Kuna school board will meet on Tuesday, scheduled to discuss Indian Creek, Old 4th Street Gym, professional-technical program

The Kuna school board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, in the district office, 711 E. Porter Ave.
Agenda items include:
• a discussion of capital improvements at Indian Creek Elementary School
• potential sale of the Old 4th Street Gym
• update on possible professional-technical program
• a second reading of a new policy to send delinquent lunch money payments to a collections agency
• a $250,000 expenditure on the Kuna Middle School parking lot
The Kuna Melba News has posted the school board agenda on its website at www.kunamelba.com.

For all you John Denver fans in Kuna: Tribute band playing at Kuna Performing Arts Center this Saturday

On Saturday, March 10, John Adams will bring his Tribute to John Denver to the Kuna Performing Arts Center in Kuna. John Adams, of Silverthorne, Colo., will perform many of John Denver’s songs live, like Sunshine On My Shoulders, Calypso, Take Me Home, Country Roads and Annie’s Song.
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and $12 general seating. Call the box office at 208-955-0200.

What do you think of a Bi-Mart in Kuna?

Kuna Mayor Greg Nelson told the Kuna Chamber of Commerce recently that he had reached out to Bi-Mart about the possibility of opening a store in Kuna.
At first, my eyebrows went up. Then they went down. I think they’re back up again.
Folks who have been to Emmett might know what Bi-Mart is. Bi-Mart is a discount department store that sells just about everything imaginable. Last week’s Bi-Mart newspaper advertising insert shows jeans, vacuum cleaners, LED TVs, hiking boots, shotguns and ammo, office and home furniture, kitchen appliances, hardware, cameras, camping equipment and groceries. They even have a pharmacy.
“Each Bi-Mart is stocked with over 40,000 items that are specially chosen for your Northwest lifestyle and pocketbook,” according to Bi-Mart’s website. “We take a ‘deep discount’ approach to merchandising brand name goods, striving to offer a wide selection of top quality merchandise at low everyday prices.”
Started in 1955 in Yakima, Wash., Bi-Mart now has 72 stores in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Bi-Mart is a membership store, and members pay a $5 lifetime family fee. In 2004, Bi-Mart was purchased by its employees and offers an employee stock ownership plan.
I would be in favor of a Bi-Mart in Kuna. Not only would it keep Kuna residents shopping in Kuna, it would also offer employment opportunities.
First of all, I think we have to face reality. Kuna will get a Wal-Mart — someday. I think it’s going to be more like 20 years down the road, though, before we get a Wal-Mart, a Home Depot, a Target. We just don’t have enough residents or rooftops for a big-box to build a store. Plus, why wouldn’t a big-box store simply build a store a little farther up the road and attract not only Kuna residents but also Meridian and Nampa residents?
I think we need only look at Mesa, Ariz., to see that this 250,000-population suburb of Phoenix only recently started getting such commercial amenities like big-box stores.
I think Kuna will get all of those things, but we’re going to end up needing to look a lot more like modern-day Mesa before we get a second look from some of these national chains.
So what to do in the meantime? Do we just wait for the next 20 years and continue to spend our dollars in Meridian, Boise and Nampa to buy a pair of blue jeans or a camera?
I don’t think so. I think it’s wise to reach out to retailers in the meantime.

Kuna Boys & Girls Club proposal to go before City Council

A proposal to build a Kuna Boys & Girls Club is expected to go before the Kuna City Council tonight.
Kuna City Council will hold a public hearing during its next meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, March 6, at City Hall, 763 W. Avalon St. The public hearing will be to discuss a request from the Ada County Boys & Girls Clubs, for a rezone, a lot-line adjustment, a development agreement and a future land use map change for a site located at the east end of West Mendi Place.
Kuna Planning & Zoning Commission members on Thursday, Jan. 26, unanimously recommended approving a comprehensive plan map amendment, a rezone and a development agreement for the club, which is being proposed for a 3-acre parcel of donated land near the intersection of Mendi and Goiri streets, near Butler Park.
The proposal has met neighborhood opposition from some residents living on Goiri and Mendi streets, who have argued that the traffic impacts from the club would be too great a burden on their 1970s subdivision.
The club’s proposed site is located at the dead end of Mendi Street, and the club’s access would be Mendi, Trini and Goiri streets onto School Street and Boise Street.
The Ada County Highway District estimates the club could add as many as 373 vehicle trips per day.

Free worship concert at Kuna High this Friday

A free worship concert will be 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Friday, March 9, at the Kuna Performing Arts Center at Kuna High School, 637 E. Deer Flat Road. This concert is being presented by the Kuna High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Kuna Life Church worship band.

