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City Cast Boise

You’ve probably heard about the open primary ballot initiative. Maybe you’ve signed it, or are thinking about it (here’s 

 currently in circulation if you choose to do so).

But what would opening Idaho’s primary elections actually do?

To help eliminate some confusion, here’s a breakdown of the initiative’s elements.

There are two distinct but related pieces of the ballot initiative.

First is a replacement of the individual political party primary election (which are exclusive to its registered members) with a free-for-all primary election that would move the top four vote-getters to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.

The second is the implementation of a ranked-choice voting system in general elections, but not primary elections.

The Idaho Republican Party has closed primary elections that only registered Republicans can vote in. If the initiative becomes law, it will bar that practice, and all candidates will run against each other in the primary.

For example, if 12 candidates from various parties ran for one position in a May primary election, the top four would move on to the general election in November. They could be two Republicans, one Democrat, and one Independent — or any imaginable combination thereof.

How would the ranked-choice voting system work?

In our current voting system, you fill in the bubble next to your favorite candidate’s name on the ballot and call it good. A ranked-choice system allows you to be a little more thorough.

Take the example from above. If you’re a big fan of the Independent candidate, you can rank them first and leave it at that. But if you would be happy with the Democrat or Republican A but are strongly opposed to Republican B, you can rank the Democrat and Republican A, and not rank Republican B at all.

Ranking a candidate qualifies as a vote for them, separated by degrees of endorsement. The ranked-choice system uses rounds to eliminate the candidates with the least votes, until the candidate with the most votes has been identified.

Sticking with our example, if a bunch of your fellow voters didn’t rank the Independent candidate, your top choice might be knocked out in the first round. But in the second round, your second choice would then be counted as your top candidate, and so on.

What would opening Idaho’s primary elections actually do? To help eliminate some confusion, here’s a breakdown of the initiative’s elements.

What Idaho's Open Primary Initiative Would Actually Do

What the Open Primary Initiative Would Actually Do

Boise, Explained

Boise’s public transportation options are pretty meager, and their usage is low. But Valley Regional Transit is trying to hack the code to get more Treasure Valley residents on buses.

Under the leadership of former Boise City Councilmember Elaine Clegg, the regional transit authority has revealed the “Better Bus” initiative, dialing back some routes to increase bus frequency on already popular routes.

“Historically, VRT has focused on a coverage-based system by providing routes in as many places as possible to connect passengers across the region,” the proposal says. “To increase the convenience of the system, grow ridership, and meet the desires of our riders we must move towards a higher frequency system.”

The redesign is nearing completion, and the VRT board plans to make final decisions on Oct. 2. Before then, however, the agency is asking for public input one last time. The entire network redesign is online, with space for comments at the bottom. Find out how the changes would affect you and weigh in with your thoughts!

VRT hopes to make any approved service changes next summer.

Check Out VRT’s Redesign Proposal

How Boise’s Bus System Could Change

 is an event that even the most astronomy-agnostic can get into. It’s coming up on Aug. 30; here are a few things to know about it.

A full moon that appears large and bright to us on Earth because it’s as close as it gets to the planet. Like most orbits, our moon orbit isn't perfectly symmetrical or even, and has a perigee (where it’s closest) and apogee (where it’s farthest away). Because of this variation, the moon will look 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it does at the apogee.

Unfortunately, it won’t actually be blue — but it is technically a blue moon. The phrase “once in a blue moon” connotes rarity because a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, which only happens every few years. A blue supermoon is much rarer: It’s the second supermoon in a calendar month, which happens roughly once a decade.

The Algonquin people, who’ve lived around the Great Lakes and depended on fish for millenia, noticed an abundance of sturgeon during the month of August. Now, any full moon in August is often referred to as a Sturgeon Moon.

Luckily, anywhere without cloud cover! But if you want to head out of town to see it, here’s a few spots.

The sturgeon supermoon is an event that even the most astronomy-agnostic can get into. It’s coming up on Aug. 30; here are a few things to know about it.

What to Know About the Sturgeon Supermoon

Molenaar Skatepark in Southwest Boise became Boise’s fourth skatepark when it opened last week, and added another feature to the exciting local scene.

“We’re super fortunate in Boise to have this wild skate history and skate scene that a lot of people don’t realize,” Lucas Erlebach of Push and Pour and the 

. “There’s a lot of multi-generational skaters that are still here supporting skating, pushing skating forward in Boise, and that’s why people are finally just now catching on that ‘holy cow, the skate scene in Boise is growing.’ And it’s always been there.”

The new skate park was designed and built by 

 in the community for their parks all over the U.S, including Rhodes Skate Park in downtown Boise.

However, Molenaar provides not only an option in an area of town that previously didn’t have any parks close by, but also provides more beginner-friendly features than others, like Rhodes.

“We already have Rhodes Skate Park, that thing is kind of a show pony, that thing is crazy,” Erlebach said. “They’ve had the X Games [qualifying event] there. The obstacles are big enough for your average person to be able to watch something spectacular happen, like in a bowl, where people are going to fly ten feet in the air.”

