Magic Valley Flooding

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017

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magicvalley.com

‘OVERWHELMED’

Pounded by snow and sub-zero temps, the valley now braces for possible floods

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

SNOW FORT

Tristan Cota, 13, lies inside his snow fort as Cameron Cota, 16, builds up the ceiling of the structure Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016, in their front yard in Twin Falls. The fort was twice as large before the roof caved in. ‘This is why the rebel base on Hoth was a bad idea,’ Cameron says as she references the Star Wars movies.

Drivers rescued in drifting snow, cops pushed to brink ALEX RIGGINS

ariggins@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — As temperatures dropped below freezing Thursday morning, Magic Valley residents began digging out from the epic storm that all but crippled the region a day earlier.

The big snow dump throughout the day combined with strong winds at night forced emergency responders and plow crews to work overtime, wreaked havoc on Magic Valley roads, closed down schools, businesses and government offices, caused at least one power outage and stranded both local and long-distance travelers.

“We have not had to battle a storm of this magnitude for several years,” Jerome city officials said in a statement Thursday.

Officials from around the Magic Valley continued to urge residents to stay inside and avoid driving, though street crews in both Twin Falls and Jerome had cleared major roads in both cities by early Thursday and continued plowing residential streets throughout the day.

But some roads, like South Please see SNOW, Page A4

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

A city snow plow clears Main Avenue West on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2016, in downtown Twin Falls.

Wind chill warning Friday morning The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for the western Magic Valley, southern Twin Falls County and the upper Treasure Valley east of Boise.

Sub-zero temperatures combined with 10 to 20 mph winds will lead to temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees below zero late Thursday and Friday morning, the Weather Service said. Temperatures will likely be similarly cold Friday night and Saturday morning.

These temperatures mean there is a danger of frostbite and animals will need to be sheltered from the wind and cold.

The advisory is in effect from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday.

If You Do One Thing: Magic Valley Singles square dancing starts at 7 p.m. with continuing lessons for new dancers at American Legion Hall, 107 Seventh Ave. E., Jerome. Suggested donation.

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Volume 112, Issue 71

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A Lee Enterprises Newspaper

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Copyright 2017

Storm stories: 7 tales of Samaritans in action the morning.

TWIN FALLS — Wednesday’s That’s when she turned to snow storm brought nearly a foot friends. of snow to the Magic Valley. It “(Long) texted also brought out the best in its me and asked if residents. Tireless police offishe could crash at our house becers, firefighters, paramedics and cause she knew search-and-rescue crews worked she couldn’t get through the night to rescue home. She was stranded motorists. But regular residents went above and beyond, Ihler even worried if she too. Here are seven of their stories: could make it here from work,” said Sarah Ihler, who Neither snow nor rain nor lives on Crestview Drive near the heat nor gloom of night... college. “My husband offered to go get her in his truck so that we By early afternoon Thursday, knew she wouldn’t be alone and letter carrier Stephanie Long had that she would be safe.” just finished Wednesday’s route of Long had suffered through a 986 customers. harrowing day, Ihler said.

“Her feet were soaked; she was Long’s windshield kept freezing over, and her hazard lights freezing,” she said. “I got her into and headlights were clogged with warm, dry clothes and got her snow. work clothes washed and dried.”

“I got stuck six times WednesThen Long ate stuffed meatballs day,” she said. “And on my sixth with spaghetti, salad and garlic time, my supervisor — in his own bread with the Ihlers, before going personal vehicle — came and got to sleep on their couch. me out.”

The Ihler’s 6-year-old son Long has one of the longest brought her a pillow and a blanroutes in Twin Falls — 14 miles ket, and tucked her in. in her mail truck and one mile “And they took me back to work on foot — but that wasn’t what the next morning,” Long said.

-Mychel Matthews worried her most of the day. She knew she wouldn’t make it to her home in Buhl and back to work in Please see STORIES, Page A5 TIMES-NEWS

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LOCAL

A4 | Friday, January 6, 2017

Times-News

Local artist debuts work inspired by late father TETONA DUNLAP

tdunlap@magicvalley.com‌

‌TWIN FALLS — Mina Kratchunova looks to her family for inspiration. Now she hopes her debut exhibit will inspire others.

Kratchunova is unveiling 16 paintings at 6 p.m. Saturday at Artforum Gallery in downtown Twin Falls. This event is free and open to the public.

Kratchunova has been an artist her entire life. She’s dabbled in drawing and painting, and has done custom finishing and cabinet making. She currently works as a full-time massage therapist and jewelry maker.

But she didn’t start painting with oils until her father, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013. Krachunov died Oct. 5, 2014.

Krachunov was a prolific artist during the months before his death. Kratchunova often accompanied her father during these painting sessions at his studio, Artforum Gallery.

“I drove him to chemo a lot and when he felt sick, he wanted to paint,” she said. “I would hang out with him when he’d paint.”

Krachunov was from Bulgaria and known in Idaho for his murals and paintings found in private collections, churches and in parks in Sun Valley, Boise, Twin Falls and Coeur d’Alene. Before moving to Twin Falls, he and his wife, Marianna, owned a gallery in Bulgaria and a pottery store in London. They met while students at the National Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria. They were married 36 years and have two daughters, Mina Kratchunova and Roumena Kratchunova.

“I think she’s really serious about her work right now,” Marianna said. “That’s why she wants to start with this debut. I think that she finally realized how artistic she is. I think the passing of her dad made a lot changes and she realizes what potential she has now.”

Kratchunova said she was always intimidated by oils, but found solace in the medium after her father’s death. She now enjoys using the palette knife to paint.

“Oil is very intimidating be-

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

Mina Kratchunova talks about her paintings Wednesday at Art Forum in Twin Falls. Kratchunova says she has been oil painting for about five years. ‘My dad inspired me to start,’ she says. cause it dries slowly and is messy and very textured,” she said. “It is also very forgiving once it dries.

I think I refocused my grief and energy in a positive way. I found a way to channel that into painting.”

Today, Kratchunova and her mother paint together once a week at the family studio.

“You feel a different energy when you are painting with someone else,” she said. “I have been inspired by both my parents.”

She is also influenced by her 6-year-old daughter, Liliyanna, who has taken an early interest in

painting and already won awards.

Kratchunova’s paintings at her exhibit are for sale and feature land and seascapes. Kratchunova said you can see her father’s abstract influence in some of her art pieces. After his cancer diagnosis, Krachunov’s painting style changed from realism and surrealism to more abstract. Some of her father’s later work depicted a man holding a fish that contains the world inside it and glowing nuclei.

“I just want to inspire people on an artistic and creative level,” Mina Kratchunova poses for a portrait with some of her paintings Wednesday at Art Forum in Twin Falls. she said.

Snow

CSI, Twin Falls School District to reopen The College of Southern Idaho’s campuses in Twin Falls, Burley, Gooding and Hailey will reopen at 8 a.m. Friday.

From A1

Tiger Drive in Jerome, were still experiencing major snow drifts.

Authorities asked drivers to avoid the area. Slick driving conditions and sub-zero temperatures were expected to continue creating problems into Friday, with parts of Twin Falls, Jerome and Gooding counties expected to see a wind chill factor between 20 and 30 degrees below zero.

“The city of Twin Falls is continuing to encourage residents to avoid city streets and stay home if possible,” city officials said in a statement Thursday morning.

“Street workers have been working on rotating shifts to plow and sand roads since 11 a.m. Tuesday, but the amount of snow that fell in short period of time, strong wind gusts Wednesday evening, and temperatures that are in the single digits, all created hazardous conditions that have exhausted local, county, and state resources.”

The storm wreaked the most havoc on country roads, though Twin Falls and Jerome counties and the Mini-Cassia region seemed to take the brunt of the storm.

Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough said his deputies went out to help motorists Wednesday night, “but weren’t near as busy as Jerome.” Interim Shoshone Police Chief Rene Rodriguez said there were only a few slide-offs in Lincoln County because “people realized it wasn’t a good idea to be driving.”

In Twin Falls, sheriff’s deputies responded to more than 100 slideoffs, Sgt. Dan Thom said.

“There were 52 on night shift and at least 50 on day shift,” Thom said.

Twin Falls County Search and Rescue volunteers were activated Wednesday night, Thom said.

Riding snow machines and an all-terrain vehicle on tracks, the search-and-rescue crews made their way up and down county roads running north and south checking on each stranded vehicle to ensure the drivers had made it out safely.

“As far as I know, nobody was stuck or stranded overnight,” Thom said.

Cassia County Search and Rescue volunteers were also activated Wednesday night to help with motorist-assist calls.

“We couldn’t keep up,” Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said.

Jerome County Sheriff Doug

The Twin Falls School District also plans to reopen all schools Friday, according to the district’s website.

But if conditions change, parents and employees will be notified via the emergency notification system. Information will also be posted on the school district’s website and via local media.

“Temperatures will be lower than normal for this time of year so parents are asked to dress their students warmly,” according to the website.

The goal is to have bus routes run normally, but there could be delays due to snowy conditions.

“In addition, the decision to send students to school is ultimately that of the parents,” according to the website. “If you choose to keep your student home due to weather and road conditions, we ask that you communicate with your school’s front office tomorrow morning.”

School, government closures‌

(COURTESY IDAHO OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT)‌

Winter weather flood risks McFall said his deputies were swamped with calls for crashes, slide-offs and stranded motorists. But across the Magic Valley, there were no reports of anyone being stuck in their cars overnight.

There were also no weather-related deaths late Wednesday or early Thursday, Twin Falls County Coroner Gene Turley reported.

“We lucked out,” the coroner said.

Stranded drivers seek shelter‌ As road conditions worsened, many people with plans to travel instead sought shelter.

Area hotels saw double their normal volume Wednesday night, with road closures and snow drifts stranding travelers.

“We were full,” said Bryan Wilson, manager of the Amber Inn near Eden. “We had cars stuck everywhere.”

The Idaho Transportation Department called the hotel to warn managers about road closures.

Some residents of Hazelton and Hansen were unable to return home, while travelers on their way to Illinois, Arizona, Washington and Utah were also caught in the storm.

“They had no choice,” Wilson said. “They couldn’t go anywhere.”

Drifting snow also created issues in the parking lots of hotels and gas stations. Wilson had three or four customers volunteer to help dig vehicles out with their shovels, and to make a driveway to the hotel.

On Thursday afternoon, Wilson was still working hard to shovel 4- to 7- foot snowdrifts on the property.

“This one was a dandy,” he said, saying he thinks it hasn’t been this bad since the storms he witnessed in 1985 and 1992.

Luz Garcia with the Days Inn in Jerome said the hotel normally has six to 10 rooms booked at this time of year, but had 20 full rooms Wednesday night.

“Everyone was getting stuck, so our entrance was blocked,” she said.

trash in Jerome, was expected to resume service Friday with it’s normal Friday route, and comMost school districts were plete Thursday’s normal route on closed Thursday for the second Saturday. day, while several government offices that shut down early Wednes- Power-pole crash leaves day were closed again Thursday.

Castleford residents in The College of Southern Idaho’s main campus and locations the dark‌ in Hailey, Gooding and Burley reNearly 600 Idaho Power cusmained closed Thursday. All CSI tomers in Castleford lost power campuses planned to reopen at after a tractor struck a power 8 a.m. Friday. pole about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Closures also affected Twin Outage Specialist Alex McCulloch Falls, Kimberly, Cassia, Jerome, said. The crash itself didn’t cut the Gooding, Richfield, Castleford, power, but it broke the pole at the Shoshone, Valley and Bliss school base, and crews had to turn off a districts. St. Nicholas Catholic breaker before they could comSchool in Rupert, North Valley plete the repairs.

Academy in Gooding, Twin Falls Most of the 594 customers Christian Academy and Xavier the outage affected were withCharter School in Twin Falls were out power between 6 and 7 p.m., also closed Thursday. though some weren’t restored unSchool officials around the val- til just past 11:30 p.m. ley said they planned to reopen Friday. But Twin Falls School Dis- Flooding possible next trict officials said the “lower than week‌ normal temperatures” and changing conditions could alter plans.

Temperatures are expected to If conditions change, parents rise sharply Sunday, which comand employees will be notified bined with possible rain could via the emergency notification lead to nuisance flooding early system, the district’s website said. next week.

Information will also be posted on “The main concern is for the the school district’s website and Western Magic Valley and the Treasure Valley, where there is via local media.

Meanwhile, Twin Falls City Hall abundant snowpack in place,” the was closed Thursday until noon. National Weather Service said.

And courthouses in Twin Falls, “The potential for rainfall Jerome, Cassia, Minidoka and along with some melting of the Lincoln counties were closed all snowpack could result in street day Thursday after shutting down flooding in urban areas, flooding early Wednesday. The courts were of small streams, fields, and low expected to reopen 8 a.m. Friday lying areas. Frozen soils will prevent runoff from soaking into the for regular business.

City officials in Twin Falls ground, and snow and ice-clogged asked residents to be patient and gutters and storm drains will conexpect delays in services such as tribute to the flood potential.” trash pick-up, while Jerome city officials announced that garbage Times-News reporters Nathan pick-up was canceled Thursday. Brown, Heather Kennison and Julie PSI, the company that collects Wootton contributed to this report.

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LOCAL

Times-News

Friday, January 6, 2017 | A5

Stories From A1

‘Astronomical number of calls’‌ What was it like for tow truck companies?

“Uncontrollable,” said Charles Legg, the owner of A1 Towing and Repair in Twin Falls.

“Semis all over the place,” said Frank Flores, a tow truck operator with Magic Valley Towing/ Diamond Towing. “A couple of them in town, a couple out on the freeway.”

Legg said he didn’t even want to say how many calls he had gotten, but that the phone rang all day.

“Astronomical number of calls,” he said. “That’s how many I did. And I turned down just as many as I took.”

The calls, Legg said, were “a little bit of everything” — vehicles stuck and needing to be winched out of the snow or towed; flat tires; dead batteries; people locked out of their cars.

Flores said he worked all day Wednesday, until about 1:30 a.m.

Thursday.

“It was getting cold,” he said.

“We couldn’t see nothing in the snow. People shouldn’t have been on the roads last night.”

Flores said most of the calls he got were for trucks that had gotten stuck.

“Pretty much thinking they could drive through snowdrifts and they couldn’t,” he said.

Legg said he did most of his work in the Twin Falls, Jerome, Kimberly, Buhl and Hansen areas. He said they tried to stay off of Interstate 84, since visibility was so poor, and they also didn’t do anything too far out of town.

“It got so crazy out there,” he said.

The thing that stood out in Legg’s mind was how big the snowdrifts got. For Flores, too, the size of the snowdrifts he had to drive through on some of the backroads in Jerome County surprised him.

“They were about as high as my tow truck, we were driving through,” he said.

-Nathan Brown

Just hard work‌

Spencer Cutler had long days Wednesday and Thursday clearing snow at the College of Southern Idaho.

But his efforts extended beyond campus.

On his drive home from work Wednesday night, Cutler — who’s the assistant physiCutler cal plant director at CSI — helped about half a dozen people whose cars were stuck in the snow off Falls Avenue.

Cutler said he was partly acting in his own self-interest: “They were blocking intersections where I needed to go.”

But then, he admitted, he wanted to help — particularly, when people were by themselves.

“Two or three people makes for pretty quick work.”

Back at work, Cutler was among about 10 campus maintenance workers who stayed to clear campus roads, driveways, sidewalks and steps.

There’s a couple hundred acres of CSI property to cover just in Twin Falls alone.

“A lot of the guys are working 12-hour days to try to stay on top of it,” Cutler said, starting around 4 a.m. each day.

Plus, additional crews helped clear snow at CSI’s outreach centers in Burley, Gooding and Hailey.

Cutler said he didn’t have any exciting snowstorm stories. But he helped ensure the campus is safe for employees when they return.

“It’s pretty boring,” he said. “It’s just hard work.”

-Julie Wootton

Rest for the weary‌

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Curtis Hansen said he was feeling “a little tired” Thursday afternoon. But that may be an understatement.

Hansen — general manager of Fairfield Inn & Suites Twin Falls — was among five employees who picked up coworkers stranded at home and travelers at Magic Valley Regional Airport when their flights were canceled.

Hansen When the winter storm intensified Wednesday afternoon, “we really started to shut down,” Hansen said, and the hotel was operating with a skeleton staff of two people.

But once they realized the intensity of the workload, Hansen and two other department heads

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌

ABOVE: Tow Truck Operator Frank Flores prepares to go on a call Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016, at Magic Valley Towing in Twin Falls.

RIGHT: Tow Truck Operator Frank Flores talks about his day Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016, at Magic Valley Towing in Twin Falls.

stayed at work.

“We were making sure our hotel was taken care of,” he said.

That included clearing walkways and shoveling parking lots frequently as the snow continued to fall. They also pushed out about 10 cars stuck in the parking lot within a few hours.

One of the managers, Jeremy Heward, used his own four-wheel drive vehicle to make trips out to the airport and bring people to the hotel.

“We were very busy yesterday,” Hansen said. As they helped people get to the hotel, rooms filled up quickly.

Most travelers were able to get out Thursday — back on the road or to the airport. But a couple of them will be in Twin Falls through Friday.

Hansen said it was amazing to see community members help Tow Truck Operator Frank Flores prepares to go on a call Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016, at Magic Valley Towing in Twin each other during the storm. “I Falls. saw just so many people help push cars.”

When Ryley Peterson got off -Julie Wootton work Wednesday night, he had trouble going home. Not because ‘Stuck? We can help.’‌ his vehicle couldn’t handle the As the snow continued to fall, snow, but because too many peoseveral members of a Magic Valley ple needed help.

Facebook group offered to shovel “I noticed how bad the roads driveways or dig out stuck cars for were and saw people sliding off,” 10 or 15 bucks.

Peterson said.

But one couple with a pickup Peterson, 21, posted a mestruck and the desire to serve of- sage on social media shortly after fered to help stranded motorists leaving work at Wills Toyota. He for free. posted his phone number and said “Stuck? We can help,” read the he would help stranded motorists Facebook post from Alyson Hase. at no cost.

“We are out helping people get un“I didn’t have much to do,” he stuck and get home safe for free. said.

We just want everyone home safe.”

Peterson estimated he and his Alyson said she and her hus- fiance, Shanna Boisvert, helped band, Bruce, were out in the af- about 15 people in five hours ternoon when they spotted a Wednesday night. car stuck in the parking lot near “The side roads where really bad Sportsman’s Warehouse. Bruce and people were just trying to get jumped out and helped get the car home,” Peterson said. “A lot of (COURTESY PHOTO)‌ to the street. people were really close to home “Then I informed him that there and needed that little bit of help Ryley Peterson and Shanna Boisvert were people that were charging getting there.” to help, and he said that I should Peterson drives a Ford pickup Center volunteers assisted other were very deep in post it that we would do it for free,” and said he had to hook a tow rope employees by offering overnight snow.”

Alyson said. “We had nothing else up to a few stuck vehicles. Most of rooms or rides home during the Savage, who grew up in Mongoing on … my work was closed the vehicles just needed an extra snowy conditions. down and it was his day off.” hand to help push them out.

The emergency management tana, had no Alyson said the couple always Peterson grew up in Buhl and and incident command teams put problems driving stops to help drivers on the side of said it’s been years since he’s their heads together Wednesday her Honda Pilot town. the road, but this was the first time seen this much snow. When he night to create an impromptu through Savage they’d offered help over social me- was growing up, he remembered “Rides and Rooms” service for She gave seven employees who weren’t comdia. They helped both motorists he and his father would go out rides Thursday morning, and she they found themselves, and ones every snow storm and help peo- fortable or able to drive through planned to give several employees who messaged them on Facebook. ple stuck. the snow. rides home that afternoon.

The couple was out offering He already received four calls “It was innovative thinking of “It was a very good team-buildtheir services from about 4 to before noon on Thursday. Peter- the staff in the moment,” Senior ing exercise” Savage said. “It was 11 p.m., but they lost count of how son was at work, but said he was Director of Nursing and Patient very insightful.”

St. Luke’s employees had given many people they helped. planning to go back out once he Care Valerie Leonard said.

“We were enjoying being out,” clocked out to help motorists who Amy Savage, a director of nurs- more than 40 rides between Alyson said, “and helping people still needed help. ing at St. Luke’s, volunteered Wednesday afternoon and Thurs-Tetona Dunlap to get up at 4:30 a.m. Thursday day morning, Leonard said, and 20 get home safe.”

-Alex Riggins morning to give rides to people. staff members had immediately Rides and rooms‌ “Most of my rides I gave were in responded with offers of rooms.

-Heather Kennison Just trying to get home‌ St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical town,” she said. “The side streets

Judge tosses lawsuit

Minico tops Twin Falls

Otter’s sage grouse claims lack standing

Spartans trade turnovers for points SPORTS, D1

PAGE A3

SNOW POSSIBLE 20 • 20 FORECAST, D4

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017 |

magicvalley.com

Gov calls for task force to study college Otter wants task force to examine low go-on rate NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Courtesy Clerk Tony Wrobel pushes shopping carts into the store Friday at Fred Meyer in Twin Falls. Wrobel recommends using water-proof spray on your shoes to keep your feet dry in the snow.

Melt on the way Weather alerts

MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — The sun was shining on mountains of snow and ice downtown when the City Council met Friday to declare a flood disaster emergency.

Better safe than sorry, said City Manager Travis Rothweiler.

Despite the beautiful blue sky overhead, “we need to keep (the situation) in perspective,” Rothweiler said.

Parts of the Magic Valley received 14 inches of snow on Wednesday, and another 4 inches of snow are expected on the valley’s floor over the weekend — followed by an inch of rain.

The emergency declaration, unanimously approved Friday and signed by Mayor Shawn Barigar, will allow the city to spend public funds to protect lives and property in case of flooding over the next week or so.

Jerome also declared an emergency, City Manager Mike Williams said. Mayor Dave Davis signed an emergency declaration Thursday afternoon in anticipation of severe weather

Another wind chill warning Sub-zero temperatures combined with winds of 10 to 20 mph Saturday morning will again produce dangerously cold wind chill in southern Idaho.

The frigid weather could cause frostbite. Animals will need shelter from the wind and cold.

conditions and flooding in Jerome County.

In Twin Falls, city workers have worked for days to clear streets of Wednesday’s snow, which Rothweiler said was the second heaviest snowfall the city has ever experienced.

An “unprecedented accumulation of snow” is piled in and along streets and in parking lots, he said. The potential for flooding is significant.

“We are taking these steps hoping this isn’t needed,” he said.

The city is setting up an emergency operation center to handle flooding of the Perrine Coulee, Rock Creek and city streets.

The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army have been notified of the potential disaster.

“This is the third flood emergency I’ve seen while on the City Council,” Councilman Chris Talkington said. “The intersections are a major problem.”

Rothweiler made an appeal to townsfolk.

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Volume 112, Issue 72

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Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter speaks to reporters about the upcoming 2017 legislative session at the State Capitol building Friday, in Boise, Idaho. The new session begins Monday, Jan. 9. to Obamacare as we know it,” he said. “If we get too far out ahead, we may be in a territory that’s not prepared to do what the Trump administration is going to do.”

Otter will give his State of the State speech Monday, when he is expected to expand on his goals for the session and his 2017-2018 budget proposal.

The task force will be tasked with developing a five-year plan to improve higher education in Idaho, and one of its focuses will be raising the number of people who go on to college or vocational training after high school.

The state Board of Education has set a goal of 60 percent of Idahoans between the ages of 25 and 34 having a post-secondary degree or certification by 2020. The Please see COLLEGE, Page A6

Otter still waiting on Ag secretary pick NATHAN BROWN

And another snowstorm A moist Pacific storm will bring more snow to the area Saturday and Sunday. Snow will start in eastern Oregon before dawn Saturday and could reach south-central Idaho by the evening. Snow could change to sleet and freezing rain, and rain Sunday.

Snow-covered roads and poor visibility could cause travel problems Saturday and Sunday. Freezing rain will increase travel hazards Sunday.

If you do one thing: Twin Falls Public Library will hold a Storywalk event for Cabin Fever Day from 2 to 4 p.m. with a walk through Twin Falls City Park and a movie at 4 p.m. at the library, 201 Fourth Ave. E. Free. $1.50

BOISE — Idaho’s governor announced Friday he will create a task force to review higher education in Idaho with the goal of boosting the number of Idahoans who go on to college or vocational training after high school.

