Idaho may apply for funding from the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service will accept applications for this year’s program through March 10, 2014. “The intent of the Farm and Ranchland Protection
Program is to ensure valuable agriculture land is available to produce food,” said State Conservationist Jeff Burwell. “The program protects productive farms and ranches from being converted to nonagricultural uses by offering funds to purchase conservation easements.” Burwell said that entities with existing farm and ranch land protection programs apply to NRCS for matching funds to purchase development rights from landowners
for conservation easements. “Once a conservation easement is established, current and future landowners will always be able to use the property for agriculture.” The program provides matching funds to eligible State, Tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations that have existing farmland protection programs to purchase conservation easements. Landowners apply for the program through continued on page 6.....
February 5
,2014
Volume 38 ~ Number 6 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Dealing With Your Trash Garbage is BIG in America. We produce about 250 million tons of it each year. But, lest we think we are number one, the European Union (27 countries) produces 10 times that amount. Part of that is due to population (they have 500 million people, while we only have 300 million people), but the real reason is that they produce 5 times more trash, per person, per year. Of course, the EU beats us in another way as well - they recycle. In America, more than half of the waste we produce simply goes to the dump. In several EU countries there is, in fact, no such thing as a dump. Depending on the country, they recycle 40% to 60% of their trash, with the remaining waste being converted into energy via incinerators. American incinerators consume about 10% of our waste with the capacity to produce 2,700 megawatts of power per year (enough to power 1.5 million homes). We could increase that amount by 4 or 5 times, but no new incinerator plants have been built in the US since 1995. This is due, ironically, to environmentalists who are concerned that doing so would take money away from solar and/or wind power projects. Recycling trash (in whatever continued on page 2.....