Musings from the development doldrums

My decades in conventional journalism make it impossible for me to post rumors, scuttlebutt and assumptions under the guise of news.

Talk among yourselves as you might -- and I know some of you do -- I cannot tell you why the west side Walgreen’s, at Broadway and Skyline, has taken so long to finish. Considering how the project got started in early summer 2014, one might have reasonably assumed the store would have been open by Christmas. It didn’t happen. I have been told why by a credible source, but it was unofficial talk and I could not possibly print it (not that it's anything shocking or out of the ordinary). I suppose that for the sake of protecting my flank I could call the company and the contractor and ask, but at my age I have experienced enough futility in my life.

Here’s some things I do know, which can be documented. At the Sandcreek Commons shopping center, Cabela’s is hiring and Hobby Lobby is looking at opening this summer.

My regular visits to the Idaho Falls Building Department show a site plan has been filed for the railroad crossing on Utah Avenue, near Carl’s Jr. That would indicate to me that something could be happening with the big piece of ground to the east, which was cleaned up the summer before last.

That’s about it for now. Considering that spring is little more than six weeks away, we could be seeing a lot more happening before long.