New Idaho National Laboratory director named

Mark Peters, formerly Argonne National Laboratory's associate director for energy and global security, has been named the next director of the Idaho National Laboratory, officially taking over Oct. 1.

Mark Peters

He will be succeeding John Grossenbacher, who announced in November 2014 that this would be his last year as INL director. Grossenbacher coordinated the Battelle Energy Alliance bid that resulted in BEA being awarded the INL contract in February 2005.

“Mark’s recognized leadership in all fields of energy research — including energy storage, renewable energy, energy efficiency  and nuclear energy — and national security makes him an ideal choice as the next lab director of INL,” said Ron Townsend, chairman of BEA’s board of managers and also its executive vice president of global laboratory operations. “As the leading research institution for nuclear energy solutions, other clean energy options and critical infrastructure, INL will benefit from the strong leadership and passionate commitment that Mark has demonstrated throughout his career.”

Peters is called upon frequently to provide expert testimony to Congress and to advise in formulation of policies for nuclear fuel cycles, nonproliferation and nuclear waste disposal. He is active in leadership positions with the American Nuclear Society and was recently named an ANS Fellow, the highest honor bestowed by the Society.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mark on globally significant nuclear energy matters and am pleased to welcome him to Idaho,” said John Kotek, the U.S. Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for nuclear energy. “I look forward to our continued collaboration when he is in his new role as director of INL.”

Peters earned his doctorate in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago and his bachelor's degree in geology from Auburn University. He has also received extensive management and leadership education and training, including completion of the Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His full biography is available online at https://www.inl.gov/mark-peters-bio.

Sandy Downs racing season opens Saturday

The racing season at Sandy Downs will be five days this year,

Aug. 22, 23, 29 and 30 and Sept. 13.

Although the legality of historical racing machines is likely to be an issue again at the 2016 Idaho Legislature, they money they have brought in at the Double Down sports bar on Outlet Boulevard has led to a doubling of purse money during the five-day racing season at Sandy Downs, which starts Saturday.

Racing will be conducted Saturday and Sunday this weekend and next, and on Sept. 13. Gates open Saturdays at 4 p.m. with post time for the first race at 5 p.m.  Sunday’s first race will be at 1 p.m., with gates opening at noon.

The opening day card is highlighted by the Hawthorne Futurity trials for 2-year-old quarter horses.  The race series carries a prize estimated at $45,000, the largest seen in Ida Racing’s six years at Sandy Downs.

Saturday’s co-feature will be the trials for the $30,000 (est.) Double Down Derby for 3-year-old quarter horses with its final also on Sept.  For novice fans, the Nationally acclaimed Q-Aces team of handicappers and racing experts will be on hand with free seminars on both days of the opening weekend.

The leading horses, owners, trainers and jockeys in the Northwest are expected to be in action at Sandy Downs. “The effects of historical racing are even allowing us to become a national player in our sport,” said Ida Racing President Jim Bernard. Fans across the country can watch and wager on our races via the IdaBet.com racing site, he said.

Entertainment between races will include mechanical bull rides, a free photo booth, live music and games and prizes from the daily live Colt Whitmore Show.  Kids can enjoy the fun bounce and sprinkler party, and a country barbecue and fair-style food will be available from Lucky’s Grill.

A salute to Armed Forces and Veterans will open each racing day.  Business sponsors and supporters this year include Bingham Memorial Hospital, Coors Light and TEC Distributors, Double Down Betting Bar, IdaBet.com, Sand Hill Radio, The Post Register, Giltner Trucking and Hawthorne Animal Hospital.

Sandy Downs is located at 6855 S. 15 East.  For more information and updates, visit www.IdaRacing.com.

Double Down, 3078 Outlet Blvd., will also offer live coverage of the races and wagering, at  in Idaho Falls.  Visit IdahoFallsSportsBar.com or call (208) 521-4729 for more details.

Some background on historical racing machines in Idaho

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 such as Sandy Downs in Bonneville County. In 2011, however, 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 a player's wager and the video of the actual race relegated to a 2-inch square in the corner of the screen.

In Idaho, this has drawn the ire of anti-gambling forces and also Native American tribes who consider the machines competition to what they offer on their reservation casinos. Earlier this year, 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.

