Thursday
• September 10, 2015
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Born Lakes offer great hike in new White Clouds Wilderness • B5
Prosecutor: Refugee Measure Unconstitutional But group hoping to close CSI center pledges to push on NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • T Opponents of the refugee center run by the College of Southern Idaho plan to push ahead with a ballot measure to ban refugee centers in Twin Falls County, although the county prosecutor thinks the proposal is unconstitutional and could stir up
a legal hornet’s nest. Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs, who is charged with reviewing proposed ballot measures under Idaho law, submitted a five-page opinion late last week saying it would violate the federal government’s powers to regulate immigration and pose other potential legal challenges. “The initiative does not state a clear explanation as to why the prohibition of refugee resettlement in the county is necessary for the general welfare,” Loebs wrote. “Enforcement of the provisions
Rick Martin, leader of the Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center, speaks during a public meeting Monday at the College of Southern Idaho.
Read Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs’ legal take, and the proposed ballot measure, attached to this story at magicvalley.com.
of this proposed initiative would invite prolonged litigation regarding why its provisions are not ‘arbitrary, capricious, and/or discriminatory.’”
JULIE WOOTTON, TIMES-NEWS
Please see REFUGEES, A3
New CSI Kindergarten Lab Opens
Frulact Remains on Hold; Pacts Terminated ERIC QUITUGUA equitugua@magicvalley.com
UPERT • The Rupert City CounR cil yanked funding Tuesday connected to the construction of a 200,000-square-foot Frulact plant as the company’s plans have stalled. The Council also terminated several agreements with Frulact, including a job creation program, lines of credit, an industrial wastewater rate and a development agreement. The Frulact Group delayed construction on a 200,000-square-foot facility south of the Minidoka Irrigation District in Rupert back in July. The company was set to open its plant in 2014 but market conditions slowed progress. Please see FRULACT, A5
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
College of Southern Idaho kindergarten lab facilitator Jodie Bridges watches as (from left) Takuma Gushiken, Alexis Garcia, Justin Perrin and Ryan Simson check over their findings in the garden at the Boys & Girls Club on Thursday in Twin Falls. JULIE WOOTTON jwootton@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • Jackson West dug T through rocks and dirt while looking at bugs through a small magnifying glass. “Look at this silly creature,” the
6-year-old said as he explored outside at the Boys & Girls Club in Twin Falls. “What do you think it is?” asked Ellen Neff, assistant professor of early childhood education at the College of Southern Idaho. “ I d o n ’t k n ow,” Ja c kso n
responded, but he knew it was coming from the grass. He went to ask his classmates for input. It was part of a hands-on lesson Sept. 2 at CSI’s new kindergarten lab, which opened last week. Please see LAB, A3
How to Sign Up It’s not too late to register. For more information, call Jennifer Patterson at 208-732-6645.
TETONA DUNLAP tdunlap@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • In 2015, millenT nials surpassed Generation X — 53.5 million strong — to become the largest portion of the American workforce, says the Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. In Idaho, 24 percent of the state’s labor force are millennials. The theme of this year’s
Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization’s annual summit focuses on attracting and retaining this workforce. SIEDO’s 14th annual summit “Winning the Talent Attraction Game – Work Play Integration” is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at College of Southern Idaho’s Herrett Center, Rick Allen Room. About 142 people have signed up to attend the summit, which is at maximum capacity. Idaho Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter will speak during the luncheon. “Talent attraction, retention and development is a critical part
I f You Do One Thing: “Introducing Lyra, the Lyre” astronomy talk with Chris Anderson begins at 8 p.m. in the Herrett Center for Arts and Science, Twin Falls. Admission: $2.50 adults, $1.50 students.
of continuing to grow the economies in our region,” said Jan Rogers, the outgoing SIEDO executive director. “So, we thought we would focus on not just starting a conversation on it, but leading it.” SIEDO is a joint venture of public and private sectors in 11 southcentral Idaho communities formed to help diversify and strengthen the local economy by retaining and attracting business to the region. This will be the last SIEDO summit for Rogers, who will step down as executive director of the organization effective Sept. 11. It was announced in July that Rogers
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LAURIE WELCH
lwelch@magicvalley.com
will join the Regional Economic Development Corporation for East Idaho as CEO on Sept. 14. Today, about 34 percent of American workers are millennials, adults ages 18 to 34. Generation Xers and baby boomers account for about 32 percent and 31 percent, says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rogers hopes participants leave the summit with some tangible information on the subject of regional marketing to attract talent to the region.