Learn More About the Scene

Boise is also mourning the loss of 16-year-old Jadin “Bird” Zurawski, who was killed when he was struck by a vehicle while skating in a crosswalk last week. There’s a 

, which has already far surpassed the $10,000 goal.

How is Boise's Skateboarding Scene?

Why Boise's Skateboarding Scene is so Well-Known

As Boise grows, so does the litter on our streets. Especially on or near the river, it can often feel overwhelming to pick up trash alone on your walk route, knowing that there’s always more trash.

So rather than taking on the burden alone, join the Trash Club, a group that’s already done a ton of work — collecting 

 — to reduce litter in Boise and around the Treasure Valley. You do need to RSVP for individual events, which are held almost weekly somewhere in the Treasure Valley.

For another way to help clear Boise’s streets of a different kind of clutter, here’s what to know about 

picking goatheads ahead of the Goathead Fest

How to Help Keep Boise Litter-Free

reflecting on the state of apartment renting in Boise

Idaho Statesman showed that developers are putting off multi family home projects

Though that’s true — there were 4,739 units planned in the Boise metro area in 2022 and only 596 in the first four months of 2023 — the news is still raising some eyebrows.

“Dwindling? Last I checked they were going up everywhere.”

Apartment buildings certainly are still going up everywhere, especially downtown. But the process of going from a permit to a livable building takes a long time, so we can expect that in a year or so, the supply of these apartments will get tighter — or maybe just reach a sort of balance.

Developers who are putting off projects or backing out entirely are responding to a decrease in demand, or at least a threshold where the demand for apartments of a certain price have been met.

As one poster pointed out, “Moving out of a newer apartment complex next week and more than half the units are empty and they are desperate for new tenants!”

I can corroborate that last one: My landlord is offering significant incentive packages to new tenants — but my rent also just increased, which is something Redditors and plenty of people I know can testify to.

Boise rent rates have gone down 6.9% from this time last year, and fell 1.2% in 

just the last month, according to Apartment List

. With home prices still far out of reach for much of the city, however, the tightening of supply we can expect over the next couple of years won’t make things much easier for renters.

One hope, however, is that the city’s new zoning code will incentivize new structures and developments other than large apartment complexes, but that remains to be seen.

When Will Boise Rents Go Down?

Our judicial system is designed, partially, to identify incongruities between new and existing legislation. It can be easy to lose track of the Idaho laws being challenged in court, because they’re something we have in abundance.

Here are three of the laws passed by the Idaho Legislature this spring that are being challenged in court:

Presented as a way to prevent children from receiving gender-affirming healthcare, this bill was opposed by every relevant major medical association, trans advocacy group, and member of Idaho’s trans community. It was signed, 

with hesitations about parental rights, by Gov. Brad Little

H.B. 71 would make providing gender-affirming care — including puberty blockers which aren’t used exclusively by trans kids — a felony with a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Families of two teenage girls filed to sue the state

 in June, saying that if the law goes into effect as scheduled in January, it would ban the hormone therapy they’re already receiving. Those therapies are banned only for trans youth in this law, which they saw is unequal treatment.

The parents also say the law infringes on their right to make decisions about their children’s medical care.

This bill flew a bit under the radar, perhaps because it focuses on internal school policies. Similar bills defined the 

2015-2020 legal push to restrict trans people

 from bathrooms and locker rooms. S.B. 1100 went into effect on July 1.

trans youth are banned from using the bathrooms and locker rooms

 of their gender in Idaho public schools.

Rather than target the attorney general’s office, this lawsuit is aimed at top state and district education officials. The plaintiff is a Boise seventh-grade student who is being represented by Lambda Legal. The student’s attorney’s say the law violates Title IX by outing students and discriminating on the basis of sex, and also violated the 14th Amendment.

The Idaho Legislature had several abortion trigger bans ready for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But in this law, Idaho is making history with the 

The goal of H.B. 242 is to prevent adults from helping minors get abortion care in other states, like neighboring Oregon and Washington, where abortions are legal.

Lourdes Matsumoto, an Idaho attorney who deals with cases of domestic and sexual violence, is the 

leading plaintiff in the lawsuit against this bill

, and is joined by the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance.

They claim the law is too vague to be enforceable, and that it violates First Amendment rights. They also warn that this ban could be a “slippery slope” toward banning travel for adults.

New Idaho Laws Already in Court

New Laws Already In Court

In Idaho, we don’t have to worry about hurricanes and tornadoes. But we’re near the 

, and we’d certainly be affected in the case of 

a subduction zone earthquake along the Cascadia fault

. Still, those big-ticket events are less likely to devastate the Treasure Valley than wildfires or infrastructural incidents like electricity loss.

All of these reasons, though, are worth preparing for, even if only for some peace of mind. One of the most accessible and useful resources for an emergency is a go-bag, which contains anything you might need to survive for a few days should you have to leave your home in a rush. There are trendy, pre-prepared go-bags online, but it’s a good idea to put together one that is tailored to your needs and our environment.

It can be overwhelming to start this process, but start with the basics: If you had to leave your home, for whatever reason, you’d still need your basic needs to be met just like if you were home.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recommends

 having food and one gallon of water per person per day.