The Higher Education Task Force, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said, would be modeled on the one that studied kindergarten-through-12th-grade education and produced 20 recommendations that spawned much of the education-related legislation passed in the past three sessions.

Otter also said he doesn’t plan to put forth any proposals for tax cuts, an issue some of his fellow Republicans in the Legislature have said they would like to make a focus of the 2017 session.

“I have not and will not prepare any tax-relief measures,” he told the Capitol press corps and assorted lawmakers, lobbyists and Legislature-watchers at the Associated Press’s annual legislative session preview on Friday morning.

And, Otter urged lawmakers to be cautious about passing any legislation on extending health coverage to the uninsured so the state doesn’t get ahead of the changes to and possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act that Congress is expected to take up soon.

“The Trump administration is going to do something relative to Medicaid expansion, relative

nbrown@magicvalley.com

BOISE — C.L. “Butch” Otter said Friday he is still waiting to see whether he will be appointed secretary of Agriculture in the Trump administration.

Idaho’s governor, who is one of several candidates being vetted for the position, told a roomful of reporters and others at the Associated Press’s annual event previewing the legislative session that he watches the news every day to see if president-elect Donald Trump has made an announcement on who he’ll appoint for the post.

Otter also had kind words for former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who some media outlets have reported this week is now the top contender. Otter and Perdue served together on the National Governors Association and on the Republican Governors

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Association.

“There’s a lot of talent seeking that opportunity,” Otter said. “I would love that opportunity.”

Otter has spoken to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. about the job, but hasn’t gotten too many followup questions since having that conversation. He said he suspects he would have heard more if he were going to be the appointee.

Agriculture secretary was Otter’s second choice for a job in the Trump administration. His first and third were Interior secretary and U.S. trade representative, and Trump has already announced his picks for both of those posts.

Were Otter to be appointed and step down, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who has already announced his intent to run for the top job in 2018, would become governor.

Otter has said he does not intend to seek another term.

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Second Sunday’S BottomleSS Brunch!!

(208) 733-9392 330 Canyon Crest Drive, Twin Falls

www.CanyonCrestDining.com

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Sunday, January 8th Canyon Crest hosts a Bottomless Brunch Buffet the 2nd Sunday of each month!

Featuring a selection of breakfast and lunch items.

10am-2pm!

Adults just $14.95; Children 5-11 $7.95; 4 & younger are free!

The 2nd Sunday of each and every month!

NEWS

A6 | Saturday, January 7, 2017

Times-News

EPA: 540 tons of metals entered river in mine spill MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press‌

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Courtesy Clerk Tony Wrobel collects shopping carts to push into the store Friday at Fred Meyer in Twin Falls. Wrobel recommends dressing in layers and placing hand warmers in your gloves and shoes to stay warm. ‘They (hand warmers) help so much in the cold weather,’ he says.

Flood From A1

“What makes Twin Falls special is its commitment to community, but we can’t do it alone,” Rothweiler said.

“We need citizens to be our eyes and ears.”

Twin Falls residents can call 311 on landlines — or 208-735-4357 — to alert emergency personnel to dangers to lives or property.

City officials are asking homeowners to clear their gutters of debris and snow, to remove snow from rooftops and to help a neighbor out if needed.

“This is where we really shine,” Councilwoman Nikki Boyd said.

Rothweiler also suggested everyone sign up for the 2-year-old Citizen Alert

College From A1

number of graduating seniors who go on to college has not risen but dropped from 52 percent of graduating high schoolers in 2014 to 46 percent in 2015.

“This is forward-thinking on (Otter’s) part,” College of Southern Idaho President Jeff Fox said of the task force.

Fox will be on the committee, along with the rest of the college and university presidents in Idaho, business and industry representatives and some lawmakers and students. Fox praised Otter for including such a variety of voices.

“I think this is really a good process,” Fox said.

With state revenues coming in higher than expected — House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said the surplus is higher than $100 million — some Republican lawmakers want to see tax cuts this year. Income tax cut proposals have been put forth by the House GOP leadership but have stalled for the past two years.

Bedke wants to put the extra money into tax cuts and bolstering the state’s rainy day fund, saying Idaho’s income tax rates are not competitive with some neighboring states.

“I think there’s some things that we can do to tune up our tax code to make us more competitive,” Bedke said. “I am also a fan of savings accounts, personally.”

House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, said cutting income taxes “might be a neat piece of window dressing that would make Idaho more competitive,” but that the real problem holding back Idaho’s economy is that not enough people have college degrees. Erpelding called this “a real, underlying structural problem that causes structural employment issues in Idaho.”

Democrats and advocates for the “gap” population — people who don’t qualify for Medicaid but don’t make enough to qualify for subsidies to get insurance on the state exchange — have failed to convince the Legislature to expand Medicaid. With the repeal of the ACA a real possibility, Medicaid expansion seems even more unlikely than it might have been before. A legislative task force that studied the issue before the session urged lawmakers to do something to help the uninsured but didn’t recommend what.

Senate Minority Leader

How to sign up for C.A.N. All residents of Southern Idaho are encouraged to subscribe to the Citizen Alert Notification system to be notified about emergencies and critical information.

Visit sircomm.com, then scroll down to click on the C.A.N. banner to get to the log-in page.

Subscribers can receive time-sensitive messages via cellphone, landline phone, email, text messages and more.

The C.A.N. system serves the counties of Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln and Twin Falls, as well as the cities within those counties. For further information please contact SIRCOMM at 208324-1344.

‌WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 540 tons of metals — mostly iron and aluminum — contaminated the Animas River over nine hours during a massive wastewater spill from an abandoned Colorado gold mine, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday in a new report on the 2015 blowout that turned rivers in three states a sickly yellow.

The total amount of metals entering the river system was comparable to levels during one or two days of high spring runoff, although the concentration of metals was significantly higher at the spill’s peak, the report said.

In February, the EPA estimated the amount of metals in the release at 440 tons. The agency said additional data and improved analysis resulted in the higher final estimate.

The EPA said its research supports earlier statements that water quality in the affected river system has returned to pre-spill levels.

An EPA-led contractor inadvertently triggered the 3-million-gallon spill while doing preliminary cleanup work at the old Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. The blowout affected rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The EPA said in its report

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‌

In this Aug. 14, 2015, file photo, water flows through a series of sediment retention ponds built to reduce heavy metal and chemical contaminants from the Gold King Mine wastewater accident, in the spillway downstream from the mine, outside Silverton, Colo. that only 1 percent of the metals came from inside the mine, while 99 percent were “scoured” from waste piles on nearby hills and stream beds. The iron and aluminum reacted with the river water to cause the eye-catching mustard color that was visible for days as the plume traveled down the river system into Lake Powell, the EPA said.

Besides iron and aluminum, the spill released manganese, lead, copper, arsenic, zinc, cadmium and a small amount of mercury into the river, the EPA said.

The EPA said last month it will pay $4.5 million to state, local and tribal governments for their emergency responses, but the

agency rejected $20.4 million in other requests for past and future expenses.

New Mexico Environment Secretary Butch Tongate accused the EPA of using the taxpayer-funded report to try to defend its actions. The state has sued the agency over the spill.

In Utah, state government spokeswoman Erica Brown Gaddis said the report shows the metals have moved into Lake Powell, a vast reservoir in her state, highlighting the need for broader research on the effects of wastewater draining from other inactive Colorado mines into the region’s rivers.

Colorado officials said they had no comment on the report.

Notification through the Southern Idaho Regional Communications Center.

The National Weather Service in Boise reports that warming temperatures and potential for rain could lead to flooding in the western Magic Valley.

“Melting of the snowpack could result in street flooding in urban areas, flooding of

small streams, fields, and low lying areas. Frozen soils will prevent runoff from soaking into the ground, and snow and ice-clogged gutters and storm drains will contribute to the flood potential. Uncertainty exists in forecast temperatures, precipitation type and amount for next week in these lower valleys,” the weather service reported.

Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, said she doesn’t expect any action on the issue.

“It’s unfortunate, because we still do have those who are not covered in that gap population, and 10,000 of those are our veterans,” she said.

Otter said lawmakers care and want to help the uninsured, but they need to be careful not to get ahead of federal policy.

“If we come up with a nut that doesn’t fit the bolt that comes from Washington, D.C., then we’ve got to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

This year’s state budget is expected to fund the third year of the “career ladder,” a plan to raise teachers’ pay over five years. The plan calls for almost $58 million in new funding, the most expensive piece of the plan yet.

Complicating things, though, is news of an independent audit of 225 randomly sampled teacher evaluations from 53 school districts and charter schools from the 2014-15 school year that found 99 percent of them weren’t done correctly.

The Department of Education received the report in July but didn’t share it with

lawmakers or the public. It to make sure one is in place. there we are,” he said. “I’m accountability component, was first reported by Idaho “I was disappointed not looking back, I’m looking and I’m going to make darn Education News last month. that the data was sat on for forward. I’m saying that the good and sure that it’s in “It may be a heavy lift this months, but it came out, so career ladder depends on an there.” year to get the $58 million for the career ladder, but it’s a promise that I made and I’m going to do everything I can to fulfill that promise,” Otter said, pointing to the state Constitution’s requirement of a “general, uniform and thorough” public school system.

“The Constitution demands that, not just Butch Otter,” he said.

School administrators have been critical of the audit, saying it was unfair since it compared the evaluations against a specific model known as the Charlotte Danielson Framework rather than comparing each one to the model under which it was built. Erpelding said the Department of Education shouldn’t have sat on the data, but “there was a lot of flawed information in that report.”

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| THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 | magicvalley.com

Flooding hits Mini-Cassia LAURIE WELCH

lwelch@magicvalley.com

BURLEY — Ray Schmitt pulled the gloves off his red, raw fingers Wednesday as he took a short break from pumping the icy water surrounding his home.

Schmitt’s was one of many homes, businesses, schools, outbuildings and roads that were flooded from the melting January snowfall.

Canals ran with water and shiny lakes replaced fallow fields across rural Mini-Cassia.

The Cassia County commissioners passed a resolution

Wednesday declaring emergency flooding in the county.

“Luckily it is not in the house,” said Schmitt, who spent Tuesday night and Wednesday pumping water away from his home at 200 W. 400 S. Every once in a while the pumps, on loan to Schmitt from neighbors, lost their prime, which required him to plunge his hands into the freezing water to get them restarted.

Ty Beck and Kade Craner, Schmitt’s neighbors spent the night taking shifts to keep his house safe.

Schmitt said he had never met Craner prior to him showing up at his house to help.

“We had only inches to spare, and if we would have stopped pumping for a couple of hours we would have flooded,” Schmitt said.

Neighbors Blair Bowers and Mike Beck brought tractors and pumps to help drain a field near Lorraine’s Day Care, 75 W. 200 S. “We have four-inches of water in the basement, and our whole play area is flooded,” Sherrie Greener, owner of the business, who was caring for about 70 chil-

dren. “We have water everywhere.

The indoor gym looks like a swimming pool.”

Greener called a disaster restoration company, but they told her not to bother pumping water from the business until the water was drained from the nearby field.

“I don’t know what we’d do without these awesome neighbors who came to help,” Greener said.

Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said Oakley was hit “really hard” and homes, buildings and roads flooded.

“There is a lot of water standing on the roads and the canals are all

running,” Warrell said.

Motorists need to be aware of the possibility of standing water on the roads, he said.

Sheriff ’s deputies were out all Tuesday night in Malta to help residents sandbag their homes.

The emergency flooding declaration is good for seven days and will allow the flood district to perform necessary diversion work on the water channels to alleviate flooding in Malta, Commissioner Bob Kunau said.

Continued high stream flows Please see FLOODING, Page A4

Twin Falls lifts flood emergency MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com

SETH WENIG, ASSOCIATED PRESS

President-elect Donald Trump speaks Wednesday during a news conferenceb in New York. The event for the media was his first as president-elect.

Trump strikes defiant tone

Freewheeling news conference hits on hacking, Obamacare, border wall meddled in the election, but did so to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. After spending weeks challenging that idea, Trump finally accepted at least part of the intelligence conclusions.

“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,” Trump said, quickly adding that “other countries and other people” also hack U.S. interests. Still, he kept needling the intelligence agencies, saying it would be a “tremendous blot” on their record if officials were leaking information from his classified briefings.

One U.S. official told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that intelligence people had informed Trump last week about an unsubstantiated report that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about him. Some media outlets reported on the document, which contains unproven information alleging close coordination between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, as well as unverified claims about unusual sexual activities by Trump. The

JULIE PACE

Associated Press

NEW YORK — In a combative and freewheeling news conference, President-elect Donald Trump said for the first time Wednesday that he accepts Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race. Looking ahead, he urged Congress to move quickly to replace President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and insisted anew that Mexico will pay the cost of a border wall.

The hour-long spectacle in the marbled lobby of Trump’s Manhattan skyscraper was his first news conference since winning the election in early November, and the famously unconventional politician demonstrated he had not been changed by the weight of his victory.

He defiantly denied reports that Russia had collected compromising personal and financial information about him, lambasting the media for peddling “fake news” and shouting down a journalist from CNN, which reported on the matter.

Please see TRUMP, Page A4 His family and advisers clapped and cheered him on throughout.  HEALTH LAW: Senate Trump’s transition has been prepares to take step toward shadowed by U.S. intelligence repeal. Page A6 assessments that Russia not only

Please see EMERGENCY, Page A4

KAMRAN JEBREILI, ASSOCIATED PRESS

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that after taking office he will retain a stake in his business empire, which includes hotels, office buildings and golf resorts such as Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, above.

President-elect to maintain stake in business empire BERNARD CONDON AND JULIE BYKOWICZ

Associated Press

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will continue to profit from his global business empire after he enters the White House this month — a precedent-breaking decision that the director of the Office of Government Ethics swiftly condemned as unpatriotic.

At a news conference announcing a much-anticipated plan for dealing with his sprawling company, Trump and his lawyer said the Trump Organization would be run by the president-elect’s adult sons and a longtime com-

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M 1

$1.50

•

Volume 112, Issue 77

•

A Lee Enterprises Newspaper

•

Copyright 2017

TWIN FALLS — With the threat of flooding passed, the city has lifted its emergency status declared Friday in case of severe flooding.

Now city workers are concentrating on repairing the damage caused by recent storms.

“The biggest thing now is all the new potholes created from moisture getting under the road base,” city spokesman Joshua Palmer said Wednesday. “We’re going to see more of these as the freezing and thawing continues.”

Paved roadways are highly susceptible to the combination of precipitation, freezing and thawing, which contributes to road fatigue, Palmer said. When moisture in the base freezes and thaws, it expands and contracts, leaving behind a gap between the base and the pavement. The pavement eventually gives under the weight of vehicles.

Street crews are using a “cold mix” temporary patch to fill potholes and will come back to repair the holes in the summer, Palmer said.

Drivers should use caution to avoid potholes that may be hiding beneath standing water.

The city is asking residents to report potholes and other road

MARKETS OBITUARIES OPINION

A2 A5 A7

Rupert senator eyes airport bill NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

pany executive, although the president-elect will retain an ownership stake in a trust that holds his business assets.

Sheri Dillon, an attorney with the firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius, said the company will pursue new deals in the U.S. but will not enter new foreign arrangements while Trump is in office.

The steps are to assure Americans that he is “not exploiting the office of the presidency for his personal benefit,” she said.

The decision to stop new ventures abroad was one of Trump’s few concessions to ethics experts who have warned that the real

BOISE — Mini-Cassia’s senator is considering legislation to allow for the creation of local airport districts, a move that would provide another option to relocate the Burley airport.

The airport Anthon is owned by the city of Burley, which has been trying for more than 20 years to move it. In 2016, an airport task force identified two possible sites, one south of Interstate 84 north of Exit 216 and one north of there. Currently, an engineering company

Please see BUSINESS, Page A4

Please see AIRPORT, Page A4

COMICS JUMBLE BRIDGE

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NEWS

A4 | Thursday, January 12, 2017

Emergency

Garbage collection

Cheney Drive closed

From A1

hazards by calling 311 on a landline or 208-735-4357.

Officials are pleased with the way crews and residents responded to the 16 inches of snow that fell over the past week, he said. Many in the community assisted stranded motorists during blizzard conditions, helped homeowners prevent flooding, and assisted the city in clearing storm water drains.

“We took steps to prepare the city in the event that flooding threatened our community’s

The city has closed Cheney Drive from Washington Street North to North College Road because of flooding and excessive water covering the road.

Storm-water retention basins in the area are full, causing water to rise above the roadway. City crews are working to reduce flooding by pumping water into a nearby irrigation canal.

It is unknown at this time when the road can safely be reopened.

However, the city will continue to provide updates on its website at www.tfid.org. health and safety, but we’re fortunate that it didn’t reach that magnitude,” said Mayor Shawn Barigar. “During the storm our community demon-

Times-News

strated incredible resilience by aiding others in need, working with our city workers to prevent flooding, and being patient with service disruptions.

The city is working with PSI Environmental to restore garbage and recycling service to its normal schedule. Snow and ice on roads and in alleys during the storm made it unsafe for trucks to operate — delaying pickup for most customers. Some alleys remain unsafe for large vehicles due to icy conditions.

PSI is asking customers to place bins at the curb, if possible, until trucks can safely drive in the alleys. Please call PSI at 208-733-4441 for more information about garbage and recycling collection. Customers with curbside pick-up may also be experiencing delays. If PSI is unable to pick up garbage on customers scheduled pick-up day, they will pick up garbage the following day.

We are asking the community to continue being patient while we work to repair the damage and restore services to normal operation.”

The city will continue to

monitor weather conditions so officials can take action quickly if more storms approach, Palmer said. The National Weather Service provides the city with a four-day forecast.

Airport From A1

is working on a master plan for the airport.

Economic development leaders say keeping an airport in Mini-Cassia is a must if the region wants to continue to attract new businesses. But others in the region have been skeptical about the need for a new airport, despite warnings the current one doesn’t meet safety standards, and have raised concerns about where it would go and who would pay for it.

Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, who is also the Rupert city administrator, said officials in Burley have been considering an airport district or similar model and that he wants to explore how the legislature may help.

Anthon stressed he is not necessarily in favor of creating an airport district to build a new airport, but that airport districts don’t even exist under Idaho law now.

“I’m not advocating it, I want to be very clear about that … but my constituents are telling me the option is not even available,” Anthon said Wednesday.

The bill is still in the discussion stage, but it would likely work similarly to most other taxing districts — voters would have to approve its creation, then it would be run by a board that would set its budget and levy property taxes to help pay for it.

That option may be especially attractive to Burley, since it could potentially allow other communities to share the costs of maintaining the regional airport.

Another potential plus to an airport district, Anthon said, is its stability compared with a “joint powers agreement” between municipalities, since a city or county that enters such an agreement can also withdraw from it, usually with a year’s notice.

“If you’re trying to run an airport, that’s not going to be a very appealing way to go about it,” he said.

Also, Anthon said, a separate district takes the need to manage an airport and support it financially out of the hands of local governments that might not necessarily be interested. And, it puts the decision to move the Burley airport in the hands of the voters, since they would need to create the district.

“I think if they’re going to move the airport” it should be because “people should decide it’s the best thing for our community,” Anthon said.

Trump From A1

AP has not authenticated any of the claims.

Some 250 journalists crammed into the Trump Tower lobby for the news conference, which was not only Trump’s first since the election, but his first since July. Journalists shouted for his attention. At times, he skipped past questions he appeared to not want to answer, including an inquiry about whether he would keep in place sanctions Obama slapped on Russia in retaliation for the election-related hacking.

Until Wednesday, Trump had spent most of his two months as president-elect doling out policy pronouncements, attacks on critics and boasts about his victory in 140-character increments on Twitter. His preferred mode of communication has left some of his positions vague — an approach that is often by Trump’s design.

The president-elect set some concrete pol-

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Ray Schmitt works to pump water away from his house Wednesday in Burley. Schmitt says he spent all night pumping water out of his yard. ‘It was coming just as fast as we were getting rid of it,’ he says.

Flooding From A1

and standing water with no place to dissipate has harmed and continues to threaten life, health and property in the county, the resolution says.

The county may need to make “immediate expenditures” to safeguard life, health or property, it says.

Within the city of Burley, most complaints were regarding wet basements in homes, Warrell said.

Idaho 30 between Burley and Twin Falls had up to two feet of standing water on the road in four or five spots. Some county roads also sustained damage where the runoff cut into roads, Warrell said.

In Cassia County, people needing sandbags and sand can go to the sheriff’s office, 129 E. 14th St., in Burley.

Minidoka County Sheriff Eric Snarr said some county roads are flooding and there are some areas inside the city experiencing flooding.

Minidoka County residents needing sandbags can call the

icy markers Wednesday, though specifics continued to be in short supply on some of his major campaign promises.

He promised that a replacement for Obama’s sweeping health care overhaul would be offered “essentially simultaneously” with a congressional vote to repeal the measure. The complexity of the policy changes makes quick passage of a new health care law virtually impossible, and Trump is yet to detail what he wants included. He said his team would send a plan to Congress after Rep. Tom Price, his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is confirmed.

Turning to his plans to build a wall along the nation’s southern border, Trump vowed that Mexico would “reimburse” the cost of the project through an unspecified tax or payment. He said that while his administration would begin negotiating with Mexico after his Jan. 20 inauguration, he did not want to delay the work until an

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Ray Schmitt, right, and Clay Gorbett, left, work to get a water pump started Wednesday at Schmitt’s house in Burley. sheriff’s office 208-434-2320.

Snarr said there will be sand and bags at the Minidoka County Fairgrounds, 85 E. Baseline.

If someone needs sandbags and is unable to bag the sand themselves, they may call the sheriff’s office and request assistance.

“Me and my deputies have been out all morning helping,” Snarr said.

A water diversion was built at Raft River Elementary School in

agreement was reached, raising the prospect that U.S. taxpayers could ultimately bear the costs.

“I want to get the wall started,” he said. “Mexico will pay for the wall, but it will be reimbursed.”

Following Trump’s remarks, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said his country “of course will not pay” for a border wall.

Trump also moved to complete his Cabinet picks, announcing his intention to nominate David Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, elevating him from his current role as VA undersecretary. He suggested that Shulkin may work with major private hospitals to help address issues that have plagued veterans’ health care.

Trump said he would move quickly to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. He said he had been interviewing candidates and seeking input from conservative groups and planned to name someone about two weeks after the inauguration.

Malta to keep water out of the school and Raft River High School students were out helping people in a neighborhood near the school sandbag their homes, Debbie Critchfield, spokeswoman for the Cassia County School District said.

Water was also running through the new agriculture science building, which has a cement floor and drain, she said.

Fortunately, there was no dam-

Business From A1

estate development and licensing company’s international footprint could expose him to conflicts of interest.

They have warned that foreign governments might try to curry favor with him or influence U.S. policy by cutting deals with his company and speeding approval for his projects.

The concerns have thrust a typically obscure office into the limelight. The Office of Government Ethics, which advises incoming presidents and their administration officials but is not an enforcement agency, on Wednesday urged Trump to go much further to distance himself. OGE Director Walter Shaub said Trump should sell off his businesses and put the proceeds in a blind trust overseen by an independent manager.

“I don’t think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the president of the United States of America,” said Shaub, during a blistering 15-minute critique.

age, she said.

Maintenance crews were also pumping water from the Burley High School and Mountain View Elementary School parking lots.

“We are feeling fortunate,” Critchfield said. “What we are dealing with is minor compared to what we are seeing around the county.”

John Lind, general manager at Burley Irrigation District, said the district crews had all their equipment out working to clear ice jams from canals and repairing washouts in canal banks in the district.

The biggest area of concern, he said, was on the J canal around 250 E. Cory Loveland with the US Bureau of Reclamation said there is little danger of the Snake River flooding.

“Most of the flows are within the banks,” he said.

The warmer temperatures have loosened ice jams but the major flooding issues are coming with the “ponding water” from the rapid snowmelt, he said.

The National Weather Service in Pocatello’s flood warning for Mini-Cassia is set to expire late Thursday morning.

