State worker bonus may rise
Boise An interim state legislative committee that’s exploring state worker wage-and-benefit reforms is considering several proposed changes, including a suggestion to quintuple the bonus limit for state employees to $5,000.
The bonus limit is set at $1,000, the result of a 1988 decision. State agencies now sometimes skirt an accompanying rule requiring that higher bonuses be approved by a special panel by instead awarding temporary raises to good employees.
At a recent meeting in Boise, state Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, suggested boosting the bonus limit to bring the figure more in line with current standards and to stop the practice of short-term, temporary raises.
They can make budgeting less transparent for lawmakers responsible for the state’s purse strings. Stegner said the $5,000 figure was just a “guess” at what would be needed to provide employees with meaningful incentives.
Fire rehab may start in October
Boise State land managers hope to begin planting native grasses, shrubs and wildflowers, starting in October, in an area in the Boise Foothills southeast of Idaho’s capital that was damaged by a July wildfire.
Efforts to revegetate the 1,200-acre swath of charred grass and sageland above the Boise River – and nearby subdivisions including the Harris Ranch – are aimed at restoring forage for deer that graze in the area and reducing the danger of flash floods now that the hillside is devoid of growth.
In addition, replanting native grasses could help prevent incursions by noxious weeds that crowd out more desirable plant species.
Nampa police hearing of more gas thefts
Nampa, Idaho More people appear to be “filling and fleeing” southwestern Idaho service stations, now that the price of gas has hit $3 per gallon or more at some pumps in the region.
Since Aug. 1, Nampa police have been notified of gas thefts 21 times. And in the first week of September, officers took nine reports of customers driving off after filling up at stations throughout the city.
“That’s a bunch,” said Nampa Assistant Chief Tim Vincent, providing details of the thefts: Last weekend, one motorist drove off with $7.86 in gas, and following Hurricane Katrina’s further escalation of prices, the amounts ranged as high as $60.02.
Merchants are starting to require more and more customers to pay before they pump their gas, and some are installing additional security cameras to make sure those filling up their rigs don’t dash away without first being recorded on video.