The Courier
News Common Core and 6-Man Football
All but three of the school districts in our area headed back to school this week. Camas County will begin classes next Monday, while Dietrich and North Valley will wait until after Labor Day. For the most part, it is business as usual – getting kids registered, scheduling classes, paying fee, etc. – but this year there is the added burden of implementing Idaho Core Standards (common core). While there continues to be a great deal opposition to these types of requirements, these standards are part of current Idaho law
and school districts must (at least for now) apply them to their curriculums. One other big change this year is in the area of sports. In January of this year, the Idaho High School Athletics Association (IHSAA) approved a three year pilot program to allow small school districts to play six-man football. Several schools in Idaho have had a hard time maintaining enough players on their teams for eight-man football. This is hard on the players who have to play the entire game, and in some cases, games had to be forfeited due to insufficient players on the field (Murtaugh had to forfeit nearly half of their games last year). In other states (particularly Texas), six-man football has been the norm for small school districts since the 1930’s. It is a fast paced
game played on a slightly smaller field with modified rules (see page 5). Randy Jewett, from Camas County, was instrumental in getting the IHSAA to approve the six-man pilot program. His main goal was to make sure that athletes from small schools have the opportunity participate in sports. Currently, there are about a half a dozen schools that will be participating in this program, but once people see what it is (and how much fun it is to watch), supporters hope that more schools will get involved.
Fires Across South Central Idaho While some fires are being brought under control, new fires continue to pop up. The McCan fire north of Fairfield is 100% contained, but is still being monitored. The Beaver Creek fire continues to threaten home along Highway 75 near Hailey and Ketchum. This fire is only 10% contained and wind has been difficult fac-
tor in fighting this blaze. The Elk Fire near Pine and Featherville is 75% contained and some roads into the area have be opened. Full containment is expected at the end of the month, but it still has extreme growth potential. A new fire was discovered this past week northeast of Atlanta near Queens River. Since then it has grown to
over 7000 acres. A mandatory evacuation of Atlanta was implemented, but property owners are being allowed in and out. The public is barred. A majority of the Little Queens Fire is in the Sawtooth Wilderness and has spread to the north and to the south. The cause of the fire is under investigation and there is no containment at this time.
August 21 Volume 37 ~ Number 34 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Fairfield
Capital For A Day (BOISE) – Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter announced today that the Camas County seat of Fairfield will be his next Capital for a Day on Wednesday, August 28th. Governor Otter brings State government to Idahoans living outside Boise each month by making a different town in Idaho the state’s “Capital for a Day.” The meetings provide local residents an opportunity to have open discussions about government issues and public policy with Governor Otter, members of his Cabinet and other senior State officials. The Capital for a Day on August 28th is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fairfield Senior Center. Governor Otter also will join local officials and residents at noon for lunch at the same location. State officials joining Governor Otter at Capital for a Day will include State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness, Department of Lands Director Tom Schultz, Department of Water Resources Director Gary Spackman, Department of Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore, Department of Incontinued on page 3.....