Double Down celebrating anniversary this weekend

Double Down Betting Bar & Grill, 3078 Outlet Boulevard, is inviting the community to celebrate its one-year anniversary with a Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting and a full weekend of entertainment. The ribbon cutting will be Friday at 10 a.m. In the evening, entertainment starts at 7 with the Two Brothers Hypno Show, followed by karaoke and a live DJ.

On Saturday night, there will be live music by the Saloonatics. If you have a brand, bring your iron down to brand the bar at 6 p.m. There will be an old-time photo booth with prizes for people with the best Old West attire.

It has not been a year without controversy for Double Down. The issue of historical racing machines came front and center earlier this year in the Idaho Legislature, with lawmakers passing a bill banning them, claiming they were too similar to slot machines. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Butch Otter.

A little background: Pari-mutuel betting on horses in Idaho has been legal since 1963, and the Legislature authorized simulcasting in 1990. Before July 2011, however, simulcasting was only allowed at live horse racing facilities, Sandy Downs in Bonneville County's case. That year, the Legislature passed a bill allowing simulcast horse betting from other venues, supporters arguing that off-track locations could provide a better atmosphere, food and other incentives to attract paying customers. The 2011 bill did not allow new simulcast betting venues to be set up, but instead allowed existing operations like the one at Sandy Downs to move.

In 2014 the Legislature approved HB220, allowing pari-mutuel betting on historical horse races, which is done on machines. When a player makes a wager on the machine, a race is randomly selected from a video library of over 60,000 previous races. Identifying information such as the location and date of the race, and the names of the horses and jockeys, is not shown.

The player is able to view a "Skill Graph" chart from the Daily Racing Form, showing information such as jockeys' and trainers' winning percentages, and based on this handicapping information the player picks the projected top three runners in order of finish. Many players use a "handi helper" feature, which allows the machine to automatically make the selections.

Early versions of the terminals looked like self-serve wagering terminals, but over time some began to mimic slot machines, with symbols on spinning reels showing the results of the player's wager and the video of the actual race consigned to a 2-inch square in the corner of the screen.

In Idaho, this drew the ire of anti-gambling forces and also Native American tribes, the latter considering the machines competition to what they offer on their reservation casinos. Senate Bill 1011 repealed the Legislature's prior approval of the devices, passing the House by a 49-21 vote and the Senate 25-9.

Otter vetoed the bill in April, and the Senate’s 19-16 subsequent vote to override the veto fell five votes short. Otter has called for a moratorium on any new instant racing machines and indicated that he wants a special investigative team to look into whether the machines violate the Idaho Constitution, which prohibits slot machines.

Double Down's phone number is 521-5102. For questions on gaming, call 521-4729.

Venezuelan restaurant due to open soon in Idaho Falls

Ciomara Robirds, who plans to open a Venezuelan restaurant in Idaho Falls this week.

In the expanding array of world cuisine, Idaho Falls is about to get a Venezuelan restaurant, Gourmet Cio, at 1480 Freeman Avenue.

The owner, Ciomara Robirds, is no stranger to cooking. Before coming to the United States in 2000 she ran a restaurant in Venezuela. After moving to Idaho Falls in 2007 with her husband, Terrance, she put in five years at the Olive Garden, where she earned the sobriquet of “Soup Queen.”

Still, opening her own restaurant has always been a goal. “A person has to dream,” she said. Interviewed last Friday, she said she is hoping to start serving food on Thursday. A grand opening will come later, but she wants everything running smoothly before that happens.

What can a person expect in the way of Venezuelan cuisine? Because of its geography and cultural influences, Venezuelan food has a lot of variety. There are European influences, especially Italian, Spanish and French, as well as indigenous and African tastes. The food on the Caribbean coast is a lot different from the food of the Andean and Amazon regions.

Gourmet Cio’s menu will offer such dishes as tostadas made with plantains; cachapas, which are pancakes made from a puree of corn, sugar, salt and oil then folded over with a large piece of a soft white cheese inside; pasticho, the Venezuelan version of lasagna (the Italian word "pasticcio" actually means lasagna); and empanadas -- deep fried, stuffed corn flour patties typically filled with cheese and minced meat.

City Council begins budget work sessions Monday

Follow this link to view all the city's draft budget documents:

http://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/city/city-council.html.

The Idaho Falls City Council is gearing up for the 2015/2016 budget season. As with all City Council meetings, the public is invited to attend.

The council is starting off with proposed expenditures of $190,889,392, up nearly 7.5 percent from $177,578,424 this year. The draft proposal is for a general fund expenditure increase of $1.97 million, a 4.27 percent boost from the current fiscal year.

A series of work sessions to discuss the budget will be held at City Council Chambers, 680 Park Avenue. The first will be Monday from 2 to 5 p.m. The second will be Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the last will be July 31 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

After that, the Council is scheduled to adopt a tentative budget Aug 13. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Sept. 3 and will be available to view via live stream on the city’s Web site.

