Idaho Offbeat News

Wildmen of the Big Wood River

2010-11-28T05:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/opinion/article_04321a6e-f835-11df-9fd4-001cc4c002e0.html

Boise firefighters rescue boy whose tongue was stuck to metal pole

2009-12-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/1001257.html

Grown In Idaho - iTuber.org Contest

2009-09-20T20:46:00.001-06:00

Idaho man gets federal money to develop his idea of putting solar panels in highways

2009-09-11T22:12:00.000-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/895850.html?storylink=omni_popular

Joan Baez diffuses right wing protest at Idaho concert

2009-08-17T06:35:00.000-06:00

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/12/765667/-Joan-Baez-diffuses-right-wing-protest-at-Idaho-concert

2009-07-07T06:30:00.002-06:00

Living in Lava: Shoshone house is a piece of history

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/07/07/features/tuesday/165726.txt

2009-06-22T07:06:00.000-06:00

Historic hideaway

Mammoth Cave north of Shoshone doubled as fallout shelter during Cold War

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/22/news/top_story/164674.txt

Idaho snow rollers

2009-04-16T06:16:00.002-06:00

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/otx/photo_gallery/snow_rollers.php

Bush plane pilot loses his route

2009-04-04T10:09:00.001-06:00

Wilderness properties have gotten their mail by plane for 34 years.

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005125498

Are there secret tunnels under Boise?

2009-03-30T21:19:00.000-06:00

http://www.ktvb.com/news/iwonder/stories/ktvbn-mar1909-wonder-downtown_boise_tunnels.4e3b2eed.html

B-52's Private Idaho

2009-02-11T16:50:00.001-07:00

COLUMN: Remembering Idaho's favorite Nazi

2009-02-03T20:53:00.001-07:00

You don't say!

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/01/30/news/local_state/153924.txt

Never been kissed

2008-10-03T08:10:00.000-06:00

http://olderthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/idaho%20state%20journal

2008-09-27T05:05:00.001-06:00

Company, citizens appeal denial of cell tower

Galena Summit tower was billed as a boon to public safety

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/09/27/news/local_state/145340.txt

Another gem from the Times-News

2008-08-31T12:28:00.000-06:00

Eighteen isn't enough

Couple from small Idaho town opens their arms to a new family

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/31/news/top_story/143414.txt

Satellite phones make cowboys wildfire sentinels

2008-08-30T17:44:00.001-06:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/30/ap/headlines/d92somt80.txt

2008-08-24T05:45:00.000-06:00

Idaho's dirty little war

Before statehood, there was the Snake conflict

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/24/opinion/editorials/142962.txt

2008-08-21T19:41:00.000-06:00

Exploring Idaho's underground wilderness

Lava tubes lie beneath the Snake River Plain

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005122181

2008-08-04T07:56:00.000-06:00

Magic Valley's curator

Tales, experiences shaped local historian just as they shaped history

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/03/news/top_story/141620.txt

2008-07-04T16:06:00.000-06:00

A place of wonder

Cooling off in the Shoshone Indian Ice Cave

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/07/04/features/outdoors/139755.txt

Idaho History: 1910 Sunday-closing law hit Boise theaters hard

2008-06-12T22:35:00.000-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/358357.html

Another gem in the Stateman by Arthur Hart.

2008-06-12T22:30:00.000-06:00

Discovering the face of Richfield

Snake River Plain city is bedroom to Blaine County

http://www.mtexpress.com/story_printer.php?ID=2005121112

1982 KTVB Documentary - JR Simplot: King of the Hill

2008-05-25T18:53:00.000-06:00

http://www.ktvb.com/video/index.html?nvid=248646

Idaho's version of the Giant's Causeway

2008-05-23T04:06:00.000-06:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/05/23/features/outdoors/137319.txt

The Wandering Geologist

Lawrence P. Growney

"Most aficionados of geology have heard of the Giant's Causeway, a distinctive area of perfectly formed hexagonal basaltic columns that form a "stone bridge" that juts eastward into the sea from Northern Ireland and has an equivalent counterpart along the coast of Scotland. While Idaho can't claim to possess a similarly impressive counterpart, Cassia County can lay claim to a small-scale version of this rocky causeway."

