Ron Sayer sets fund-raiser for Westside Elementary

Ron Sayer Chrysler Jeep Dodge will be having its annual Drive For the Kids benefit at Westside Elementary School on Thursday afternoon from 4:30 to 7 p.m. It works this way: the dealer will bring some of its latest models, and for every test drive $10 will be donated to the school's parent teacher organization. They promise for it to be a low pressure event that will benefit the school.

Going by last year's posts on Facebook, the event was more than low pressure. Chrysler's representative was delayed and the fund-raiser was canceled, but Chrysler mailed Westside a check for $1,000, with a promise to reschedule. At another fund-raiser later in the year, the dealership raised $2,150 for Templeview Elementary,

Commission calls rainfall 'catastrophic' for malt barley crop

The effect of heavy August rain on eastern Idaho's malt barley crop has been catastrophic, said Kelly Olson, administrator of the Idaho Barley Commission, who was in eastern Idaho Tuesday through Thursday touring the area. "We're looking at millions of dollars, perhaps high millions, of lost economic value," she said.

The worst case scenario would be for 60 percent of the malt barley crop to be downgraded to feed, due to early sprouting in the mature but unharvested malting barley crop. In the malting process, sprouting is highly controlled in plants like the Anheuser-Busch and Intergrow facilities south of Idaho Falls.

A downgrade from malt to feed would cause the crop to lose roughly half its value. "We're losing more and more of the quality than we thought we had," she said.

The malting companies, which have contracted for certain quantities of malt barley, will have to go somewhere else now, paying higher prices and freight costs as well. The commission is hoping that at least some of the crop can be salvaged and has issued guidelines for steps growers can take. Commission Chairman Pat Purdy encourages barley producers who need assistance or information to contact the IBC office in Boise at 208-334-2090 or in Idaho Falls at 208-569-6957.

The southwestern monsoonal weather pattern is nothing unusual for August, Olson said. What is unusual is it coming this far north. In a typical year, the moisture from the Pacific hits Colorado and is deflected eastward.

"No one has a good explanation for it," she said. "It's just another example of the more extreme weather patterns everybody seems to be experiencing."

Earlier this week Jerome County commissioners sought emergency status after nine days of rain caused hay and wheat to mold and barley fields to sprout, according to a story Wednesday in the Idaho Statesman. Between 50 and 70 percent of the wheat, barley and alfalfa crops in Jerome County may have been lost, according to estimates from the county's Office of Emergency Management. Commissioners in neighboring Twin Falls County said they would seek an emergency declaration as well.

Here is a link to today's National Weather Service forecast: Idaho Falls weather.

Here we are at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's in Brandywine Hundred, Wilmington, Del.

Day 5 of my annual East Coast sojourn, we hit Trader Joe's for those cheese sticks my mom practically lives on and some bread crumbs to make meat loaf. I can tell you it was everything I hoped for and perhaps much, much more. I can't tell you when we're going to get Trader Joe's in Idaho Falls, but I can say for sure that if or when we do they will sell Two Buck Chuck, which this store in Delaware can't. Yep, beer, wine and spirits are all sold at privately owned liquor stores in the Blue Hen State. No beer or wine in the grocery stores. Anyway, this is just to let all you loyal readers know I'm thinking about you land sending good thoughts your way. Trader Joe's thoughts. Dunkin' Donuts, too. Any requests? I've got another 10 days and will lose all the extra pounds when I get home.

Two nuclear engineering students receive scholarships

The Partnership for Science & Technology and the Western Initiative for Nuclear have awarded $5,000 in scholarships to two college students. Funding for the scholarships was provided by a grant from NuScale Power LLC.

The students who received the scholarships were:

• Paulina Hyde, who is pursuing a double major in mechanical and nuclear engineering at Idaho State University.
• Kaleb Trotter, majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho and planning to continue his education with master’s and doctorate degrees in nuclear engineering.

The scholarship application asked each student to submit a 250-word essay on how they might apply their field of study to Small Modular Reactor technology.

“We are fortunate to work with an organization like NuScale Power," said Leslie Huddleston, PST's executive director, announcing the awards in a press release timed to coincide with the Intermountain Energy Summit taking place in Idaho Falls today and Wednesday. "Their membership in PST and involvement in the Project WIN Scholarship underscores their commitment to the community, Idaho and this nation’s need to train the next generation of nuclear engineers. … These students represent the future of the nuclear industry.”

Salutation from the Blue Hen State

Downtown Market Street, Wilmington, Del.

I am in Delaware the next two weeks, visiting my mom, who turns 82 on the 26th, but I don't want you to feel like I'm not thinking of you. I will keep posting as the spirit moves me.

While walking to the Dunkin Donuts on French Street (I know, I know), I saw this Walgreen's at Market and Ninth (it was Woolworth's when I was a youngster.) The architecture reminded me of downtown Idaho Falls, the Salisbury Building perhaps, and it made me feel a little low that we can't have something like this. The reason is simple, I've been told. There aren't enough people living downtown to support development like this. Wouldn't it be nice if there were to change some day?