Yahoo Movies The Idaho Way: Last, untouched piece of downtown Boise history will get a face-lift
By Scott McIntosh, opinion editor
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If Dashiell Hammett had lived in Boise instead of San Francisco, you could imagine his hard-boiled detective Sam Spade prowling the buildings on Capitol Boulevard or peeping in transom windows on Main Street.
The transom windows at 1015 W. Main St., to be exact.
The second floor of this unassuming, two-story, brick-and-sandstone building, which now houses The Art Source Gallery on the first floor, appears to be exactly the same as it was built in 1905 — complete with the tilt-out windows over doorways.
The “Smith Block” building is believed to be the last unrehabilitated building in downtown Boise, according to the Idaho State Historical Society.
“I had no idea there was a building like this left in downtown Boise,” the building’s new owner, Jade Stacey, said during a recent tour.
Best of all, Stacey said he plans to keep as much of the original details on the second floor as possible, keeping the individual rooms, trim, doors and, yes, the transom windows, intact.
Since it’s believed to be the last untouched downtown space, remodeling the building also brings a momentous close to a chapter in Boise’s history.
The first floor has been remodeled and changed over the years, but the second floor is like a time capsule frozen in time.
The reason it’s remained untouched suggests a more nefarious possible use for the building.
Read my full column here about the building’s past and plans for the future.
Idaho’s health care worker shortage at ‘crisis’
The Boise State University nursing program is producing about 80 registered nurses per semester, twice a year.
That’s up from 60 per semester just a couple of years ago, but it’s still not nearly enough to meet a growing demand for nurses in Idaho.
As of June, Idaho had 9,000 health care jobs it could not fill, according to a recent report by Idaho Business for Education. Atop that list was a shortage of registered nurses — some 1,600 openings.
Read my full column here on one possible solution.
Regrettable loss of legislative experience
Three Republican legislators dared to cross swords with the forces of the far-right-wing mania sweeping Idaho, writes Bob Kustra.
They voted to hold House Bill 545 in committee rather than send it on to the Education Committee for consideration. The bill would have created a charter school revolving fund of $2.5 million to fund charter school facilities. They were concerned about the level of risk the state of Idaho would be assuming by appropriating general fund dollars to a revolving fund. And they were also concerned about the size of the appropriation when there are still unmet needs in our traditional public schools.
In a nutshell, these legislators were exercising their statutory responsibilities as JFAC members, safeguarding the state treasury by refusing to sign off on the revolving fund until they were confident of the accountability measures in the bill.
For that, though, they were targeted and defeated in the Republican primary in May.
Bedke’s turn?
House Speaker Scott Bedke, of Oakley, once viewed as one of the bright young stars in the Republican Party, is now an aging political figure who has yet to have “his turn” for a higher office, writes Chuck Malloy. The 64-year-old Bedke hasn’t done badly for himself, serving 10 years in one of the two most powerful positions in the Idaho Legislature. He has an impressive 22-year career in the Legislature, serving at one time or another on the budget, the Revenue & Taxation, the Resources & Conservation and transportation committees. There’s no serious question about his intelligence and overall knowledge of state government.
Read Malloy’s full column here on Scott Bedke and whether governor might be in his sights.
Candidate endorsement interviews
We’re about halfway through a slate of interviews with candidates for the November election. We’ve interviewed most statewide candidates, and we’re just getting started with legislative candidates. If you have specific questions you’d like us to ask, send me an email at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com.
I’m listening
Send me your story ideas, news tips, questions, comments, or anything else on your mind. You can reach me via email at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com.
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What you’re saying
This week, we received letters to the editor on new Idaho education report card from the Heritage Foundation, what so-called “conservatives” believe in and support for Stan Ridgeway for Ada County Commission. You can read these and more letters by clicking here.
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