After what Exergy Tour communications director Heather Hill called “a little bit of an unexpected glitch here on the first day” - the theft and then recovery, apparently unscathed, of $120,000 worth of racing bikes and equipment from one of the teams - the event is on.

“We are humbled to be hosting over 100 athletes representing 18 of their home countries, many of whom will represent their home nations in the Olympic games this summer,” Hill declared. She said the women's bike race is aimed at “raising the bar” for women's sports. “Our $100,000 prize purse, the largest for a ladies' five-stage race in the history of the sport, is one example of raising the bar.”  Betsy Russell, EOB More here.

Do you ride a bike? How often?

In national statistics, Boise has ranked high for being one of the nation's most livable cities, having some of the best bike infrastructure and having one of the most happening independent music scenes. Well, according to an article in Men's Health, Boise can add one more ranking to that list: porn capital. According to the article, Boise—aka the place where vanilla is occasionally referred to as “spicy” and open discussions of sex and sex-related issues are about as common as Bigfoot sightings—ranked 11th in national porn consumption statistics/John Gross, Boise Weekly. More here.

Question: Why would Boiseans be among the top consumers of pornography?

Ultrasound technologist Jeanine G. conducts an abdominal ultrasound at the Idaho Statehouse on Wednesday in Boise. The organizers back Senate Bill 1387, which mandates ultrasounds that determine heartbeat and gestational age before a woman can receive an abortion. At right is Brandi Swindell of Stanton Health Care. See Betsy's ultrasound bill story below. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman, Joe Jaszewski )

• Snow advisory issued for tonight/MIke Prager, SR
• Studded tire deadline moved to April 16/Washington DOT
• Opinion: Wasden has your back, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene Press
• Post Falls reports accidental release of treated wastewater/City of PF
• Idaho's forced ultrasound bill likely dead/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• ATV hunting bill squeaks through Senate Resources 5-4/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Discourse, decisions from marathon council meeting/Tom Hasslinger, Press
• Ex-Shoshone County sheriff withdraws from commish race/Kelsey Saintz, SNP
• Bonner County roads are drying out/Cameron Rasmusson, Bonner County Bee

An ultrasound is performed on a pregnant mother inside a committee room at the Idaho Statehouse on Wednesday in Boise. The demonstration was put on by Stanton Health Care, a pregnancy resource center in Boise, to provide legislators with a look at an abdominal ultrasound after the pre-abortion ultrasound bill recently passed the state Senate. (AP Photo/Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield)

Anti-abortion activist Brandi Swindell is conducting the live ultrasound demonstration in the Statehouse today with the enthusiastic air of a lively state fair product-demo host. “Isn't this fun? Who doesn't love seeing an ultrasound image of a baby?” she asked, adding, “Remember, this is first trimester, so the baby is tiny, tiny, tiny.” A bamboo screen hung with a banner saying, “Voices from the Womb” and “Knowledge is power,” is set up to screen the table where the three pregnant volunteers from Swindell's organization, Stanton Healthcare, are taking their turns lying down for ultrasounds that are being projected on screens. Only two lawmakers have been sitting through the demonstration, Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Thoughts?

Boise Police arrested Cynthia Clinkingbeard (pictured), 58, Boise, on Friday after she reportedly walked into a store at Eagle Road and Chinden Boulevard and threatened employees with a gun. The website of the Idaho Secretary of State lists Clinkingbeard as a Democratic candidate in the May 15 primary race for the First District congressional seat. Clinkingbeard was a doctor specializing in edocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, until the State of Idaho Board of Medicine revoked her license in 2005. On Friday, police were called at 9:15 p.m. by employees of the store who told dispatchers a woman, later identified as Clinkingbeard, had walked into the store, made strange, threatening remarks to three employees before pulling out a handgun. The caller told dispatchers Clinkingbeard then left the store, continuing to make threats, and drove off in a car/Idaho Statesman. More here. (Photo courtesy Ada County Sheriff's Office/Idaho Statesman)

Question: Who said Democrats supported gun control?

Twin brothers Nick and Adam Filicetti, Boise, Idaho, were born 15 minutes apart at midnight on Feb. 28 and March 1, 1991. Nick gets to celebrate his 21st birthday a full day before his younger brother this leap year. Patrick Orr/Idaho Statesman story here. (AP Photo, Idaho Statesman, Darin Oswald)

Question: How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter introduced GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney at Romney's Boise campaign rally this afternoon. “Folks, this election is about your and my liberty,” Otter said. “We will turn out for that Idaho caucus. … We will turn out for the man that has the executive experience, understands that we are a free market, not a socialist country, that has been there and done that.” Romney, who's come to Idaho to campaign for Otter in the past, told the crowd, “What a great state this is - you're lucky to live here.” He recalled a summer he spent working on an Idaho ranch near King Hill when he was 15. “I learned so much about cultivating corn and spring corn and irrigating corn,” he said. “I thought I'd never see the end of corn”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

At the rally for Mitt Romney in Boise now going on, Dennis Mansfield Facebooks: “Mitt Romney, in person, strikes me as the guy you knew in high school who might have been on the cheer-leading squad. Nice guy, sort-of athletic, and a guy who wants to be liked. But still… A cheerleader. Odd.”