The president-elect and his lawyer vigorously defended his plan, saying it would be impractical for Trump to sell off his company.

Doing so, Dillon said, would create its own ethical questions about whether he was receiving a fair price.

And moving too quickly could create a “fire sale” environment that devalued the company to which he has dedicated his adult life.

“President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” Dillon said.

The business arrangements, announced at Trump Tower in New York during Trump’s first news conference since July, appeared to walk back a broader promise he made last month in a Fox News interview and a tweet that the company would do “no new deals” while he is in office.

Along with Shaub — who was appointed to a five-year term by President Barack Obama in 2013 — Republican and Democratic government ethics counselors

have urged Trump to take bigger steps.

“Firewalls work in businesses, not in families,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.

“Trump’s plan doesn’t prevent his business interests from benefiting him or his family while he’s in office or interfering with his presidential duties.”

Trump stressed that a president is not subject to the same conflict-of-interest provisions as Cabinet members and other government employees.

“I could actually run my business and run government at the same time,” he said. “I don’t like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to.”

Dillon said the company will add an ethics adviser to its management team who must approve deals that could raise concerns about conflicts.

Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. will run the company along with Allen Weisselberg, the current chief financial officer.

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TIMES-NEWS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 |

A1

Faith healing

Immigration decision

Controversial law could get new look

Court rules on Trump’s travel ban NATION & WORLD, A8 SHOWERS LIKELY 48 • 31 FORECAST, A10

NEWS, A2

|

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 |

magicvalley.com

SUBMERGED A massive flood strikes the Magic Valley, closing roads and schools, devastating homes and farms and driving authorities to the limit. But even in the face of disaster, neighbors rally to save their homes and families.

COURTESY CASSIA COUNTY

Flooding can be seen from the air Wednesday in Cassia County.

Locals rally to help flood victims LAURIE WELCH

lwelch@magicvalley.com

MALTA — Assembly lines of people held sandbags while others wielded shovels Thursday in several Mini-Cassia cities as people banded together to help others protect their homes, property and animals from encroaching floodwater.

Students from Declo were bused to Albion to help bag sand, and Raft River High students were on their fifth day of filling bags. Minidoka County students were released early because roads were washing out in the county.

Minidoka County School District Superintendent Ken Cox said there will not be school on Friday. School is also canceled Friday at Raft River and Almo due the road conditions.

“It’s kind of all a blur,” said Jared Gardiner, a 17-year-old Raft River High School student.

“But, it’s fun to me. I like helping people.”

Please see RALLY, Page A6

Flooding overwhelms Magic Valley region HEATHER KENNISON

•

Volume 112, Issue 105

•

A Lee Enterprises Newspaper

•

Copyright 2017

 Ag impacted by flooding

Jerome asks residents to report flooding A6

 Area road closures

Flooding, mudslides close roads across the Magic Valley A6

 More online

See flood photos, videos and breaking news on Magicvalley. com.

Water spills over the road from a farm field Thursday in Buhl. off water-covered roads.

“Becoming submerged is a danger,” Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said.

“If it looks deep, don’t enter it, especially if you have a small vehicle.”

Aerial photographs showed floodwaters stretching for miles across Cassia County. A 36-mile stretch of Interstate 86 that had been closed since Monday reopened, but authorities worried floodwaters could soon threaten Interstate 84, the primary stretch of in-

10 p.m. at the Snake River Elks Lodge, 412 E. 200 S. in Jerome. Admission is $5 for the dance.

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Road conditions also brought school closures Thursday afternoon in Minidoka County, Filer and Buhl.

 ‘Battling the water’

 If you do one thing: A Valentine’s dance will feature music by The Shadows Band from 7 to

M 1

Minidoka County schools will be closed Friday because of roadway flooding.

Agriculture holds up under the weight of snow A6

hkennison@magicvalley.com

BUHL — Floods have overwhelmed the Magic Valley in one of the largest wintertime natural disasters in generations, forcing emergency evacuations, closing schools and prompting desperate pleas for volunteers to help stave off rising water.

Warm weather is melting a historic snowfall. The thaw that began earlier this week triggered widespread crisis Thursday. A canal was partially breached overnight near Castleford and Buhl, displacing several families. The American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at Amazing Grace Fellowship, 1601 Eastland Drive N. Districts in Filer, Buhl and Minidoka County closed schools in the middle of the day.

A car that bypassed a police barricade in Twin Falls County was swept away by violent floodwaters west of Buhl. Segments of some roadways simply disappeared, ripped apart by rushing water.

Authorities reported no deaths or serious injuries but pleaded with motorists to stay

Schools closed

terstate highway through the Magic Valley.

In Twin Falls County, officials told people to avoid the entire western portion of the county, where roads washed away and at least eight homes flooded. Inspectors rushed to canals, roadways and bridges threatened by the rising water.

Sheriff ’s deputies went door to door in Twin Falls County after the canals flooded.

Emergency crews were

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LOCAL

A6 | Friday, February 10, 2017

Times-News

Jerome asks residents to report flooding TIMES-NEWS

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A farm sits flooded with water that overflowed the low line canal Thursday in Buhl.

Agriculture holds up under weight of snow MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com‌

TWIN FALLS — Many say ‌ they’ve never seen anything like it.

Others, noses to the grindstone, are too busy to say much at all as they battle unprecedented floodwaters.

While city folk deal with flooded basements and pot holes, country folk are dealing with breached canals, washed out roads and wet, cold animals.

Out in the country, fields are muddy or puddled, but not as bad as might be expected.

“Many fields are mostly bare because the wind blows the snow off,” said Larry Hollifield, who farms near Hansen.

Hollifield said Thursday he hasn’t lost anything yet, but he’s been lucky.

“Nothing has been damaged yet, but there will be some expenses in the spring,” he said.

“Well pumps are under water and will need repair, and ditches will need maintenance.”

Wind leaves large drifts in inconvenient places. When snow starts to melt, this is the where the trouble starts.

But no farmers with damage wanted to talk about damage — they were too busy.

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter recognized the effects extraordinary weather conditions have had on agricultural producers, Idaho State Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Chanel Tewalt said.

“From dealing with collapsed onion sheds to managing unusual moisture levels, producers and processors across the state are working in their own communities and with agricultural associations and the State to best mitigate damaging effects,” Tewalt said.

Six counties — Ada, Boundary, Canyon, Custer, Payette and Washington — are now on the state’s disaster designation list. Several counties — including Twin Falls and Cassia —and

‌JEROME — The city of Jerome is experiencing flooding in several parts of town Thursday and is asking residents to call to report issues.

“Our crews have been battling the water all night and will continue throughout the day,” according to an emergency alert.

City crews planned to work through the night again to divert water.

The city asks residents to call 208-324-8189 to report problems or request assistance.

“Our crews are stretched extremely thin right now so it will take longer than normal for a response,” according to the alert.

“Today is a good day to help a neighbor if you have the ability.”

Jerome County Commissioners are planning an emergency meeting at 10:30 a.m. Friday to make a disaster declaration, commissioner Cathy Roemer said.

Anyone who needs help can call Roemer at 208-308-5034.

The city also said Jerome High School students and adminis-

trators spent the morning filling sandbags and placing them in flooding areas. Sandbags are available at the Jerome County Fairgrounds.

“We and the community owe you a debt of gratitude,” the city said in the statement. “It was very moving to see so many kids so willing to lend a hand. They worked extremely hard and really helped us out.”

A Red Cross Shelter was planned at the fairgrounds for anyone displaced by flooding.

Flooding and mudslides close roads across area ALEX RIGGINS

ariggins@magicvalley.com‌

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Flood waters reach highway 50 near the Interstate 84 exit 182 off ramp Thursday near Eden. municipalities have made disaster designations of their own.

In addition, the Idaho Dairymen’s Association encourages its members to report any compliance matters to appropriate officials.

“This is a complex situation with many variables from one dairy or animal operation to the next,” Tewalt said. “The ISDA has been and will continue investigating complaints, self-reports or concerns. In doing so, the ISDA will evaluate all information on a case-by-case, consistent manner.”

A dairyman near the Raft River in Cassia County said most of his fields were under water but his dairy is in a good spot. Meltwater is flowing through his sloped pens but not pooling.

Other cattlemen could be in

worse shape, he said. Beef cows are pregnant, and if a cow drinks dirty water, she can abort her calf.

Eric Parrott, who raises organic beef south of Filer, agreed. One surprising source of bad water can be a watering trough.

“Birds can introduce coccidiosis into the herd when they come to drink,” Parrott said. Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract that ends up in a cow’s intestinal tract “when birds poop in their drinking water.”

Parrot’s cows are on crop ground and not penned.

“The moisture is bad for young calves,” he said. And so are wide swings in temperatures. “It can break down a calf’s immune system and bring on pneumonia.”

Parrot said he has had only one calf born so far, “so we’re not in too bad of a situation.”

‌TWIN FALLS — Melting snow, breached canals and surging waterways wreaked havoc on Magic Valley roadways Wednesday night into Thursday, forcing so many closures and detours that emergency crews at one point in the day ran out of “Road Closed” signs.

Several main highways remained closed Thursday evening, including U.S. 30 west of Buhl, Idaho 46 north of Buhl, Idaho 24 north of Rupert and U.S. 93 south of Jackpot, Nev. The highway south of Jackpot was expected to reopen about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, but authorities were unsure when other roads and highways would reopen.

Travelers headed east toward Pocatello got a boost about 11 a.m. when the Idaho Transportation Department reopened Interstate 86 in both directions.

The interstate had been closed since Monday evening because of flooding over the Raft River bridges.

But as I-86 reopened, dozens of other roads and highways across the rest of the valley closed throughout the day.

Idaho 46 just north of Buhl closed due to culvert damage caused by high levels of storm water, ITD announced about 11:30 a.m. Crews were working on to repair the road throughout the day, but it was expected to remain closed overnight into Friday.

West of Buhl, U.S. 30 closed at the Deep Creek Bridge about 10:30 a.m., and a portion of River Road was washed away at

Rally From A1

Principal Eric Boden said the students are volunteering for the job.

“They have been great,” he said.

“I haven’t had one say no yet.”

The worst area in Malta is south of town where three roads are impassable, Boden said.

Ross Lloyd of Almo said there was not flooding yet in that area but he was picking up a pallet of sandbags at the high school as a precaution.

Andrea Scott, with Raft River Electric, said the company has been using its equipment to help with the relief effort.

“This is a small community and if I had something wrong there would be 100 people on my doorstep to help,” Scott said.

The ranchers, she said, are being hit the hardest.

“They are calving and some of them can’t get feed out to their animals,” she said.

The Declo Fire Department is collecting non-perishable food and supplies for the relief workers at the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce. On Thursday, food went to workers in Albion and Malta, said Fire Chief Winn Osterhout. The chamber office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday for donations.

Pat Field, who lives outside Al-

COURTESY OF DALE LAYNE‌

Jerome School District superintendent Dale Layne took this picture while he was checking road conditions north of Jerome on Monday.

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Declo High School student Christian Kidd, center fill sandbags with his peers Thursday in Albion. bion, worked alongside the students to fill sandbags that were placed on pallets. Fork-lift drivers then picked up pallets and delivered them to low areas along Marsh Creek, which runs through town.

Many farmers fear the winter wheat in the ground will be lost

and the ranches could lose up to 25 to 40 percent of their calves this year, Field said.

“When the weather changes back and forth like this the calves develop pneumonia and die or they freeze to the ground after they are born. When you are calving 500 head, you just can’t keep

up with it,” Field said. “We’re survivors out here; that’s why we live out here. We are used to dealing with Mother Nature, but right now we’re just doing the best we can.”

Declo High School made an announcement at the school asking for volunteers, and about 50 stu-

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A road destroyed by floodwater sits closed Thursday in Buhl. the Deep Creek crossing.

Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Lori Stewart advised drivers early in the day to avoid the western portion of the county if possible.

Meanwhile, another main route was blocked Thursday when a fatal crash closed both directions of U.S. 20 east of Carey for several hours. It wasn’t immediately clear if the crash was weather related.

In Jerome, Yakima Avenue East closed between South Lincoln Avenue and South Tiger Drive about 1 p.m. At the same time, city crews closed 16th Avenue East between North Tiger Drive and North Fillmore Street.

Other roads that closed Wednesday night and Thursday due to mudslides and flooding: Balanced Rock Grade 1300 East at 3400-3500 North 3400 North at 900-1200 East 3500 North at 900-1200 East 3600 North at 900-1500 East 3700 North at 1500 East 3800 North at 2600-2700 East

dents signed up to help. They were bused from the school to Albion to join the crews working there.

“We know how bad it is and you never know when something like this will hit Declo,” said Christian Kidd, 17.

In Minidoka County, Sheriff Eric Snarr said flooding is widespread with the worst north of Rupert.

Idaho Highway 24 between Rupert and Acequia at milepost 8 to 9 is closed and many county roads are flooded, Snarr said.

“If people need help and can’t get it, they need to say something,” Snarr said. “Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

Authorities are also concerned about sewage backing up and the quality of ground water in wells.

The Cassia County Commissioners held an emergency meeting Wednesday night to renew the county-wide emergency declaration. Language was added to request assistance from state and federal agencies. The commissioners met again Thursday to prioritize assistance needs.

Motorists should always cross floodwater with care because the asphalt can be washed away or the water can be deeper than expected, Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said.

“Becoming submerged is a danger,” he said. “If it looks deep, don’t enter it, especially if you have a small vehicle.”

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Times-News

Friday, February 10, 2017 | A7

ALEX RIGGINS, TIMES-NEWS‌

SHOSHONE FALLS HIGH FLOWS Flooding caused Shoshone Falls’ flows to quadruple Thursday from Monday’s levels.

Floods

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overwhelmed, and authorities warned residents they were mostly on their own. “The county received no sandbags whatsoever from the state of Idaho,�

Twin Falls County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Jackie Frey said. “The citizens need to prepare their own homes and do their own mitigation efforts.�

Sandbags were in short supply across the valley.

Volunteers ran out of bags in Malta and ordered an emergency supply from a distributor in California; they were expected to arrive Friday.

Runoff, ice in canals caused flooding‌ Carrie Myers’ husband was up half the night diverting floodwater from their Filer home, but after two hours of rest, the front yard was flooded and water was spilling into their basement.

The water wasn’t coming from the overflowing irrigation canals but directly off the field in back of her house. And there was no stopping it. “I really don’t think it was preventable,� she said.

The 6 inches in her family’s basement was about half what it had a couple of weeks prior during the last flood. But despite stocking up on sandbags and digging channels for the water, it still did damage. “The basement isn’t bad, but the front of the house is sinking,� Myers said as she stood outside her home wearing tall rubber boots.

Other families were evacuated from the Buhl and Castleford area. Overflowing in numerous places along the Lowline Canal — and a partial breach in the Highline Canal — resulted from ice buildup and rapid melting, canal company staff said.

Some homes escaped the flooding, but one farm (and an unknown number of other homes) wasn’t so lucky. “We feel terrible about places that have been flooded,â€? Twin Falls Canal Co. General Manager Brian Olmstead said. “This wasn’t one drop of our water. ‌ Everything above the canals ended up in the canals.â€?

By the afternoon, the Lowline Canal and the Cedar Draw drainage were far below where they’d been the night before, but water from various fields and Deep Creek continued to flow across county roads.

Unusual weather‌

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It was around 6  p.m.

Wednesday evening when Olmstead got the call from the canal company’s water master: The gauges measuring flow at the Cedar Draw were rising rapidly. “He said: ‘We’re not going to be able to confine it,’�

Olmstead recalled. “’It’s too much.’�

This was the most water Maintenance Supervisor Doug Howard had seen in more than 30 years with the Twin Falls Canal Co. Rising temperatures rapidly melted snow in higher places, and water coming of the Salmon Falls canals inadvertently flooded the

A 30-mile stretch of Idaho 75 north of Stanley has been closed due to avalanche danger and is expected to remain closed until Saturday, ITD announced. The roadway is closed to all traffic between Lower Stanley and the Yankee Fork Ranger Station. “The addition of snow, rain and warming temperatures has made the snowpack unstable resulting in several slides in the last 24 hours,�

ITD said in a statement. “The road is expected to remain closed until Saturday morning when cooler temperatures will stabilize the snow conditions.�

Idaho 75 was also closed because of avalanche danger between North Cherry Creek Road, 19 miles north of the Ketchum area, and Frenchman Creek Road, 25 miles HEATHER KENNISON, TIMES-NEWS‌ south of the Stanley area.

Filer resident Carrie Myers talks about the flooding Thursday in front of her house on 3800 North.

Road closed. Avalanche danger. It is expected to reopen at 5 a.m. Friday. The closure is from milepost 151 to Galena Pass.

Flooding is a health hazard South Central Public Health District has setup a webpage listing resources to assist those whose homes have flooded.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

HEATHER KENNISON, TIMES-NEWS‌

Water floods the front yard of Carrie Myers’ house Thursday outside of Filer. other canals.

Additionally, extra water flow in the Highline and Lowline canals broke off large chunks of ice along the bottom, formed during freezing weather earlier.

The ice floated to the top and created dams in multiple places. The Highline Canal had experienced a partial breach early Thursday morning at its tail end, flooding one farm. “We just need to get the water level down,� Howard said as he surveyed four excavators plucking up ice from the cold water of the Lowline in the afternoon. “We tried to evacuate everybody within a 2-to-3 mile radius this morning.�

He’d already planned to bring in four more excavators from contractors, adding to the 11 machines that were already hard at work. “We cleared ice,� Olmstead said, “but it keeps on coming.�

Crews aimed to push flooding farther downstream, having already diverted the water away from highways and towns. It was mostly the last 4 to 6 miles of canals that were affected, Olmstead said.

Crews used spillways like Cedar Draw, which “looked like Niagara Falls coming in last night. Sounded like it, too,� Olmstead said.

While spilling as much as safely possible into Cottonwood, Cedar Draw, Rock Creek and Deep Creek, the Lowline still flooded its

banks. Deep Creek also flooded, inundated with about 800 cubic feet per second of water from the Highline Canal — and another 600 cfs from the Lowline. That’s about four times what it usually receives. “This is probably the biggest flood Deep Creek’s ever had,� Olmstead said, recalling another major flood back in 1979.

A section of road at 3500 North and 1900 East was destroyed by the water, and a bridge at 3400 North was still under water. The Twin Falls Canal Co. had run completely out of “Water Over Road� signs, Olmstead said.

The canal company could not have used laterals to lighten the load on the main canals, Olmstead explained, because the laterals are filled with snow. It is too hard for crews to maintain the small channels in the winter, and clearing them would only have pushed the

Large chunks of ice float down the low line canal as fast as crews manning track hoes can remove it Thursday in Buhl. flooding to less preferable day, no residents had used areas, he said. the shelter. They opted instead to stay with families Emergency response‌ or protect their homes, Frey After being notified of said. the potential for flooding, The Twin Falls Canal residents in the Buhl and Co., Twin Falls Highway Castleford area sprang District and Twin Falls into action, preparing County Sheriff’s Office their homes with sandbags, worked to mitigate damTwin Falls County Office of age to life and property, Emergency Management but the National Weather Coordinator Jackie Frey Service has warned of an upcoming rainstorm that said.

The American Red Cross may affect the South Hills opened the shelter for dis- drainage area. McMillen placed families shortly after Creek, Rock Creek and the midnight.

Perrine Coulee on College “We have cots and blan- of Southern Idaho’s camkets,� said volunteer Nicole pus are being monitored, Stevenson. “If we do have Frey said. a lot of people, Salvation Should a problem occur, Army will usually come in an emergency system will send warnings to those in and feed everybody.�

Water and fruit for im- affected areas. mediate needs was avail“Mother Nature has defiable. Each of the two shelter nitely come after us,� Frey trailers was equipped for 50 said. “We never expected to shelter residents, said Red see the amount of moisture Cross Disaster Action Team we received.� coordinator Diana Ochsner.

As of 10:30 a.m. Thurs-

The district’s response team met Thursday morning to discuss health threats related to flooding associated with the rain and snowmelt. “We are starting to receive calls from the public related to flooded wells and failed septic systems,� said district spokesman Jeff Pierson. “Excessive water can seep into residential wells leading to contamination. Similarly, septic systems are failing because of surface water infiltrating septic systems and drain fields. While the obvious solution is to prevent wells and drain fields from becoming water collection points, that isn’t always possible.�

Crawl spaces and basements can also be a problem, he said. “Often these areas lack good ventilation and once moisture has collected in these low points, it doesn’t take long for mold to grow.�

For information or assistance, call 866-710-9775 or visit phd5.idaho.gov/Environment/Flood.htm.

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magicvalley.com

TF deputy fires at suspect No one injured by gunfire in first shooting by deputy in decades ALEX RIGGINS

ariggins@magicvalley.com

FILER — A Twin Falls County sheriff ’s deputy fired several shots at a suspect and missed after the man fled police Sunday night, the sheriff ’s office said in a statement.

Officials did not say whether the suspect was armed or why the deputy fired.

It’s extremely rare for deputies to fire their weapons. Sunday’s incident marked the first time in at least five years, though there have been accidental discharges in that time.

The suspect, Dennis Leroy Barnes, 37, of Buhl was injured Barnes during the chase and flown to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. A hospital spokesman said

Monday afternoon he was not authorized to disclose Barnes’ condition. County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said he didn’t know the cause of Barnes’ injuries, but guessed he was injured “because he was fleeing police and drove his car off the road.”

The incident began about 10:30 p.m. when a Filer officer attempted a traffic stop on Barnes, who fled when a second officer arrived, sheriff ’s office spokeswoman Lori Stewart said in a statement.

A Twin Falls County sheriff ’s

deputy whose name was not released also joined the chase, along with Filer and Buhl officers. The chase ended when Barnes ran off a dead-end road, coming to an abrupt stop.

Before Barnes was detained, the deputy fired the shots, Stewart said. No one was injured by the gunfire. The sheriff ’s office did not say how many shots were fired.

Outside agencies from a special critical-incident task force are investigating the shooting, and the sheriff ’s office referred questions to Loebs, the county prosecutor.

“At the moment, I don’t know much about it,” Loebs said. “I’m waiting for the results of the investigation.”

Loebs declined to identify the deputy who fired his gun because the investigation is pending. He said there is no timetable for the investigation to be complete.

The deputy has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, as is standard protocol when a deputy fires a weapon.

Please see DEPUTY, Page A7

3 drug bills introduced in House NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Thursday’s floodwaters pushed a 50-foot by 100-yard chunk of the Snake River Canyon wall into the canyon south of Jerome. The copper-colored rocks at the left of the photo is the area now ready to fall.

Large piece of canyon collapses during flood MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com

JEROME — Gary Jordan stepped out of his shop south of Jerome Thursday just as the ground shook.

“I could feel the percussion,” Jordan said. “It sounded like a propane tank blew up.”

Jordan, who lives several miles from the Snake River Canyon, went looking for smoke but couldn’t find any.

At the same time, Jerry Callen was busy trying to save his sister’s house from floodwater.

His sister and her husband were away on vacation last week when massive flooding hit the Magic Valley.

“We were fighting the flood a mile north (of the canyon),” said Callen. “The canyon was roaring like a jet engine. We knew something had happened.”

Reality hit when Callen re-

turned to Triple C Farms where he and his two brother farm on the canyon rim. A 50-foot by 100-yard section on the rim had collapsed under the floodwaters.

He’s seen rocks slide from the canyon wall into the talus below, but never a chunk this size, the 63-year-old Jerome County native said.

“I lost some canyon-front property and a whole bunch of rock chucks,” he joked Monday.

But then the gravity of the situation set in.

When the piece of the canyon wall tore away from the bedrock, it created a fresh fracture in the rock behind it. A large crevice now runs east and west along the Please see CANYON, Page A7

 More inside: Mini-Cassia

flooding yet to peak — A2

CSI asteroid observations gain accolades JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — Chris Anderson has made a million celestial observations in his job overseeing the observatory at the College of Southern Idaho. But this week, he’s more than a little starstruck.

His work was included in an article published last week in “Astronomy & Astrophysics.” It’s the first time Anderson — coordinator for the college’s Centennial Observatory — has seen one

of his observations credited in a journal.

