PLAYING MONOPOLY IS GOOD HOMEWORK BY ANNA & MICHELLE

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Winning in the game of Monopoly is all about investing. If you travel around the board, trying to buy the ultimate property and pass Go to get another $200, you’re missing the opportunity to purchase good properties along the way that could lead to upgrading into your dream home.

Starting early to buy your first home gives a buyer a chance to acquire a property with a minimum down payment, and inevitably, have a lower payment than paying rent for a similar home. As the home appreciates and the loan amortizes, the equity grows. Within a few years of average appreciation, the down payment can double or triple based on the leverage of using other people’s money. f you’ve ever been in a Monopoly game after most of the properties have been purchased and developed, it can be a relief to land on Free Parking, knowing the dice must rotate to the next player giving you a respite from paying rent. Like the game, in real life, it would be nice to avoid paying rent and even better to have people paying you rent for property you own.They could use the equity to stair-step their way into a larger home and finally, their dream home. Or, if that homeowner’s goal is to acquire rental properties, they could convert that home to a rental and buy another home on a low-down payment, owner-occupied mortgage to allow that property’s equity to grow in the same way.

Multi-unit properties could be another option. Finance it with the same type of owner-occupied, low down payment mortgage to achieve leverage that isn’t available to non-owner-occupied investors; live in one unit and rent the others. FHA, VA, and conventional mortgages allow for owner occupants to purchase up to a four-unit building with minimum down payments.

It is very impressive to see the portfolios of properties that some young people have built by focusing on their goals, living within their means, and not getting distracted along the way. You can learn a lot from them but be careful about getting into a game of Monopoly with them; they know how to play the game.

Let’s connect and talk about some of the specifics.

The City of Ketchum is seeking artists to design the 2023 Wagon Days poster.

Selected artwork will be the official poster for the 2023 celebration of Wagon Days and will be incorporated onto souvenir items such as commemorative mugs, pins, T-shirts, etc.

Posters from past years featured photographs, collages, pastels, watercolors, and oil paintings. All art submissions are welcome, including preliminary sketches.

Over the years, the posters have become treasured souvenirs of the annual Wagon Days celebration, and many have become collectors’ items.

Posters and souvenir items will be on display and offered for sale at Wagon Days headquarters leading up to and during Wagon Days, which takes place Sept. 1 and 2. Headquarters will be located at the Ore Wagon Museum on the corner of East Avenue and Fifth Street in Ketchum.

The selected artist will receive a stipend of $350. Photographers, graphic artists, and others working in creative fields are encouraged to apply.

Submissions are due by April 15 and should be emailed to heather@sunvalleyevents.com.

Details on the schedule for Wagon Days, which is currently in the planning stages, can be found at w ww.wagondays.org

Lunch & Learn: Under The Surface – Hemingway Short Stories

Hailey Public Library will host a three-part series examining three of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories with local scholar Ted Dyer. Dyer will look under the surface at thematically linked Nick Adams stories: Indian Camp, The Battler, and Big Two-Hearted River. Each hour-long program will examine a particular story, with time for Q&A and discussion. The series is part of the HPL’s occasional Lunch & Learn series and supported by the Idaho Humanities Council. It will be offered in person and live streamed on Tuesdays, March 7, 14 and 21, from noon-1 p.m. at Town Center West.

“Author Ernest Hemingway profoundly influenced 20th-century fiction and made a lasting impact on the Wood River Valley community, arriving in 1939 and dying by his own hand in Ketchum in 1961,” commented Kristin Fletcher, the library’s programs and engagement manager. “In the years since his death, many local presentations and conferences have celebrated and explored his work but few have focused on his short stories. We’re pleased to invite the community to take a closer look at a few of Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories.”

MONICA CARRILLO NUESTRA VOZ CUENTA

BY MONICA CARRILLO

OUR VOICE COUNTS

Iwas walking into Starbucks a couple of days ago to get my usual order: a Matcha Latte with a pump of vanilla syrup and vanilla sweet cream cold foam—and for the first time in a really long time I realized this would be my last semester at the University of Idaho.

I’ve been a student in Moscow since August 2020, but have been in college since 2018.

Although I’ve been so caught up with what’s been going on in the news and working as a part-time reporter, this month I took it upon myself to focus on my future endeavors and surrounding myself with the people I have around me.

One of the most frequently asked questions has been what I’m going to do after I graduate, which I find always makes me laugh.

It makes me think back to when I was in high school and being asked what I’m going to major in. But this time I’m not as scared.

Regardless of where I go and what I do, I know I will have the support of my parents, my family and friends, cheering me on. But, most importantly, I’ve become my own biggest cheerleader.

As I count down the days and the amount of times people ask me, I’ll just casually sit back and soak in the last couple of months as an undergrad.

I’m not worried; I’ll figure it out.

You will, too.

NUESTRA VOZ CUENTA

Estaba entrando en Starbucks hace un par de días para obtener mi pedido habitual: un Matcha Latte con una bomba de jarabe de vainilla y espuma fría de crema dulce de vainilla, y por primera vez en mucho tiempo, me di cuenta de que este sería mi último semestre en la Universidad de Idaho.

He sido estudiante en Moscow, Idaho, desde agosto de 2020, pero he estado estudiando en universidades desde 2018.

Aunque he estado tan atrapada con lo que ha estado sucediendo en las noticias y trabajando como reportera a tiempo parcial, este mes me encargué de concentrarme en mis esfuerzos futuros y rodearme de las personas que tengo a mi alrededor.

Una de las preguntas más frecuentes ha sido qué voy a hacer después de graduarme, que siempre me hace reír.

Me hace pensar en cuando es taba en la escuela secundaria y me preguntaron en qué me iba a espe - cializar. Pero esta vez no estoy tan asustado.

Independientemente de dónde vaya y lo que haga, sé que tendré el apoyo de mis padres, mi familia y amigos, animándome. Pero lo más importante, me he convertido en mi mayor animadora.

Mientras cuento los días y la cantidad de veces que la gente me pregunta, me siento casualmente y me sumerjo en los últimos meses como estudiante.

No estoy preocupado; Lo re -

The stories will be used as a starting point to discuss the archetypal “Hemingway hero,” the filter through which the stories’ experiences flow. First, we meet Adams as a child, then as an adolescent, and finally a young man returning from war. Dyer will use the stories to unpack Hemingway’s language toolkit, examine the power of his bare-bones prose style, and reflect on Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” of writing. The series will also touch on Hemingway’s association with our community as well as his larger impact as a fic tion writer.

Ted Dyer received his M.A. in English from Washington State University and taught 20 years as a composition instructor for the College of Southern Idaho extension service in Blaine County. For several years he taught literature and jazz history for the Idaho State University Department of Continuing Education. He also worked for decades as a speaker for the Idaho Humanities Speakers’ Bureau and is a recognized speaker on the life and works of Ernest Hemingway.

The Idaho Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving Idaho citizens by promoting greater public awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the humanities. It serves as the state-based partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is one of 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils funded in part by the federal government through NEH’s Federal/State Partnership Office.

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