Panhandle Distinct In Opinion Poll

How do North Idahoans’ attitudes differ from those of folks in the rest of the state?

Northerners are more concerned about education, stronger supporters of abortion rights and more likely to see their communities as unfriendly to minorities.

This is according to Boise State University’s annual Public Policy Survey, which surveyed Idahoans about everything from minorities to dam-breaching.

On many issues, Panhandle residents who were surveyed were right in step with the rest of the state. Idahoans overwhelmingly said they were satisfied with life here, and more than three-quarters said the state is headed in the right direction.

But the differences stand out:

When asked what is the most important problem facing the state, 37.6 percent statewide said education, but 65 percent had that answer up north.

A whopping 80.4 percent of North Idahoans said they favored impact fees to pay for new schools, compared to a still-strong 70.9 percent statewide. Idaho has never allowed impact fees for schools.

And although North Idaho’s numbers on requiring parental consent for abortion - 67.2 percent said they were strongly in favor - were similar to the statewide figure of 66.9 percent, the similarities on that issue stopped there.

Asked whether a woman should have a legal right to choose abortion in Idaho, 69 percent said yes statewide. In North Idaho, the number was 84.5 percent.

BSU Professor Jim Weatherby said the numbers on abortion are similar to past surveys, which historically have shown stronger support for abortion rights up north.

Weatherby said he wasn’t surprised to see northerners calling for impact fees. “I think it’s preferable to a lot of these people to fund at least a portion of these school buildings out of impact fees rather than property tax, which has always been controversial in the Panhandle,” he said.

Although North Idaho folks were twice as likely as those in the rest of the state to say their community is “very unfriendly” toward minorities, the survey showed the friendliness factor on a major upswing in the past decade.

On whether or not to breach four lower Snake River dams, North Idaho had the strongest support for breaching of any region in the state - but it was still only 44.6 percent in favor, with 41.1 percent against. The statewide split was 39.6 percent in favor, 42.8 percent against.

Consistently divided in the rest of the state, those numbers changed sharply in the Lewiston region, where 69.8 percent turned thumbs down on the idea.

Nothing planned here

Kelly Walton, leader of the unsuccessful push for an anti-gay rights ballot initiative, has put out a letter proclaiming that the state is heading down a “dangerous path” and only one man can save it: Idaho Family Forum chief and wannabe GOP congressional candidate Dennis Mansfield.

The evidence? A controversy over an Idaho Public Television program that deals with issues relating to homosexuality, and a tiff over a children’s book in the Nampa public library that also dealt with the issue. Mansfield led the protests against both.

“It is my hope that he will run for Congress,” Walton wrote.

And who faxed this letter to reporters? The Mansfield Exploratory Committee, of course.

Ommmm turns to awww

The lovely, if a bit rundown, historic old Idanha Hotel is no more. Despite grand plans for renovation by the Transcendental Meditation organization that has owned the turreted Boise landmark for the past few years, it’s now being sold to a developer who will turn it into pricey apartments.

The developer, who has successfully renovated several other historic buildings in downtown Boise, is promising a true historic renovation. But it won’t operate as a hotel any more. So if you ever stayed there, you’re now officially part of Idaho history.