Anderson, along with thenhigh schoolers Braden Hall and Jeffrey Royalty, observed the diameter of an asteroid, (107) Camilla, by using stellar occultation, in August 2015. In simpler terms, that’s how long it takes the asteroid to block out a star’s light. Researchers use that information to determine the asteroid’s density.

Plus, it helps piece together clues about the potential of as-

teroids being a threat to Earth.

“One challenge is understanding the nature of asteroids themselves,” Anderson said, such as what they’re made of and the likelihood of being able to knock them out of their trajectory toward Earth.

Despite the complexity of astronomy research, doing an occultation observation can take less than an hour.

“It’s nice because it’s a fairly simple concept and it’s something we can do in a fairly short

 If you do one thing: Kids Movie Party will be held to celebrate Valentine’s

Day and will feature a movie, games and a craft from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Twin Falls Public Library, 201 Fourth Ave. E. Free.

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amount of time,” Anderson said.

Why is the asteroid called (107) Camilla? “The number is Please see ASTEROID, Page A7

 More Online : The camera

at Shoshone Falls captured an optional illusion early Sunday as the full snow moon combined with high runoff at the falls caused the canyon to appear it was filling up. See a video by the National Weather Service in Boise on Magicvalley.com.

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DEAR ABBY BRIDGE

BOISE — Idaho would end mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes under one of three bills introduced Monday in the state Legislature that would bring other seeping changes to drug laws.

Another would make changes to civil asset forfeitures, narrowing the scope of when certain property can be seized when connected to drug cases and adding some additional protections for property owners. The third would allow heroin dealers to be charged with second-degree murder if a customer overdoses and dies.

Monday was the deadline to introduce bills in all but a few “privileged” committees, and the House Judiciary and Rules Committee had a full agenda as a result, voting to introduce 10 new bills and rejecting an 11th, to regulate bail enforcement agents.

Boise Democrat Ilana Rubel and Nampa Republican Christy Perry’s proposal to get rid of mandatory minimums provoked the most debate. Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, said he views changing the law as giving judges the flexibility to decide whether they are dealing with notorious Mexican drug kingpin “el Chapo” or a teenager who made a mistake.

“I don’t see this as weakening our stance on drugs,” he said. “I see this as recognizing there are human beings who make some really stupid choices.”

Idaho has mandatory minimum sentences ranging from one to 15 years in prison for crimes involving marijuana, cocaine, meth and heroin.

Rubel and Perry’s bill would leave the current maximum sentences — which can be life for some of these drugs — in place, but would get rid of the mandatory minimums. Judges could still impose the current minimums in cases where they think they are appropriate, Rubel said, but they could also take the circumstances into account and impose lesser sentences in cases where they think a less harsh sentence is justified.

“We are spending over $7 million a year currently incarcerating people under these nonviolent mandatory minimum sentences,” she said.

Aside from drugs, Rubel said, the only other crimes in Idaho with mandatory minimum sentences are murder, repeated sexual molestation of a child and causing grievous bodily injury when driving under the Please see BILLS, Page A7

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Times-News

Tuesday, February 14, 2017 | A7

Evacuees might not go home until spillway is repaired DON THOMPSON

Associated Press‌

OROVILLE, Calif. — Nearly ‌ 200,000 people who were ordered to leave their homes out of fear that a spillway could collapse may not be able to return until the barrier at the nation’s tallest dam is repaired, a sheriff said Monday.

The sheriff of California’s Butte County, Kory Honea, did not say how long the fixes could take and offered no timetable for lifting the evacuation order. Officials from the state Department of Water Resources were considering using helicopters to drop loads of rock on the eroded spillway at Lake Oroville, about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the water level behind the dam dropped, easing slightly the fears of a catastrophic spillway collapse. But with more rain expected later in the week, time was running short to fix the damage ahead of the storms.

A day earlier, authorities ordered mass evacuations for everyone living below the lake out of concern that the spillway could fail and send a 30-foot wall of water roaring downstream.

Nancy Borsdorf described a

scene of chaos on her way out, including drivers abandoning cars as they ran out of gas.

“People were just panicking,” said Borsdorf, who was at a shelter Monday in Chico.

“We’ve always loved and trusted our dam,” she said, having lived in Oroville for 13 years. “I’m really hopeful Oroville wasn’t flooded.”

Asked if the spillway was supposed to handle far more water, the acting head of California’s water agency said he was “not sure anything went wrong” on the damaged spillway.

Bill Croyle said sometimes lowflow water can be high energy and cause more damage than expected. His comments came after officials assured residents for days that the damage was nothing to be concerned, then ordered everyone to get out in an hour.

Department of Water Resources engineer and spokesman Kevin Dossey told the Sacramento Bee the emergency spillway was rated to handle 250,000 cubic feet per second, but it began to show weakness Sunday after flows peaked at 12,600 cubic feet per second.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‌

Erosion caused when overflow water cascaded down the emergency spillway is seen, bottom, as water continues to flow down the main spillway, top, of the Oroville Dam, Monday.

The water level in the lake rose significantly in recent weeks after storms dumped rain and snow across California, particularly in northern parts of the state. The high water forced the use of the dam’s emergency spillway, or overflow, for the first time in the dam’s nearly 50-year history on Saturday.

The threat appeared to ease

somewhat Monday as the water level fell. Officials said water was flowing out of the lake at nearly twice the rate as water flowing into it.

Documents show environmentalists raised concerns years ago about the stability of the emergency spillway, but state officials dismissed them and insisted the structure was safe.

In 2005, three advocacy groups complained to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that using Lake Oroville’s earthen spillway would cause significant erosion because it was not armored with concrete.

They said soil, rocks and debris could be swept into the Feather River, potentially damaging bridges and power plants. The groups warned of a failure of the dam itself, threatening lives and property.

Nearly three years later, state officials said no “significant concerns” about the spillway’s integrity had been raised in any government or independent review.

Croyle said Monday that he was not familiar with the 2005 warnings.

Sunday afternoon’s evacuation order came after engineers spotted a hole in the earthen secondary spillway for the 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam and told authorities that it could fail within the hour.

With more rain expected Wednesday and Thursday, officials were rushing to try to fix the damage and hoping to reduce the dam’s water level by 50 feet ahead of the storms.

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

This 2005 Dodge Ram 4X4 SLT was refitted for law enforcement use after the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office seized it in a drug bust.

Bills From A1

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

A plane taxis along a private airstrip on the Snake River Monday near Thursday’s rockslide that cascaded from the canyon rim south of Jerome into the river.

Canyon From A1

rim. Water from a broken levy poured into the new crack and out the canyon wall far below.

The new crevice has left that piece of the canyon wall in jeopardy.

Jerome County Commissioner

Roger Morley said the crevice should be considered a safety risk.

He plans to visit the site Tuesday.

Callen agrees. A “stick of dynamite” might remove the risk, he said.

“My nephew Todd Capps flew his drone over the rim Thursday and took a video,” Callen said. “We wouldn’t have known the extent of

it if he hadn’t.”

By Friday, the flooding had subsided, but the crevice had widened by a foot.

Callen now has nightmares about that piece of the canyon.

“I dreamed I was pushing the piece into the canyon with my loader and my loader followed it,” he said. “Then I woke up.”

influence. She said the current laws haven’t had much deterrent effect, saying drug crime has increased greatly since the state adopted them in 1992.

Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, was the only lawmaker to vote against introducing the bill.

He said he believes there is a deterrent value in the laws and that drug users aren’t the ones being targeted with them.

“These are true criminals that we are going after with these statutes,” he said.

Seizing assets‌

Civil asset forfeiture allows police to take cash, cars, guns and other items used in the furtherance of drug crimes. Law enforcement says the practice is a valuable tool in going after drug traffickers and criminal organizations by taking away their resources to commit more crimes, but critics say the laws have been overused and the standards for seizure are too broad with not enough protections. Rubel and Rep. Steve Harris, R-Meridian are sponsoring the bill.

“In their enthusiasm, some of these laws crossed the line of due process and created perverse incentives for law enforcement,” Harris said.

While Harris said there haven’t been reports of the same kind of abuses in Idaho as elsewhere, Idaho’s forfeiture law has many of the same flaws as in states that have had such problems.

Their bill would allow seizure

Deputy DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO‌

Chris Anderson, Centennial Observatory coordinator at the College of Southern Idaho, is pictured in December 2015.

Asteroid From A1

M 1

an indication of what number asteroid it was in order of discovery,” Anderson said.

Researchers found its density is about 30 percent more than water, he said, which is “pretty typical for a rocky asteroid.”

Anderson said it was a surprise when the article came out in the research journal crediting his observation. He heard about it through an email listserv from the International Occultation Timing Association, a community of mostly amateur astronomers from around the world.

CSI’s observation was among many pieces of data from IOTA members included in the journal article.

For CSI’s Centennial Observatory, a plus is the large size of the telescope, allowing Anderson to see fainter stars. The downside: The telescope isn’t portable.

“There may only be a 1 percent chance that we might catch a little of the asteroid’s shadow,” Anderson said, likening it to buying lottery tickets.

He has only had six positive outcomes out of a couple of hundred occultation observations.

Said Anderson: “It takes some diligence.”

The telescope at CSI was in-

stalled in spring 2004, but “we didn’t get rolling with occultation observations until relatively recently,” Anderson said.

He did his first one in 2012 and started up again in 2014.

One challenge with observing asteroids: They aren’t generally spherical, Anderson said.

“As they tumble through space, they’re going to present different sides to us.”

And “everyone has seen Star Wars and everyone knows (asteroids) are lumpy chunks of rocks flying through space,” Anderson said. “We really have an extremely difficult time seeing them as anything but a tiny, dimensionless speck of light in a telescope.”

From A1

Barnes has a long history of minor, mostly non-violent criminal convictions in Twin Falls County, court records show. He was first convicted in 1998 for misdemeanor petit theft and in 1999 for possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was convicted of several misdemeanor driving offenses and three more misdemeanor petit theft charges in 2014 and 2016. His only felony conviction came in 2014 for forgery, and his only violent crime is a domestic violence conviction from last year, when he elbowed and pushed a woman.

Barnes was most recently charged with a felony count of forgery and a misdemeanor count of theft by deception for filling his pickup with gasoline and charging

of a vehicle only if it is connected to drug trafficking, not for simple possession.

The bill would also allow property that is found near a controlled substance to be seized only if it is connected to the crime in a meaningful way. If the bill passes, for example, possessing U.S. currency would not be grounds for a seizure or forfeiture; police would have to get a judge’s approval to keep property, among other changes.

“We’ve worked with law enforcement and prosecutors, and I think we have a good compromise here before us,” Harris said.

Heroin dealers‌

Reps. John Gannon, D-Boise, and James Holtzclaw, R-Meridian are sponsoring the heroin bill, modeled on one in Minnesota, which is one of a number of states where heroin dealers can be charged with murder if a customer dies.

“I think we ought to print this (bill) because it brings attention to the epidemic of heroin,” Holtzclaw said. “It’s terrible. Absolutely terrible. It’s a growing problem, and it needs our attention.”

The committee voted unanimously to introduce the bill, although some lawmakers worried the language was too broad and could end up catching up people who are addicts themselves rather than the dealers Gannon and Holtzclaw said they are trying to target. Gannon said the bill is precise enough as it is worded now.

“I think it’s pretty well understood what a sale is, as opposed to sharing or a situation where someone’s being furnished heroin,” he said.

it to the credit account of a business where he didn’t work. Prosecutors say Barnes has pulled off the same scam countless times in and around Buhl.

Barnes was due in court Jan. 26 in that case, but when he didn’t appear for his hearing, District Judge Richard Bevan issued a $100,000 bench warrant for his arrest.

“We expect Barnes to be transported back to Twin Falls soon where he will be held … on an outstanding $100,000 warrant for failure to appear … and to face new charges in connection with this incident,” Stewart said in her statement.

Barnes will be charged with eluding police stemming from Sunday night’s chase, Loebs said.

When he returns to Twin Falls to be arraigned will depend on when doctors release him from the hospital.

Jerome survives, advances

Going green

It’s overtime again for Tigers, Bruins

Twin Falls auto dealer turns to solar power PAGE B4 SHOWERS 53 • 33 FORECAST, A10

SPORTS, PAGE B1

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 |

magicvalley.com

Bedke speaks out against accusations NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

Minidoka County Sheriff Deputies Brandon Fry, right, and Shad Hubsmith load sandbags into the back of their truck to help keep stop signs from falling over Monday afternoon in Minidoka County.

As thawing continues, area floodwaters rise floodwater reached a foot deep in their barn. So far this time, their home is dry.

“I walked out to the mailbox this morning and the water has just reached the mailbox,” he said.

Wickell sent his wife and son away from the farm days ago.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he said. “If I need anything I can walk to a neighbor’s house.”

LAURIE WELCH

lwelch@magicvalley.com MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com

RUPERT — Old-timers knew the monumental flooding that had upended lives north of the Snake River wasn’t over.

“They told us there would be more,” said Emma Van Every, who lives about three miles north of Rupert. “They said, ‘This isn’t anything. It’s going to get worse.’”

And it did.

Streams of dirty flood water swished over roads north of Rupert on Monday like early spring creeks tumbling down a mountainside.

Snow from higher elevations began to melt as rain fell over the weekend and meltwater is now headed to the river, again flooding basements, canals and roadways. The floodwaters have stranded some homeowners for days and left others wondering how to navigate through a county with more than 70 miles of closed roads.

Flood forum

Anna Lee Van Every, 12, pets a dog atop a hay barrier next to an irrigation ditch filled with flood water Monday afternoon in Minidoka County.

of here,” said Lynn Wickell, who lives at 486 N. 500 E. The weekend rain and higher temperatures started melting the remaining snowpack northeast of Rupert causing the water levels in flooded areas to raise, Minidoka County Sheriff Eric Snarr said.

Idaho 24 was closed between More melt coming 400 North and 700 North be“There’s no way I can drive out cause of water across the road

Emma and Brent Van Every’s home is dry, but their property hasn’t fared as well.

“Oh my gosh, it was dry yesterday when I went to church,” Emma Van Every said. “This morning it’s up to the top of my boots.”

Her road, near 100 West 300 North, has been closed just shy of two weeks.

“The roads are falling apart,” she said. “My adrenaline level is so high again.”

and on Meridian Road north of Rupert to 1000 North, the road is closed in four spots because of water on the road.

Snarr said the flooding north of Rupert has not likely peaked.

“There is still a lot of snow that has to melt,” Snarr said. “I hope Please see FLOODWATERS, Page A5 it’s done this week.”

Wickell said he has not seen  More online: See a gallery flooding like this in the area of flood photos online at since Christmastime 1961 when Magicvalley.com.

S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g b-e-e: Students gear up for regionals JULIE WOOTTON

If you Go

jwootton@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — T-r-i-c-h-in-o-s-i-s — infestation with or disease caused by trichinae and marked especially by muscular pain, dyspnea, fever, weakness, and edema.

E-x-a-s-p-e-r-a-t-e — to excite the anger of.

Declo teenager Zachary Hunsaker spelled those two words correctly last year at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Now, it’s time for another south-central Idaho student to shine.

The third annual Times-News regional spelling bee — sponsored by the Times News and presented by Xtreme RV — is 6:30 p.m. Monday.

When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27 Where: Twin Falls High School’s Roper Auditorium, 1615 Filer Ave. E. Cost: Free Fifty-three students in first through eighth-grades from 24 south-central Idaho schools will compete for top honors.

The winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 28-June 3 in National Harbor, Md. Across south-central Idaho, DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE spelling is often incorporated into school lessons every day. Declo Junior High School student Zachary Hunsaker reacts to winning the Times-News Regional Spelling Bee, March 7, 2016, at Roper Please see SPELLING, Page A5 Auditorium in Twin Falls.

 If you do one thing: College of Southern Idaho’s North Side Center Lec-

ture Series will feature CSI geology professor and author Shawn Willsey at 7 p.m. at the center, 202 14th Ave. E., Gooding. Free admission.

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Copyright 2017

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SPORTS DEAR ABBY

BOISE — House Speaker Scott Bedke on Monday strongly denied reports he had an inappropriate conversation in a committee meeting in 2012, saying the woman who made the accusations had been stalking him.

On Friday the right-wing websites Redoubt News and the Gem State Patriot published an affidavit from Lissa Renae Cochrane, who was secretary of the House State Affairs Committee in 2012, claiming that Bedke, who was assistant majority leader at the time, and Tom Perry, who at the time was a lawyer for Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, had a ribald conversation during the March 26, 2012, meeting.

Cochrane, who lives in Colorado now, says in the affidavit she contacted Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, after reading a Times-News article about how Bedke stripped her of her committee assignments in January due to comments she made about female lawmakers having to have sex to get ahead. Both Redoubt News and the Gem State Patriot framed their stories about Cochrane’s affidavit as Bedke being a hypocrite for punishing Scott when he had also had a sexually explicit conversation in 2012.

Scott has since been restored to her committee assignments.

Bedke met with reporters Monday to share copies of text messages and a letter Cochrane sent seeking money and talking about a relationship between them, as well as copies of interviews the Idaho State Police did with Cochrane and with him in 2013 while investigating whether to charge Cochrane with extortion. No charges were ever filed.

“I didn’t even know who this person was,” Bedke, R-Oakley, said. “We’d never been alone.

Please see BEDKE, Page A5

State lawmakers tweak sanctuary city bill wording NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

BOISE — A new version of a bill to ban sanctuary cities in Idaho was introduced Monday morning, this time minus language requiring police to check arrestees’ immigration status.

Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, said he has conferred with immigrant, Hispanic and agricultural organizations about their concerns since introducing the last bill.

While they’re not all on board with the new version, he said the Chaney United Dairymen of Idaho and the Milk Producers of Idaho have said they would at least remain neutral rather than opposing it as they did the last one.

“The purpose of the bill is to keep local and counties from protesting in a way that would be counterproductive to a solution as a whole at the national level,” Chaney told the House State Affairs Committee.

Idaho doesn’t have any Please see BILL, Page A5

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news

Times-News

Traffic study ranks Los Angeles as world’s most clogged city DETROIT (AP) — When it ‌ comes to getting stuck in traffic on the way to and from work, Los Angeles leads the world.

Drivers in the car-crazy California metropolis spent 104 hours each driving in congestion during peak travel periods last year. That topped second-place Moscow at 91 hours and third-place New York at 89, according to a traffic scorecard compiled by Inrix, a transportation analytics firm.

The U.S. had half the cities on Inrix’s list of the top 10 most congested areas in the world and was the most congested developed country on the planet, Inrix found. U.S. drivers averaged 42 hours per year in traffic during peak times, the study found. San

Francisco was the fourth-most congested city, while Bogota, Colombia, was fifth, Sao Paulo ranked sixth and London, Atlanta, Paris and Miami rounded out the top 10.

Being stuck in traffic cost the average U.S. driver $1,400 last year and nearly $300 billion for all drivers nationwide, Inrix said.

Study authors said a stable U.S. economy, continued urbanization of big cities, employment growth and low gas prices all contributed to increased traffic and congestion worldwide in 2016, lowering the quality of life.

It’s not likely to get better anytime soon, wrote Bob Pishue, senior economist at Inrix.

“The demand for driving is ex-

pected to continue to rise, while the supply of roadway will remain flat,” he said in a statement.

Pishue suggests that governments use traffic data and technology to make traffic move more smoothly while they consider additional road projects.

Of 240 U.S. cities studied by Inrix, drivers in Parkersburg, West Virginia., spent the least about of time stuck in traffic during peak hours at three hours per year.

Inrix said it analyzed 1,064 cities worldwide across 38 countries to come up with its rankings.

Since Inrix doesn’t gather its own data in either China or Japan, cities in those countries were not ranked.

Bill

anyone they arrest if in doubt, and to notify ICE always if someone isn’t here legally.

“I’m not aware of any sheriff’s department in the state that doesn’t already follow those protocols, so getting lost in the weeds of what check marks they need to check didn’t seem prudent,” Chaney said.

Like the last version, the latest one has language saying it is not the bill’s intent to involve Idaho authorities in actively enforcing immigration law.

Chaney’s bill comes at a time when immigration policy is one of the most watched and controversial issues of the country. President Donald Trump was elected promising to take a hard line on immigration, and some of the immigration executive orders he has signed suggested deputizing local authorities to enforce immigration laws.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho will likely still oppose the latest version of the bill, said the group’s Public Policy Strategist Kathy Griesmyer.

The ACLU, she said, views some of the immigration actions the Trump administration has been taking or considering as unconstitutional, and this bill would require cities and counties to comply with actions that may be illegal and potentially open them up to liability as a result. If a city or county weighs the risk and decides not to cooperate, she said, they should be able to.

The committee room filled up before the meeting even started, mostly with people opposed to the bill, and some people had to listen in an “overflow room” down the hall.

The bill was introduced with the two Democrats on the committee opposed and all the Republicans in favor. Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, asked Chaney a series of pointed questions, many focused on why the bill is necessary given that authorities in Idaho follow the law now. She made a motion not to introduce the bill that failed, with only her and Rep. Elaine Smith, D-Pocatello, voting for it.

From A1

“sanctuary cities” now — every jurisdiction in the state cooperates with federal immigration authorities and honors immigration “detainers,” or requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold someone.

However, local police are also not actively involved in immigration enforcement.

The new version of Chaney’s bill would take half of all sales tax money away from a city or county that seeks to block enforcement of federal immigration laws. The last version would have taken most of it.

“It’s a proactive prohibition against the sorts of policies we see throughout Oregon, in areas like San Francisco and others, that intentionally seek to obstruct any action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Chaney said.

The new version also removes a section requiring local authorities to check the immigration status of

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Anna Lee Van Every, 12, kayaks around in farmers fields near her home Monday afternoon in Minidoka County.

Floodwaters From A1

M 1

The Van Everys have been marooned at their home for several days hiking with a backpack to a vehicle they leave parked a quarter mile away.

“I can’t drive to my house, but everyone out here is making sacrifices,” Van Every said.

It’s been a good opportunity for the family to meet their neighbors.

“Everyone out here is looking out for others,” she said.

When the first flooding began, she realized many of her neighbors couldn’t get out and get sandbags. So Van Every, Karrie Schow and Tamara Carter started a Facebook group called Minidoka Flood Forum 2017 to connect flood victims with volunteers.

Volunteers are stepping out of their comfort zone to check on people whose addresses get posted to the page.

“We go see if they have sandbags or if they need help,” she said.

“The community around Minidoka has really stepped up

and has done a good job of helping neighbors,” said Dan Davidson, manager of Minidoka Irrigation District.

Despite the Presidents Day holiday, the district had several maintenance men out in the field.

A lava bench north of town is still covered in ice and snow, he said. That’s the area — around Cemetery Hill — Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter pointed out Friday when he surveyed Mini-Cassia flood damage.

Much of the surrounding ground is still frozen, preventing meltwater from percolating into the soil. Floodwater is using the roadways and canals to make its way to the river.

“I’ve lived my whole life in Rupert,” said 34-year-old David Molina. “When I was a young boy, I remember helping my dad sandbag homes along the river.

I remember the boat docks had floated onto the banks.

“But I’ve never seen this much water inland.”

is coming from an old irrigation run-off pond about a mile northeast, which is also the source of some of the water going across Idaho 24 between 400 East and 700 East.

“I think the bank washed out,” she said.

The floodwater level had gone down slightly Sunday but was on the rise again Monday.

At one point, the Bell’s mailbox was under water and there were 5 feet of water on the road.

Two of the Bell’s cars have water inside them.

“They are probably ruined,” she said. “But, we are luckier than a lot of people.”

Friends and family have helped deliver supplies.

Dan Davidson, general manager at Minidoka County Irrigation District, said there were no major canal breaches over the weekend.

“We have cut some banks of some small laterals to keep them from flooding some homes,” he said.

Flooding in Minidoka County Luckier than some‌ started on Feb. 7. It appears to be Bette Bell, who lives down the far from over. road from Wickell, said much Said Davidson: “Tell people of the flooding near her home they can quit praying for snow.”

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | A5

Spelling From A1

Plus, being a good speller helps students build their vocabulary and become better readers.

