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.

Kuna school board members agree to spend $1 million on list of projects

Kuna school board members have unanimously agreed to spend $1.045 million on a list of school facilities improvements.
The money, approved at the Feb. 14 school board meeting, will come from remaining funds left in a $25.5 million school bond approved by voters in 2007.
Among the projects on the list:
• $300,000 on overhead projectors and audio systems for every classroom.
• $175,000 on refinishing the Kuna High School track.
• $120,000 on new copiers.
• $100,000 on kitchen appliances at Kuna Middle School.
• $100,000 on stucco at Teed Elementary School.
• $60,000 on roof repairs at Ross Elementary School.
• $50,000 on smoke dampeners at Kuna High School.
• $40,000 on the Teed gym air conditioning.
• $35,000 for a projector at the Kuna High School auditorium.
• $35,000 on new gym mats at Kuna High School.
• $30,000 on concrete at Ross Elementary School.
Some items remained to be discussed.
In particular, school district officials pulled out a request of $100,000 for repairs at Indian Creek Elementary School. District business manager Bryan Fletcher said that the district wanted to be as detailed and transparent as possible in bringing numbers before the school board regarding improvements at Indian Creek, Kuna’s oldest school and arguably least efficient.
District officials have said that they are interested in investing a little bit of money in the school in order to keep it open for at least the next few years.

Free Kuna community supper is tonight at Living Hope Kuna United Methodist Church

Be the guest of Living Hope Kuna United Methodist Church tonight, Sunday, Feb. 26, for the Kuna Community Sunday Supper from 4 to 7 p.m. at the church, 260 W. 4th St.
You’re invited to have dinner at the church - FREE!! Bring your family, friends, and neighbors!
For more information, visit www.KunaUMC.org or call 922-4745.

Major gymnastics meet will return to Kuna in March

The Meridian Academy of Gymnastics will once again host its annual “Pot of Gold” gymnastics meet in Kuna.
This event will feature up to 300 gymnasts from all around the region and beyond. This year, it will be held at the Kuna High School gymnasium on Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10.
The Meridian Academy of Gymnastics Booster Club is also seeking donations in exchange for advertising in our event program. The MAG Booster Club is a 501c(3) charitable organization, and all funds go to furthering our gymnasts and also various service projects throughout our community. Please call Kristen Dallman for more information at 412-7414 or if you wish to donate.
Come out to Kuna High School on March 9 and 10 to see some awesome gymnastics.

Kuna school district employees deserve accolades

Let me add my voice to the din of compliments to the Kuna school district employees who acted heroically this month. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the Kuna school board recognized school district employees Dawn Stephens and Cal Nebeker for their heroic actions on the morning of Feb. 2 at which a fellow school district employee was attacked by someone wielding a handgun. Stephens and Nebeker were presented with an Ada County Sheriff’s Office Challenge Coin and mug during the Feb. 14 school board meeting. Above, from left, are Kuna Police Chief Kody Aldrich, of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, school board members Ginny Greger and Jim Ford, Stephens, board member Carl Ericson, Nebeker and board members Kevin Gifford and Royleen Anderson.

Is the Kuna school district ready to start sharing information with the public? It doesn't look like it

In discussing the Kuna school district's request to be among the first in the state to receive mobile computing devices, a lot of issues came up about parental controls and personal software. I think a lot of these issues could be worked out over the next year-and-a-half.
School district technology director Devan DeLashmutt said that’s it’s going to have to be community dialogue with a lot of input from the community.
Which leads me to my biggest concern: There was still no agenda for the Feb. 14 board meeting posted on the school’s website before the meeting. If you wanted to know what the school board was going to talk about and vote on, you had to go to the Post Office bulletin board or the library foyer to find out what was on the agenda. Is this the sign of a district that’s technologically ready and willing to share information with and receive feedback from taxpayers? They can’t even put the agenda online let alone post all of the associated documents.
I found it interesting that about a dozen parents from Indian Creek Elementary School attended the meeting because they feared the school board was going to vote to close the school. To the contrary, the school board is looking at investing $100,000 or more to keep the school open for another five years.
But, as I’ve always said, secrecy breeds suspicion. Without an agenda or supporting documents, what else are patrons supposed to think? They’re going to think that you’re trying to hide something, whether you are or not.
School board, get it done.

