INL shares in triumph of Mars Rover Curiosity's landing

Curiosity's shadow on the surface of Mars, the first image sent back to Earth.

The Sunday night landing of Curiosity, the Mars rover, was a huge credit to American scientists and engineers. In case you didn't know, the power and heat source for the car-sized rover was engineered at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Here is a virtual tour of the lab's Space Battery Facility:

Think of it: The pictures and videos you are seeing from the surface of Mars are coming to your TVs, computers, smart phones and tablets courtesy of a plutonium-powered generator that was put together in your back yard.

If you can't get enough of this stuff, here is the link to Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where you can stay up-to-date: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-230.

American Idol bus arrives in Idaho Falls. Auditions begin Saturday at 9 a.m. at Snake River Landing

Sandon Wixom shared this picture on Facebook around 2:30 Friday afternoon from his office in the Rogers Building in downtown Idaho Falls.

The American Idol bus has arrived in Idaho Falls, with auditions to start Saturday at 9 a.m. at Snake River Landing, on the grass near Stockman's Restaurant.

Unlike the auditions in larger cities, there will be no pre-registration, but you will need two forms of ID that show proof of age and a photograph.

It has been a very busy week-and-a-half for Kerry McCullough of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, who has been the AI production team's contact on this end. McCullough said they first contacted her around July 24 and that a lot of her time has been taken up with conference calls, discussing logistics.

This is the first stop on a 10-city tour, and the bus is something they have never attempted before. "We're the beta site, pretty much," she said. As of Friday morning, they had lined up five Porta-Potties and six off-duty police officers to handle security. "It's hard to gauge how many we're going to need," she said. "There is so much else going on this weekend."

There will be food vendors on site: Gandolfo's, MD Dinky Donuts, Winers, Maui Waui, That One Place and Oasis Vending.

More information is being posted on the American Idol Web site,www.americanidol.com. We'll be swinging by to see what's up, and expect to see plenty of excitement.

Idaho Falls 'Plan Van' to make rounds next week

The Idaho Falls Planning Commission is updating the city’s comprehensive plan. Commissioners and Planning Department staff will bring the "Plan Van" to three area events in the next few weeks to ask for citizens’ views, opinions, and ideas on a variety of topics, including future land uses, redeveloping vacant spaces, and creating walkable neighborhoods. Citizens will also be asked to provide suggestions on what policies the city should focus on for the next five years.

The locations, times and dates for the "Plan Van" are as follows:

• Community Night Out, Aug. 7, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Downtown near Alive After 5, Aug. 8, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Idaho Falls Public Library, Aug. 13, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"The most important part of developing the comprehensive plan is hearing from the folks who live here," said Mayor Jared Fuhriman. "This is their community and should have the opportunity to help define what they want their community to be. Planning affects so many aspects of the city -- neighborhood design, location of land uses, the number of trees and landscaping found on streets and in commercial developments, roadways, walkways, and more. This is an exciting and fun opportunity for citizens to get involved and make a difference where they live."

For those who cannot attend the events, a questionnaire will be available on the city’s website www.idahofalls.gov from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17. For more information, call 612-8276.

American Idol reject Kat Edmonson sings One Fine Day (2010 Taichung Jazz Festival)

I promise not to dwell too much on this American Idol audition stuff (unless of course you want me to), but I heard Kat Edmonson on World Cafe this afternoon and she told the story of how she was rejected in the first episode of Season 2. Anyway, I think Kat's doing quite all right without the A.I. imprimatur.

Brad Bauges named new EICU chief

Brad Bauges

Brad Bauges has been named East Idaho Credit Union's new president and CEO. He comes to eastern Idaho from Columbia Credit Union, an $850 million institution based in Vancouver, Wash., where he served as senior vice president and chief operations officer.
He holds a bachelor of science in business management from Oregon Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He also is a graduate of the CUES CEO Institute.

Bauges is East Idaho Credit Union's third president/CEO in its 77-year history. Chartered in 1935, East Idaho Credit Union is one of the oldest credit unions in Idaho. Of the 16 credit unions started in eastern Idaho that year, only two remain, according to the news release about his appointment.

The credit union has 10 branches and more than 32,000 members. It has offices in Idaho Falls, Shelley, Ammon, Rexburg, St. Anthony, Dubois, Salmon, Challis and Arco.

For information, call (800) 727-9961, or visit www.eastidahocu.org.