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City Cast Boise

Idaho farmworkers are entering harvest season with few protections

. One resource is the Heat and Smoke Relief Fund, which has been operating since 2021.

The Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance collects funds and then distributes goods — primarily bottled water — to farmworkers. On Tuesday, one person delivered 900 water bottles in Canyon County.

This summer, the Alliance aims to raise $10,000 to support this community and is 19% of the way there. 

Follow the Idaho Immigrant Resources Alliance on their social media for the most updated information. (@id_immigrant_resources_alliance / Instagram)

As you plan making the most of your fall, I’m bringing back this topic from a year ago, when City Cast Boise had an 

. The City Cast Boise team are veterans, so if you’re new to using our incredible springs, listen up.

Which includes the rocks, soil, and plants around it.

Look for small, off-the-beaten path spots if you want a more natural experience (and will take care of the place).

Assume that everyone else is trying to have a peaceful time; 

“Complete Guide to Idaho Hot Springs” by Doug Roloff

unique and special these natural springs are

, and how lucky we are to live so close to them! 

It can totally change the temperature and ecology of the hot spring.

If you’ve been there for an hour or so and others are waiting patiently to use it, move along!

Similarly: Don’t assume folks want you to hop in a rustic pool with them. 

If a pool is occupied, ask if you can join

 — and maybe try another nearby pool if the vibe feels off. Again: don’t trash the place.

Beginners and people who want a pool experience should check out:

Keep in mind that hot springs are fragile ecosystems that are being 

. They’re part of what makes Idaho great — but they won’t for much longer if we don’t take care of them.

As you plan to make the most of your fall, let's discuss Idaho’s hot springs. The City Cast Boise team are veterans, so if you’re new to using our incredible springs, study up.

Get to Know Idaho's Hot Springs (and Etiquette)

Neighborhood Guides

The deadline to file for candidacy in November’s local elections has come and gone, so we now have a better picture of who’s running for office. Starting with Meridian today, I’ll go through city council and mayoral candidates for several cities over the next few weeks.

 was first elected as Meridian’s mayor in 2019, and he’s running for the office again. Mike Hon, best known for leading the unsuccessful effort to dissolve Meridian’s library board, is running against Simison. 

 has a campaign website link, but it doesn’t seem functional.

Hear the Meridian Library District’s director

’s seat isn’t up for election this cycle.

, are running for this seat. They were both elected before the districts were created, and the only race between two incumbents.

Two new city council candidates are running to represent downtown Meridian: 

, Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s former chief of staff; and Bill Chandler.

 is a retired police officer who was selected by Mayor Robert Simison to fill the vacated seat of a member who left to work as a legislator, and was sworn in in January. He’s 

’s seat is up for election this November, but she didn’t file to run again. However, 

, who’s running as a “trusted conservative,” and former council member 

 are running to represent this southeast Meridian district.

’s term doesn’t expire until January 2026.

For the first time, Meridian voters will elect city council members by district. 

Who's Running for Meridian Mayor and City Council?

Local Civics

We live in a desert, which means we have to work to see fall colors outside of residential areas. Luckily though, it doesn’t take too far of a drive to get to some autumn foliage.

Yesterday, City Cast Boise lead producer Frankie Barnhill joined host Emma Arnold (both self-proclaimed fall girlies) to 

give us their best fall day trip candidates

You can head to downtown Ketchum or Sun Valley for the mountain village fall feel, or get as remote as you like. Head further up canyons to reach higher altitudes, where leaves are well on their way to falling.

, although closed until late November, is a good home base for hikes or biking with plenty of aspens and cottonwoods in view.

To get a good hike but less of a drive, try the 

On the other side of Galena, the Sawtooths — a booked-and-busy summer destination — offers a quieter side of the mountains in the fall. 

 and other areas are great fall camping spots, but do keep an eye on the forecast, because snow might come sooner than you think.

Fall is peak hot springs season, and there are a few quaint springs around Hagerman to check out. Also travel the 

y, see the fossil beds, and stop at some of the orchards in the area.

Driving north from Boise to McCall, there are any 

. Getting a coffee in downtown McCall and then taking a crisp walk by the lake is about as fall as it gets.

The Best Day Trips Outside Boise for Fall Foliage

The Best Day Trips for Fall Foliage

Boise's Best

We’re spoiled when it comes to fall — from just about anywhere in our city, you can be on a farm picking produce within 30 minutes to an hour of walking out your door. That’s just one of the reasons Boise does fall so well, which we’ll be digging into this week here and on the City Cast Boise podcast with some seasonal getaway suggestions

As a preview to a future episode, we’ve got fall expert Marissa Lovell, the editor of 

 (a twice-weekly newsletter you need to subscribe to), to point you to some of the best u-pick farms in the valley.