“It’s not just about spelling, but learning about the words,” said Aleathea Gingell, a second-grade teacher at Morningside Elementary School and spelling bee coordinator for the Twin Falls School District.

“If you can spell the word correctly, you more than likely can read the word correctly,” she said.

And spelling is incorporated into a variety of subject areas — even math.

During Monday’s regional spelling bee, College of Southern Idaho President Jeff Fox will be the pronouncer. He’ll read each word, which will be selected at random.

Students will be able to ask a

few questions, such as for a word’s definition.

Each participating south-central Idaho school, depending on its size, is sending its top two or three spellers to regionals.

“They do their own school spelling bee and determine their own winners,” said Michelle Campbell, events director for the Times-News.

Twin Falls schools began preparing for spelling bees in September. And the Times-News printed 18,000 spelling bee guides in November to distribute to students across south-central Idaho.

Most Twin Falls schools had classroom-level and grade-level spelling bees.

Then, the top finishers continued on to school spelling bees in January, Gingell said. “That gave the kids and the teachers time to do some activities in the classroom and to practice.”

NATHAN BROWN, Times-News

House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, talks in his office in January. On Monday he strongly denied reports he had an inappropriate conversation during a 2012 committee meeting.

Bedke From A1

Never spoke. Nothing sexual ever occurred. Never gave her money.”

Both the documents Bedke shared with reporters and the ones Redoubt News posted reference an unsolicited gift — one letter identifies it as a box of M&Ms — she sent him. Cochrane told the state police in 2013 she believed she and Bedke might be getting married, even though in the same interview she says she had never acted sexually with him or even been alone with him. Cochrane told police she believed rumors about her and Bedke possibly getting married were why she couldn’t find a job with the state government or any lobbyists’ office after she wasn’t rehired as a committee secretary.

Cochrane spoke in her 2013 interview with police about a conversation Bedke and Perry had in a committee meeting similar to the one she talked about in the affidavit Redoubt News posted, accusing them of speaking inappropriately about her and other women. She has also referenced it since then on social media.

While Bedke was on the March 26, 2012, House State Affairs Committee agenda to present a bill, Bedke said he can’t recall whether he was at the meeting, and the minutes say then-Department of Administration head Teresa Luna made the presentation to the committee.

Committee secretaries sit at the front of the room, next to the committee chairman and a considerable distance from the audience, so any conversation loud enough for them to overhear would likely be loud enough to be heard by anyone in the room. There were two bills on the agenda that day that drew considerable interest at the time — one to do with blocking Occupy Boise from camping on the Capitol Mall, which Bedke was sponsoring, and one to do with end-of-life care.

“There is not one ounce of truth in this affidavit,” said Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, who was chairman of the committee both then and now. “Not one ounce.”

While Loertscher said he doesn’t remember the meeting specifically, he noted that it would have been impossible for Cochrane to hear such a conversation from where she would have been sitting, and that Bedke doesn’t show up in either the committee minutes or the signup sheets. Also, the affidavit says Perry “ridiculed and bullied” Cochrane throughout the meeting with misogynistic remarks, behavior Loertscher said he would not have tolerated as chairman.

Cochrane in her affidavit says Janice McGeachin, who at the time was a lawmaker from Idaho Falls and was on the committee, heard Bedke and Perry’s conversation, even saying Perry was so “unprofessional and intimidat-

ing” toward McGeachin that she looked for a panic button at her desk. However, McGeachin told the Times-News nothing of the sort ever happened and that such behavior would be out of character for Bedke, saying she served with him in the Legislature for 10 years and he always conducted himself professionally.

“I was NOT a witness to any such conversation or degrading remarks which are referenced in the affidavit in that legislative committee,” she said in an email.

“Any such public comments of this nature are entirely inappropriate and would not have been tolerated by any committee chair in the Idaho Legislature. The individual would have been gaveled and asked to end his or her testimony. I do not recall any aggressive behavior from Mr. Perry.”

Cochrane told the Idaho Statesman she stands by the affidavit.

She said she originally contacted Scott, who she had not known before, and had planned to send her the affidavit but then decided it would be better not to. Cochrane said an unidentified third party contacted her who suggested sharing it more broadly and gave her suggestions about where to send it.

“I’m the one who reached out to her because I thought it was just hypocrisy that she was being stripped of her assignments,” Cochrane said. “I told her I’d make a statement, but I told her I would only do it in that form (of an affidavit) because I wanted you guys to take it seriously.”

Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, issued a statement supporting Bedke and condemning “the obvious lies which are now circulating about him, his personal life, and his leadership.”

“That this kind of scurrilous charge would be made against Speaker Bedke is reflective of the depravity of the so-called media involved and the false narrative that his leadership is in question,” Hartgen said. “It is not.

Speaker Bedke has my full support against these false and defamatory charges.”

Bedke declined to comment on whether he believes there is a connection between the allegations and his dispute with Scott.

At the time, Bedke said, he didn’t want to pursue the matter civilly. He said he shared the situation with his wife, Sarah, and considered going to reporters as well but didn’t believe it was a story. He said he feels he needs to respond publicly now, though.

“I’m not a professional politician,” he said. “I’m a rancher with a good name. If it were just me, that would be one thing, but this comes after my wife, my family, my kids, the office of the Speaker and the Idaho House of Representation.”

Bedke said he doesn’t know whether he will sue Redobut News.

“It is much too early and premature for that,” he said.

Best of the best

Doing some good

Report: Habit restoration projects are helping salmon PAGE A3 SNOW 35 • 27 FORECAST, A10

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District 4 basketball all-star teams announced , PAGE B1

MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017

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magicvalley.com

TF School leader wins award JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — Twin Falls School District Superintendent Wiley Dobbs will receive nationwide recognition for helping youth earn Congressional Awards.

He’s the 2017 recipient of the “ I n s p i ra t i o n Award,” given to Dobbs one adult volunteer with the program each year. He’ll be honored June 21 in Washington, D.C. Please see DOBBS, Page A4

LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS Amber Andersen comforts her grandmother Betty Swendiman Friday on the porch of Swendiman’s home that she’s lived in since 1966. The home is irreparably damaged by floodwater.

In the flood path: 5 days of the devastation Want to help?

LAURIE WELCH

lwelch@magicvalley.com

RUPERT — Wayne Schwendiman was sleeping at his 86-yearold mother’s house on Feb. 21 when he was jolted awake at 4 a.m. by a neighbor.

Floodwater swept through livestock pens and septic systems and had already infiltrated a corner of the attached garage at 325 N. Meridian Road.

Schwendiman, an emergency medical technician, called the sheriff ’s dispatch and requested dozens of pallets of sandbags to place around the home.

A semi-load of sand and dozens of volunteers working for days could not save his mother’s home. The water collapsed walls in the basement and destroyed a load-bearing wall for the main floor, rendering Betty Schwen-

An account has been set up at Zion’s Bank for Betty Schwendiman/ Wayne and Delinda Schwendiman. diman’s home uninhabitable.

“I was trying to get mom’s stuff out and get her away from here so she didn’t have to watch it,” Wayne said.

He waited until his mother dressed before turning off the power to the house.

“My first thoughts were Wayne had been called to work early,” said Betty, who fought to understand what was happening as she was awakened that morning. “Then I started grabbing for things that I’d need right away.”

Her little dog, Tiny, knew something was wrong and hud-

dled in her kennel.

Betty and Tiny waited in a pickup outside while her own car, tucked inside the garage, flooded. After the power was shut off, there was no way to open the garage door.

Wayne, clad in hiking boots, placed sandbags around the house. But by 6 a.m. the basement had filled with water his mother’s belongings on the lower level were all lost. Soon, the water was seeping into the main floor.

The muddy, waist-deep water covered the sandbags and no one could enter the property without wading boots. Community members brought boots for the family as they continued to feverishly battle the rising water.

“Things float that you didn’t know could float,” said Amber

Forum to address drug issues JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

Andersen, Betty’s granddaughter. A full-sized freezer full of beef bobbed in the water and was guided out to a tractor to be moved off the property.

People don’t realize the power of water, said Delinda Schwendiman, Wayne’s wife.

Dozens of volunteers brought tractors, pumps, trailers to move furniture from the main floor and offered temporary storage to the family.

People who had connections to the family or just wanted to help came from all over, Delinda said.

Day after day the same people continued to show up, she said.

“You know they had their own lives,” but they set them aside to help.

TWIN FALLS — At Twin Falls High School, Heather Gallentine says she’s noticing a “little bit of an increase” in drug use among students.

Gallentine, who works in the school’s counseling department, and a school resource officer brainstormed ways to help make more people aware of the problem.

One of their ideas: a community forum.

The forum is slated for 6 p.m.

Monday at Twin Falls High’s Roper Auditorium. It’s free and open to the public.

“The community forum is to try to educate the community and parents about the drug issues we’re having here at school and in the community in general,” Gallentine said.

Please see FLOOD, Page A4

Please see DRUG, Page A4

88-year-old inspires others to stay active JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — Surrounded by college boys 70 years younger than her, Betty Wilkins used weight machines on an dreary, overcast Monday morning.

It wasn’t even 9 a.m. Some students were likely still in bed during their day off for Presidents’ Day.

But the 88-year-old was already up and going, wearing a pink jacket, tight black workout pants and wide-rimmed glasses.

Wilkins exercises at the College of Southern Idaho’s Student Recreation Center in Twin Falls three times a week — usually, for an hour each time — doing cardio and strength workouts.

Plus, she participates in the

college’s “Over 60 & Getting Fit” program three times a week and Zumba classes twice a week.

Wilkins is “an inspiration for many of us as she comes in to the gym on a regular basis,” CSI recreation director John Twiss wrote in an email to the TimesNews.

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Times-News

Republicans in Utah, Maine want Trump to undo monuments DAVID SHARP

Associated Press‌

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — ‌ Republican leaders in Maine and Utah are asking President Donald Trump to step into uncharted territory and rescind national monument designations made by his predecessor.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 doesn’t give the president power to undo a designation, and no president has ever taken such a step. But Trump isn’t like other presidents.

Former President Barack Obama used his power under the act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development.

Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain. In Utah, the former president cre-

ated Bears Ears National Monument on 1.3 million acres of land that’s sacred to Native Americans and is home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.

Trump’s staff is now reviewing those decisions by the Obama administration to determine economic impacts, whether the law was followed and whether there was appropriate consultation with local officials, the White House told The Associated Press.

Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage is opposed to the designation, and says federal ownership could stymie industrial development; and Republican leaders in Utah contend the monument designation adds another layer of unnecessary federal control in a state where there’s already heavy federal ownership.

The Utah Legislature approved a resolution signed by the governor calling on Trump to rescind the monument there. In Maine, LePage asked the president last week to intervene.

Newly sworn-in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has said he’ll fight the sale or transfer of public

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‌

This shows the northernmost boundary of the proposed Bears Ears region, along the Colorado River, in southeastern Utah on May 23, 2016. lands. But he also believes states should be able to weigh in. The National Parks Conservation Association has vowed to sue if Trump, the Interior Department

or Congress tries to remove the special designations.

“Wherever the attack comes from, we’re ready to fight, and we know the public is ready to

fight if someone comes after our national parks and monuments,” National Parks Conversation Association spokeswoman Kristen Brengel said.

Flood From A1

No plan B‌

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Betty Wilkins, 88, works out Feb. 20 at CSI in Twin Falls.

Active From A1

She has checked into the recreation center 760 times since September 2009, Twiss said.

And that doesn’t include Over 60 classes.

Wilkins has lived in the Magic Valley for most of her life. She went to school in Castleford and Buhl. After getting married, she and her husband lived in California and Nevada.

But they moved back to the Magic Valley in 1982 and settled in Bliss. And in 1997, they moved to Twin Falls.

After her husband died in 2000, Wilkins decided to start coming to CSI for workouts. “I’ve always been active,” she said.

Wilkins wanted to stay in

Dobbs From A1

The United States Congress awards gold, silver and bronze medals to 14 through 23-yearolds. Participants must complete projects in four areas: voluntary service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition or exploration.

For nearly 25 years, Dobbs has volunteered as a Congressional Award adviser. He has helped hundreds of Magic Valley youths earn the awards.

The “Inspiration Award” is given each year to an adult adviser who demonstrates leadership and “who’s making a difference in the lives of the young people they support,” said Kirsten Gooden, senior program manager for the Congressional Award.

“Dr. Dobbs has been part of the program for the very long time,” she said. “He has been a very big champion for children going through the program.”

More than 75,000 young people nationwide have received a Congressional Award. Students put in

Drug From A1

It will begin with a presentation by the Idaho Meth Project followed by information about drugs prevalent in Twin Falls and Idaho and warning signs parents can watch for.

A panel of professionals and students will be available to answer questions.

shape, be able to take care of herself and stay in her own home.

In January 2001, she started going to exercise classes through then-professor Jan Mittleider’s “Over 60 & Getting Fit” program.

Then, Wilkins started going to the student recreation center. “It was mostly young college guys,” she said.

But she didn’t mind. “It didn’t bother me,” Wilkins said, adding she lets other exercisers “do their own things.”

And for 16 years, it has been part of her normal weekly schedule. She said she tries to exercise early in the day before she gets distracted by reading or other activities at home.

Over the years, Wilkins has noticed a wider demographic of people exercising at CSI’s recre-

ation center, too.

What keeps her going? “I know a lot of people here,” Wilkins said Monday after finishing her workout. “It’s social for me.”

Thanks to exercising, Wilkins said she doesn’t seem to get sick.

Plus, “I’m stronger than when I started (going to) the gym.”

When she’s not at CSI, you can find Wilkins reading just about any book she can get her hands on. She also enjoys going out to lunch with friends, doing jigsaw puzzles, and catching up with out-of-town family members and friends via Facebook.

She has also done international traveling, such as to Canada three times, Mexico and Peru.

What’s next for Wilkins? She plans to continue exercising. And she’ll celebrate her 89th birthday in April.

a minimum of 200 hours of work for a bronze award, 400 for silver and 800 for gold.

Dobbs got involved in 1993, his first year as principal at Vera C. O’Leary Middle School.

Parent Linda Norris, who was then an aide for U.S. Congressman Mike Crapo, asked him to get involved. Dobbs told her he’d read about the program.

“As a principal, you get a lot of programs you have to sift through,” he said. But after learning about the Congressional Award, “I thought this was outstanding.”

“It gives recognition to young people who do positive things,” Dobbs said. “So often, the attention is given toward the young people who are doing negative things. I really like the aspect that the United States Congress is recognizing youth in America for doing voluntary public service.”

He said he fell in love with the program and started promoting it.

“Twin Falls really became known nationwide as a hotbed for students earning their Congressional Award,” Dobbs said.

He served for 16 years on the

board for the Idaho council. Then, in 2009, he was appointed to the U.S. Congressional Award foundation’s board of directors, and served until 2016.

As a school principal, he often helped up to 30 local students at a time with their projects.

Since becoming school district superintendent in 2003, he has scaled back to working with about 10 students simultaneously.

Dobbs meets with students and their parents to help them understand the expectations. Then, he helps students write their goals and gather evidence.

Once youth earn their gold award, they go to Washington, D.C. to receive it from a member of Congress during a “spectacular” ceremony, Dobbs said.

He plans to retire Sept. 1 as Twin Falls School District superintendent, leaving his future involvement with the Congressional Award up in the air.

Dobbs said he’s interested in working in a school overseas once he retires. If U.S. citizens are attending the school, he said he’d like to continue promoting the Congressional Award.

Amara Schroeter, 17, is one of the students who will be on the panel.

She joined Twin Falls High’s Idaho Drug Free Youth chapter this year.

“I knew a lot of people who were in it,” she said, and drug prevention is a topic that interests her.

Students from the chapter have also visited each of Twin Falls High’s 53 advisory classes over the last two weeks to talk with their peers, Gallentine said.

Emily Pilling, 18, who’s in stu-

dent council, has been presenting to advisory classes.

“Obviously, high schools have drug problems,” she said, and students may not have healthy coping mechanisms to deal with struggles in their lives.

Pilling said she and other student presenters tell their peers it’s normal to have issues they’re dealing with. They encourage classmates to get help from school counselors.

Wayne and Delinda moved into his mother’s home a couple of years ago to help care for her.

Betty and her late husband, Alan, bought the red brick home that sits on nearly five acres in 1966. They raised their seven children there, and it became a gathering spot for family.

Family members would pitch tents in the fruit orchard and bring camp trailers as they gathered for reunions.

“Everybody loved to come to grandma’s house,” Amber said.

The family continued to pump a remaining three feet of water from the basement Friday, a requirement before the inspector will enter the house, most likely to condemn it.

Tears formed on the corner of Betty’s eyes as she sat on the porch of a home she loves and can no longer enter.

“I don’t know what to think,” she said.

It is the most painful event she has endured.

“It’s really hard to face this tragedy at her age,” Delinda said.

Betty said she’s never filed a claim on the homeowner’s insurance policy that had been on the home since she and her hus-

(COURTESY PHOTO)‌

Floodwater in the basement of the home. band bought it.

The insurance will not cover the damage.

The Schwendimans don’t know what will happen next. It will take another few days before all the water is out of the basement.

Betty, Wayne and Delinda are now living with Delinda’s parents in Burley.

“Plan A is to stay where we are for now,” Delinda said. “We’ve got no plan B. None of us have the money to start over.”

(COURTESY PHOTO)

Floodwater surrounding Betty Schwendiman’s Rupert home.

M 1

OPINION

SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

MODERN LIFE

|

magicvalley.com |

SECTION B

OUR VIEW

Of fads and BandAids

W

hen I was in high school, long hair was the fad. Cool kids had it, uncool kids didn’t. Since I was confident of my parents’ love I was certain they would have no objection if I increased my coolness by skipping a few haircuts. But when I told the folks about my plan I was swiftly put in my place.

My still-deCHRIS veloping teenage HUSTON brain was baffled at their response.

I could understand if they stopped me from taking part in some dumb fad, but long hair was not a fad. Fads were stupid stuff people did in the old days.

Hula-hooping. Cramming into phone booths. That kind of thing.

But long hair was different — to me it was a statement, and I desperately wanted to demonstrate my individuality by doing exactly what my friends were doing. (Which, of course, is the essence of adolescence.)

I was not a happy camper, but I was also not given to parental smack downs. I retreated to my Beatle-postered room to lick my wounds.

Eventually I got even. When I became an 18-year-old college student 500 miles from home I skipped a lot of haircuts. Finally, after two years of shagginess I cut it all off. The reason was simple — no matter how cool you look, taking care of long hair is a drag.

There was another reason of course — I was growing up. It happens to us all. And just like the playground rhyme, first came love, then came marriage, and then came just shy of a dozen baby carriages.

Is there a parent anywhere who hasn’t secretly wished their grandchildren would provide a little karmic back-sass to their parents? Not a lot, but just enough to one day receive that sweetest of all phone calls: “Gee dad, how did you put up with me all that time? I was kind of a jerk, wasn’t I?” When I was a teenager, I correctly understood that fads were inherently dumb. But my mistake was believing, like the kids of every generation, that my generation was different.

The inability of adolescents to recognize fads for what they are — dumb behaviors that don’t make much sense — will be with us as long as there are teenagers. Where my cynical adult eye sees lock-step fashion styles and physical mannerisms reminiscent of bleating sheep — mullets and saggy jeans anyone? — our youth perceive only blazing cultural manifestations of self-evident wisdom and beauty. This will never change.

So what’s a parent to do? The old adage ascribed to Thomas Jefferson is still pretty good advice: In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.

I understand that my own parents were worried about long hair as a possible gateway behavior to the drug-addled, free-lovin’ ‘60s lifestyle. All I can say is that most kids only dabble around the edges of the rough stuff. It’s exciting for a while to look the part without actually being the part. It’s Halloween for late teens. Sure, it’s scary for Mom and Dad, but so is the first time Junior drives off in the family car, waving goodbye out the window while Please see HUSTON, Page B4

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO

Construction crews repair a sinkhole on Canyon Springs Road on September 16, 2015, in Twin Falls.

Passing a roads bill is a must for Idaho

L

awmakers were supposed to be home this weekend, having finished the legislative session that began in January. Instead, they’ll head back to work Monday in the hopes of finding common ground on two major issues: tax cuts and transportation.

Passing legislation on even one of these issues will be a tall order, let alone both, because lawmakers in the Senate seem so far apart from their counterparts in the House.

On tax relief, the Senate wants to repeal the grocery tax. The House wants to cut income taxes.

On road funding, there’s urgency in both chambers for some sort of transportation package, but the Senate seems wary of using GARVEE bonds, which allow states to borrow against future federal funding.

So what to do?

We’ve advocated for the repeal of the grocery tax before, and we still think it is good policy to remove a tax that disproportionately hurts the poor. But more than anything else, we believe transportation funding is the issue on which

state’s budgets, approved a $52 million plan to take excess revenue and put it into emergency infrastructure repair. This also means that federal disaster declarations could bring a 75 percent federal match for the money on some qualifying projects. The bill has an emergency clause that would free up the funding the moment the governor signs the bill.

As Speaker Scott Bedke said at the time, “That was not on anyone’s radar here at the first of the session. It is now.”

At the very least, lawmakers should approve this funding package to help rebuild southern Idaho roads destroyed by winter wear and the flooding that followed. Some lawmakers are still holding out hope the package could be rolled into something much larger as part of a grand compromise on statewide road funding.

What that looks like is still unclear, especially because the Senate has already struck down a massive $300 million GARVEE bill.

Whatever happens, Magic Valley lawmakers are likely to be at the center of the discus-

sions. Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, said he is still talking to colleagues in both the Senate and House, trying to work out a deal.

And late last week, Bedke, a Republican from Oakley, said he’s committed to doing something about infrastructure before lawmakers leave town.

“I still feel strongly that we can’t leave without addressing the roads issue,” he said.

We do, too, especially since the legislative session so far has been marred by inaction and GOP infighting. Lawmakers did nothing about health care policy, gay and transgender anti-discrimination protections or changing the state’s law that shields parents who practice faith-healing from prosecution under child-injury laws.

A transportation bill might allow some legislators to save face, especially if they represent districts where roads are the worst.

Lawmakers have made clear their goals for this week. Now they just have to find the road map to the finish.

COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

Silly liberals, health care is not a right D espite its bromidic ring, the mantra “health care is a right” is absurd. These five words that Bernie Sanders — and other progressives — can credit for a good chunk of their political success have wide appeal, I won’t disagree.

But embarking on a courageous examination of all its implications beyond the NEAL alluring slogan?

LARSON It’s bunk at best.

More likely it’s a disturbing (albeit ingenious) premise used to extend the reach of government into every crevice of our lives.

A few weeks ago during Tom

LOOK INSIDE M 1

lawmakers should focus this week.

Take a look around: Idaho’s roads are crumbling. We’re just now coming out of a severe winter that absolutely devastated roads. Potholes are everywhere. The last major infrastructure investment to come out of the Statehouse was two years ago, and even then the bill was criticized for being too anemic – it was a nice bump, but not nearly enough to begin to address the state’s road woes.

Now, Canyon County lawmakers are threatening to force the Legislature to stay in session until money is devoted to fixing Interstate 84 and other roads to relieve traffic problems.

Funny how legislative sessions turn out. At the beginning of this one, almost nobody was talking about transportation funding. That all changed with the flooding problems we saw first-hand here in the Magic Valley.

After lawmakers toured the damage, the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which sets the

Price’s confirmation hearing to head up the Department of Health and Human Services, Democrats grilled him on this question over the nature of our entitlement to health care.

They asked the question as if a wrong answer would have been tantamount to a murder confession. My answer of course would have been “You silly liberals, of course health care is not a right!” I don’t recall his response verbatim, but it was slightly more deft and diplomatic; his job in that moment was to navigate a news cycle eager to ensnare, not make a grand slam political point.

First we must clarify the language. When liberals say health care is a right, what they mean

is that citizens have a right to have health care provided to them, hence the push for a single-payer system touted regularly by Barack Obama before he realized such a system at that point was politically unfeasible. For them it’s not a right to simply pursue health care, but rather a right to demand it from the collective.

