Betsy Z. Russell : Who’s the decider on work at Capitol?
Perhaps a final straw that led to the deal Friday between Gov. Butch Otter and the Legislature to expand the state Capitol with single-story, rather than two-story, underground wings, was a letter to the governor from the Idaho Capitol Commission’s chairman, Maj. Gen. Jack Kane.
Kane pointed out that Otter’s stop-work order on the Capitol renovation project not only threatened to cost the state millions of dollars, it also violated state law – because the Capitol Commission has authority over the project. “The governor and the Legislature wisely agreed that a separate commission with sole authority to make decisions about Idaho’s most important building was required in order to take the politics out of those decisions,” Kane wrote to Otter.
In addition to reducing the size of the wings, the deal calls for the entire $130 million in financing for the project to remain available to cover what Otter feared could be cost overruns associated with building underground wings.
Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, said, “It seems like we did a lot of huffing and puffing for not a lot of change. But if everyone’s happy … at least we can go about our business now.”
No comment
Otter has been in office three weeks and hasn’t called a single press conference. The closest was last Monday, when he held a “photo opportunity” in his office with executives of a company that’s reopening a meat-processing plant in Nampa. When a radio reporter started setting up a microphone, he was informed that there was no need for that, as this was just a “photo op.”
The money is just sitting there
Last year, lawmakers put $25 million into a loan fund to fix dangerous schoolhouses across the state in response to a long-running lawsuit. The lawmakers told school districts they could apply for the money – but only if they’re also willing to have the state take over their district, appoint an overseer who could fire their superintendent, and impose a no-vote property tax increase on their patrons to pay the state back.
Not only that, district voters would have to have specifically rejected such a tax increase twice before all that would happen. Asked last week if any school districts have applied for any of the money, legislative budget analyst Jason Hancock replied, “No school district has applied for that money … it’s still sitting there.”
Friendly folks up north
Travelers chose Bonners Ferry as the friendliest town they visited, according to surveys taken by participants of former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s “Idaho Corps of Discovery Passport” program.
The program, which expired Dec. 31, challenged families to visit all 44 counties and get their “passports” stamped in each. It coincided with the Lewis and Clark bicentennial commemoration.
More than 50,000 “passports” were distributed; nearly 1,000 came back with all the stamps, earning their holders a certificate signed by the governor and a replica of a Lewis and Clark peace medallion.
Just don’t order fries
The House Business Committee agreed unanimously to introduce Rep. Marge Chadderdon’s proclamation commending Hudson’s Hamburgers and the Hudson family for operating their landmark restaurant on Coeur d’Alene’s main thoroughfare for 100 years. But one lawmaker was heard beefing to Chadderdon, R-Coeur d’Alene, “Ya shoulda brought samples.”
The tiny restaurant has been operated by five generations of the Hudson family, and features fresh-grilled hamburgers and pie – no fries or chips. Cheese was added as an option in the 1960s.
Harley Hudson first opened the lunch stand in a tent in 1907. The proclamation notes that Hudson’s Hamburgers on Sherman Avenue “has survived two world wars, several international military combat situations, the Great Depression, economic recessions, and the arrival of the ‘Golden Arches.’ ” It also says, “Counter dining at Hudson’s Hamburgers, with 18 stools, is like being with family, eating elbow-to-elbow with neighbors, family and visitors to await the treat of a Hudson’s hamburger.”