Lava Ridge

preferred alternatives for the Lava Ridge Wind Project that scaled the original project proposal back to align with cultural, community, and wildlife needs, including thoughtful setbacks from the Minidoka National Historic Site to site turbines five to 10 miles away.”

Southern Idaho has been “losing 1.3 million acres of sagebrush habitat per year to conifer expansion, invasive annual grass invasion, and land-use conversion.” This in turn mirrors A.G. Raúl Labrador’s comment that the wind farm will “remove or alter wetlands, change their function, change the rate and quantity of runoff, compact soils, and alter flow patterns,” while Schutte emphasized “The project will have no impact on the aquifer or Idaho’s groundwater.”

Labrador also references estimates of 10,000 bats and birds being “pulverized” per year, yet the BLM’s DEIS study found that “wind energy’s avian fatality estimate is roughly half that of nuclear energy and almost 20 times smaller than traditional fossil fuels,” equaling less than one bird per gigawatt hour compared to traditional fossil fuels, which is five birds per gigawatt hour. Certain scaffolding techniques applied to the windmill layout should mitigate the impact on raptors, but local farmer Dean Dimond’s fear should be noted, “about every third or fourth year we get hit with a vole infestation that the birds of prey help alleviate.”

The Biden Administration invested an astounding $370 billion into renewable energy, striving for electricity to be 100% carbon-free by 2035 (White House). This inevitably will require sacrifice not just from citizens of the United States in general, but specifically Idaho. While Idaho representatives actively speak up for their voters and the flora and fauna falling within their districts, these comments must consider all aspects and not just sustainable energy resulting in a net positive for the environment determined by stakeholders, the Idaho citizen. Part of the role of a democratic society is being an informed voter, so voters are encouraged to stay up-to-date as the BLM strives to make a choice by the end of the 2023. The preferred alternatives demonstrate how public engagement has refined and created a compromise by all sides.

News In Brief

HPL Launches Lotería Night!

Hailey Public Library and Neighbors Helping Neighbors are launching Lotería Night, a new monthly, bilingual community night, held on the 4th Thursday of each month from 6:00-8:00 PM starting May 25. Lotería is a traditional game of chance, sometimes referred to as Mexican bingo, and played with a deck of 54 colorful cards. The free, family friendly event will be held at Town Center West and feature door prizes and aperitivos.

“Originating in 15th century Italy, lotería was brought by colonizers to the area we now call Mexico in the 1700s where it quickly gained popularity,” commented programs and engagement manager Kristin Fletcher, “A designated caller, or cantor selects a card from the deck which features a culturally relevant image, like a fruit, person, animal, cultural symbol or various personalities. Really good cantors add to the festive atmosphere with their banter, word play, innuendo and sometimes by referencing contemporary events and politics.”

Fletcher continued, “Players use a board called a tabla, which is laid out like a bingo card, and contains 16 of the 54 colorful images. If the image on a player’s board matches the image the cantor calls out, the player marks it by placing a pinto bean on the square. Just like bingo, the first person to make a certain pattern with the beans is the winner and shouts ‘Lotería!’”

Lotería is not only the most popular game in Mexico, it is also widespread in Spanish-speaking communities throughout the United States and Europe. Since each card includes the name of the image and a brief, descriptive phrase, the game is sometimes used to teach reading, writing, history, language and cultural values.

For more information, call 208-788-2036 or visit www.haileypubliclibrary.org.

The Chamber announces New & Improved Chamber Bucks

The Chamber is excited to announce that the popular “Chamber Bucks” gift cards have been updated and improved. The new versions of the shop local program, which was founded by The Chamber nearly 15 years ago, has been designed to make them easier to use for both the shops and the shoppers.

The new, smaller-sized Chamber Bucks will be easier to fit into wallets and cash register drawers. Processing fees will also now be charged at the time of purchase, meaning more money stays with the local stores and restaurants.

The “New & Improved” Chamber Bucks are redeemable at any business or nonprofit that will accept them. They can be used to purchase tasty food and drinks or gear and gifts at your favorite local spots. Chamber Bucks make great gifts as they allow the recipients to choose where they want to spend them.

Chamber Bucks can be purchased at Mountain West locations in Hailey and Ketchum as well as at the Hailey Welcome Center. The old versions of Chamber Bucks will still be honored.

Chamber Bucks: Give the Gift of Choice to Shop Local!