Question: Do you have a good/bad impression of high school cheerleaders?

Republican presdential hopeful Ron Paul greets supportors on Thursday after giving a speech at Twin Falls High School in Twin Falls. 1,200 people attended the political rally at the school. Twin Falls Times-News story here. (AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)

• Paul announces Boise rally Saturday/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Desmond Tutu to speak at Gonzaga commencement/SR
• Idaho lawmakers grapple with ethics reforms/Betsy Russell, SR
• Newport area crash kills 2 Priest River residents/Bonner County Bee
• Ed Board gives BSU football complex final OK/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Prez candidate visits to north-central Idaho very rare/Brady Gary, Lewiston Trib
• Labrador gets first bill through House, on geothermal energy/Betsy Russell, EOB
• WSU athletic fund has jumped since Leach hiring/Ryan Burnett, Murrow News Service

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum told a Boise audience Tuesday night that he would work with Congress to transfer federal lands to states and sell lands to the private sector. Santorum said the federal government “doesn't care” about its western lands and could make money and improve management by shedding ownership, an idea reminiscent of the “Sagebrush Rebellion” of the 1970s and 1980s. About one quarter of the U.S. land mass is owned by the U.S. government. An audience member asked Santorum about his view of “turning land over to the states.” He replied that the one national forest in Pennsylvania, a state he represented for 12 years in the U.S. Senate, was poorly run/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Do you support selling public lands to private parties in Idaho?

Nicole Hensley of KXLY posts: “Coeur d'Alene, you're 379 miles via US-95 and ID-55 from the city most prone to skin cancer. Boise, with an average of 51 clear summer days per year leads the nation in the statistic put together by The Daily Beast. Their melanoma deaths average out to 3.9 per 100,000 people, with incidents averaging out to 27.3. Boise ranked #1 while its other Northwest neighbors ranked #10 (Spokane), #14 (Seattle) and #18 (Portland).” More here. (AP file illustration)

DFO: This issue has hit home in our household since my mother-in-law (Coeur d'Alene) and sister-in-law (Post Falls) are having a brush with skin cancer.

Question: Do you know anyone who has contracted and fought skin cancer? And/or: Are you careful to protect yourself from too much sunshine? Or do you take any precautions?

In a city known more for hiking trails than fashion runways, photographer Thomas Lea scours the streets for style. “It's a fairly remote place, way out in the west,” he said. “But people in Boise have great taste.” Lea, 65, relocated to Idaho's capital from San Francisco in 2005. Love for a Boise woman — which eventually turned to marriage — lured him from the city he admired for diversity and energy/Danielle Paquette, CNN. More here.

Question: Do Boiseans dress better than people in the Coeur d'Alene area in particular and North Idaho in general?

Item: Boise man pleads guilty to battery for 'tapping' 15-year-old who wouldn’t turn off phone on airplane/Patrick Orr, Idaho Statesman

Item: Boise rallies against anti-gay bullying/Jody May-Change, Boise Weekly

More Info: BSU student Justin Baxter described the years of bullying and taunting he endured in both middle and high school in Sandpoint, Idaho. Walking home one day after a bullying incident in his gym class locker-room, Baxter was struck in the head with a glass bottle. He fell unconscious to the grown breaking his nose as his attackers kicked him. “People do no understand what it is like to be in that kind of darkness,” said Baxter. But his message included some optimism. “I am happy that I am here today to tell you from the bottom of my heart to stick in there.”

Question: Do you believe bullying against gays is epidemic?

Boise, to put it mildly, has been on a roll. Government, education, and health care remain core industries, but dozens of high-tech startups have moved to town, joining behemoths like Hewlett-Packard and Micron Technology. And while its population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and jaded locals bemoan the sprawl, Boise has managed its growth impressively well: The city is home to nearly 2,000 acres of parks and a 25-mile greenbelt. The outlying areas feel a bit bland, but the older neighborhoods have that Boulder vibe—cruiser bikes, farmers’ markets, and prayer flags—only with reasonably priced homes/Outside. More here.

• Cutline: Hundreds turned out to witness the rededication celebration for the Idaho  capitol building on Jan. 9 in downtown  Boise. (AP Photo/Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield)
  

Question: Do you agree with Outside mag that Boise is the best town in the West?

Item: Outside magazine says Boise is the No. 1 town in U.S./Idaho Statesman

More Info: In its August issue, the magazine names Boise the overall winner (and top West city) in its 2010 Best Towns survey. The annual list was compiled using the following criteria: quality of sporting life, cultural vibrancy, resiliency of economy and stability of housing market. Carbondale,Colo., finished second in the West.

Question: Would you rather live in Boise or where you live now?

Idaho coach Robb Akey cheers his team against Hawaii during their game at the Kibbie Dome in October.

I have a feeling that this is the Bowl game that most Hucksters are interested in. Tonight Rocky Bleier will give the keynote address at the US Bank Humanitarian Awards Dinner at Boise Center. More here.

Anyone want to venture a guess on the game’s outcome?