BURLEY • Police have arrested the husband of a woman who died Sunday for a charge unrelated to her “suspicious death.” The woman is Milissa Dawn Kincaid, 34, Cassia County Sheriff Jay Heward confirmed Wednesday. Police a r re s te d R o n n i e Kincaid on Tuesday as his wife’s body was undergoKincaid ing an autopsy in Ada County. Kincaid has not been charged in his wife’s death, and on Wednesday the sheriff declined to say whether he is a suspect. Authorities are holding Kincaid on a felony probation violation – he is a registered sex offender.
Please see SUMMIT, A5
Please see KINCAID, A5
SIEDO Summit Focus on Attracting, Retaining Workers Gov. Otter to speak at luncheon today
Husband of Dead Woman Arrested
Bridge C3 Comics C10
Markets A2 Crossword C5
Dear Abby C4 Obituaries A4
Opinion A7 Sudoku C6
Thursday, September 10, 2015 • A3
Kimberly School Board Approves Emergency Levy JULIE WOOTTON jwootton@magicvalley.com
KIMBERLY • Kimberly’s school board approved an emergency levy Tuesday to keep up with a growing number of students. School trustees approved a $75,408 levy — a third of what the district was eligible for. “We could have justified more purchases, but we wanted to keep levy rate as low as possible,” Superintendent Luke Schroeder said. Kimberly schools — like many around the Magic Valley — are gaining more students than expected this school year. And they’re relying on extra funding to hire more employees and buy materials. The district has about 70 more students than last year. That’s a nearly 4
percent increase. “It’s a bit surprisingly because there’s not a lot of new houses being built in the city,” Schroeder said, since the sewer system is at capacity. Most of the growth is happening outside of the city limits just north of Kimberly, he said. And he added it’s not uncommon to see large families with as many as six children in the school system. The Kimberly district — which has 1,811 students — originally projected 2 percent enrollment growth for this school year. School trustees decided against hiring more teachers because of the statewide teacher shortage, Schroeder said. Levy money will be used to hire two part-time paraeducators — one for the
Wendell Couple Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Meth
STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS
Kimberly Middle School teacher Nikki Mathews passes out notebooks during a writing assessment on Wednesday in Kimberly. elementary school and one for the middle school. It will also pay for student desks, lunch tables, infrastructure for the computer network, textbooks, student supplies and janitorial supplies. Growth in student numbers is spread evenly across grade levels, Schroeder said. But the elementary school is especially crowded, with 889 students. The Kimberly district has passed an emergency levy nearly every year since 2009. Elsewhere in the Magic Valley, Twin Falls and Buhl
Lab
The benefit of hands-on learning is that children are engaged, she said, and using critical thinking skills. Maggi Taylor, 5, looked at crops in one of the garden beds Sept. 2. “I found a baby watermelon,” she shouted. She showed her teacher pictures she drew in blue crayon of corn and leaves. Children used clipboards with paper to draw items they saw in the garden. It’s
a foundation for hand-writing skills, Neff said. Joshua’s mother, Veronica West, brings him from Hagerman to attend the kindergarten lab. Her daughter is in CSI’s preschool lab. It’s worth the drive, she said, adding she loves the lab program and believes in it. The hands-on approach is ideal for Joshua, she said, and he loves to explore. “It’s
how he learns.” He needs movement at school instead of being confined to a desk all day at school, West said. Joshua can ask questions and go through a discovery process, she said, instead of adhering to a strict routine. “I think that also gives them independence.” Through the lab program, kindergarten students also learn to recognize their own behaviors and self-regulate, Neff said. CSI education students are helping out in the lab. They’ll be joined by Canyon Ridge High School students from an early education class later this month. CSI student Jasmine Hargrove sat in the grass with Joshua on Sept. 1, encouraging him as he explored outside. Hargrove’s children attended the CSI preschool lab program. Now, she’s a CSI education student working on her practicum. College students devote eight hours per week to their practicum. Hargrove spends Wednesday mornings at the kindergarten lab and Fridays in the toddler lab. High school and college students learn researchbased methods before working with kindergartners, Neff said. “We want our college students to support the children in the same way.”