Because I despise wasting time with people who refuse to have a civil discussion, I recently had a very short exchange online with a guy over this very issue. When I made the point that our Second Amendment right to bear arms did not burden the government with providing guns to all those who want them, his cerebral

response was approximately “You moron, guns and health care are different.” He didn’t elaborate why government is expected to fund, deliver, and accommodate one right but take an adversarial posture toward another. I sighed and shook my head. It’s so hard being a moron.

In nearly every instance I can conceive, indulging in a right is always initiated by the citizen who’s claiming it, and not a government that is providing it. Rights originate within an individual’s innate proactive capacities. Government’s job is to largely stay out of their way.

Rights don’t require massive Please see LARSON, Page B4

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US strikes air base in Syria Trump: Barrage is response for recent chemical attack against civilians JULIE PACE, VIVIAN SALAMA AND LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

Firefighter Sean Lancaster pumps water out of a firetruck and into bins Wednesday at Fire Station No. 2 in Shoshone. Water has to be shipped from the city to the fire station to supply clean drinking water to livestock.

Dairy faces $70,000 fine MYCHEL MATTHEWS

mmatthews@magicvalley.com

Contaminated water water sits in the Milner-Gooding Canal Wednesday northwest of Shoshone.

SHOSHONE — When domestic wells became contaminated

by February’s flooding and affected residents were warned not to drink or bathe in their well water, Clarissa Granquist offered up her house to neighbors for showering.

“It was hard for some to get into town to shower at the community center,” Granquist said.

“I couldn’t sit by watching people suffer when I could help.”

Some 16 wells tested positive for high levels of E. coli and coliform after what South Central Public Health Department spokesman Jeff Pierson called “a perfect storm” added insult

to injury during a crazy winter.

Unprecedented snowmelt, a dairy that pumped wastewater into the Milner-Gooding Canal and a fissure in the bedrock apparently combined to disrupt lives northwest of Shoshone.

Dairy violations

4 Bros. Dairy, one of the largest employers in the county, faces a possible $70,000 penalty for violating dairy rules against discharging wastewater.

Idaho State Department of Agriculture last week finished an investigation of the dairy and sent its notice of violation to owners Jerome Fitzgerald and Andrew Please see DAIRY, Page A7

Idaho waits for FEMA approval NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — Idaho officials are still waiting to find out if 11 counties, including six in the Magic Valley, will qualify for federal help to rebuild from flood damage caused by this winter’s rain and snowmelt.

In late March the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected a request for a major disaster declaration to provide help to some southwestern Idaho counties that were hit hard by snowstorms from late December to mid-January, saying the damage was “not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state, affected local governments, and

voluntary agencies.” The state plans to appeal the decision.

On March 30 the state submitted a second, separate federal disaster declaration request, this time for help for Bingham, Cassia, Elmore, Franklin, Gooding, Jefferson, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, Twin Falls and Washington counties to recover from flooding, said Jon Hanian, spokesman for Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.

Hanian said Tuesday that the state will likely hear FEMA’s decision in a week or two. In the meantime, he said, the Idaho Office of Emergency Management is gathering information for a third request for federal help

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Gorsuch heads for confirmation Senate tears up own rules to expedite vote on SCOTUS nominee ERICA WERNER

AP Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON — In a confrontation that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations, Republicans tore up the Senate’s voting rules Thursday to allow Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch to ascend to the high court over furious Democratic objections.

Democrats denounced the GOP’s use of what both sides dubbed the “nuclear option” to put Gorsuch on the court, calling it an epic power grab that would further corrode politics in Congress, the courts and the nation. Many Republicans bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats for pushing them to it.

Please see GORSUCH, Page A7

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Blaine County Road and Bridge finishes up work for the day along Please see FEMA, Page A7 Magic Road Monday south of Bellevue.

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PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise missiles Thursday night in fiery retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. President Donald Trump cast the U.S. assault as vital to deter future use of poison gas and called on other nations to join in seeking “to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria.”

It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump’s most dramatic military order since becoming president just over two months ago.

The strikes also risk thrusting the U.S. deeper into an intractable conflict that his predecessor spent years trying to avoid.

Announcing the assault from his Florida resort, Trump said there was no doubt Syrian President Bashar Assad was responsible for the chemical attack, which he said employed banned gases and killed dozens.

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Times-News

Dairy

the canal to the power plant through a half-mile discharge channel, then returned to the canal.

When canal water was released into the channel last year, water disappeared into the ground and never made it to the canal, said Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding.

Toone and her husband farm in Gooding County and irrigate with Milner-Gooding Canal water. “Our whole canal system shut down for a week,�

Toone said. “After the turnout day, all the sudden none of us got water.� She thinks blasting to install the power plant cracked the bedrock, opening up a fissure that shot canal water straight to aquifer.

Lynn Harmon, manager of the canal system, declined to comment.

Sorenson, who has installed five other hydroelectric power plants in the Magic Valley, is sealing the

The ISDA investigation confirmed the wastewater found in the closed canal system is from 4 Bros. Dairy, the report said. Thick green blankets of contamination still linger in low spots in the canal near the power plant.

But authorities are reluctant to connect the dairy’s violation with the well water contamination. “We don’t have enough data to connect the dots,�

Pierson said Thursday. “It would be very tough to create a causal relationship there.�

Lincoln County Commissioner Cresley McConnell said recovery from the contamination — which will eventually be diluted in the aquifer — has been a grassroots effort.

But McConnell is the real hero. “Had he not thrown out the red flag,� Pierson said, “this could have been really ugly.�

Some agencies dragged their feet when first notified of the contamination. “The agencies were not responding like I felt the situation warranted,� said McConnell, who worked closely with the health district. “I got tired of them passing the buck.�

McConnell made sure residents and livestock have access to drinking water, and showers are available at the community center.

So far, no one has become sick from the contamination, Pierson said.

The county and the health district plan to revisit the situation sometime down the road to determine what went wrong and how to prevent something like this in the future. “We may need to look at the codes and make some changes,� McConnell said. “This has been devastating for some of the families in the county,� Pierson said. “There were nights I had a hard time sleeping.

from atrocities.

Syrian state TV reported a U.S. missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an “aggression.�

The U.S. assault marked a striking reversal for Trump, who warned as a candidate against the U.S. being pulled into the Syrian civil war that began six years ago. But the president appeared moved by the photos of children killed in the chemical attack, calling it a “disgrace to humanity� that crossed “a lot of lines.�

U.S. officials placed some of the blame on Russia, one of Syria’s most important benefactors. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Florida with Trump, said Moscow had failed in living up to a 2013 agreement that was intended to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles. “Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end

of the agreement,� Tillerson said.

About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles, fired from warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeted an air base in retaliation for the attack that America believes Syrian government aircraft launched with the nerve agent sarin mixed with chlorine gas. The president did not announce the attacks in advance, though he and other national security officials ratcheted up their warnings to the Syrian government throughout the day Thursday.

The strike came as Trump was hosting Xi in meetings focused in part on another pressing U.S. security dilemma: North Korea’s nuclear program. Trump’s actions in Syria could signal to China that the new president isn’t afraid of unilateral military steps, even if key nations like China are standing in the way. “This clearly indicates the president is willing to

take decisive action when called for,� Tillerson said.

Trump has advocated greater counterterrorism cooperation with Russia, Assad’s most powerful military backer. Just last week, the Trump administration signaled the U.S. was no longer interested in trying to push Assad from power over his direction of a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and led to the worst refugee crisis since World War II. U.S. officials portrayed the strikes as an appropriate, measured response and said they did not signal a broader shift in the Trump administration’s approach to the Syrian conflict. “The intent was to deter the regime from doing this again,� said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, the Pentagon spokesman. “It will be the regime’s choice if there’s any more, and it will be based upon their conduct going forward.�

From A1

Fitzgerald.

The two will have a chance to tell their side of the story at a hearing. Phone calls to the Fitzgeralds by the Times-News have not been returned.

ISDA concluded the Fitzgeralds had broken open sections of the canal bank just below several of the dairy’s lagoons to allow floodwaters and dairy wastewater to flow into the canal. A PTO (power-takeoff) pump was also used to discharge wastewater from the lagoons into the canal, the ISDA investigation report said.

Meanwhile, neighbors on domestic water wells downstream from the dairy noticed a nasty green liquid flowing from faucets.

Ron Braun filed a complaint with ISDA on Feb. 22, alleging discharged wastewater from the dairy was contaminating water wells in the area.

Many pointed fingers at a recently installed hydroelectric power plant in the Milner-Gooding Canal, six miles downstream from the dairy, as the carrier of the contaminates.

The fissure‌

Ted Sorenson, owner of Sorenson Engineering of Idaho Falls, installed the power plant last year on his land at the north end of Eight Mile Road West.

Water will be diverted from

Syria From A1

“Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,�

Trumped declared.

The U.S. strikes — some 59 missiles launched from the USS Ross and USS Porter — hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off. The U.S. missiles hit at 8:45 p.m. Thursday in Washington, 3:45 a.m. today in Syria. The missiles targeted the base’s airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, officials said.

Trump ordered the strikes without approval from Congress or the backing of the United Nations. U.S. officials said he had the right to use force to defend national interests and to protect civilians

Gorsuch From A1

M 1

“We will sadly point to today as a turning point in the history of the Senate and the Supreme Court,� declared Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “This is going to be a chapter, a monumental event in the history of the Senate, not for the better but for the worse,� warned Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior Republican.

A final confirmation vote on Gorsuch is expected today, and he should be sworn in soon to hear the final cases of the term. He was nominated by President Donald Trump shortly after the January inauguration.

The Senate change, affecting how many votes a nominee needs for confirmation, will apply to all future Supreme Court candidates, likely ensuring more ideological justices chosen with no need for consultation with the minority party.

Trump himself predicted to reporters aboard Air Force One that “there could be as many as four� Supreme Court vacancies for him to fill during his administration. “In fact, under a certain scenario, there could even be more than that,� Trump said.

There is no way to know how many there will be, if any, but several justices are quite elderly.

Even as they united in indignation, lawmakers of both parties, pulled by fierce political forces from left and

Friday, April 7, 2017 | A7

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Dairy cows feed Wednesday at 4 Bros. Dairy near Shoshone.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture has proposed a $70,000 fine for pumping manure into the canal.

right, were unwilling to stop the confirmation rules change.

The maneuvering played out in a tense Senate chamber with most members in their seats, a rare and theatrical occurrence.

First Democrats tried to mount a filibuster in an effort to block Gorsuch by denying him the 60 votes needed to advance to a final vote. That was successful only briefly, as Gorsuch fell five votes short. Then Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., raised a point of order, suggesting that Supreme Court nominees should not be subjected to a 60-vote threshold but instead a simple majority in the 100-member Senate.

channel with reinforced concrete. But he doubts the channel was the conveyor of the dairy wastewater in the canal. “We had leaks and we addressed a lot of them last year,� he told the TimesNews. But winter weather delayed some of the repair work until spring.

Does it matter what caused the contamination?‌

FEMA

to fund emergency repairs to roads and bridges damaged this winter. Local governments would be expected to pay 10 percent of the cost of approved projects with the state paying the rest. The bill passed both chambers unanimously after being held up in the House for a couple of weeks because of a larger transportation funding fight, and the governor is expected to sign it but hasn’t. The bill contains an “emergency clause,� meaning the money will be available as soon as Otter signs.

The adjutant general of the Idaho National Guard would appoint a review panel to prioritize project applications and set the criteria. Normal maintenance or road decay due to neglect would not be eligible for the state money, and federally owned and private roads won’t be eligible either.

While there will be some money for roads regardless of whether the federal declaration granted, a federal declaration would mean some public money would be available to help property owners who suffered damage such as flooded basements and crop losses, Jerome County Emergency Manager Clint Blackwood said. “We had considerably more than what I’d received applications from,� he said. “I have over a dozen applications of damage that had been submitted to my office.�

Meanwhile, city and county officials in the Magic Valley are waiting to see when the state money will become available and what the application and approval process will look like. “We’ve got a list of projects that really need some attention, and we’re doing our best to fund that with our budget and reserves the best we can,� Jerome City Administrator Mike Williams said. “But it’s nowhere near the funding for improvements we’d like to see.�

The list of roads that need overlays adds up to $3.35 million and includes South Lincoln, 100 West, 16th Avenue East and South Tiger Drive. “Patching potholes and filling cracks will no longer suffice (on these roads),�

Williams said in an email. “Some of these roads were in tough shape before, but we were hoping to get at least (three to five) more years out of them. The rough winter coupled with the flooding, however, moved them all the way to the state of need for immediate attention.�

From A1

to deal with flooding, landslides and avalanches in northern and north-central Idaho. It remains to be seen what the final impact will be — there was more flooding in some areas this week, including in the Wood River Valley.

In Blaine County, West Magic Road, the only paved road in and out of West Village, reopened Thursday after being closed for almost a week, as did roads northeast of Carey that had been closed due to flooding. However Spud Patch Road, near Picabo, remained closed because of flooding and a soft base.

The water has mostly receded in Gooding County for now, county Emergency Coordinator Missy Shurtz said Thursday. “The flooding went down a whole lot just today,� she said. “Today they were going to check and look and open up all the roads.�

But there is a possibility water could start to rise again on Sunday, depending on the rain and how warm it gets, she said.

Water has also receded in Lincoln County, said Disaster Services Coordinator Payson Reese, but there, too, they are preparing for the possibility of more flooding if it warms up and rains over the weekend and the river rises again. The county just got a new delivery of sand bags in preparation. “Right now it’s all kind of come down,� he said. “But we’re keeping it in the back of our mind.�

No roads were closed this week in the county, Reese said. “Obviously this is an evolving event, and we are dealing with each new issue and disaster declaration and/or request as they arise,� Hanian said in an email. “We are also awaiting determinations on other counties, and as this spring flooding continues to impact our communities we are adding communities and requesting additional major disaster declarations from FEMA as those thresholds are met.�

If there is a federal declaration, the feds would cover three-quarters of the cost of eligible projects, with the state covering 15 percent and the local applicants (generally cities and highway districts) covering 10 percent.

Regardless of whether federal funding becomes available, state lawmakers this year approved $50 million

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McNichols, Vallejo moving on SPORTS, D1

Former inmate starts over NEWS, A2

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SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017

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magicvalley.com

BIG-WATER BATTLES

Dietrich asks for lawsuit dismissal School district attorneys say victim was never harrassed ALEX RIGGINS

ariggins@magicvalley.com

cutting rent payments nearly in half, and keeping the doors open. And in April 2015, the school’s board finalized a deal to buy its building for $6.5 million.

During Friday’s assembly, Xavier’s choir sang the school anthem and students recited the school creed. Teachers recited their own creed.

Baird told students the story behind the school’s name. Fulcher loved the name “Xavier” and wanted something with special meaning, Baird said.

They found out St. Xavier, a Jesuit priest during the Middle Ages, worked alongside other priests to preserve a body of knowledge “during this dark, dark time,” Baird said.

Friday’s event also served as an Arbor Day celebration. The school recently planted a linden tree in memory of longtime Magic Valley educator Mel Wiseman, who died in October 2015.

He helped lead Xavier through a transitional period as a consultant, beginning in 2011.

Students learned about the history of Arbor Day, as well as Wiseman’s life. Third-graders recited a poem about trees.

DIETRICH — Attorneys for the Dietrich School District have asked a judge to dismiss the $10 million civil lawsuit alleging school officials ignored months of racial discrimination, mental harassment and physical assault that culminated in the locker room hanger attack of a mentally disabled, black football player in 2015.

The motion for summary judgement, made last week in U.S. District Court, lays out the case for the district: Football coaches, students and the mentally disabled student’s full-time aid all testified in depositions and affidavits that the victim of the hanger attack was never harassed, bullied or assaulted prior to or after the Oct. 22, 2015, locker room incident.

One account comes from the victim’s full-time aid, Alicia Malan, assigned to shadow him at all times for two school years as his psychosocial rehabilitationist, or PSR. Malan is employed by an outside agency, not the school district, and filled out reports at the end of each day.

“I was required to watch out for his well-being and to ensure that he was not teased or harassed by his classmates,” Malan wrote in her affidavit. “Any such conduct would be reported.

With (victim), however, being teased, bullied or harassed was never an issue.”

But the documents filed by the district’s attorney also revealed troubling new details about the hanger assault and the ensuing investigation, particularly in the deposition of Tanner Ray Ward, a teen originally charged criminally as an adult in the attack.

In the Nov. 28, 2016, deposition, Ward testified under oath he was interviewed only by Dietrich Superintendent Benjamin Hardcastle but never by the Idaho attorney general’s investigator or the Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Office.

Ward also testified that John R.K Howard, the Texas teen who was the only player to plead to criminal charges as an adult, kicked the hanger into the victim’s buttocks several times — a direct contradiction to the way attorneys and District Judge Randy Stoker described Howard’s actions during a February sentencing.

Please see XAVIER, Page A5

Please see DIETRICH, Page A4

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Minidoka Irrigation District equipment operator Evan Overson guides a dump truck full of dirt as he prepares to fill a hole in a washed-out access road March 30 along the main drain ditch on Rupert’s Meridian Road.

South-central Idaho was overwhelmed this winter. Snowstorms cloaked the mountains and valleys. The saturated ground froze, buckling asphalt. Then sudden runoff wrecked more roads and sent people scrambling to save their homes and properties from destruction. By early spring, much of the water had receded, but many were still grappling with the effects. See the story on E1.

Xavier Charter celebrates 10 years JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — The noise of students cheering was deafening Friday during an Xavier Charter School assembly.

It sounded like a party. But it soon became clear this party was still focused on the school’s classical education model.

Xavier co-founder and lead teacher Becky Baird repeated a phrase in Latin every time she wanted to get students’ attention. Students recited the English translation until everyone was quiet: “I am not led. I lead.”

The purpose of the assembly: to celebrate the Twin Falls public charter school’s 10th anniversary.

Xavier — one of the Magic Valley’s first charter schools — opened in 2007 to kindergarten through eighth graders. It expanded to include ninth through 12th grades incrementally after that.

Baird told students she worked with another person, Cindy Fulcher, to launch the school. “You are our dream. You really are.”

Xavier is known for its rigorous academics and high test scores. It uses a classical model of education and emphasizes music, theater, dance and vi-

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Third-grader Breden Barfuss recites a poem along with his classmates during the 10th anniversary celebration Friday for Xavier Charter School in Twin Falls. sual arts.

But it wasn’t always a smooth ride. In its early years, Xavier faced frequent administrative turnover and major financial problems.

In 2012, the school received a notice of defect from the Idaho

Public Charter School Commission for “failure to demonstrate financial soundness.” The school nearly closed after struggling with high rent costs.

But things turned around. The school reached an agreement in February 2013 with its landlord,

 If you do one thing: Visit the Rock Creek Station and Stricker homesite

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TIMES-NEWS

THE BIG STORY

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017 |

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017

| magicvalley.com

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E1

SECTION E

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

A sign warns people April 5 not to use contaminated water in a sink at Shoshone Fire Station No. 2. Lincoln County residents reported contaminated well water after a winter of unprecedented snowmelt and a dairy’s illegal pumping of wastewater into Milner-Gooding Canal.

16 BIG-WATER

BATTLES

Snowstorm, flood recovery is far from over Widespread effects

HEATHER KENNISON

hkennison@magicvalley.com

Accustomed to drought, south-cen- Farmers, road workers, outdoor recreationists and hundreds of tral Idaho was overwhelmed this win- others across south-central Idaho are still coping this spring with the results of heavy winter precipitation and massive flooding. ter by simply too much water.

D Craters of the Moon Snowstorms cloaked the mountains C National Monument 26 LINCOLN and valleys. The saturated ground E froze, buckling asphalt. Then sudden MINIDOKA runoff in February and March wrecked GOODING BLAINE more roads and left people scrambling 93 POWER 84 N to save their homes and properties B JEROME K O F 86 from destruction.

M A H By early spring, much of the water had receded, but irrigation districts, G Twin Falls road workers, ranchers, homeowners and local governments were still grap- TWIN FALLS I L pling with the effects.

Malta CASSIA 93 It’s far from over.

P 84  More online: In a Magicvalley.

com gallery, see more photos of south-central Idahoans struggling to deal with the effects of this winter’s big water.

J

Sawtooth National Forest

maps4news.com/©HERE, Lee Enterprises graphic

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Equipment operator Evan Overson clears debris from a washedout road accessing a major drain ditch of the Minidoka Irrigation District on March 30 on Rupert’s Meridian Road.

The irrigation scramble Jared Bingham’s wife told him she hadn’t seen him in two months — and on March 30, the catch-up work was far from over.

Bingham, watermaster for Minidoka Irrigation District, was buried in paperwork, trying to keep up with the estimated $850,000 in extra materials and overtime needed to prepare for the 2017 irrigation season.

“The flooding has us about two weeks behind,” he said about the annual preventive maintenance. “We dedicated most of our assets to the flood zone.”

A breach in the Minidoka district’s Northside Main Canal four miles east of Acequia required five days to fix, plus 135 loads of dirt and 10 loads of rock. And while the canal company planned to bring water into the canal in mid-April, it would need to be at half the usual rate — raising it just 6 inches per hour.

Damage was also spread throughout the company’s 500 miles of canals, laterals and drains, with assessments changing daily.

“We’ve been very busy,”

O

Please see IRRIGATION, Page E3

Not a drop to drink Every day in early April, it took Chris Tschannen and her husband, Dean, about two hours to haul 2,000 gallons of water to their ranch.

By then, they were well-practiced.

It was Feb. 15 when they discovered the contamination in their well northwest of Shoshone. Residents of Lincoln County reported smelly, murky water in their homes following a winter of unprecedented snowmelt, a suspected fissure in the bedrock and a dairy’s illegal pumping of wastewater into the Milner-Gooding Canal.

The Tschannens’ daily water delivery was a necessity for their beef cattle and

for an elderly couple renting a trailer there.

The water in the trailer’s kitchen sink “was green and nasty and smelled horrible,” Tschannen recalled.

The well tested positive for high levels of E. coli, making water on the ranch unusable even for showering.

“It’s been tough,” said tenant Edna Hellwinkel, 85, whose son lives nearby and warned her of the contamination. “We had to depend on my son or Dean to bring us water.”

Initially the Tschannens brought safe water from a nearby dairy, but later they were driving about a mile to Shoshone Fire Station No. 2.

But Hellwinkel and her

D

M 1

88-year-old partner, Marvin Bartels, still couldn’t turn on faucets for showering and washing dishes.

“At our age, you just don’t jump up and do something different,” Hellwinkel said.

Still, they managed. The couple got water into their travel trailer and used that bathroom for showering — then dashed back through the cold to the house.

Hellwinkel recalled melting snow at one point to wash her pots and pans, as using paper plates had added to the amount of garbage they’d have to haul out.

“People don’t realize how inconvenient it is when you can’t turn on the faucet and Please see DROP, Page E3

COURTESY PHOTO

Dean Tschannen pumps water into a container on his truck April 6 so he can bring it to his tenants north of Shoshone.

MORE INSIDE: Newlyweds displaced, E2 | Asphalt woes, E2 | The walkers win, E3 | Soggy landfill, E3 | River recreation, E4 | Winterkill at Wilson Lake, E4

BIG STORY

E2 | Sunday, April 30, 2017

Times-News

Drifting snow on Blue Lakes South ‌As winds swept snow across country roads, some people driving to Joslin Field, Magic Valley Regional Airport were delayed. Now, the airport board is considering how it might prevent future problems on Blue Lakes Boulevard South.

“The highway district worked really hard to keep that road clear,” Airport Manager Bill Carberry said. “We’re just trying to think of it critically.”

The airport board discussed options in March.

About a half-mile stretch of the road had problems with drifting snow, possibly limiting traffic to one lane at times, Carberry said. He plans to meet with a farmer who leases land

from the airport to discuss options such as snow fencing or shrubs.

The airport pavement, meanwhile, is Carberry in good shape after all the bad weather, Carberry said. And about 180 planes were diverted to Twin Falls on their way to Sun Valley between November and March. Normally, that number might be closer to 100.

“We feel good about being able to assist,” he said. “All of those diversions actually are good for the businesses at the airport.”

I

COURTESY OF ENOCH AND HYRUM OLSEN‌

February floodwaters swept away River Road’s bridge over Deep Creek northwest of Buhl.