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” 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.

Idaho Falls Camping World grand opening set for Friday

Camping World, the nation’s largest RV and outdoor retailer, and Good Sam, the world’s largest RV owners organization, have set Friday and Saturday as the date for the grand opening of their Idaho Falls SuperCenter at 1355 Tara Street, on the west side of the Pancheri overpass.

The location is part of a dealer network with more than 100 U.S. locations, including Boise and Salt Lake City. In the case of Camping World of Idaho Falls, the facility is a relocation of the OK Trailer RV dealership in Shelley, which Camping World bought in the fall of 2014.

“The Idaho Falls market is an ideal area for us to expand our business offering,” said Marcus Lemonis, CEO and chairman of Camping World and Good Sam, also the host of CNBC’s The Profit. The grand opening celebration will feature a ribbon cutting Friday at 11 a.m. There will be price specials, door prizes and a live radio remote Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. with KLCE 97.3 FM.

Additionally, free lunch will be offered Saturday and Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about Camping World of Idaho Falls, visit www.campingworldofidahofalls.com.

Alaskan power company joins INL-based geothermal consortium

The Idaho National Laboratory announced today that Chena Power, an Alaska-based company, has officially joined the Snake River Geothermal Consortium team. The company is the first technical partner from outside the Lower 48 and joins 17 other national laboratories, universities and industry partners.

The consortium is one of five teams that received funding in April from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy  to pursue the development of geothermal energy. It is led by Robert Podgorney, who has had a longtime fascination with geothermal and heads INL’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy, or FORGE.

What he is hoping to see by 2018 is deep drilling on the Snake River Plain southwest of Howe. The consortium is proposing to locate the nation’s first Enhanced Geothermal System test site on the western edge of the INL, in a renowned “hot spot” that is already home to the lab’s 40-square-mile Geothermal Resource Research Area.

The idea is to have one well pumping water into the crust of the Earth 8,000 to 12,000 feet deep, then push it horizontally through fractures in the subsurface rock, heating it to around 175 degrees Celsius, then bringing the hot water back to the surface to produce energy. Podgorney said he believes FORGE has the potential to generate large amounts of carbon-free baseload power, perhaps revolutionizing energy production worldwide.

The money awarded in April — $400,000 to Podgorney’s consortium — is for Phase 1. Two teams will be eliminated before $27 million is awarded in Phase 2. Podgorney is optimistic that the consortium he has assembled will make the cut, which will be announced in June 2016.

“The practical experience that Chena brings to the team will be instrumental if our team is selected to move into Phase 2,” he said. “We need the kind of ingenuity that has gone into developing the power plant in Alaska, especially when it comes to demonstrating power generation at the later stages of FORGE.”

Chena Power’s announcement came at the Tenth Annual Renewable Energy Fair. Among those at the announcement were Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

Other participants in the consortium include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, which incorporates people from Idaho State University, Boise State University, the University of Idaho and the University of Wyoming; the University of Oklahoma and University of Utah; Mink GeoHydro and Baker Hughes.

An advisory panel has also been established to keep in touch with regulatory agencies and non-governmental organizations like the Idaho Conservation League and Snake River Alliance.

On social media, you can follow the FORGE team by searching #SnakeRiverFORGE and #FORGE. Follow @INL and @CAESEnergy on Twitter or visit our Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/IdahoNationalLaboratory and www.facebook.com/CenterforAdvancedEnergyStudies.

Hospice of Eastern Idaho opening in-patient home in Ammon

Hospice of Eastern Idaho is having a ribbon cutting and open house Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2  p.m. at its new six-bed in-patient hospice home at 1087 Curlew Drive.

The home, only one of two in Idaho, will be opening its doors to patients around the second week of September.

Hospice of Eastern Idaho, the only non-profit hospice agency in the area, has been providing care to the terminally ill and their families since 2000. The organization is Medicare and Medicaid Certified and belongs to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency, it provides care regardless of ability to pay. It serves a five-county area providing care anywhere the patient resides: home, assisted living or skilled nursing facility.

For more information, contact Executive Director Celeste Eld at 529-0342.