Treasured Valley

Car crashes into Co-op vino shop, eds on emissions, Chico estate hops, a Boise Monte Cristo…

The Treasure Valley:

• Boise Weekly: Dollar sale at the Garden City Public Library.
• COMPASS approves road, transit projects for stimulus funds. The board of directors of the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) are fronting seven projects to receive funding from the Transportation Investment Generation Economic Recovery program.
• Search for 8-year-old Boise boy continues Sunday with no solid leads. About 75 volunteers, including off-duty officers, Boise State University officers and residents, methodically scoured the neighborhood around Robert Manwill’s home Sunday.
• Car into Boise wine shop. Police say no one was seriously injured, despite all of the shattered glass and broken wine bottles.
• Woman dies after falling from raft on Idaho river. Idaho rescue crews have found the body of a woman who fell out of a raft on Payette River.
• Charter school commission reviews use of Bible. The Idaho Public Charter School Commission is reviewing whether the Bible and other religious texts used in the classroom.
• OSHA files detail 6 deaths at sugar plants. Federal investigation of a May fatality at Amalgamated Sugar’s Nampa plant unearthed fewer safety violations than in previous Idaho sugar plant deaths and resulted in much lower fines than one earlier Nampa death.
• Sockeyes Return. First sockeye salmon of the season return to Stanley Basin. It looks like at least a few sockeye salmon have managed to make it 900 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean to make the return trip to Redfish Lake Creek. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced on Friday, July 24 that the first two adult salmon of the season had managed to make the trek.
• AIR program provides space for Boise artists. Check out the creativity in BoDo.
• Beat the heat in the valley. A cool, wet June has given way to a hot, dry July, with temperatures near 100 a common occurrence. Here are a few ways to stay cool, close to home and without breaking the bank.
• Official: Design flaw led to fire at Canyon County jail annex. A design flaw likely led to a roof fire at the Canyon County jail annex, according to Caldwell Fire Marshal Doug Brown. The fire at the Dale Haile Detention Center did not result in any injuries but led to an evacuation of inmates into the main jail early Sunday.
• Police: floater rescued, no life jacket. Ada County authorities say they received an emergency call around 8:20 p.m. saying a young man had disappeared on the Boise River, in the area of Park Boulevard and Walnut Street.
• Elks have a mostly smooth transition taking over Meals on Wheels. Two months into the job, the Elks Rehabilitation Hospital has been handling senior nutrition programs for Ada County.

Politics:

• Idaho Press-Tribune: Adopt realistic air-quality plan. Elected office doesn’t always offer the option of making popular opinions. That’s the situation the leaders of Nampa and Caldwell as well as Canyon County commissioners face as they deal with the threat of state or federal intervention to improve or at least stabilize air quality in the Treasure Valley.
• Idaho Statesman: Emission tests delay only hurts the Valley. It’s the same old delays. And the same old ideas. Last week, the Nampa and Caldwell city councils voted against adopting a local vehicle emissions testing program. Instead, the cities want to pursue alternatives with the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, which amounts to nothing more than a stall tactic.
• Sarah Palin steps down as Alaska governor. Sarah Palin stepped down Sunday as Alaska governor to write a book and build a right-of-center coalition, but she left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid.
• Kevin Richert: Minnick sustains his balancing act in D.C. The conventional wisdom says President Obama needs to “win” on the health care issue.
• Wayne Hoffman:Raising the minimum wage does more harm than good. Earning $6.55 an hour doesn’t sound like much, but for more than 50 people employed by the state of Idaho, a steady job adds robustness to life spent in a state institution for the developmentally disabled. That work experience is being jeopardized because of Congress’ decision to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.

Booze:

• V e g a n D a d: Strawberry Daiquiri Sorbet.
• Happy Hour: Watermelon-Tequila Cocktails.
• Ska Brewing’s Modus Hoperandi – Beer of the Week.
• BeerAdvocate: Sierra Nevada Introduces Exclusive Estate-Made Beer.
• Dr. Vino: The Sierra Gap – and more on American wine consumers.

Grub:

• Boise Foodie Guild: Osso Buco – Lamb Shanks.
• Eat Boise: Monte Cristo – Perfect.
• 101 Cookbooks: Dorm Food Ideas.
• Which Spices Should You Buy in the Supermarket? And which should you seek out from a dealer?
• VeganYumYum: BLT Salad.