Coping with River Road split Fifteen minutes after Jesse ‌ Flint drove River Road over swollen Deep Creek, the concrete box culvert washed out — taking a 25foot section of road with it.

It was Feb. 9, and the manager of Mountain States Plants got the message on his cellphone not long after the dramatic collapse. It had already been a rough winter at the greenhouses, as cold weather delayed plant growth and snow affected access.

“We had almost entire days when we were just trying to push snow off to the side,” Flint said.

Fortunately, approaching from the southeast on River Road wasn’t the only route to his workplace, but it took a while for weekly delivery trucks to figure out the alternative. Instead of taking a Jerome exit from Interstate 84 and using Bob Barton Road,

they take the interstate to Wendell and drive U.S. 30 to River Road.

Drivers who didn’t get the message about the road sometimes had no cellphone service and had a tight area in which to turn around.

“At first, it was quite a pain,” Flint said.

The new route adds about 10 minutes of travel to reach Mountain States Plants, which supplies to warehouses and to stores such as Fred Meyer. That’s a daily delay for the employee who lives just on the other side of the missing culvert.

For the greenhouses, it’s been mostly an inconvenience. But it’s a major concern for Buhl Highway District, struggling to decide how to fix the Deep Creek crossing.

“Right now we’re looking at funding,” Director John Zamora said in early April. “It’s a money

B

issue.”

It will take about 8,000 tons of building material to fix the 50foot wide roadway.

“If we put it back to the original, the estimates are around $140,000,” Zamora said.

But the concrete culvert has washed out before, he said, most recently in 1979. So the highway district in early April was leaning toward one of these alternatives: installing an overflow pipe, with a cost of about $250,000, or building a $600,000 bridge over the creek and leaving the natural channel to run its course.

Compounding the issue: the $400,000 in other fresh winter damage along 70 miles of the Buhl Highway District’s roads.

The district was considering deferring other construction so it could build a better Deep Creek crossing.

Fish farmer’s silver lining Weighed down by ‌ opportunity to review heavy snow, a failing bird construction,” owner Don netting structure could Campbell said March have spelled disaster for 9, as he discussed reFirst Ascent Fish Farm in design possibilities with his production Buhl this winter.

The long metal pole manager. supporting the netting The bird netting has over the hatchery was Campbell protected his young bent near the top, and its tilapia from aerial predators gravel base was partially washed for six years, but the design error out by snowmelt from the nearby for the supporting poles wasn’t roof. apparent until after this win“This winter has created an ter, Campbell said. When wind

changed direction, snow packed over the netting. Warmer weather made the snow heavy, and the netting sagged, bending the poles.

“My goal is for my staff to learn,”Campbell said, “and most understand you do your best, and sometimes it fails.”

The damage was relatively minor for First Ascent, he said, but the weather caused other farms to lose fish.

A

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Parking lot damage at Rock Creek Park in Twin Falls, shown April 19, will require complete repaving.

Asphalt woes ‌The parking lot at Rock Creek Park was a patchwork of fractured and arched asphalt April 19, but Beatriz Delgado barely noticed.

The Twin Falls mother sat watching her two boys look for frogs near Rock Creek’s swiftly flowing waters. It was their first visit of the year to the county park.

“Once it starts getting warmer and the kids are out of school, we’ll come out a lot,” Delgado said.

She won’t be alone, and a potential closure of the parking lot for repaving this fall could affect ease of access to the park.

“The parking lot down there is just absolutely disintegrated,” Parks and Waterways Director Rick Novacek said.

The county closed the road to Rock Creek Park for a couple

of weeks in March when a crack opened in the asphalt near the top.

“The road settled a couple of inches next to the guardrail, and that’s what caused the crack,” Novacek said. After crews filled it, he was confident the road would stabilize.

But the parking lot will need complete repaving — at least a $60,000 project just for the main section. And there’s simply no money for it this fiscal year, so construction won’t start until at least October, Novacek said.

The city of Twin Falls also faced budget issues when it discovered $9 million in road damage after this winter’s freezing, thawing and flooding. In April, the City Council allocated $4.3 million

COURTESY PHOTO‌

Straw bales and plastic form a barrier in mid-April at the house of Eduardo and Shaleana Vega on Gooding’s River Bend Drive.

Newlyweds displaced Newlyweds Eduardo and ‌ Shaleana Vega got an unexpected test of their marriage ties when their house on River Bend Drive flooded March 31.

The young Gooding couple had purchased the house by the Big Wood River in April 2016 — shortly before their June wedding. They’d been told the house wasn’t in a flood zone.

But in March, as Magic Reservoir spilled into the Big Wood River, Gooding County properties near the river were put under a flood advisory. The Vegas received the warning just days before floodwater poured thigh-deep into their crawlspace.

“I got up at 2 in the morning (March 31) to check the river, and it was pretty full,” 21-year-old Eduardo recalled.

By 10 a.m. that day, a neighbor reached out to the Vegas at work, warning them about the encroaching river. But it was too late to prevent the damage.

“It’s kind of made us stronger and realize that we’re grateful for our family and friends,” said Shaleana, 22.

Concerned about electrical hazards in the crawlspace, the Vegas turned off the power and moved in with Shaleana’s parents, who live near their workplace. After the water receded, they reconnected the power to fan-dry the house.

But the danger hadn’t passed.

And this time, the Vegas were determined to be prepared for

another flood.

As of April 17, they were still staying with Shaleana’s parents and had moved their furniture onto pallets. Friends donated straw bales and hay bales that, combined with sandbags and plastic, created a barrier around their house.

The Vegas feared that a new round of flooding expected in late April could be even worse.

“A lot of people have said we’re supposed to be getting more water,” Eduardo said. “It’s kind of like a waiting game.”

Meanwhile, they also were struggling to get answers about the damage in the crawlspace and the garage.

“We’re trying to get a bunch of feedback from different contractors,” Shaleana said.

As of mid-April, she’d heard conflicting reports. The Vegas know they will have to replace the ventilation pipes and spray for mold. It’s also likely they will have to pump their septic tank, get their well tested and replace some insulation and drywall, Eduardo said. And the driveway will need more gravel.

“It’s been hard on us because this is our first house me and my wife bought together,” he said.

The couple set up a donation account at Zions Bank, and a GoFundMe account under the name “Vega House Flood.”

“It’s a crappy situation,” Shaleana said. “But we have great help and good resources around us.”

C

Dead or orphaned calves ‌Cattle calving on the range in February had a hard time amid snow and ice.

“The condition was such there was no place to get out of the weather,” said Marty Bennett, who breeds Angus cattle about five miles east of Dietrich.

“I don’t think there’s a rancher out here that wasn’t impacted.”

Calves born in those conditions can die or suffer health consequences afterward, and Bennett estimated he lost twice the usual number of newborns. Although he hadn’t counted the bodies, he figured it may have been close to 10 percent of his February births. Other ranchers could have lost closer to 15 percent, he said.

In a cattle market where prices are down, they’ll have to tighten their belts to absorb the additional revenue loss.

“This year we’re going to kind of get by with what we have,”

Bennett said of his own operations. “We’re not going to make any new improvements.”

He was able to rescue some of the calves found while searching the fields in the wee hours of the morning. The calves were brought into the barn to recuperate. In a few cases, the mother either could not be found or later abandoned her young.

“We got four to five of those little orphans left,” Bennett said April 5.

His employees would have to bottle-feed them twice a day for at least four to six weeks.

Other calves that survived still had complications from the cold.

Bennett, who is also a veterinarian, figures he used two to three times more medication this winter to treat his herd for lameness, swollen feet and illness spread by crowding in deep snow.

“Mother Nature,” he said, “is sometimes relentless, unforgiving.”

E

G

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

A man runs by patched asphalt that descends into Rock Creek Park on April 19. in reserve street funds to make a dent in the workload.

Delgado was relieved that something was being done about potholes on Twin Falls streets — despite the inconvenience of road closures.

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BIG STORY

Times-News

Sunday, April 30, 2017 | E3

Soggy landfill The walkers win ‌ r. James Irwin picked his way D up the steep grade on the north wall of the Snake River Canyon, stooping now and then to collect shards of broken beer bottles, smashed cans and foam cups.

Behind him walked his friend Carl Nellis.

As he reached the top of Yingst Road on March 29, Irwin panted to catch his breath. The rim of his hat obscured what the casual observer might miss: no hair.

Irwin had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with underlying follicular lymphoma, and was undergoing chemotherapy.

He doesn’t walk Yingst Road as often as he did before, but he says walking it is a kind of physical therapy.

“You don’t stop just for a little pain,” Irwin said.

Neither was he hindered by the fact that, in places, the road had been washed out. In fact, he, Nellis and some other pedestrians want to keep it that way.

“This is absolutely a great walking trail,” Irwin said.

Yingst Road, across the Snake River from Auger Falls Heritage Park, descends into the canyon just west of Jerome Country Club. It was gated off to vehicles in March after February floodwater from the canyon rim overwhelmed a culvert and took the road along with it as it rushed into the river.

Jerome County leases the road right of way, within the boundaries of its recreation and public-purposes lease of Bureau of Land Management land. The upper portion of the road, some of which is relatively undamaged, belongs to a state agency.

Yingst Road is traveled by hunters and joggers but also has been used as an access route for nearby businesses such as the golf course. BLM employees believe that Idaho Transportation Department developed Yingst Road while it was constructing Interstate 84, BLM spokeswoman Heather Tiel-Nelson said.

According to the 20-year right of way grant which expires in 2020, it is Jerome County’s responsibility to maintain Yingst Road — though access may be restricted for public safety.

And that’s exactly what Jerome County commissioners did. Not only was the gate shut at the end of March, but in early April the commission put up signs declaring the road closed.

“Once you get down there and get hurt, you can’t get back out,” County Commissioner Roger Morley said. The county is not discouraging pedestrian use to those who feel safe walking Yingst Road.

The county has no plans to repair the road.

“Yingst Road is literally a last choice for us to fix,” Morley said, noting other county infrastructure the flooding damaged.

And some argue that it would be a waste of public resources.

“It’s a dead-end road,” Nellis said. “It doesn’t seem like a good expense of taxpayer money to pay for something people don’t use.”

Instead, he said, it should be permanently closed to motorized vehicles and reserved for a walking trail.

Nellis walks the road weekly “mostly to try to stay from getting too fat,” he said. It is more difficult to walk now, plunging into craters of rock that used to be its base.

But Nellis and Irwin are willing to lend a hand to make it better.

“That would be relatively easy,” said Irwin, whose mules have helped him haul pieces of abandoned vehicles out of the canyon.

“It just takes some manual labor to build up a trail.”

Jogging along Yingst Road on March 29, Darbi Neff was ecstatic about their plan. Neff was in town

PHOTO BY DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Dr. James Irwin talks about how he’d like to keep Yingst Road closed to traffic March 29 near Jerome.

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Drop From E1

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get water,” she said.

After about a month, the Tschannens bypassed the well and connected the house’s water system to pods, refilling them with water hauled from the fire station.

But bottled water was still a necessity for drinking and cooking.

Tschannen said the well at her house tested positive for coliform bacteria, so she and her husband were also drinking bottled water.

“Until the water’s all clear out here, I don’t think anyone feels safe drinking it,” she said April 6.

The water at the trailer couldn’t easily be tested while the pods

‌When the Milner Butte Landfill got more water than it could handle this winter, employees sprang into action.

As meltwater inundated stormwater collection ditches, Southern Idaho Solid Waste suddenly found it was short on pumps, Executive Director and CEO Josh Bartlome said.

The district initially tried to lease pumps from rental companies.

“You couldn’t rent anything because they were all out pumping,” Bartlome said.

But to comply with regulations, the landfill had to get rid of the standing water.

After buying four Bartlome pumps from a federal surplus sale in February, it had seven up and running to move the water into a 12-foot-deep retention pond on site.

“We pumped over 7 million gallons away from the landfill in 10 days,” Bartlome said. “… I had never seen that retention pond this high.”

Standing water was just a part of their troubles. The landfill also had several partial-day closures so staff could get out during times of heavy snow. Water threatened to wash out the main hauling road, and the consistency of other landfill roads made them too dangerous to use for an entire week, Bartlome said.

While most effects from winter storms had been taken care of by

late March, some of the extra water was being put to good use.

Leachate ponds at Milner Butte collect moisture that percolates through the landfill — usually from household waste such as discarded detergents, beverages and foods, Bartlome said. Typically, those ponds evaporate quickly in the arid climate.

But this year, precipitation filled those ponds to the point where the liquid should be removed to prepare for spring storms.

So Southern Idaho Solid Waste crews began using it for dust control — a recirculation that’s permitted but rarely happens.

“We’re just pumping some of our leachate out of our leachate ponds and putting it back on the landfill,” Bartlome said March 21.

“We’ve been doing it for about a week now.”

He estimated the liquid from those ponds could be used for another week, saving the solid waste district from using other water from an on-site tank for its dust suppression.

Although stormwater can slowly seep through the landfill and into the leachate collection system, Bartlome said it was difficult to gauge what effect that might yet have in coming weeks.

After this year’s scramble, Southern Idaho Solid Waste also changed its operations policy for dealing with excess water. From now on, it plans to review its operations annually so it can better prepare for such events.

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Rupert’s trouble Carl Nellis wants flood-damaged Yingst Road to be permanently closed to motorized vehicles and reserved instead for a walking trail.

Darbi Neff jogs damaged Yingst Road on March 29. Neff has jogged there off and on since high school and says she’d like to see the road become a nonmotorized trail instead. visiting her parents but grew up nearby and has been jogging the road since high school.

“I love the fact that cars can’t come down here anymore,” Neff said. She’d spotted a porcupine and a red fox just the day before.

“I had never seen those things in the past.”

Irwin believes that the absence of motorized access will result in less garbage being tossed onto the road.

Jerome County Commissioner

were hooked up to the house, but Tschannen planned to watch how neighbors’ wells were doing. Even once the danger passes, she plans to continue having her wells tested from now on, probably two or three times a year.

By early April, well water had improved considerably but was not yet safe. The city of Shoshone continued to provide potable water and water for livestock out of its own wells. The county purchased bottled water to supply residents.

“We’ve got people coming in and out of the station all day long,” Casey Kelley, Shoshone City and Rural Fire Protection District chief, said April 4. “We’ve gone through almost 60,000 gallons of water up to now.”

Catherine Roemer had hoped that Yingst Road was not the county’s responsibility. Since she learned otherwise, she’s open to the offer of help from Nellis and Irwin.

“I don’t think we’d turn down any suggestions, particularly for pedestrian traffic,” she said.

Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said the sheriff’s office has secured a key from Pristine Springs fish farm to use its access road to reach that section of canyon in case of an emergency.

COURTESY PHOTO‌

The water coming out of tenant Edna Hellwinkel’s kitchen faucet was dirty from contamination and stained her sink, she recalled. It also smelled terrible. This photo, provided by Chris Tschannen, was taken Feb. 20.

For several years, downtown ‌ businessman Charlie Creason has wanted to see Rupert Square get a new fountain and safer sidewalks.

But he recognized a much bigger Rupert problem needs his help.

“We realized so many streets have maybe a higher, even more pressing need than that,” he said.

The damage multiplied following this winter’s sudden snowmelt runoff, which flooded the town.

But Creason Creason didn’t lose sight of his original goal, either. He joined a city subcommittee to develop a master plan for the square and help with a bond election going to voters in May. If approved, the bond issue would fund street repairs needed after this year’s storms — and kickstart the square improvements.

“As a private citizen, I’m wholly supportive of the idea,” Creason said.

As proposed, the city would borrow nearly $4 million in bonds, to be repaid over 30 years. About 59 percent of the funds would be used to repair roads, stormwater systems and underground systems. Nineteen percent would fund improvements at city facilities, including the Rupert Senior Citizen Center ($70,000) and the Rupert Square ($700,000).

Another 22 percent would repair water systems.

Rupert has been falling behind on its infrastructure maintenance — especially roads — for years,

City Administrator Kelly Anthon explained. Realizing its mistakes, the city more than doubled its spending on road maintenance over the past five years. Even then, it was still eight years behind on road maintenance.

“Then the storms hit and we had the flooding,” Anthon said.

The city’s pavement needs went from $1.6 million to an estimated $2.3 million after flooding and other winter damage. At current spending levels — $150,000 to $200,000 annually — it could still take the city 15 years to catch up on paving, Anthon said.

That’s not all. When roads are repaved, Anthon said, there is often the need to replace underground structures such as water, wastewater and electric lines. That work would add another $1.4 million to the immediate needs.

“At current spending levels, using only our street maintenance budget, it would take well over 20 years — as much as 25 years — to catch up,” he said.

Even if the city got some hopedfor state and federal emergency road money, it would still be about a decade behind.

If the bond issue passes, a homeowner with an assessed property value of $100,000 would pay about $4.79 per month. But low-income individuals eligible for the Circuit Breaker exemption would see no tax increase unless the home is assessed at $150,000 or more.

Rupert residents will vote May 16.

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Irrigation From E1

General Manager Dan Davidson said. “We’ve put in a fair amount of overtime not just in repairing the damage, but for our routine spring maintenance.”

And there were barriers yet to overcome to accomplish that maintenance. On March 30, equipment operator Evan Overson surveyed the access road to the drain near South Meridian Road and 125 South in Rupert.

“What a mess,” he said.

The water from an adjacent hayfield flooded the maintenance road, carving out a section of road as it headed toward the major irrigation drain. The road had to be repaired so excavators could clear away silt the floodwaters had carried into the ditch.

That ditch, Bingham said, had been cleaned out two years before. With all that work undone, it would take an estimated 710 hours to redo it.

“We’ll still be feeling the effects of this for at least two years from now,” he said.

Pump panels that were submerged will also have to be re-

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Jared Bingham, watermaster for Minidoka Irrigation District, talks March 30 about flooding damage to Rupert canals and drain ditches, like this one on Meridian Road.

‘The flooding has us about two weeks behind,’ he says. placed over the year, with pump damage another costly possibility.

While Bingham doesn’t expect another event like this spring’s runoff in his lifetime, he’s taking steps to ensure the next generations have the guidelines for dealing with one. By October, he hopes to have a plan in place to leave certain headgates open during the off-season, allowing water to flow to prevent a future breach.

BIG STORY

E4 | Sunday, April 30, 2017

Times-News

Winterkill at Wilson Lake The morning of March 24, ‌ Idaho Department of Fish and Game staff waded into Wilson Lake Reservoir to clean up some of the mess.

Thousands of dead fish had been discovered at the manmade lake north of Hazelton just weeks before. Dozens still floated along its bank near the boat docks.

The signs pointed to one cause: winterkill, where snow and ice covered the lake, hindering photosynthesis and suffocating the fish.

“We don’t typically see a lot of winterkill,” said Scott Stanton, a regional fisheries biologist.

Stanton and another Fish and Game employee were out moving dead fish away from where the public might encounter them.

Wilson Lake Reservoir is more of a recreation destination than a fishery, Regional Fishery Manager Doug Megargle said.

“This was a courtesy effort,” he said. “We are not obligated to certainly pick up every dead body.”

Most of the fish were moved into the water and out of sight, Stanton said. “Mother Nature will take care of the rest.”

Mother Nature was at work earlier that month. Birders hoping to spot a few early shorebirds were surprised by what they found in-

stead: hundreds of other birds feasting on the bounty.

“The gulls were having a heyday,” said Melody Asher of Twin Falls. “The pelicans were all so full.”

She’d gone to the reservoir on friend Pat Weber’s recommendation but hadn’t known about the winterkill.

“They’re huge,” Asher said of the scaly carp floating in the water. “It’s pretty gross.”

Weber returned to Wilson Lake on the afternoon following Fish and Game’s partial cleanup. From a dock, she spotted 17 bird species through her scope. A male pelican floated happily on the other side of the reservoir, preparing to mate.

She was disappointed that rising water — a result of the North Side Canal Co.’s aquifer recharge efforts — had left fewer opportunities to spot shorebirds. And she didn’t see the 20 or so bald eagles and more than 1,000 gulls — including a rare flock of herring gulls — that she’d spotted the previous week.

“It’s always a good day, though,” she said, wearing rose-tinted sunglasses and tallying her list on her phone’s eBird app.

Most of the fish arrive at the reservoir each year from the Snake River via irrigation ditches.

Fish and Game estimated deaths

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Washed-out gravel roads ‌Abrahan Maldonado was still behind on his senior project.

It was early April, and the student at Malta’s Raft River Jr./Sr. High School had two weeks left to complete his project: constructing a trailer for hauling a four-wheeler. He’d already been busy trying to catch up on more than a week of missed schoolwork due to unusable roads.

“The flooding got so bad, it washed out the roads completely,” Abrahan said. “They kept having school, but everyone was so busy putting up sandbags and helping with the floods. I had quite a bit to make up.”

He drove his pickup on the flooded roads south of Malta a couple of times, with water almost up to his door. School buses couldn’t negotiate some roads, and parents with young children had to try to meet the buses wherever it was safe.

Raft River Highway District ran out of “road closed” signs during February’s flooding — it had to borrow some from another highway district and buy more.

“We actually had probably about 60 miles of our roads that were completely washed out,” highway district director Scott Hitt said.

That included a main road accessing City of Rocks National Reserve. And the Malta post office couldn’t make deliveries to about 20 residents for a couple of weeks, postmistress Laurie Darrington said. By law, the carriers couldn’t pass the road-closure signs.

“They had to go slow and see what they could do,” she said.

“The road crews have been really good at getting the roads passable.”

COURTESY PHOTO‌

Water flows Feb. 15 over a gravel road maintained by the Raft River Highway District.

By early April, Raft River Highway District had made temporary repairs to most roads, but two residents still had go to the post office for their mail.

“We shaped (the roads) up the best we could,” Hitt said. “We’ve already used an awful lot of our budget.”

The district hired five temporary crew members for six weeks to help with repairs. Hitt estimated total damages were about $2.2 million — 10 times what the district typically spends on a year’s maintenance.

“Our regular maintenance on roads is going to be pushed back,” he said.

Funding, Hitt said, was in limbo until the district learned whether it would get federal money. In the meantime, crews were working to repair the last 15 miles of washed-out roads — while hoping the rest wouldn’t sustain more damage.

“We’re still fighting the battle out here.”

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Rough roads at the reservoir Spring snowmelt quickly ‌ eroded roads accessing Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, causing extensive damage that posed a threat to visitors.

The Bureau of Land Management warned motorists about the deteriorating roads and sprang into action to get those roads graded — although some are managed by the county.

“They’re not in great shape, but they’re passable,” Twin Falls District BLM spokeswoman Heather Tiel-Nelson said in late April. “... We’re just advising people to be very cautious and careful.”

As more vehicles travel on the roads with warmer weather, the agency feared conditions could worsen.

And the BLM was still having difficulty accessing several of its roads in the Jarbidge Field

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Office area southwest of Twin Falls. Crews had been working feverishly for weeks, grading roads that were listed as priorities for firefighting access to desert lands and range managed by the BLM, Tiel-Nelson said.

“We’ll continue on that cycle and make more permanent repairs later on those roads that are continuing to deteriorate,” she said.

The majority of BLM roads with access issues were in Twin Falls and Owyhee counties, she said. But pavement was undercut at the Milner recreation area near Burley, and the BLM posted signs to warn visitors.

The BLM estimates it will cost $750,000 to $1 million beyond its regular maintenance budget to repair its roads in south-central Idaho, Tiel-Nelson said.

COURTESY PHOTO‌

Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional fisheries biologist Scott Stanton gathers dead fish March 24 near the Wilson Lake Reservoir docks. of 16,000 carp, 10,000 largescale suckers, 4,000 bullhead and hundreds of yellow perch and Utah chubs.

Carp aren’t a typical target for anglers because “they have a meat quality that most people don’t know how to cook,” Megargle said.

He didn’t expect that any of the game species — yellow perch and bullhead — survived.

And there are no plans to stock the reservoir because its water levels and quality for fish life are unpredictable.

“It wouldn’t be worth managing unless we see some positive change with water management,” Megargle said.

It’s possible that additional spring runoff introduced a toxin that killed the fish, Megargle said, but no evidence had proven that.