State receives requests from 174 schools for mobile computing devices, including Melba and Kuna

More than 170 high schools representing about 84 percent of Idaho’s high school students signed up to participate in the first one-third of schools receiving laptops in the state’s one-to-one initiative in 2013.
Under the state’s Students Come First education reform laws, the state is setting aside $9 million a year for technology in grades K-12 and mandating a one-to-one ratio of students and teachers to laptops in every public high school.
Teachers, principals and other certified staff in every high school will receive laptop devices in fall 2012 as well as a year of professional development on how to integrate this technology in the classroom curriculum. The state is funding $4 million a year in professional development.
Based on a recommendation of a statewide technology task force, the state will deploy laptop devices to high schools statewide over the next three years, beginning in fall 2013. In the 2013-2014 school year, one-third of Idaho’s high schools will be equipped with laptop devices and the necessary software, maintenance, security and support to reach a one-to-one ratio in the school. By 2015, the state will complete this one-to-one ratio in every Idaho high school.
The state will cover the costs of these devices as well as the repair, maintenance, software and security.
The Department received 99 letters of interest representing 174 high schools and nearly 68,000 students statewide. This makes up an estimated 84 percent of Idaho’s high school students, which is far more than the one-third of students the state will be able to deploy to beginning in 2013.
The Department will develop a rubric to determine which schools are most ready to benefit and should participate in the first deployment of one-to-one devices for students in 2013. The Department anticipates selecting schools by the end of the current school year.
Both Kuna and Melba school districts submitted letters requesting to be in the first wave of districts to receive the devices in 2013. Both districts submitted letters representing their main high schools as well as Initial Point High School in Kuna and the alternative high school in Melba.

Chuck Monger's medals issued

U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, last week issued medals to three veterans, including the late Chuck Monger, of Kuna.
Above, U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador presents the medals of the late Chuck Monger to Monger’s stepdaughter Mercy Murphy during a ceremony Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Meridian City Hall.
Labrador presented the medals during a ceremony on Feb. 22, at Meridian City Hall.
He honored Rudiger Lotz for his service in the Vietnam War, as well as Monger and Wayne Joseph Bennett posthumously for their service in World War II.
Monger’s stepdaughter, Mercy Murphy, said her father early last year had asked her to pursue getting his medals. Unfortunately, he passed away Aug. 14, 2011, and Murphy’s mother, Monger’s wife, passed away Feb. 4, 2012. Since Murphy’s attempts at getting Monger’s medals did not produce results, she asked for help from Kuna VFW Post 7019, who contacted Labrador’s office.
Monger was born in Washington County, Oklahoma, Jan. 1, 1917. He married in Montana and had five children before joining the Seabees in 1942. He was always proud of his service for his country and was very involved in the VFW here in Kuna. Monger was always proud of his American Indian heritage and was a card-carrying member of the Cherokee Nation. He had two more children before marrying the love of his life, Allegra B. Monger, on Sept. 14, 1971. They were married 40 years.
Monger always did everything with a passion. His passion for the seniors earned him an award from the Attorney General for improving Idahoans’ nutrition. He had so many awards for service to his community and on one of them, The Vern Richards Award, had the engraving “Don’t worry, I will take care of it.” He was a lifetime member of Meridian Lodge #47, Scottish Rite, and El Korah Shrine. He was known as “The Can Man” of Kuna because he and Allegra collected tons of cans for years and gave all money to the Shrine Hospitals and scholarships for Kuna High School. He never tired of helping others and continued to do so up until the end of his life.
During the Feb. 22 ceremony, Labrador presented Murphy with the medals they had obtained from the government, and Dave Lyon, Kuna Post 7019 Commander, presented her with a shadow box containing the medals and awards Monger had earned.
Monger was a Carpenter’s Mate in the 146th Naval Construction Battalion. His medals included: World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the Honorable Service Lapel Pin and discharge button.
“Our office works year-round to issue medals earned by Idaho’s brave men and women who sacrificed for our great nation in times of war,” Labrador said in a press release. “These are veterans of distinction who have brought honor to their country and to Idaho, and I am humbled by the opportunity to present them and their families with these medals to commemorate their valiant service.”

Kuna City Council gets a little closer to a weapons discharge ban

Kuna City Council members appear to be much closer to passing a weapons discharge ordinance in city limits.
At last week’s City Council meeting, council members discussed a new revision to a proposed ordinance that seeks to make it illegal to shoot a gun off in city limits. While city attorney Richard Roats had crafted an ordinance that did that, the main sticking point was the fact that the new ordinance would have made it illegal for such folks as farmers who were shooting vermin on their property or putting down cattle with a rifle.
Council members had discussed at varying times setting limits on the size of a property or distance from a house, but those provisions only served to confuse the matter and create difficulty in enforcement.
So here’s the paragraph that Roats came up with to help resolve the issue:
“It shall be unlawful to discharge a firearm within city limits from a dwelling or vehicle or within any platted and developed subdivision or in a manner likely to cause damage to the property of another.”
Mayor Greg Nelson is “slow-tracking” ordinances, meaning they’ll get their full three readings, rather than one reading and passage. This ordinance is expected to go before the council for its first reading on March 6. It would then get another two readings before becoming law.

