New Name, Same Symphony
What used to be called the Sun Valley Summer Symphony will now be called the Sun Valley Music Festival. It’s a move, the organization says, that more accurately represents what they do and opens up the possibility of assembling musicians at different times of the year rather than exclusively in the summer.
“This is a return to our roots,” Alasdair Neale, music director, said. “We began as the Elkhorn Music Festival 35 years ago and, with this change, we reaffirm that we really are a music festival, more than a regional or seasonal symphony.”
The Music Festival is making additional changes along with its name. The first week of concerts in the summer at the Sun Valley Pavilion, formerly known as the “In Focus” week, will be integrated fully into the Summer Concert Series. Each concert features a “Pre-Concert Chat” that takes place on the lawn and can also be accessed on a mobile phone via live audio streaming. The big video screen will be live from the first concert as well, enabling lawn audiences to see as well as hear the concerts. In addition, all of the Music Festival’s education programs will become part of its Music Institute. The Institute will continue to offer both year-round programs, in partnership with the Blaine County School District, as well as intensive summer programs that run concurrent with the Summer Concert Series.
Governor Says Slow Down, Move Over
Rep. John McCrostie’s (D-Garden City) so-called Slow Down, Move Over bill was made law last week by Gov. Brad Little. Currently, motorists are only required to slow down and move over for police and emergency vehicles on the side of the road. The new law will expand those requirements to tow truck drivers and highway incident response vehicles.
McCrostie says the new law will be lifesaving.
“In working with stakeholders, I learned that this was a huge problem in Idaho and nationwide,” McCrostie said. “National statistics have estimated that a tow truck operator dies once every seven to 10 days due to a tow scene accident. This law is a simple update that will ultimately save the lives of hardworking Idahoans.”
US-20 Bridge Replacements In Blaine & Camas Have Begun
The Idaho Transportation Department began work Monday on two bridge construction projects along US-20. The new crossings will be located over Willow Creek in Camas County (MP 164) and Rock Creek in Blaine County (MP 173).
During construction, ITD will remove aging culverts and surrounding earthwork at both locations, and construct new crossings over the waterways. The structure spanning Willow Creek will be a 170-foot steel girder bridge, while the structure spanning Rock Creek will be a 159-foot concrete girder bridge. As an added result of the forthcoming bridge structures, ITD will also be able to restore the streams to a more natural condition which, in turn, should have a positive effect on the surrounding ecosystem.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane in the construction zone with width restrictions anticipated. Temporary traffic lights will be in place throughout the duration of the project and reduced speed limits will also be in effect. Work is expected to last through December.
Library’s Book And Bake Sale Slated For April
The Wood River Valley’s largest book and bake sale is set for April 18 through April 20, The Friends of the Hailey Public Library said. This will be its 32nd annual used book and bake sale event. This year’s location is the Community Campus in the Queen of the Hills Conference Room #200.
Sale hours will be Thursday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., continuing on Friday, April 19, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, April 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday will be a “FANTASTIC Bag” sale.
Donations are being accepted in the City Hall Main Street entrance foyer receptacle. Donations are tax deductible and a donation receipt is available upon request.
The funds raised from this fun event are targeted to augment library services, technology upgrades and library adult and kid’s programs throughout the year.
Four Environmental Groups Sue Trump Administration Secretary
Four conservation groups sued Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Idaho federal court last week over their recent decisions on sage-grouse protections across millions of acres of public lands in the West. The groups are Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians and Prairie Hills Audubon Society.
“The Trump Administration is gutting sage-grouse protections on at least 50 million acres of public lands without admitting what they are doing,” said Laird J. Lucas, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. “The lawsuit today exposes these actions as violating bedrock federal laws and flouting the extensive body of science on what sage-grouse need to survive.”
Bernhardt is President Trump’s nominee to replace Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior, and is a former lobbyist and attorney for oil and gas, coal mining, and other industries. He has been criticized for using his position to favor those industries, including by opening millions of acres of sensitive lands to fossil fuel development.
Greater sage-grouse once occupied hundreds of millions of acres across the West, but populations have plummeted as oil and gas development, livestock grazing, roads and powerlines, and other actions have destroyed and fragmented the birds’ native habitats. To avoid Endangered Species Act listing, BLM and the Forest Service adopted Sage-Grouse Plans in 2015 that identified key areas for protection and limited development in them.
The lawsuit filed today identifies Bernhardt as the “architect” of recent policy changes adopted by the Trump Administration to rescind or weaken the 2015 plans on BLM lands in seven states, including Idaho, that have most of the remaining sage-grouse populations.
As many as 16 million greater sage-grouse once ranged across 297 million acres of sagebrush grasslands, a vast area of western North America known as the Sagebrush Sea. Over the past 200 years, agriculture, oil and gas drilling, livestock grazing and development have reduced the grouse’s range by nearly half. Protecting the grouse and its habitat benefits an estimated 350 species that depend on the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem, including pronghorn, elk, mule deer, golden eagle, native trout and nearby migratory and resident bird species.
Fundraiser Says It’s Time To Start Your Engines
Sun Valley Tour de Force will be returning this summer, July 25–27, for the second annual car enthusiast event that includes high-speed runs, rare collectibles, supercars, family fun and other adventures. The three-day event raises funds for the local nonprofit, Idaho BaseCamp.
Drivers travel from all over the country to put their machines to the ultimate test on a closed stretch of Highway 75, affectionately called Phantom Hill and backdropped by the Boulder Mountains. Event organizers said it will be partnering for the first time with Peterson BMW and Gunther Werks.
To learn more or to register for the event, visit sunvalleytourdeforce.com/registration.
New Law Aims To Increase Service Dog Supply
A bill that more clearly defines “service dog” was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little last week. The legislation will also serve to address a shortage of trained service dogs by giving individuals with disabilities the same ability to train a service dog as a trainer or training organization.
“Currently, Idaho is facing a shortage of service dogs because we have discriminatory laws about who can train them,” bill sponsor Rep. Muffy Davis (D-Hailey) said. “This new law will allow individuals with disabilities to help increase the number of service dogs available. It is important that we take every step possible to enable people to become empowered and independent through service dogs.”
Expert Eager To Explain Why Beaver Lives Matter
The Wood River Land Trust will be hosting award-winning environmental science writer Ben Goldfarb to The Community Library in Ketchum, Thursday, April 4, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Goldfarb will address the importance of beavers to river and wetlands habitat.
The idea to bring Goldfarb to the Valley stemmed from the Land Trust’s Student Conservation Council (SCC), a program composed of high school students that engage in annual projects aimed at involving and educating the greater community on conservation issues. This year’s SCC project entails beaver habitat restoration and education around Quigley Pond, through willow planting and educational outreach.
Ben Goldfarb is the author of “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter,” which won the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. For any questions, please contact Matt Steinwurtzel at msteinwurtzel@woodriverladntrust.org or call (208) 788-3947.