suicide for the college to fight it,” he said. CSI has managed the refugee program for more than three decades, and about 5,000 refugees have been resettled in the Twin Falls area since 1984. The program became controversial when news came out this spring that some Syrians will likely be among 300 refugees who will be resettled here over the year starting Oct. 1. Some opponents have raised fears of Islamic radicals being among the refugees, said the State Department’s vetting isn’t adequate, or criticized the cost of the program and of providing assistance to refugees. “Our nation is deeply in debt ... and the money that’s being used to run this refugee center is borrowed,” Martin said. Benjamin Cover, a visiting associate professor with the University of Idaho College of Law in Moscow, said that, generally speaking, if a local government tries to regulate immigration-related
matters, opponents can challenge it on the grounds that they lack the authority, that federal law preempts it or that it violates the rights of the center or of the refugees. “The strength of these arguments in this particular case would depend on the details of the proposed regulation and the refugee centers it would impact,” Cover wrote in an email.
More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country, displaced by the civil war there, and the issue has been in international headlines this week as more Syrians have been making the oftendangerous journey trying to reach Western Europe. Some American politicians have been calling on the U.S. to allow in more Syrian refugees in response.
Continued from A1
Idaho Department of Education spokesman Jeff Church said he hasn’t encountered any similar programs in the state. The lab focuses on hands-on, project-based learning, Neff said, and meets requirements for Common Core Standards. Plus, it gives high school and college students a place to gain experience working with children. The new offering is an extension of CSI’s lab program, which also serves toddlers and preschoolers. Two classes — a morning and afternoon session — are led by teacher Jodie Bridges. A total of 20 children are enrolled. Parents pay a onetime $150 registration fee and $250 per month. A classroom is set up just off the gymnasium at the Boys & Girls Club. A sensory table allows students to do hands-on experiments. For instance, they can test out how to melt ice by using warm water. Outside, garden beds are planted, thanks to a grant CSI received in May. The Boys & Girls Club’s teen program planted the vegetables. “We’re encouraging the children to draw what they see in the garden,” Neff said.
Refugees Continued from A1
The initiative also says county commissioners would be criminally charged should they seek to repeal it, which Loebs said would be illegal under the principle that one legislature cannot bind a future one. “There are no alterations or revisions to this initiative that would render it constitutional and/or legal,” Loebs concluded. However, his recommendations are not binding, and Rick Martin, the head of the Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center, said Tuesday he plans to press forward, the only change being a correction on the election date in the original petition. The measure, Martin said, is a referendum on the refugee center. “It’ll give the voters a chance to send a message to the (college) Board of Trustees on whether they want a refugee center or not,” he said. Supporters would need to gather 3,842 signatures — 20 percent of how many people voted in the county in the 2014 general election — to get the measure on the May ballot. If it passes, Martin said it would be hard for the college to justify trying to block it in court, especially with a trustee election in November 2016. “It would be political
also passed emergency levies in recent weeks. In Twin Falls, school trustees approved a $1.3 million emergency levy Aug. 31. Buhl’s school board approved a $150,000 emergency levy Tuesday to deal with an extra 66 students — a 5 percent increase over last school year. School boards are allowed to pursue an emergency by the second week of September if average daily attendance rates are higher than the previous year. It doesn’t have to be approved by voters.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
Alexis Garcia uses her magnifying glass as she checks over the garden during the College of Southern Idaho’s kindergarten lab class at the Boys & Girls Club on Thursday in Twin Falls.
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TIMES-NEWS BOISE • A Wendell couple accepted a deal with federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty Wednesday to trafficking methamphetamine. Miguel Angel OsunaZavala, 42, and his wife, Diane Osuna, 43, appeared before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge in Boise. Osuna-Zavala pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Osuna pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The couple was indicted by a grand jury March 10 in Boise. A search of their home Feb. 2 turned up 65 grams of meth and a 9mm Sturm Ruger pistol in a safe in their bedroom, according
to details outlined in the plea agreement. Officers also found baggies and a set of digital scales. Osuna would weigh out the drugs for OsunaZavala to sell, the plea agreement said. A charge of conspiracy or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine carries a minimum five year sentence and a maximum of 40 years and a $5 million fine. A charge of possessing a firearm to assist with trafficking can add an additional five years and a fine of $250,000 Sentencing is scheduled Dec. 9. The Gooding County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigated. The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence.
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