Kuna does it again with production of Cinderella

Here we go again.
Two years ago, I was blown away by the inaugural performance at the Kuna Performing Arts Center at Kuna High School, when Kuna High put on a performance of Oklahoma. I was incredulous at the professionalism and relative lack of glitches and errors at that performance. I couldn’t believe this was a high school production.
I hate to repeat myself, but the students and staff at Kuna High have done it again, this time with the production of Cinderella, which opened last week with the first three of five performances.
My family and I went to see the Saturday matinee performance.
I daresay that this year’s production was even better. Gileann Tan’s performance as Cinderella was terrific. She is an incredible singer whose opening notes gave me goosebumps on Saturday, just as they did when I first heard her at a dress rehearsal that I sat in on a couple of weeks ago. I am looking forward to what I expect to be many more references to her name in these pages in the coming years. I would not be surprised at all if she were to go on to have a successful Broadway career.
As a double treat, Tan shares the stage with Kayelee Farris, as the Fairy Godmother. You might remember Farris (I know I do) as the lead in Oklahoma two years ago. I gushed about her then, and I’ll gush about her now. To have both Farris and Tan on stage singing together is a rare treat.
Austin Meredith as the prince was a pleasant surprise. He has a good, expressive face for stage, and his singing was solid. Carson Trautman was perfect as the prince’s steward, and the trio of Rebecca Seideman, Shahayla Ononaiye and Malary Trautman as the stepsisters and stepmother kept the audience rolling with laughter.
Every scene was solid, as even the smaller parts, such as the queen, played by Kayla Mannlein, and the king, played by John Durrant, were performed expertly.
Major kudos to the adults who worked on the production, including producer/director Brandi Cook; orchestra director Stephen Newton; chorus director Corrina Steinbach; choreographer Mandy Fife; mice director Amy Robinson; stage director consultant Rachel Dickerson; acting coach Matt Paxton; graphic design, make-up and set painting, Jessica Tookey; set design and construction, Nancy Link; sound and lighting consultants: Lee Glover, Denny Jaggard, Committed Events (the sound and lighting were run by students for the show. Costumes were designed by three students for their senior project: Caitlyn Decker, Kaitlyn Hansen, Liz Madson, and many in the community helped them sew; pianist Leanne Law; and Barbara Morledge and Roderick Royce volunteered their time to play viola.
Here’s the good news: You can still see the last two performances. I remember writing about Oklahoma two years ago feeling disappointed that my rave review wouldn’t help convince anyone to go see the musical, because at the time, there was only one week of performances, so the production was over by the time the newspaper came out.
This time, though, they wisely added a second week of performances. You can still see Cinderella this Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, at 7 p.m. You can purchase tickets at the high school office or online at www.kunaperformingartscenter.org.
You won’t regret it.

Kuna school district seeks bids on classroom enhancement technology equipment

The Kuna school district will seek bids for Internet-connected overhead projectors and audio systems for every classroom.
Kuna school board members at their Feb. 14 meeting unanimously approved seeking bids for the equipment, which is part of a state mandate for classroom enhancement technology that’s part of the state’s new Students Come First education reform legislation.
Kuna school board members have been weighing the possibility of paying for overhead projector technology for every classroom in the school district, with the hopes that the state will eventually pay for some or all of the cost over the next five years.
As part of the state’s new Students Come First education reform legislation, one of the mandates is for every school district to establish a standard for “equitable and ubiquitous presence of technology in every instructional area.”
In response, the Kuna school district came up with a plan to install Internet-connected, ceiling-mounted projectors and classroom audio-visual systems in every classroom in the district.
The state will fund the technology over four years. The Kuna school district anticipates receiving $153,000 the first year and a total of $436,000 over the course of four years.
However, purchasing classroom projectors piecemeal over the course of five years creates problems, including diluting purchasing power. Buying everything all at once creates efficiencies, such as ensuring common technology throughout the district, ensuring fairness for all classrooms and training all teachers at once on the same technology.
So the school district has been considering “frontloading” the purchase of the technology — buying all of the units now out of money from the 2007 voter-approved school bond then receiving the technology payments from the state over four years.
There are a couple of problems with that scenario, though. While the district expects to receive $436,000 from the state over four years, school district technology director Devan DeLashmutt estimates that projectors for all classrooms could cost as much as $712,069.
Further, if the district spends $712,069 now, and in November a voter referendum on the Students Come First legislation overturns those laws — including the classroom technology money — the Kuna school district could receive no payments from the state at all to recoup the cost of the projector units.
The move school board members made Feb. 14 — going out to bid — is a baby step that does not yet tie the district’s hands. Board members can approve the bids at next month’s meeting or they can decide to not move forward, depending on how the bids come in. DeLashmutt said he would put wording in the bids to allow the board to back out after a certain amount of time has expired.