Idaho Falls spokesman resigns to take job as Lost Rivers Hospital CEO

Brad Huerta

Brad Huerta, the city of Idaho Falls' public information officer, announced Tuesday that he has resigned to take a job as chief executive officer of Lost Rivers Hospital in Arco. He will be starting there April 15.

Huerta came to work for Idaho Falls in May 2012. Prior to that, he was director of strategic planning and public information for Portneuf Medical Center, then the principal of his own company, Insight Communication Strategies. He also teaches health care administration for the Idaho State University adjunct faculty.

Smith Group owner seeks rezone of ground south of Sunnyside

Trenches are being dug on ground south of Sunnyside Road near Interstate 15. The owner Watts LLC, is seeking to have the zoning changed from agricultural to commercial.

The Bonneville County Commission has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday afternoon at 4 on two requests to have land south of Sunnyside Road rezoned from agricultural to commercial. Overall, the zone change requests cover 236.9 acres.

The first comes from Watts LLP, a company owned by Stafford Smith, owner of the Smith Group. The partnership is seeking to have 19.6 acres rezoned from A-1 to C-2. We struck out this morning trying to reach Smith to ask him about his plans for the land, but will keep trying. On the ground, crews are already engaged in excavation work.

Because the land is not contiguous to the city of Idaho Falls it can't be annexed or receive city services. The master plan at the county planning and zoning office shows water service coming from Andrus Distributing to the south and sewer lines hooking into the Eastern Idaho Regional Wastewater System, which hooks into a treatment plant in Shelley.

The other zone change request, from Melaleuca, is for 217.3 acres along the west bank of the Snake River. No details on what might be proposed for the ground were available from Melaleuca or Bonneville County at the time of this posting.

The hearing will be at the Bonneville County Courthouse, in the commissioners' office.

WinCo plans to opening new Pocatello store on Sunday

WinCo Foods' new store in Pocatello, which opens Sunday morning, is more than twice the size of the Pocatello Creek Road supermarket.

More news about WinCo Foods: The Boise-based chain is opening its new Pocatello store on Sunday morning. At close to 98,000 square feet, the store at 1030 Yellowstone Avenue is more than double the older 42,000-square-foot store on Pocatello Creek Road. It will employ approximately 210 individuals, 101 of whom are moving over from the old store.

WinCo's 85,000-square-foot store in Idaho Falls opened in 1999. 

Founded in 1967, WinCo Foods is an employee-owned discount food chain with 87 stores and four distribution centers in Idaho, Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, Arizona and Utah. It employs more than 14,000 people.

More information can be found at its Web site, www.wincofoods.com.

Research Symposium attracts venture capitalists, entrepreneurs

Idaho Research Symposium participants examine biomass pellets during a tour of INL's new Energy Systems Laboratory. 

There's an interesting story today on the INL Portal about entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and their interest in the Idaho Research Symposium. The symposium is an energy-focused workshop sponsored every year by CAES, the Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Technology Council. The story is by Kortny Rolston, my old colleague from the Post Register.

https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/257/feature_story_details/1269?featurestory=DA_606619

Self-checkout comes to WinCo Foods

WinCo Foods on Woodruff Avenue in Idaho Falls installed six self-checkout stands Thursday, part of a company-wide push.

Contrary to what you might think, this not a case of machines taking work away from people. Because it takes two staffers to monitor the machines (and the people using them) around the clock (WinCo is open 24 hours), "We actually get more hours," said a checkout clerk who asked that her name not be used.

Based in Boise, WinCo is an employee-owned company with 87 stores in seven western states.