This farm’s cherry and peach events are behind us, but they’re entering the full autumnal swing with a corn maze that started this weekend (which will be haunted toward the end of October), and their biggest event, Apple Days on Oct. 21.

Along with their berries, this family farm has a stand with flowers, honey, sweet corn, and meats. They keep their stock updated online, so check before going. Cash only and BYO container.

It’s peak plum and apple season at this farm that’s been operating since 1890. Plus, Marissa tells us that you can get your picked apples juiced at the ranch to bring home some apple juice.

If you’ve never gone the u-pick route, try it out this season and support local farmers!

Fall Getaway: The Best U-Pick Farms Near 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

Not for the first time this year, the folks at Caldwell’s Amano are celebrating on a big stage this week after the 

 one of the 50 most exciting restaurants in the U.S.

Describing the standout restaurant’s menu, the Times wrote: “In a nod to Southern California, the L.A. Birria Tacos have a particularly rich consommé. The short rib with mole negro is a dark, rich monumental piece of meat, and afterward, it may be difficult to face the dulce de leche adorned with burnt-corn husk cream, but it’s the right decision.”

Earlier this year, Amano chef Salvador Alamilla joined City Cast Boise (along with KIN’s Kris Komori) to talk 

. Alamilla discussed his immigration journey, research trips to Mexico, and why representing Caldwell’s Latino community is the inspiration he returns to time and again.

“How do we keep getting better? How do we keep presenting our culture in this way? That is right now probably our biggest motivation,” Alamilla said.

, so you might be excited to know that the small, indie movie theater is celebrating 39 years of being in business this week.

Also, shoutout to the Flicks staff who are making movie-inspired food and drink menus a la “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” a regular thing now. In 

honor of showing “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,”

 they’re serving gyros, a Greek wine spritzer, and more — we love to see it!

Amano Makes Headlines — Again

Food & Drink

An endemic species — a plant or animal that lives in a single geographic area — is a gem of evolutionary biology. Idaho is home to a few (

), one of the most notable being the Cassia crossbill.

Crossbills are a group of six finch species that feature a curious-looking, overlapping crossed beak. The 

, “loxia” meaning crosswise, and “sinesciuris” meaning “without squirrel.”

That’s because Cassia crossbills live in two neighboring mountain ranges: the South Hills and the Albion Mountains, where no red squirrels live. The 

 is an evolutionary trait that allows them to pry open lodgepole pine cones and use their tongues to eat the seeds inside, which, because of the lack of squirrels to compete with, guarantees them an exclusive food source.

However, ornithologists are worried about the 

small finch’s survivability in southern Idaho’s lodgepole pine forests

. If you recall the fire season of 2020, you might remember that the 

 for months, setting 90,000 acres of already scarce Cassia crossbill habitat ablaze.

 just a few miles west of the crossbill’s habitat, but it’s being monitored closely and allowed to burn to develop future habitat in the area.

devastating lodgepole pines across the western U.S. and Canada

, threatening an uncountable number of species, including this small songbird that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

An endemic species — a plant or animal that lives in a single geographic area — is a gem of evolutionary biology. Idaho is home to a few, one of the most notable being the Cassia crossbill.

The Cassia Crossbill: Southern Idaho's Endemic Songbird

Urban Almanac

Redfish Lake is one of Idaho’s crown jewels, though it used to be more colorful. For thousands of years, sockeye salmon migrated 900 miles and 6,550 vertical feet from the Pacific Ocean in numbers so plentiful that their bright red coloration gave Redfish Lake its English name. They enriched the northwestern coasts of what are now the 

U.S. and Canada, and became a keystone species

But commercial fishing, pollution, logging, and dams all led to the decline of the sockeye. Once, an estimated 150,000 salmon traveled to Redfish Lake in the Sawtooths annually, and in less than 200 years, that number was reduced to 23 returns throughout the 1990s.

In 1992, only one sockeye salmon made it to the Sawtooths, and a local hatchery worker’s daughter named him Lonesome Larry. His species had been put on the Endangered Species List the year before — where it remains — which helped create a symbol out of Lonesome Larry. After Larry’s death, then-Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus had him stuffed and put on display in his office, as the state increased work to use Idaho hatcheries as insurance against extinction.

Sockeye have certainly rebounded to an extent. Returns number in the hundreds most years, but concrete dams and their warm reservoirs still prove catastrophic for the sockeye and other anadromous (migrating between salt and freshwater) species. Those temperatures will only increase.

2014 remains the sockeye’s banner year in recent history, when 1,516 salmon returned to the Sawtooths. But, in a showing of how far we have pushed the resilient species, a heat wave wiped out a vast majority of the Columbia River’s salmon in 2015, in a year that looked to build on the previous season’s successes.