Idaho's forgotten war

2008-05-22T19:48:00.001-06:00

Remember the Kootenai Tribe's struggle against the feds in 1974?

Now's your chance to learn:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/388225.html

Grumpy's bar turns 30

2008-05-21T21:14:00.001-06:00

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005120477

Fingerprint Expert Tries To Debunk Bigfoot - Reaches Opposite Conclusion

2008-05-11T14:17:00.000-06:00

http://www.rense.com/politics6/fing.htm

The gospel according to Ron Gillett

2008-05-11T06:29:00.000-06:00

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17691

Fiery advocate against wolves connects with a small farm town

ASHTON, IDAHO

The West’s traveling anti-wolf evangelist, Ron Gillett, brought his crusade to this rural community a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a good venue for him. Hundred-pound wolves prowl among people and livestock and elk around here, on the western border of Yellowstone National Park, stirring up waves of fear and anger.

In mid-April, naked dirt showed in the farm fields, and the higher-elevation public lands held the ruins of winter in melting snowdrifts. The town of Ashton is nothing fancy, just a few blocks of small businesses and a scatter of houses around a stand of grain elevators.

About 120 of the locals turned out to see Gillett on a chilly Thursday evening. They parked mud-splattered pickups and SUVs at the Ashton Community Center and along side streets, by the Log Cabin Motel and the Zion Lutheran Church. As they filed into the metal-roofed, brick-walled community center, the sky glowed with sunset. A nearly full moon was rising, and the snowy tips of the Tetons brightened the horizon. The sound of cattle bawling came from a nearby feedlot.

Exploring the underground

2008-05-11T06:07:00.006-06:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/05/11/news/top_story/136498.txt

Episode No. 8: The stony lava flow of Bennett Mountain

2008-05-09T07:22:00.000-06:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/05/09/features/outdoors/136354.txt

The Wandering Geologist
Lawrence P. Growney

Skeleton in a drawer: a Bellevue mystery

2008-04-19T12:29:00.003-06:00

http://www.mtexpress.com/1999/10-27-99/10-27skeleton.htm

Remains used for Odd Fellows initiation rites
Excerpt from Travis Purser's Mountain Express story:
"Before a building can be sold in Idaho, the seller must disclose any murders or suicides that have happened on the premises, the building’s new owner said recently during a tour.
The owner requested that his name not be used in connection with this story.
"I got a call from my lawyer," he said, grabbing a drawer handle at the bottom of a built-in wardrobe, "who told me there was a skeleton in the closet, literally." He yanked the drawer open, and sure enough, a dusty, wired-together, brittle-looking skeleton, screeched into the harsh florescent light.
"My wife’s not too happy about it," the owner said.
It’s not a very big skeleton. Perhaps the bones of a woman or an adolescent. It rests in what appears to be a home-made coffin, and someone has propped its head up with newspaper.
Rumor has it, the owner said, that an individual of Chinese descent drowned in the Big Wood River and someone wired the bones together. The Odd Fellows used the skeleton for Halloween. He added he didn’t know what the legal ramifications of finding the skeleton were and that he hadn’t yet decided what to do with it."

Stroud's classified ad makes David Letterman show

2008-04-15T20:57:00.001-06:00

From the Challis Messenger:

http://www.challismessenger.com/index.php?accnum=story-32-20080410

BY TODD ADAMS

There was a Late Show response to Rev. Paul Stroud's classified ad to trade a clothes dryer for Oreo cookies in the February 7 issue of The Challis Messenger.

Stroud got no calls the first week he ran it, so he ran it again. Then, on April 1, it was broadcast on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Letterman read the ad as part of his Small Town News segment that night: "OLDER CLOTHES DRYER. Works well but needs new home. Will trade for 2 large packages Oreo double stuffed cookies (unopened)."

It got the biggest laugh and the most applause, beating the other humorous Small Town News items that night. The items typically include quirky stories, headlines, ads and photos from weekly or daily newspapers. Letterman often highlights humorous mistakes, but fortunately not in this case.

The Messenger contacted Stroud last Friday and asked him if he'd heard the news. Stroud immediately started laughing. "No," he replied, adding "Oh, that's interesting!"

Stroud said he only watches the Letterman show "once in a great while."

