New bar opens in downtown Idaho Falls

Deb Reinhart, operator of the Steinhouse Bar, 335 A Street.

At 520 square feet, the Steinhouse Bar at 335 A Street, which opened March 22, might be the coziest drinking establishment in Idaho Falls.

"This is basically a quiet bar, where people can come and sit and talk," said operator Deb Reinhart, who got her liquor license from the state the old-fashioned way, by applying for one and then waiting years.

Beer and wine licenses are easy enough to get, but Idaho bases the number of liquor license a community can have on population. This arrangement has led to some exorbitant prices being paid by people in a hurry.

Now that she has received a new state liquor license, she must "perfect" it over the next six months by staying open 10 hours a day six days a week and selling at least one drink each day.

The property is across the street from Great Harvest Bread Co., where a barbershop had been since the 1950s. The remodel had some archaeological interest, with papers and old clipper heads from the Eisenhower era. Reinhart opted to keep the black-and-white-checkerboard linoleum floor, but said she would not care to repeat the experience of cleaning it on her hands and knees.

Because the use of the building was being changed, she was required to put in a handicapped-accessible bathroom. "This is probably the smallest bar with the biggest bathroom you'll ever see," she said.

The name comes from the collection of beer steins on the shelf. Reinhart said there is no place she would rather be than downtown. Other bar owners have stopped by to wish her well.

"I love downtown," she said. "The people are so friendly."

For more information, call (208) 680-6232.

Engineering firm leases old Ronsen's space on Broadway

Applied Engineering Services has moved to downtown Idaho Falls, setting up in the long-vacant Ronsen's State Hardware building on Broadway.

After more than 20 years at the Idaho Innovation Center on North Yellowstone, Applied Engineering Services, Inc., has moved to downtown Idaho Falls, occupying the storefront on Broadway that was home for years to Ronsen's State Hardware.

Formed in 1992, AES provide engineering services nationwide in areas of specialized studies, design, systems analysis, consulting, project management, and environmental restoration. On its Web site, the company describes itself as "engineers with a practical, no-nonsense approach for your project."

Downtown Development Director Bob Everhart said there wasn't much work involved in bringing AES downtown. "They had pretty much decided that was what they wanted to do," he said. But the lease allows the building owner, Janet Jack, to continue remodeling residential units upstairs.

"There's a growing interest in downtown's residential component," he said.

DOE announces extension of Battelle INL operations contract

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today it will be extending Battelle Energy Alliance’s original 10-year contract to operate Idaho National Laboratory an additional five years.

The contract was awarded to BEA in November 2004, and was notable in that it merged the lab operations that had been managed by BWXT Idaho, and before that Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies, with Argonne National Laboratory-West, which had for decades been run by the University of Chicago. The 10-year INL contract began on Feb. 1, 2005, with the current period of performance scheduled to end this Sept. 30. The extension announced today means BEA will operate INL through Sept. 30, 2019.

In a news release, DOE cited BEA’s "consistently strong annual performance and success" in managing INL, focusing in particular on the creation of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. BEA partnered with the State of Idaho to establish CAES, which has generated nearly $60 million in competitive research opportunities for Idaho's universities and INL since 2008, the release said.

Now with about 3,500 employees, Battelle's work at INL is in three areas: nuclear energy and technology; energy and the environment; and national and homeland security. Its contract with the DOE allows the federal government to adjust its annual payout based on performance, up to a ceiling of about $18.5 million.

In December, the Associated Press reported BEA had earned 91.4 percent of its available fee during fiscal year 2013, an improvement over 2012, when the company earned about 86 percent. The fiscal year 2012 rating was the company’s lowest in the time it has run the lab.

According to the report, Battelle didn’t get a 100 percent rating for 2013 in part because of deficiencies in worker safety and other operations. On the positive side, DOE reported that INL had several achievements to boast in 2013, including a research discovery advancing scientist's understanding of fuels used in high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors.

http://www.idahofallschamber.com/

Businesses report phone scammers posing as city of I.F. representatives

Five Idaho Falls businesses called City Hall Tuesday to report they had received calls from people claiming to represent the city and threatening to shut off their utilities unless they paid allegedly overdue bills with a credit or debit card.

The city never calls anyone to demand immediate payment over the phone, said Lori Holverson,  Idaho Falls' collection adviser. “If you do receive a phone call requesting immediate utility payment, write down the phone number of the individual calling you and contact the Idaho Falls Police Department,” she said.    

The city offers a link with further information on how to avoid being scammed. Here are some key bullet points from it:

• Ask for verification: IFP and Utilities employees rarely call residential customers. If they do, however, they will know the customer’s name and address, account number and account balance. If you suspect a scammer is on the other end of the line, hang up and call the Utilities office at 612-8280. 
• Keep your information safe: Do not provide account information to any caller. No one from Idaho Falls Power or the city Utilities office will ever ask for account information. 
• You always have options: A number of payment options are available to customers and the Utilities office can usually work out a payment arrangement for a customer who has fallen behind on his bill. 
• Please report scam calls: If you receive a suspicious call, write down the phone number if you have Caller ID, hang up and call the police. 

If someone comes to your door: 

• Did you have an appointment? IFP employees who conduct energy audits or other projects that require home visits always make appointments. Collections agents with the Utilities office often don’t have an appointment, but they drive city vehicles, wear marked clothing, carry ID and all pertinent account information, and will provide a receipt for any payment made. Meter readers will never collect payment. 
• Check the vehicle: IFP and city Utilities employees drive white or yellow vehicles bearing the IFP logo or city logo. 
• Ask to see ID: City employees always carry ID cards. 
• Verify: To confirm the person at your door is an IFP or Utilities employee, ask them to wait outside and call either IFP at 612-8526 or the Utilities office at 612-8280.