Waiting for the layoff shoe to drop

When it comes to writing stories about layoffs, you won't find an older hand at it than me. In August 1980, I arrived in Jeffrey City, Wyo., to run the local newspaper. It was a uranium mining town that had boomed in the mid-'70s to nearly 4,500 people. Unfortunately, I caught it on the downturn. The lead story of my first edition, was "Western Nuclear announces 118 being laid off."

I spent a year there, but in June 1981 the other shoe dropped -- 244 lost their jobs at the mine and mill -- and I started looking for a new gig. After a brief layover in Laramie, where I was police reporter for the Daily Boomerang (greatest newspaper name ever), the then-hyphenated Post-Register hired me to be its central Idaho staff writer. I arrived in Challis in October 1981 to learn that Cyprus Mining Corp. would be laying off scores of people at its Thompson Creek molybdenum mine.

Here's the funny thing about layoffs and writing stories about them. Everyone knows they're coming, but corporations seem reluctant to make the news official in a timely way. Are they secretly humiliated or is their aim to torment reporters? Although I could be wrong, I don't think most corporations give reporters enough thought to want to torture them.

Nevertheless, when a layoff looms, we press people make our calls and visits and ask our questions. The supervisors and public affairs people say things like, "At the present time we have no current plans to lay anyone off." We wait and wait for official word before we file our stories. Then we're off to the races.

At present, I'm waiting for a piece of layoff news from a significant employer in Idaho Falls. From what I've heard, employees have already been told, but no press release or e-mail has been issued. It might come today; then again it might not.

Can you guess who I'm talking about? Feel free to weigh in. Let's put the magic off social media to work, people.

Alchemy Bistro brings continental cuisine to Capital Avenue

Chef Tim Leininger at Alchemy Bistro and Catering

I'd never eaten a hard-boiled quail egg for lunch before today, when I visited Alchemy Bistro and Catering at 552 North Capital Avenue, in the spot where That One Place used to be.

Chef Tim Leininger has been cooking there by himself since before Thanksgiving. Prior to that, he had been doing mainly catering from a kitchen in the Trackside Mall. When he saw the kitchen on North Capital had opened, he jumped at it.

A native of Pine Grove, Pa., near Hershey, Leininger grew up in a family of cooks. He worked at restaurants while attending college. After graduate work at Penn State, he came to Idaho in 1989 to work environmental safety and health at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. After leaving the site in 2006, he went to the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

Leininger said he has mixed feelings about the restaurant business because of all the waste he sees. "I don't like waste because of my French culinary background. The French, they use everything. They look at the whole chicken."

Though it has daytime hours -- 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday -- Alchemy is doing some special dinners in February and March. To learn more, visit alchemychef.com or the Facebook page. The phone number is 529-1032.

By the way, though it was the size of an olive the quail egg tasted like most of the hard-boiled eggs I've  eaten.

Melaleuca announces expansion into Mexico

Melaleuca, Inc., one of eastern Idaho's largest employers, announced today it has expanded into Mexico, its 17th market worldwide.

The company makes and distributes close to 350 health and wellness products through a network of "marketing executives" who earn commissions based on product purchases by customers they refer. The move into Mexico, which happened earlier in the month, has already yielded thousands of new customers, said Antonio Lima, spokesman for the company.

CEO Frank VanderSloot said Melaleuca held off on Mexico because the company wanted to first develop its Hispanic market in the United States. Developing a deep leadership team of Hispanic marketing executives has allowed them to enter Mexico with a high degree of confidence, since many of those people have strong personal connections in Mexico.

Israel Palafox, Melaleuca’s vice president of sales for Hispanic markets, believes the company’s success in Mexico will continue for years to come. “Thousands of Mexican families will benefit by taking advantage of the steady residual income that Melaleuca offers to those who refer our products,” he said.

Although the majority of Melaleuca’s business growth has been in the United States and Canada, sales from elsewhere accounted for 45 percent of the company's 2013 revenues. Melaleuca does business in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Alpine Dermatology opens Idaho Falls clinic

Cameron French

Dr. Dan Marshall of Rexburg has opened an second Alpine Dermatology Clinic, in Idaho Falls, with physician's assistant Cameron French joining the staff there. The location is 927 South Utah Avenue, Suite 200.

French grew up in Shelley and earned his undergraduate degree at Ricks College then Brigham Young University in Provo. He earned his P.A. degree from Des Moines University and has been practicing Dermatology in Rigby for the past 10 years.

Marshall said there is a particular need for dermatological services in Idaho Falls. Why? High altitude, a high propensity for outdoor recreation and an aging population that didn't practice sunscreening in its youth. The latest statistic is, one in five people will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.

For more information about Alpine Dermatology's new Idaho Falls office, visit the link above or call (208) 881-5241.

Galusha Higgins & Galusha plans open house Friday

There will be a ribbon cutting and open house on Friday at Galusha, Higgins & Galusha’s new office in Snake River Landing. A regional CPA and advisory firm, Galusha, Higgins & Galusha officially opened its new office at 1220 Whitewater Drive earlier this month. It is located on Snake River Parkway, south of Potandon Produce.

The ribbon cutting with the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors will be at  3 p.m. The Open House will follow with a reception for clients and the public, ending at 6 p.m.

With more than 90 years of experience serving clients in the West, Galusha, Higgins & Galusha opened its Idaho Falls office in 1961. Learn more about the firm at www.ghg-cpa.com.