Stroud and wife, Robbi, only paid about $15 for the used dryer at a Challis High School yard sale several years ago. When their washing machine died, they decided to get rid of the dryer, too, so they could get a new matching set.

"I wanted some Oreos, but my wife won't buy them for me," Stroud laughed. "I don't need them," he said, but still was craving cookies.

After getting no initial response to his ad, Stroud surmised people might have thought it was a joke, so he added the option "or $15" and ran the ad again on February 14. He got three responses this time and ended up giving the dryer to the first caller, his friend and fellow minister, the Rev. Bill Matthews and wife, Jackie. The Matthews' later came through with the cookies.

The ad didn't include Stroud's name, and Letterman didn't read his phone number on "The Late Show," so "I didn't even get my 15 minutes of fame," Stroud joked.

'They say it starts with a prayer and ends with a fight'

2008-04-10T19:43:00.001-06:00

To promote better sportsmanship, some of the immensely popular LDS Church basketball leagues institute new rules.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/347942.html

Snake River fishing trip: Is that really a naked woman reflected in Cheney's sunglasses?

2008-04-10T19:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/348575.html

Idaho Statesman honored as Pulitzer finalist for breaking news

2008-04-08T05:17:00.001-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/345737.html

Return of the Teton Dam?

2008-04-07T02:43:00.000-06:00

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17631&fhp

From High Country News

Almost 32 years ago, the Teton Dam in southeastern Idaho failed against the force of a 17-mile long, 270-foot deep reservoir. Eight months of stored stream flow and snowmelt crashed down the valley in less than six hours, swallowing the communities of Rexburg, Teton, Newdale and Sugar City. Eleven people died and the wall of water caused as much as $1 billion in damage, according to local reports.

Now, the dam may be resurrected.

The Secret life of Lou Dobbs

2008-04-03T06:06:00.001-06:00

Why did the influential CNN business anchor undergo an abrupt metamorphosis from corporate sycophant to fire-breathing populist? LUKE MULLINS found the surprising answer in Rupert, the hardscrabble Idaho town where Dobbs grew up.

http://www.american.com/archive/2006/november/lou-dobbs

Saving Santa Claus: Ancient Petroglyph May be Key to Christmas Legend

2008-03-31T19:22:00.001-06:00

http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-03-0326-003.shtml

Giant boulder blocks road to Yellow Pine

2008-03-28T04:11:00.002-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/334714.html

Residents have been able to push previous rockfall out of the way - but not this time.

I say we blast!

Sane scientists tackle mysteries of universe

2008-03-26T05:36:00.001-06:00

http://www.challismessenger.com/index.php?accnum=story-26-20080320

D.B. Cooper's parachute possibly found

2008-03-26T05:33:00.000-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/aptopstories/story/333518.html

Anti-wolf activist Ron Gillett allegedly attacks wolf activist

2008-03-26T05:28:00.001-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/333719.html

Lynne Stone says she took pictures of the Anti-Wolf Coalition director, then he grabbed and shook her.

Idaho's temperance movement secured prohibition

2008-03-25T05:23:00.001-06:00

Another Gem from Arthur Hart:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/332537.html

John Treharne collects a bit of the Old West

2008-03-23T23:20:00.000-06:00

He has a letter from Buffalo Bill, Cole Younger's pistol, Custer Battlefield relics.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/330351.html

Idaho Fun Facts & Trivia

2008-03-20T23:09:00.000-06:00

IDAHO LEGENDS

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ID-Facts.html

What's that sound?

2008-03-20T16:26:00.000-06:00

Air Force says it's not involved in mysterious nighttime rumblings

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/03/20/news/top_story/133209.txt

Boise in March? It's better than Arco in March

2008-03-20T16:24:00.001-06:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/03/19/news/local_state/doc47e09e33a09f1414663304.txt

Stanley council considers potential wind project

2008-03-19T22:13:00.001-06:00

http://www.challismessenger.com/index.php?accnum=story-12-20080313

Idaho history: Women fliers made aviation history in Idaho

2008-03-18T10:28:00.000-06:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/history/story/326390.html

Chipmunk Hill truck blows engine, leaves hill in a lurch

2008-03-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.challismessenger.com/index.php?accnum=story-3-20080306