That can include packs of dry food and specific things you need nutritionally.

Water purification tablets or systems are also a good (and pretty cheap) option to have on hand.

Make sure any medications necessary are easily accessible  if you’re heading out the door.

Get to know your local plants for what you can and can’t eat or depend on seasonally.

Wildfires are the biggest climate crisis threat to our area

, so always have N95, KN95, N100, or FFP2 rated masks, as they’re the only ones able to 

stop any of the smallest particulate matter from smoke

While your best bet is to have a pre-planned strategy for shelter, a tent will also do.

Here are a few other items and strategies to have:

Portable charger for phones (if they’re working)

Lastly, work on a plan with your neighbors and friends! It might feel awkward, it’s better to do so now than wait until things go south. Plus, in times of crisis, it can be a great help just to know that you’re on the same page with some trusted people.

One of the most accessible and useful resources for an emergency is a go-bag, which contains anything you might need to survive for a few days.

What to Pack in Your Go-Bag

For at least the next month and half, we’ll all be talking about the heat. With temperatures likely to go above triple digits off and on for weeks, this is an important time to 

estimated half of Americans who die from heat-related causes

 every year are without homes. The lack of access to cool spaces, water, and treatment for heat stroke and exhaustion is fatal.

And two factors make it more than probable that more people will continue dying without significant change: Summers are getting hotter due to climate change, and more people go without housing every year.

Boise’s in a unique position. We’re small enough, with few enough people chronically unhoused, to build a practice of ensuring that as few people die of heat-related deaths as possible. Here are some ways we can move toward that goal:

The responsibility to keep our community healthy is a shared one, and thanks to incredible work from mutual aid organizations, the wheel is already working.

 from community members and distributes food, survival gear, clothes, and more every Monday at 5 p.m. at Rhodes Skate Park. Look at what they’re asking for, and offer what you can.

Boise Kitchen Collective offers free home cooked meals

 to anyone who needs them at Rhodes Skate Park, on Wednesdays at 5:15 p.m. They also ask for support and donations beyond meal-makers.

 does the same in Lloyd Square in Nampa every Monday at 5:30 p.m.

It’s amazing what a conversation can do — if you see someone in the heat outside for a long time, ask them what they might need. If you can get them water, do that; better yet, if you work at a business with a lobby or have an empty couch, offer them a space to get out of the grueling heat, even just for a couple hours.

Keep some frozen water bottles (or even popsicles) at home or at your office, and bring them with you when you go outside. Lowering internal body temperature can help fight off the worst of the dangers posed by heat.

Prepare and keep “Summer Lovin’ Kits”

 to hand out. These kits are recommended by the folks at Interfaith Sanctuary, and include anything you also might need on an outing in the heat: a hat, sandals or flip flops, sunscreen, sunglasses, reusable water bottles, and more.

For at least the next month and half, we’ll all be talking about the heat. With temperatures likely to go above triple digits off and on for weeks, this is an important time to make sure our unhoused neighbors are able to stay cool and hydrated.

How to Help Unhoused Boiseans in the Heat

How to Help Unhoused Neighbors in the Heat

The Idaho Republican Party, under the far-right leadership of former legislator and candidate for secretary of state Dorothy Moon, has made a gamble: The GOP will be able to maintain and gain control of the state if young voters, partisan dissenters, potential new voters, and women are excluded from the party’s priority list.

party leadership made those decisions official

. Here are the three main new rules gathering attention from within their own ranks.

If an Idaho voter wants to change their party affiliation from a different party to Republican, they must wait until one year has passed since the end of the year of making that change. That means if you were a registered Democrat and you changed your affiliation to Republican on Jan. 1, 2023, you will have to wait until Dec. 30, 2024 to actually become a Republican voter.

Women, Young Republicans Stripped of Privileges

Within the Idaho Republican Party, the GOP Central Committee calls the shots. Now, the Idaho Federation of Republican Women, Young Republicans, and College Young Republicans chapters 

 on the executive committee. Women and youth can still vote on the board in other capacities — but those chapters no longer can.

The Idaho GOP can censure elected members of their party, and passed several votes of no confidence for politicians such as Gov. Brad Little and lawmakers.. Moon has repeated that the party stands for the state and U.S. constitutions, thus officially aligning the Republican Party with banning books and punishing fellow Republicans who disagree with the party platform in any way.

Those Republicans who disagree with these changes aren’t going down quietly.

Just a couple of weeks ago on City Cast Boise, Republican State Sen. Geoff Schroeder 

rejoiced in his “F” rating from the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF)

, the conservative think tank that has unofficially called the shots and punitively “graded” legislators for years.

“It’s a pity that it couldn’t go lower,” he said. “You either go in lockstep with what their commands are, or you get thrown out.”

Canyon County Republican Women Executive Board rang the alarm

 in an article after the Idaho Federation of Republican Women were stripped of their voting privileges.

“Rather than work to enact policies that represent the preferences of most Idaho Republicans,” they wrote, “[the current leadership of the Idaho GOP] worked to purge the party of those who do not share their fanatical, revisionist views.”