To find out more, contact Info@ValleyChamber.org, visit ValleyChamber.org or call 208.788.3484.

Bellevue Historical Museum Seeks Volunteer Help For The Summer

The Bellevue Historical Museum has officially opened for the summer season, on Memorial Day weekend, and will continue to be open each weekend through Labor Day weekend.

The Bellevue Historical Society is seeking volunteers to assist with greeting visitors, answering questions, and otherwise sharing Bellevue’s, and its surrounding area’s unique history within the Wood River Valley. Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community, to keep its history alive and to help the current generation connect the lives and lifestyles of those pioneers and founders of the community. Volunteers are able to pick the days they would like to donate two or more hours, as their schedules permit. Museum hours are 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. Help is greatly needed.

The museum is located in the old City Hall building at 226 N. Main St. (Hwy. 75), in downtown Bellevue.

The museum’s front and larger portion of the building was erected in 1890. It served as a fire hall. The bell in the tower would be rung to announce a fire, a common occurrence in an era of candles, woodburning stoves, tired miners, and barroom brawlers. The original fire equipment is on display on the property. The smaller back portion of the building was later added as city all. Records of the first town hall meetings and the original safe are still on the premises.

The museum itself contains… historical photos, mining displays, school memorabilia, antique clothing, and much more.

The museum extends to the outside property. Bellevue’s original jail behind the museum was built in 1881 and still stands on the lot. It is open to the public as well as one of the original log homes.

Admission to the museum is free; donations are welcome.

For more information or to volunteer, call any of the following numbers (208) 788-4061, (208) 720-3770 or (208) 727-7455.

Announcing the 2023 Sun Valley Forum

The eighth Sun Valley Forum, “The Multiplier Effect: Partnering to Accelerate Climate Solutions,” will be held at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum, Idaho, June 20 to June 23, 2023. Founded in 2015, the Forum is hosted by Ketchumbased sustainability advisory firm Christensen Global, with partners including the Forum’s founding host, Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, which advances resilience in the Sun Valley region. In March of this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) and IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee stated, “There are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and they are available now. Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits… if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all.”

The Sun Valley Forum is convening global climate leaders and innovators who are building powerful solutions for people and our planet. “We are gathering businesses, policymakers, philanthropists, investors, storytellers, and entrepreneurs across energy, food and agriculture, capital and communications,” said Aimée Christensen, the Forum’s founder and curator. “At this time of unprecedented urgency of action, collaboration is critical to accelerate our efforts.”

The 2023 Forum speakers bring knowledge from a range of key roles:

Youth leadership with Vic Barrett, youth climate leader and plaintiff in Juliana v. United States, featured in the acclaimed documentary, Youth v. Gov, and Jerome Foster II, Co-founder at Waic Up; Director of Strategy & Operations, New Zero World; member, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council;

Media with Rhett Butler of Mongabay, Lisa Friedman, Climate Reporter for the New York Times, Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone, Leslie Kaufman of Bloomberg Business and Bill Weir of CNN;

Policy with Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands, Washington State and Joshua Lincoln, Centre for International Law and Governance at Fletcher, the Graduate School of Global Affairs, Tufts University;

Innovation with Kevin Benmoussa, CFO, Aleph Farms, Lauren Fraser, Chief Product Officer & Co-founder, Canopy, Mattie Mead, Founder & CEO, Hempitecture and Matt Petersen, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator;

Business climate leadership with Jaime Nack, CEO, Three Squares, Inc., Lewis Perkins of Apparel Impact Institute and Eamonn Store, Founder & CEO, FairShare, Inc.; Philanthropy with Cecilia Martinez of the Bezos Earth Fund, Kathleen Simpson of The Russell Family Foundation and Dana Lanza of Confluence Philanthropy; Finance with Duanne Andrade and Doug Coward, Solar and Energy Loan Fund, Kunle Apampa of Capricorn Investment Group, Dave Chen of Equilibrium Capital, Ivan Frishberg of Amalgamated Bank, climate capital adviser, investor and operator Chante Harris and Kristin Hull, Founder/CEO/CIO, Nia Impact Capital; and Communication and storytelling to inspire and inform including Peter Horton, Director, Writer and Producer (“New Amsterdam” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “thirtysomething”), Jill Tidman, Executive Director, The Redford Center, Jessy Tolkan, CEO of Drive Agency, and Brady Walkinshaw, CEO of Earth Alliance, founded by Leonardo Dicaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs.