The Courier

Gooding Is 'Capital for a Day'

This Friday, March 17th, Gooding Mayor Diane Houser will welcome Governor Brad Little's "Capital for a Day" event to be held at the Gooding Basque Center (285 Euskadi Lane, behind the Valley Country Store). The event will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Members of the Governor's cabinet will be in attendance and will join the Governor in answering questions from citizens. Cabinet members will include: Hispanic Affairs, Commission for Libraries, Department of Commerce, Department of Financial Management, Health and Welfare, Labor, Water Resources, Energy and Mineral Resources, State Controller, Agriculture, State Police, Transportation, and Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice, Richard Bevan.

"Capital for a Day is a great opportunity for myself and my administration to hear from Idahoans about the needs of their community," Governor Little said. "It is an honor to share this tradition with the good people of Gooding and learn how we can better serve them."

JFAC Advances Governor's Public Schools Budget

On Tuesday, Governor Brad Little commented on the passage of his K-12 budget recommendation in the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee.

"THANK YOU to JFAC for your support of our public schools this morning! You put Idaho students and families first by approving increased pay for teachers and classified staff across the board. We're making the teaching profession in Idaho more competitive and rewarding, which keeps great teachers in the classroom to help our students achieve.

"Last September, we secured historic investments in public schools and workforce training while cutting taxes, and 80-percent of Idaho voters approved the move. This is a 'promises made, promises kept' moment, and I am proud of my legislative partners for putting IDAHO FIRST."

Last year, Governor Little and the Legislature set aside $330 million for public schools during the 2022 Extraordinary Session in September. Idaho voters approved this act with an 80-percent majority. The Governor's budget and JFAC action fulfills this historic commitment to education by:

♦ Targeting starting teacher pay to Top 10 nationally ($47,477), up from #41 nationally when Governor Little took office.

♦ Strengthening pay for all teachers – including our most experienced educators -- by $6,359.

In total, this adds $145 million for enhanced teacher pay statewide.

♦ Closing the salary gap that schools face for classified staff by providing $97.4 million to better position schools to hire critical support staff such as cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and paraprofessionals.

♦ Continuing the state's commitment to raising take-home pay of teachers and school staff by providing an additional $27.9 million for health insurance benefits.

St Patrick's Day in Shoshone

This Saturday, March 18th, join the fun at Leigh Kelley's St Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration in Shoshone. Leigh has made new trophies for this years Parade Awards: Best Machinery, Best Woman, Best Man and Best Livestock. Parade starts at 2:00 p.m. and don't forget the Tumbleweed race! A Potluck at the Iron Horse Saloon will follow with live music by Patty Wagon.

Don't Fall For Email Scams

A revived email scam in the form of a fake PayPal invoice for a Google Pixel phone is making the rounds, and email users are warned to immediately report and delete it.

"Online scammers are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to trick people into giving them their personal and financial information," writes MalwareTips' Stelian Pilci.

"Such scams just never fade away. This week, they’ve appeared again disguised as Google Pixel phone order confirmation emails," according to Trend Micro.

How does the PayPal Pixel scam work?

The scam begins with an emailed invoice or text message purportedly from PayPal. Since the scammers create a PayPal account specifically for this purpose, the email may, at first glance, appear legitimate. It's not.

In one version of the scam, the subject line may say "Invoice from Pixel (0223)," as MalwareTips explains. The message inside the email will likely say Pixel, a popular smartphone developed by Google, has sent an invoice which is due on receipt.

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♦ Providing $48.8 million for the largest single-year boost of discretionary funding to schools in state history, allowing local schools to meet local needs and...

Clicking on the link in the email will send victims to a fake PayPal login screen that closely mimics the real thing. Once you enter your PayPal login details, the fraudsters have access to your account, from which they can steal personal and financial information.

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Notices of Upcoming Events & Meetings

Camas County Fair Board

The Camas County Fair Board will be meeting next Thursday, March 23rd, at 5:00 in the Courthouse Annex.

We are DONE!

Our Kitchen is Beautiful. Come Have Breakfast

Saturday, March 18th at The Center

129 Willow Avenue West - Fairfield

Community Breakfast at the Wendell Senior Center

380 1st Ave. East - Wendell (across from the city offices)

Breakfast 4 All

This Saturday

March 18th, 8 to 10

Livestock Hall of Fame to Honor New Inductees

The Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame will honor its newest inductees April 11th at the Stone House in Old Town, Twin Falls, during the organization's 62nd annual banquet. The Stone House is located at 330 4th Ave.S.. Twin Falls. (New Location). The banquet will open with social time at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the prime rib dinner are $30 and can be reserved by calling Eric Bennett at (208) 320-5769. This year's inductees include:

1. Former Idaho State Veterinarian Bill Barton, DVM

2. John and Barb Brubaker, Buhl, ID.

3. LaRay and Janet Easterday, Buhl, ID

4. Steve and Abby Whitesides, Rupert

5. Gerald and Celia Marchant, Oakley

Gooding Museum Opening Soon for the 2023 Season

The Gooding Museum will be opening April 21st for the season. Look for new artifacts inside and see what’s happening outdoors! On April 22nd, bring in your antiques in for identification/ appraisal on Antiques Appraisal Day.

Camas Quips Gathered by Tee Hurd

As a scarecrow person says "I'm outstanding in my field, but hay, it's in my jeans."

The crook said, "I'm going attack you with the neck of this guitar." I replied, "Is that a fret?" -- -- --

A police officer came up to me with a piece of very thin paper and a pencil. "I want you to trace someone for me."

-- -- --

Complements are lost. While in Boise shopping downtown, someone left me an orange note that said, "Parking Fine." -- -- --

I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what the were laced with, but I have been tripping all day. -- -- --

How does NASA organize a party? They plan-et. -- -- --

You may not be of the few who planned to get in shape for a New Year's resolution - round. -- -- --

My wife told me I had to quit acting like a flamingo. So I put my foot down. -- -- --

Toughest job I ever had was selling doors, door to door. -- -- --

Two monkeys were getting into the bath. One said, "So, oooo, ach!" The other said, "Well, try a little more cold water."

Uncle Ben has died - no Mr. Rice guy.

This is my stepladder. I never knew my real ladder. -- -- --

My friend ask me to round up his 37 feet. I said, "40." -- -- --

I told my doctor I broke my arm in two places. He told me to stop going to those place. -- -- --

Have you heard about the new corduroy pillow? They are making head lines. -- -- --

My father has the heart of a lion and lifetime ban from San Diego zoo. -- -- --

It just hit me why frisbees appear larger the closer they get. -- -- --

A local man was killed by a falling piano. The funeral will be low key. -- -- --

Bryce Bennion, Pharm.D

Crime is up in so many multi-story car parking lots. That is wrong on so many levels.

The other day I bought a thesaurus, but when I got home and opened it, all the pages were blank. I have no words to describe how angry I was