Some of the fish were scavenged by birds, and others sank into the river for decomposition,

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Pat Weber watches birds March 24 at Wilson Lake Reservoir in Hazelton, where birds feasted on a bounty of dead fish.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A dead fish floats next to an empty can March 24 in Wilson Lake Reservoir. but Megargle said the March 24 cleanup effort may not be particularly productive. Especially if the wind shifts directions, bringing more bodies from the middle of

the reservoir.

“They’re going to want to come to shore sooner or later,” Megargle said. “It just depends which shore.”

River recreation ‌Tennis ball in mouth, the small black Labrador swam over the submerged boat dock toward her owner, who waited in camouflage waders. Six-month-old Naga was at Centennial Waterfront Park on April 19 for exercise and training as a future “duck dog.”

James Medlin of Jerome apologized profusely as the wet animal darted happily toward bystanders.

Normally, he said, they’d do this water-based fetch routine above Shoshone Falls, in a small park near the boat launch.

“There’s no beach,” Medlin said.

“It’s all underwater.”

Besides, the swift water there posed a safety risk for Naga.

In fact, recreation all along the Magic Valley stretch of the Snake River was feeling the big-snowpack effect.

High flows prompted Idaho Power Co. to close the Shoshone Falls boat access in March. Idaho Power spokesman Brad Bowlin said there was concern for boaters’ safety with the high water and the debris it brought, which would have to be cleaned up once the water receded.

Farther downstream, another project still waited for completion in mid-April. The road into the Relish Whitewater takeout near Hagerman had eroded due to February flooding. It was temporarily open but would have to be closed for repairs later in the season, Bowlin said.

Idaho Power was also warning boaters about Bliss Bridge before the takeout. Watercraft that would normally be able to pass under it couldn’t on some days because of

HEATHER KENNISON, TIMES-NEWS‌

Kayaks glide past the nonmotorized boat dock April 19 at Centennial Waterfront Park. The dock was floating about 10 feet higher than normal, AWOL Adventure Sports owner Paul Melni said. the river’s height. Scout ahead before hitting the water, he advised.

Centennial Waterfront Park’s boat docks, meanwhile, were usable but partly underwater.

AWOL Adventure Sports had to have trees trimmed above a nonmotorized boat dock, which owner Paul Melni said was floating about 10 feet higher than usual in mid-April. And because an expanse of water still covered one end of the dock, he improvised by launching kayaks from the shore.

The park vendor was also having a late start to its watercraft rental season.

Melni could hardly have asked for a better opening day for kayak rentals in 2016, when temperatures reached 71 degrees on April 2, and the park vendor did almost 100 rentals.

But this year, following weeks of heavy flows and bad weather, the business attempted an opening weekend April 15. It was 53 degrees at 2 p.m., and the brave few who attempted to paddle against 24,000 cubic feet per second of rushing water returned shortly.

“They came back kind of shivering,” he said.

Melni called it quits, and the next day was no better, with wind that prevented AWOL from doing rentals.

AWOL planned to watch flows and attempt rentals again later this month. Melni expected that with the high flows he wouldn’t offer paddleboards or sit-on kayaks early in the season.

The Shoshone Falls boat ramp may reopen by Memorial Day, Bowlin said, depending on how snowmelt affects water levels.

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Parakeets and barbed wire ‌As floodwaters in their pasture rose to 6 feet in February, Coreen and James Hart moved their cows to a neighbor’s place. But when it was safe for the animals to return, the Harts discovered they had another problem: As the water froze, thawed and receded, it had broken the barbed wire around the cow’s enclosure.

“The ice froze the barbed wire fence and snapped it in countless places,” Coreen said.

James was still working in late March to repair the broken fences at their property north of Acequia. The cows waited nearby in a smaller enclosure.

But the damaged fence was a much smaller loss than Coreen discovered in her chicken coop: A hundred or so parakeets had all drowned.

“My poor babies are gone,” said Coreen, who has raised and sold parakeets for seven years.

While the birds had plenty of perches, she believes they must

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PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

James Hart repairs a barbed wire fence destroyed by flooding and freezing March 30 at his Acequia farm. have thought the 4 feet of water with spilled seed on top was the ground. “They met their maker instead.”

At $15 apiece, Coreen figures she lost around $1,500 of parakeets, plus a few chickens.

Coreen hasn’t decided whether she will get back into raising parakeets, but she considers herself lucky that her house wasn’t damaged.

“The only thing we could claim was the parakeets.”

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Champs once again

Welcome Neighbor

Idaho neighborhood welcomes all REGION, A6 MOSTLY SUNNY 71 • 46 FORECAST, C6

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Bruins baseball wins 4A title SPORTS, PAGE D1

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2017

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POTHOLE PAIN

Senators run into health bill obstacles ALAN FRAM

Associated Press

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

A sign on North 100 West warns drivers of road damage April 10 in Jerome. The city figures it will cost $523,723 to repair 100 West from Main Street to 100 North — and hopes for state or federal disaster relief funds to help pay the bill.

Cities and highway districts whose roads were damaged in southern Idaho’s crazy winter are dealing with a multimillion-dollar question important to taxpayers and to anyone dodging potholes as they drive: Who’s going to pay to fix the roads?

Local budget-writers hope the federal government will pick up much of the cost, and they’re vying for pieces of $50 million in state money. See the story on E1.

Twin Falls airport using new body scanner HEATHER KENNISON

hkennison@magicvalley.com

TWIN FALLS — New technology at the airport means fewer pat-downs, with less physical contact, at the security checkpoint.

The Joslin Field — Magic Valley Regional Airport began using a body scanner a few weeks ago for passengers departing Twin Falls. The Advanced Imaging Technology will often be used in lieu of a metal detector, and can identify the part of the body where a person may need to be searched.

Airport and Transportation Security Administration personnel say the new equipment is much preferred for travelers who have surgical implants that set off a metal detector.

“It’s a lot less hassle for people,” airport manager Bill Carberry said.

What’s more, you won’t have to feel like you’re naked — Unlike some of their pre-2013 predecessors, the body scanners TSA uses today do not create x-ray specific

images of a traveler.

“The image is generic,” TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said during a media demonstration Friday. “It’s the same for every passenger.”

Here’s how it works: A traveler will show his or her boarding pass and ID to TSA staff and place his or her jacket, shoes and carry-on items into a bin for screening (passengers age 75 older can keep their shoes on, Dankers said).

A TSA divesting officer will also ask the traveler to remove everything — metallic and non-metallic — from his or her pockets. Jewelry that is not bulky may still be worn.

The traveler then proceeds to the body scanner, and holds still as directed for two to three seconds. If nothing is detected Please see SCANNER, Page A4

 Online photo gallery: See

more photos of the TSA body scanner in use at magicvalley. com.

BRIDGE CROSSWORD DEAR ABBY

 If you do one thing: Bingo is open to the public on Sunday

afternoon at the American Legion Post, 446 Seastrom St., in Twin Falls. Doors open at 2 p.m.

$3.00

•

Volume 112, Issue 205

•

A Lee Enterprises Newspaper

•

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Transportation Security Officer Brittanie Booth, pointing, runs a demonstration of new advanced imaging technology Friday at the Twin Falls airport.

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WASHINGTON — Remember the Republican health care bill?

Washington is fixated on President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey and burgeoning investigations into possible connections between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.

But in closed-door meetings, Senate Republicans are trying to write legislation dismantling President Barack Obama’s health care law. They would substitute their own tax credits, ease coverage requirements and cut the federal-state Medicaid program for the poor and disabled that Obama enlarged.

The House passed its version this month, but not without difficulty, and now Republicans who run the Senate are finding hurdles, too.

A look at some of those obstacles and what senators are trying to doing about them: SHORT-TERM FIX? GOP senators say they’re discussing a possible short-term bill if their health care talks drag on. It might include money to help stabilize shaky insurance markets with subsidies to reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-earning people and letting states offer skimpier, and therefore less expensive, policies.

It’s unclear Democrats would offer their needed cooperation, but Republicans are talking about it.

“We’ve discussed quite a bit the possibility of a two-step process,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “In 2018 and ‘19, we’d basically be a rescue team to make sure people can buy insurance.”

That could mean Republicans might even temporarily extend Obama’s individual mandate — the requirement that people to buy coverage or face tax penalties. It’s perhaps the part of Obama’s law that Republicans most detest. But it does prompt some people to purchase insurance, which helps curb premiums and make markets viable.

Alexander, R-Tenn., said there’s a “strong bias” to address short- and long-term problems in a single bill.

“If we can’t do the real thing, we’d have to do the next best thing,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said of short-term legislation.

TIME IS TICKING Because Democrats oppose the repeal effort unanimously, Republicans will need 50 of their 52 senators to back their overhaul so Vice President Mike Pence’s Please see SENATORS, Page A4

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THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2017

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magicvalley.com

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SECTION E

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

A car swerves around a pothole April 28 in Twin Falls. Here the City Council voted to use $4.4 million in reserves for road repairs. But other southcentral Idaho cities and highway districts whose roads were damaged this winter hope the federal government will pick up much of the cost to fix them.

POTHOLE

PAIN After disastrous winter, Idaho cities, highway officials wait for road-repair help Jerome road repair needs

nbrown@magicvalley.com

16th Ave.

E 100 N

100 North: $315,238

16th Avenue East: $204,045 8th Ave. Davis St.

7th Ave.

North Davis Street: $186,303

Main St.

North Date Street: $196,265

Tiger Drive

100 West: $523,723

Main St.

Nez Perce Ave. South Tiger Drive: $387,280

South Lincoln Avenue: $1,348,300

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300 South: $193,830

ad Ro

Source: City Administrator Mike Williams

S 100 E

ge nta Fro

M 1

W 100 N

N Lincoln Ave.

Please see POTHOLES, Page E2

Jerome, like other Magic Valley cities, anticipates millions of dollars in road repairs attributed at least partially to this winter's water damage. Cost estimates:

Date St.

WIN FALLS — In December and January, southern Idaho was hit with frigid temperatures and, in some areas, record-breaking amounts of snow.

Then came the flooding.

The second week of February, warm weather led to extensive snowmelt. Families had to evacuate their homes. Schools closed. Fields were submerged. And roads were closed as some were covered in water or even ripped apart.

Now, cities and highway districts whose roads were cracked or washed away have to deal with a multimillion-dollar question important to taxpayers and to anyone dodging potholes as they drive: Who will pay to fix the roads?

Local budget-writers hope the federal government will pick up much of the cost.

“It was good to see the disaster declaration approved by the president,” Jerome City Administrator Mike Williams said. “We just don’t know what it means for us quite yet. We’re hopeful it’ll mean additional funding for small towns like us.

There’s a lot of highway districts and small towns and cities around us that are eager for some assistance as well.”

On April 21, President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration covering the February flooding in 11 Idaho counties, including Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka and Twin Falls, making local govWilliams ernments there eligible for some federal assistance to help pay for infrastructure damage caused by the flooding.

“Hopefully it’s enough to cover a majority of the roads that were identified to be fixed this year,” Williams said.

Seventy road miles in the Buhl Highway District were damaged, said district Director John Zamora. The worst hit, he said, were River Road where it crosses Deep Creek, and the Balanced Rock grade crossing. The concrete box culvert over Deep Creek washed out, taking 25 feet of River Road with it.

“If we’re going to mitigate damages from happening again, which we try to do, we’re looking at about $700,000,” he said. Maybe $750,000.

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NATHAN BROWN

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maps4news.com/©HERE, Lee Enterprises graphic

MORE INSIDE: Competition heavy for $50K in state road money, E2 | Map: Twin Falls road repair needs, E4

BIG STORY

E2 | Sunday, May 21, 2017

Times-News

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

From left, Gov. C.L. ‘Butch’ Otter, Office of Emergency Management Deputy Chief Brad Richy, Lt. Gov. Brad Little and Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Mat Weaver discuss flooding issues May 13 during a public meeting in Hailey.

Competition heavy for $50K in state road money weeks after flooding brought on by melting snow wreaked havoc on roads throughout the Magic OISE — While no one yet Valley. While the measure never knows exactly how much had any opposition — it passed federal money will be given out to help pay for infrastructure both the House and Senate unanimously — it lingered on the damage in the Magic Valley, $50 million in state money is available House calendar for almost three weeks after passing the Senate, to help cities and highway disheld hostage by a larger fight over tricts rebuild some of the roads transportation funding. It passed that were damaged this winter. on the last day of the session.

Competition for it is already “I applaud the Legislature for heavy.

Lawmakers approved the extra putting this money aside,” Lt. Gov. Brad Little said in Hailey funding in early March, a few NATHAN BROWN

nbrown@magicvalley.com‌

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earlier this month, at a town hall meeting to discuss the flooding in Blaine County.

Of that $52 million, $2 million went right to the Office of Emergency Management’s disaster fund and is being used already, said Jon Hanian, spokesman for Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.

“That’s snow removal to sandbags, all of that kind of activity,” Hanian said. “That is being spent as we speak. In fact, some of that, they’re still applying out from previous disasters.”

The rest will be given out in three rounds of applications, with the deadline for cities and highway districts to apply for the first round being May 15, the second June 15, and the last July 1.

The state will give out $15 million for road projects in each of the first two rounds and the rest in the last.

The state got applications for 180 projects totaling more than $31.6 million by the May 15 deadline, said Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Eliz-

abeth Duncan.

The applicants are expected to put up 10 percent of the funding for the projects. A panel headed

by Office of Emergency Management Deputy Chief Brad Richy and consisting of representatives from the governor’s office, Idaho Transportation Department, Idaho Association of Cities, Idaho Association of Counties, Association of Highway Districts and Local Highway Technical Assistance Council is making the funding decisions.

Potholes From E1

All of the damage could be eligible for some of the $50 million the state has allocated for road repairs, Zamora said, and some of it will be eligible for federal aid as well.

The Legislature approved $52 million in emergency funding this year, of which $2 million is already being spent by the Office of Emergency Management on immediate needs such as sandbags. The rest is for infrastructure repair.

Take Rupert, for instance, which faces $2.4 million to $2.5 million in road repairs.

City Administrator Kelly Anthon estimates about $425,000 of this could qualify for federal help because it can be tied directly to the February flooding.

Some of Anthon the needed repairs, though, are due to either deferred maintenance from years past or other weather-related damage that isn’t covered by the federal disaster declaration.

“Areas in town that were in bad shape also got flooded,” Anthon said. “When we talk about the $2.5 (million), there was damage to some of those roads long before the winter took place.”

Anthon, who is also a state senator, said Rupert will apply for some of the state road repair money, too. But he doesn’t know how much the city will get, as “other communities are similarly situated” and many state highways were damaged this winter.

“I’ve never believed that the $52 million is really adequate,” he said.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

State Recovery Coordinator Jarod Dick explains how to apply for FEMA disaster relief May 11 at the Twin Falls Highway District conference room in Twin Falls.

Millions in damage‌

An initial assessment in April showed $30 million in infrastructure damage in the Magic Valley and Mini-Cassia areas, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s press office said.

Applications for federal aid need to be in by May 22, and earlier this month state Recovery Coordinator Jarod Dick was traveling the Magic Valley to brief local officials on what to do.

For local governments, Dick told a group in Jerome, the federal government would pick up 75 percent of the cost of approved

projects, with the state kicking in 15 percent and the city, county or highway district expected to provide the rest.

Private nonprofits that provide critical public safety or utility services, such as canal companies, are also eligible. However, they would have to provide the full 25 percent non-federal share without help from the state.

The disaster declaration makes aid available to help repair only public infrastructure, not private property damage, although some businesses and homeowners with damage

“

claims might be eligible for low-interest Small Business Administration loans.

The federal disaster money can be used only for road projects for which there isn’t any other funding; it can’t be used to fix a road that is eligible for Federal Highway Administration grants, for example. Generally, the money can be used only to restore something to what it was before the floods.

“A gravel road can’t become a paved road,” Dick told a group in

Areas in town that were in bad shape also got flooded. When we talk about the $2.5 (million), there was damage to some of those roads long before the winter took place.

Please see POTHOLES, Page E3

Kelly Anthon, City Administrator M 1

BIG STORY

Times-News

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Cars wait for the light to change April 10 at Jerome’s intersection of South Lincoln Avenue and East Main Street. South Lincoln is one of the damaged streets the city hopes to repair with state or federal disaster relief funds. The estimated cost for South Lincoln repairs: $1.3 million.

Sunday, May 21, 2017 | E3

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A car drives past a pothole April 10 on 100 West in Jerome. The city figures it will cost $523,723 to repair 100 West from Main Street to 100 North — and hopes for state or federal disaster relief funds to help pay the bill.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Rainwater puddles in damaged Bitterroot Drive on April 18. The city of Twin Falls estimates it will cost $498,600 to fix the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Bitterroot.

Potholes From E2

Twin Falls.

However, there is a hazard mitigation grant program that can be used for improvements, said Lorrie Pahl, mitigation planner with the state Office of Emergency Management. For example, you could use that money to replace a culvert with a bigger one, or to elevate a road when you repair it. The deadline to apply for that is also May 22.

Local mitigation projects will compete with projects elsewhere in the 11 counties that are part of the federal disaster area, said Twin Falls County Emergency Management Director Jackie Frye.

“There are no guarantees you’re going to get this,” she said.

However, Pahl said, even just preparing the applications could be useful when more grant opportunities come along.

“You can still resubmit those applications under different programs that are available,” she said.

Local budgets‌

As local governments wait to see how much money they will get, they are also putting together their 2018 budgets; the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

“Is there any sort of time frame for this?” Jerome Public Works Director Walt Appelle asked Dick, noting he is assembling his budget now and the roads will only get worse if not fixed.

Dick said the “kickoff meetings” to discuss specific projects would be held up to 21 days after the applications are received.

But, he said, cities could also get reimbursed for work they do on their own. There isn’t a specific time frame, he said, “but the goal is to get it funded quickly and get it distributed quickly.”

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Road damage in Rupert These Rupert roads need to be replaced, according to a map provided by the city. Roads mentioned within subdivisions refer to the sections that are in the subdivision.

Sharron Heights subdivision: Gingko, Sharon, Shamrock and Hemlock streets.

East 18th Street, east of North Meridian.

Belmont subdivision: 16th Street.

D Street, from 18th to B canal.

Much of E Street, both sides of canal.

F Street, between 13th and 12th.

12th Street, from H to E streets.

G Street, from 17th to 12th.

Vista Village subdivision: 15th, 16th and I drives.

Between B canal and Eastern Idaho Railroad: About 50 blocks are marked to be rebuilt, including 11th, Third and Fifth streets and most of 10th, Sixth and Seventh streets and several streets in the Countryside Subdivision.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A car drives through a flooded street May 13 in an evacuated Hailey neighborhood.

East of the Eastern Idaho Railroad: A few dozen blocks are marked to be rebuilt, including Sixth Street, much of Fifth, South Fourth and South Fifth and part of Third.

More roads need seal coating but do not need to be replaced. See a map of both types attached to this story at Magicvalley.com.

Source: City Administrator Kelly Anthon Twin Falls isn’t waiting — the City Council voted in April to use $4.4 million in reserves for road repairs. Twin Falls is in a different situation than some cities — its weather-related road damage is mostly from roads freezing, then thawing, Please see POTHOLES, Page E4

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A sign warns drivers to slow down because of road damage April 10 on North 100 West in Jerome.

E4

BIG STORY

| SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2017

TIMES-NEWS

“

The devastation across the state has been tremendous. The infrastructure that we’ve lost is going to be a long time repairing.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter

Potholes From E3

Pole Line Road

North College Road College of Southern Idaho Falls Ave.

10 Bitterroot

9

Walnut

3 oa d 7

6

1. Bitterroot Drive: $498,600 2. Butte Drive: $208,900 3. Frontier Road: $831,100 4. Sophomore Boulevard: $202,600 5. Bridgeview Boulevard: $83,500 Source: Public Works Director Jon Caton

additional damage in Blaine and Gooding counties. Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who was acting governor because Otter was out of state, declared emergencies in both counties.

On May 13, Little, Otter and other state disaster officials visited Hailey, to answer questions at a town hall meeting. The worst of the flooding might not be over — the river will likely peak in late May or early June, said Vernon Preston, with the National Weather Service in Pocatello.

When Otter visited, the flooding had already claimed one life, a landscaper who drowned in a basement in Ketchum. A couple of neighborhoods near Ketchum and Hailey had been evacuated — 40 Hailey homes were under a mandatory evacuation order.

The city had set up a roadblock on Cedar Street a little

1

Falls Ave. PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

8 Filer Ave.

Filer Ave.

*ADA-accessible sidewalks

Madrona St.

Brid

Pole Line Road

5

Eastland Drive

g eview Blvd.

C3 parking lot: $25,000

Locust St.

Dozens of people attend a FEMA disaster applicant briefing May 11 at the Twin Falls Highway District conference room.

2

4 6. Falls Avenue: $537,250 7. Falls Avenue*: $300,000 8. Filer Avenue: $412,500 9. Walnut Street North: $55,600 10. Eastland Drive: $650,000 maps4news.com/©HERE, Lee Enterprises graphic

“

At the end of the day we’re hoping for all the outside funding we can get, but as is normal with street budgets it seems like there’s always more demand than there is funding available.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Community members ask questions about logjams in the Big Wood River during a May 13 flood meeting at Blaine County School District’s Community Campus in Hailey.

had turned into ponds and some Mike Williams, Jerome City houses were surrounded by Administrator sandbags. Signs warned pedestrians not to walk into the water.

The neighborhood was quiet, as west of South Main Street and most of the houses close to the was allowing only local traffic river had been evacuated. But into the neighborhood. As you got closer to the river, the streets occasionally a truck drove out, were covered in water, backyards splashing water as it headed back

TIMES-NEWS

Magic Valley Health Fair

Twin Falls, like other Magic Valley cities, anticipates millions of dollars in road repairs attributed at least partially to this winter’s severe weather. Cost estimates:

Blue Lakes Blvd.

The deluge isn’t over yet, and it’s possible more flooding this spring could lead to another federal declaration. In early May the Big Wood River spilled over its banks again, causing

Twin Falls road repair needs

Frontier R

More to come in Blaine County

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

A flood warning sign sits on the side of the road in a neighborhood with mandatory evacuations May 13 in Hailey.

Washington St.

as the temperatures swung. In other areas, February flooding directly caused more road damage.

“We don’t have specific claims for the flooding event,” Jon Caton, Twin Falls’ public works director, said at the briefing with Dick and Twin Falls County highway officials.

As a result, the city wasn’t included in the Twin Falls Caton County disaster declaration that led to the federal one, Frye said. And the city isn’t eligible for the federal aid.

Williams said Jerome has some money in reserves that could be used for road projects but has been holding off on decisions until it knows how much federal funding will be available. If the city chooses to raise property taxes this year, Williams said, he hopes as much as possible of that would go toward these road projects.

“At the end of the day we’re hoping for all the outside funding we can get,” Williams said, “but as is normal with street budgets it seems like there’s always more demand than there is funding available.”

Road repairs have already affected Rupert’s city budget — Anthon said the city has been making cuts for the past five years, reducing the number of employees, consolidating departments and putting the savings into road repairs.

“We’re already squeezing the budget as hard as we can,” he said.

By doing this, Anthon said, Rupert has doubled the amount it spends on road repair, to about $175,000 a year now. But it hasn’t been enough to catch up, which is part of the City Council’s decision to ask for a $3.96 million infrastructure-repair bond issue. Voters approved it last week.

Rupert, unlike some cities, owns its water and sewer utilities and plans to replace them as it fixes the roads, Anthon said.

“You don’t cut open a road unless you’re committing to fixing what’s underneath.”

The federal government generally pays only to restore a road to how it was before, so new water and sewer pipes wouldn’t be covered. Anthon said the city is “trying to be as creative as possible” to pay for these needs, such as looking at what grants are available.

“Unless there’s a big influx of cash from the state or something like that,” he said, “we’re going to do the best we can with the money we’ve got.”

toward Cedar.

Otter said he intends to ask for another federal disaster declaration for Blaine County.

“The devastation across the state has been tremendous,” he said. “The infrastructure that we’ve lost is going to be a long time repairing.”

Be Inspired.

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For more inspirational stories, visit us at www.magicvalley.com

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