Idaho Falls chosen for mental health crisis center

Idaho Falls has been chosen as the site for the state’s first mental and behavioral health crisis center, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced today.

A press release from the department said Idaho Falls was chosen over Boise and Coeur d’Alene because of its outstanding community and legislative support.

Crisis centers are designed to treat at-risk patients and lower psychiatric hospitalizations, keeping the often uninsured or under-insured mentally ill out of jail or the emergency room.

“This crisis center – and others we hope to develop – will be modeled on the best practices of other states where such plans have been successful,” said Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter, who made an announcement this morning at Idaho Falls Regional Airport. “We’re hoping for similarly encouraging outcomes here, with communities joining in these investments as they see declining use of local emergency rooms, hospital beds and jail cells.”

Data gathered from the center will be used to evaluate the need and resources necessary to create centers in the other two cities, should the Legislature fund them.

During the 2014 session, the Legislature set aside $1.52 million in annual funds and $600,000 in one-time federal money for one center. The department originally requested $4.56 million for all three proposed centers.

State officials said Twin Falls was Idaho’s next-highest priority area to fund the facility. The Division 5 Behavioral Health Board in Twin Falls is pursuing the idea of creating such a center independent of state funding because of the local need.

The board is also looking to fix the problems that led to Boise officials overlooking the area when considering a crisis center.

“One of the things we were missing from the three other areas primarily was that display of readiness,” Scott Rasmussen, Region 5 program manager for the Behavioral Health Division, told the Twin Falls Times-News last week.

For sound clips from the airport this morning, follow this link to East Idaho News.

Nominations open for Distinguished Under 40 awards

The Young Professionals Network of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Distinguished Under 40 award recipients.

Distinguished Under 40 is an annual awards program exclusive to Bonneville County that honors 10 young professionals who have shown accomplishment in their careers, community and education. To be considered for the award, young professionals are nominated by co-workers, managers, business associates or themselves.

A nomination form can be found here.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore grand opening set for Saturday

Habitat for Humanity will hold a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at its new location, 1954 N. Yellowstone Highway (formerly Peaches). There will be a silent auction, door prizes, live music and food and drinks.

This is the third Idaho Falls location for Habitat's ReStore, a home improvement thrift store that accepts donations of new and used home building supplies and furniture then offers the items for sale. Habitat for Humanity is an international organization dedicated to the vision that everyone should have a decent place to live.

The Idaho Falls Habitat ReStore is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The newly renovated 10,000-square-foot building will enable Habitat to display more merchandise and serve its customers and donors more efficiently. Habitat’s offices are are located on the second floor of the same building.

“Volunteers and staff have been working for months renovating and organizing our new ReStore,” Habitat Executive Director Karen Lansing said in a press release. “We are looking forward to being able to serve even more families with the increased revenues this new location will bring to Habitat.”

North Hi-Way Cafe plans 80th birthday celebration

Happy Birthday to Idaho Falls' North Hi-Way Cafe.

Idaho Falls' North Hi-Way Cafe will be celebrating its 80th birthday on Saturday with a car show, which is kind of fitting considering the building may have started as a garage.

Since the 1930s, the cafe has amassed a great amount of goodwill from loyal customers. The food is made from scratchh, the service is friendly and the jokes on the wall behind the counter are corny. If you want a slice of pie, there are four or five to choose from and they didn't come out of boxes.

Wes and Roxanne Smith bought the property in 2003 from longtime owners Butch and Darlene Warrren. The cafe is no-smoking now, which was an issue ten years ago but not anymore.

There are two reasons the cafe seems to enjoy the loyalty it does: the staff and the food. The cafe mashes its potatoes and makes its own sausages. The buffalo grinder might be a museum piece somewhere else, but at the North Hi-Way it gets used every day.

"When we say something is hand-breaded, it's hand-breaded," Roxanne Smith said.

Whether it's coffee, biscuits and gravy, a grilled cheese sandwich and cup of chili, or peach cobbler, the waitresses know what the regulars want. None of this would be possible without a dedicated staff. "Their work ethic is impeccable," Smith said. "There are many people who have worked 22 years or more. They have incredible stamina." Some are the children or grandchildren of people who worked at the cafe in the past.

In the beginning, Northgate Mile was a dirt road earmarked for future development, but there wasn't much in the area besides the Idaho Livestock Auction and some homes. When the cafe started serving coffee, it became a magnet for people from the stockyards and the railroad. It was Evan Cropper who turned it into a cafe, and he managed it for decades.

Smith said she's dug into a rich history, and bases the June 1934 date on a paper she received from Marilyn Cropper Brown, Cropper's daughter. What's most important to her, however, is that the cafe's years be celebrated.

At the barbecue Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., anyone with a cool car to show will receive two free lunches. There will be no trophies, but dash plaques will be given out.
For more information, call 522-6212.

Underground parking garage remains exposed

This hole was made when the asphalt in the Bank of Commerce parking lot collapsed under a CCI crane May 6. No word on when it is going to be repaired, but you might be surprised to learn that Dad Clay's Garage, where the bank now is, offered underground parking to those who wanted to pay for it.

The Bank of Commerce is close to finished evaluating the hole in its parking lot on Yellowstone Avenue, made May 6 when the driver of a 40-ton crane tried to make a wide turn coming out of the alley onto the thoroughfare.

At the moment, the bank's officers need to consult with engineers to decide how much of the underground parking structure they want to save, said CEO Tom Romrell.

Although the existence of the parking structure came as a surprise to many, it's no secret to anyone who has lived here a long time. The bank stands where Dad Clay's Garage used to be. Clay built his garage in 1910 and briefly sold Buicks and Fords before other businessmen acquired exclusive dealership rights.

"People who had a little money would park their cars there because they could walk everywhere," said my friend Catherine Gesas Nelson, a longtime Idaho Falls resident.

Romrell said the door to the underground parking structure is on the bank's south side. He said that while some city officials claim they might not have been aware of it, it has been inspected as recently as five years ago.