We don’t have an accurate account of returns yet for this year (they should be coming in the next couple of weeks), but the first sockeye was trapped on July 26 near Stanley. At that time, 

1,295 sockeye had made it to Lower Granite Dam

 outside Lewiston, which was heralded as a “fantastic” rebound from dismal numbers the year before.

few hundred more sockeye made it to Lower Granite

 in August. The last dam count brought the total to 1,556, down from 2,087 last year. Still, 1,556 is more than 2020 and 2021 combined, and the highest count since 2014. But anadromous fish won’t just spawn anywhere — they either are trapped and spawned, make it to their spawning waters, or die trying.

The History of Lonesome Larry

Boise History

With today’s high of 101°, Idaho farmworkers are entering harvest season with few protections. One resource is the Heat and Smoke Relief Fund, which has been operating since 2021.

Idaho Heat & Smoke Relief Fund

The Heat & Smoke Relief Fund

Make Boise better, one neighbor at a time.

Help Your Neighbors

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced that 

 after someone who contracted the disease abroad brought it back to their home. Officials warned that measles is incredibly infectious, but that they are “hopeful” that further spread could be prevented.

With the state on measles watch, we’re also looking at a few other ways to help keep you and your community healthy this fall.

Anyone with or without insurance can get a free flu vaccine at a drive-thru clinic at the Consulate of Mexico in Boise on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The clinic is being put on by the Idaho Immunization Coalition, St. Luke’s, and Idaho State University. 

🩸 Donate Blood During National Shortage

The American Red Cross said that the national blood supply is about 25% lower than expected, and said earlier this week that 

Measles, Flu, & Blood: How to Keep Boise Healthy

Measles, Flu, & Blood: How to Keep Your Community Healthy

The City Cast Boise team has been riddled with COVID and other illnesses in the last couple weeks, and I know many of you can relate.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially 

. But since the federal health emergency has ended, cost coverage and free test programs have all evaporated within the last few months, so here are a few answers to questions you might have about where and how to test or get your booster shot.

The CDC recommends the new booster (there’s one from Moderna and one from Pfizer) for anyone over the age of six months.

Some insurance companies have changed their coverage this year, but most will still cover vaccines.

Walgreens looks like it’ll have the first ones in town, with 

Boise State University’s vaccine clinic

 remains open to the public, and staff told me their fingers are crossed that the vaccines will arrive Sept. 23. 

Plus, they won’t charge anyone for the vaccine, including those without insurance.

 expect their doses to arrive in two weeks.

no longer order free tests from the federal government

Some insurance companies have changed their coverage of testing this year, so check with your provider.

Under federal guidelines, uninsured patients with COVID exposure and/or symptoms 

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended a new COVID-19 booster. But the insurance landscape has changed.

Where to Get the New COVID Booster in Boise

As temperatures dip into the single digits every night, we’re all feeling the 

 on the way. There are lots of ways to help out unhoused Boiseans as winter picks up, but a good place to start is the 

. They’re a group of multiple organizations (that you’ve probably already heard of) that puts out calls to action, along with a ton of information on:

They’re recommending ways to get creative with support this winter, including holding fundraisers with groups you’re already part of, donating to organizations, and taking direct actions to support people.

Another good way to do the latter is by 

, which puts out weekly requests from people experiencing homelessness for survival gear like tents and tarps, sleeping bags, and warm clothing.

How to Help Those Experiencing Homelessness in Boise This Winter

If you’ve ever worked in the food industry, you probably know how frustrating it can be to throw away perfectly good food at the end of the day. Luckily, 

 that picks up donated foods from establishments like restaurants, grocery stores, and hospitals, and distributes it around the valley.

Some of the groups and organizations they distribute to regularly are the Good Samaritan Home, the Women’s and Children’s Alliance, Valor Pointe, and various schools, particularly focusing on ones that need more fresh, nutritious food.

So if you work somewhere that you think could give food to Rolling Tomato, 

 to distribute food, assist with social media, or recruit new food donors. And lastly, you can always 

.

Reduce food waste by giving that food to people who need it ...



Help Your Neighbors

The Heat & Smoke Relief Fund

Help Your Neighbors

Measles, Flu, & Blood: How to Keep Your Community Healthy

Where to Get the New COVID Booster in Boise

How to Help Those Experiencing Homelessness in Boise This Winter

Help Your Neighbors Reduce Food Waste

The latest in Boise

Get to Know Idaho's Hot Springs (and Etiquette)

Who's Running for Meridian Mayor and City Council?

The Best Day Trips for Fall Foliage

Fall Getaway: The Best U-Pick Farms Near Boise

What the Open Primary Initiative Would Actually Do

Amano Makes Headlines — Again

The Cassia Crossbill: Southern Idaho's Endemic Songbird

The History of Lonesome Larry