Group of bikers to open a new church... in a bar

2008-03-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-mar0208-biker_church_bar.175b1ea0.html

The unfunny business of culling the funny papers

2008-02-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/02/05/opinion/editors_column/doc47a8976264802302317635.txt

Sexy Idaho History

2008-01-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/01/31/news/top_story/129835.txt

Exhibit focuses on Abraham Lincoln's ties to Idaho

2008-01-29T05:56:00.001-07:00

http://www.orwelltoday.com/readerlincolnidaho.shtml

Willie Sullivan: Thank you from Yellow Pine

2008-01-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/readersopinion/story/274883.html

A-10 Tank Killers Train at Wendover Airport

2008-01-17T15:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.wendovertimes.com/Topleft.htm

One of the rarest owls ever taken

2008-01-15T06:16:00.001-07:00

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F04E7D61730E033A25755C0A9619C94679ED7CF&oref=slogin

Predator hunters for the environment

2008-01-13T19:29:00.001-07:00

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17076

A little work vs. a little fine

2008-01-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Defunct city code poses fines for unshoveled snow

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/01/11/news/local_state/128455.txt

Idaho gets ‘F' for school food program

2008-01-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

http://woodriverjournal.com/articles/2008/01/04/news/top_story/cstory.txt

COLUMN: Episode No. 30: Contact's mineral bounty - Copper in the rocks

2008-01-04T01:31:00.001-07:00

http://www.thetimesnewsonline.com/articles/2008/01/04/features/outdoors/128018.txt

Voice of the people came through loud and clear in '07

2008-01-01T00:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/01/01/opinion/editorials/127747.txt

Ketchum, Idaho: A Five-Star Dilemma

2007-12-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/a_five_star_dilemma/C458/L41/

Writers on Strike

2007-12-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

By Tony Evans

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005118675

Spuds and Duds 2007: The Rundown

2007-12-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

From Boise Weekly:

http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A309903

Mormon temple lifts spirits in Idaho

2007-12-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/170/story/247020.html

Grandjean, Idaho: A different vacation spot

2007-12-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/501727.html

Motorheads: The new, noisy, organized force in the West

2007-12-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=2933#

In pursuit of the supernatural

2007-12-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Spirit hunters descend on old Gooding hospital

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/12/16/news/top_story/126850.txt

Newspaper photo coincidence leads to robbery suspect

2007-12-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-dec1307-lm_tribune_photos.120ccb48.html

Idaho history: Idaho City saloons often were dangerous in 1860s

2007-12-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/history/story/234694.html

The Visible Man: An FBI Target Puts His Whole Life Online

2007-12-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

http://teamsugar.com/group/30094/blog/277652

"So it dawned on him: If being candid about his flights could clear his name, why not be open about everything? "I've discovered that the best way to protect your privacy is to give it away," he says, grinning as he sips his venti Black Eye. Elahi relishes upending the received wisdom about surveillance. The government monitors your movements, but it gets things wrong. You can monitor yourself much more accurately. Plus, no ambitious agent is going to score a big intelligence triumph by snooping into your movements when there's a Web page broadcasting the Big Mac you ate four minutes ago in Boise, Idaho. "It's economics," he says. "I flood the market.""

Proposal to send drones over Idaho raises hackles

2007-12-09T17:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/drone_planes_propsal_send_drones_idaho_raises_hackles.htm

Pocatello to house cleaning museum

2007-12-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/230214.html

Frederick Wells at ISU

2007-12-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17438347/how_america_lost_the_war_on_drugs/printIn

"October 2006, police in Guadalajara arrested an American chemist named Frederick Wells, who had moved to Mexico after losing his job at Idaho State University. An academic troublemaker who drove around campus with signs on the back of his pickup truck raging at the college administration, Wells had allegedly used his university lab to investigate new ways that Mexican traffickers could use completely legal reagents to engineer meth precursors from scratch. "Very complicated numerical modeling," says his academic colleague Jeff Rosentreter. By the time Wells was arrested, the State Department had only just succeeded at pressuring Mexico to restrict the flow of pseudoephedrine, even though Wells had apparently been hard at work for years creating alternatives to that chemical. The lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry, Haislip says, "cost us eight or nine years.""