The Courier
News Gooding Fair & Rodeo
This evening starting at 7:00 p.m. the Gooding Parade will roll down Main Street. You can sign up for the parade at 14th and Main (just north of ISDB). After the parade, the Sidetrack Bar will host the Street Dance with Dirty Johnny, or you can head on over to the fairgrounds for Family Night at the Carnival ($1 Rides). PRCA Rodeo begins Thursday evening at 8 a.m. with Family Night. Friday night is Tough Enough to Wear Pink night, and Saturday night is 4-H Appreciation. The Garage Boys Band from Las Vegas will be playing each night after the rodeo (about 10:00). The 4-H/FAA Master Showmanship Contest will take place Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Beef Barn. The Market Animal Sale is Saturday at 10 a.m. (also in the Beef Barn) followed by the Buyer Appreciation BBQ at 11:00 (open to the public). For a full schedule of 4-H/FAA events, pick up a Premium Book. And don’t forget... Cowboy Church on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. in the Commercial Building.
Free 2 Succeed
The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) releases about 3200 offenders from incarceration on probation each year. While these individuals must report on a regular basis to their parole officer, they are mostly left to fend for themselves regarding employment, housing, and recovery if their offence was drug and/or alcohol related. Because of this, many of these individuals will re-offend and be put back in prison. During incarceration, most inmates become acculturated to having all their needs supplied on a daily basis. There is some prison work available, but most inmates either can not or lack the desire to take advantage of those opportunities. The result is that they learn almost nothing about coping with life outside.
WT Bruce photo from 2010
The State of Idaho (as well as other states) are developing community mentorship programs to help offenders re-assimilate into their communities. The main goal of these programs is to prevent offenders from falling back into the old habits that got them into trouble. Free2Succeed is a volunteer program in which community mentors help offenders with counseling, training and education, relationships, and above all... accountability. While this is a state wide program, Free2Succeed is currently looking for individuals and/or organization in our smaller communities, such as Fairfield, to provide this service. Organizations can be religious on non-religious. Individuals must go through an interview with IDOC and attend mentor training. To learn more, contact Jeff Kirkman at 208658-2073, or go online to idoc.idaho.gov
News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
August 16, 2017 Volume 41 ~ Number 33
Camas Commissioner Resigns
On Monday morning (August 14th) Camas County Commissioner Barbara Cutler resigned from the board due to a change in residence. Commissioner Cutler has been representing District 1 (east side of Fairfield and the county area east of Fairfield and north of Highway 20). However, she recently purchased a home on the west side of Fairfield making her official residence in District 2, thus disqualifying her from the seat she held. Technically, she could have finished her term, but recent litigation has shown a willingness on the part of certain individuals to object to any perceived impropriety. In her letter to the board, Commissioner Cutler said, “I want to thank the County for the opportunity I was given to serve on the Board and represent our great county...” The Republican Central Committee announced that they will be holding a meeting on August 23rd at 1:30 p.m. in the County Commissioner Room to accept nominations for a replacement commissioner. Three names will be sent to Governor Otter who will appoint a new commissioner. The two remaining members of the Board will continue to operate as normal, with one exception. Because of the interest in the airport issue, the Board decided to postpone any hearings on that issue until they have a full board. The Board did engage in a conversation with representatives from the Sho-Ban and Sho-Pai Tribes (because of the distance they traveled) and clarified that Camas County is addressing all airports in the county, not just one. In response to a question by the Sho-Ban representative, the Chairman of the Board, Travis Kramer, also stated that the county had no specifications on the Soldier Field airport. The widely discussed FAA form 7480-1 which indicates an airport 100’ wide by 8500’ long can not be used as specifications for actual construction. The FAA letter clearly indicated that the FAA does not approve or disapprove physical development. That is up to local zoning ordinances which the county has been trying to put in place but has been hampered by litigation. The Tribal representatives asked to be kept in the loop for future hearings regarding airports and offered to provide oversight for construction on undisturbed land in case artifacts might be found. Since Soldier Field is on private property, that would be up to the land owner.