Citizens are welcome to attend any or all of these meetings or reach out to City Council members independently.  The budget calendar, Council contact information and draft budget documents can be found online or by calling the City Clerk’s office at (208) 612-8415.

Here are links to the city's current budget documents:

• DRAFT Property Tax Calculation
• DRAFT All City Expenditures
• DRAFT Revenues_Expenditures
• DRAFT General Fund Revenues
• DRAFT Budget Comparison

Great Race for Education is next week, pre-race activities alreay underway

Who is ready for a beach party?

Starting Monday, you may see people running around downtown Idaho Falls in the early morning and late afternoon looking through flowerbeds and on windowsills. If they appear agitated, it’s because they take The Great Race for Education quite seriously.

The race itself, which in seven years has become one of Idaho Falls’ biggest fund-raisers, is on Friday, but winning pre-race challenges in the four preceding days can give a team a big advantage.

In 2014, the Great Race netted nearly $35,000 for the Eastern Idaho Technical College Foundation, which distributes scholarships to EITC students. EITC Foundation Director Natalie Hebard said they have already collected $30,000 and that this could be the race’s biggest year ever.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Great Race is an event in which teams are given clues that lead them to different locations around downtown Idaho Falls, where they perform challenges. Once they've performed five challenges they head back to Snake River Landing. The first ten teams to return advance to the second round of challenges. How quickly teams get back to the finish line has a lot to do with how quickly they can decipher clues, which they receive over the cellphone from their team owners at base camp. Teams can also buy additional clues, with the proceeds going to the EITC Foundation's scholarship program.

The theme this year is Summer Beach Party (last year it was disco fever, the year before superheroes). Major sponsors are Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, Mountain View Hospital and Snake River Landing.

The race's support in the community has grown dramatically. In 2010, once the expenses had been calculated, EITC Foundation reported proceeds from the race around $13,000. In 2013, the foundation came away with nearly $40,000.

This is Hebard’s second year at the helm (her predecessors were Melissa Bean and Michelle Ziel-Dingman), and she has instituted some things she saw were lacking last year. For instance, there will be bottled water at the finish line, laminated challenge cards on lanyards, and wristbands to keep party crashers from descending on Snake River Landing.

Although race day is in mid-July, the buildup starts in April with the Trashion Fashion Show at the city of Idaho Falls' Earth Day event. There is active promotion on social media, all with the goal of raising money and recruiting new teams.

Once the race is done, everyone enjoys food, music and a special rapport that comes from having done something really significant for the community.

Hebard said there is still time for anyone who wants to become a team owner to register. In addition to participating in the event, the $50 registration fee gets a team owner a t-shirt, swag bag, drink tickets and a catered meal.

Between now and race day, here are some deadlines and reminders:
• Team Owner pre-party is 5-7 p.m. Saturday at the Apple Athletic Club. The event is posted on Great Race Facebook page with details, please RSVP.
• Pre-race clues – Starting Monday and through Thursday, clues will be released at 7 a.m. each morning and again in the evening at 5 p.m. As in previous years, these will be released on Facebook and via text if you sign up for text alerts.
• Pre-race Facebook Auction – Thursday from 5:30 until 8 p.m. you can bid on items that will help you during the race.

If any teams are raising funds for clue money, Hebard would like to publicize them on the Great Race Facebook page. If you do not pre-purchase a clue package, please be aware you will be given only one clue after the completion of each challenge. This will limit your competitiveness in the race. Additional clues may be purchased for $50 per clue on race day.  Team owners can help you solve clues and can purchase the additional clues at base camp.

There will be new teams from Bank of Commerce, Ethel Boyes Elementary School, Progression and John L. Scott Real Estate competing this year. Hebard said today she can still take four more teams if some business or organization wants to put up $250 to register.

The winning team will get a $1,000 scholarship named after it, the second place team a $500 scholarship and the third place team a $250 scholarship.

The MCs of the event will be Mariha Berrett, EITC’s fire service testing coordinator, and Dusty Bee. Matt Balderree, owner of Celestial Imaging, will be filming the event with his drone. As usual, the clue master’s identity is being kept secret.

For more information call the EITC Foundation office at 535-5398.

Stenquist joins Moffatt Thomas Idaho Falls office

Jerry Stenquist of Moffatt Thomas

The Idaho law firm of Moffatt Thomas has added attorney Jerry Stenquist to its Idaho Falls office.

Stenquist has a broad practice that includes banking and creditors’ rights, commercial litigation, property law and health law, a news release from the firm said.

He earned his undergraduate degree at Utah Valley University, then attended George Washington University Law School. He has experience in congressional internships, student leadership and leading domestic and international volunteer groups. He is licensed to practice law in Idaho, Montana and Utah.

As a community volunteer to the Haitian population in south Florida from 2002 to 2004, Jerry learned to speak Haitian Creole fluently. Jerry is an accomplished musician who has played in various jazz, rock, and blues bands, including the George Washington University Jazz Band. He is married, with two children.

Moffatt Thomas has been providing legal services to the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest since 1954, serving clients in the full spectrum of business, litigation and regulatory areas. For information, go to www.moffatt.com.