Kuna school district right to request mobile computing devices in the first wave

Kuna school board member Carl Ericson said that before last week’s school board meeting he was planning on voting against requesting to be in the first wave of school districts statewide to receive mobile computing devices for students. But after further discussion, he changed his mind and was in favor of the plan.
I’m with Carl on this one. I, too, was thinking that it was only logical to wait and let the other school districts make the mistakes first, that it was wiser to wait until the technology got even better in two years. I didn’t buy the argument that if Kuna didn’t get computers first, students would leave the district for Meridian or Boise just so they could get computers.
But I think some compelling arguments were made during last week’s school board meeting.
“I’ve always believed that this is the right district to be in,” the school district’s technology director, Devan DeLashmutt, said at the meeting. “We are the right size. We have the right kind of staff, and we have the right kind of attitude to pull off an initiative like this.”
He also said Kuna very well may have the best infrastructure in the state to handle this kind of program. DeLashmutt said he plans to have a team of students help implement the program, which is still a year-and-a-half away. By using students to help implement the program, not only will Kuna be getting some free help, but Kuna students will be gaining some valuable hands-on experience that could help them get a job after school. And that’s one of the most appealing aspects for me. By involving students, Kuna will once again create another subset of students with specific interests and skills to help them go on after high school, just as Kuna has done with the STEM program and the health occupations program.

Kuna City Council still working on weapons discharge ordinance

Kuna City Council members are still working on a city law that would ban shooting off guns in city limits.
A weapons discharge ordinance came back before City Council members at last week’s council meeting.
The main sticking point is banning the practice of shooting off a gun within city limits without barring the use of weapons on such large properties as farms, where owners may use guns to shoot ground squirrels or put down cattle.
The idea of limiting the ordinance to a geographic-specific area of the city was proposed, an idea supported by Kody Aldrich, the chief of the Kuna substation of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. He said setting geographic boundaries would make it easier on enforcement.
Alternately, council and city staff had been considering exempting agriculture zones or properties larger than 5 or 10 acres or setting specific distances from residences.
Council members directed city staff to come back at a later meeting with new wording in the ordinance.

Get your tickets now for Kuna's production of Cinderella

If you haven't gotten your tickets to Kuna High's production of Cinderella, you should do so soon.
Opening night for the Kuna High School production of Cinderella is quickly approaching. The first of five performances kicks off this Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is a musical written for television in 1957, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on the fairy tale “Cinderella.” Like the fairy tale, the story concerns a young woman forced into a life of servitude by her cruel stepmother and self-centered stepsisters and dreams of a better life. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is transformed into a princess and finds her prince.
Gileann Tan plays the lead role of Cinderella. Tan, a junior, is no stranger to the stage, having performed in several productions of the Music Theater of Idaho, including a lead role as Tuptim in “The King and I.” She has also appeared in Suessical the Musical, Annie and South Pacific.
The Fairy Godmother is being played by Kayelee Farris, whom audiences likely will remember as the memorable lead in the Kuna High production of Oklahoma two years ago.
Tan and Farris are both incredible singers, and the two of them singing onstage at the same time will no doubt impress audiences. We're going to the matinee on Saturday.

Kuna school district considers bold idea for professional-technical program

What started out as a discussion of what to do with the Old 4th Street Gym turned into a major proposal for a professional-technical program at Kuna High School.
Kuna schools Superintendent Jay Hummel, at Tuesday night’s school board meeting, laid out a bold initiative to build an addition onto the school district administrative office building at 711 E. Porter Ave. to accommodate new office space and classroom and lab space for a professional-technical education program.
The reason this is related to the Old 4th Street Gym is because the money to build the expansion could very well come from the sale of the historic building.
On Tuesday’s agenda, as promised, was an item to request permission to get an appraisal of the building and property, just to see what it might be worth.
School board members Tuesday night voted unanimously to seek an appraisal of the property.

Today is filled with lots of things to do in Kuna

Today is actually a pretty busy day in Kuna, with lots of fun stuff to do.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Kuna Senior Center is having an open house, open to the public to come and see all the improvements to the center thanks to a $72,000 community development block grant.
From noon to 1 p.m., you can have “Pizza with the Princess,” a special lunch with the cast of Kuna High's production of Cinderella, in the Kuna High School Commons.
At 1:30 p.m., head over to Paul's Market to check out their annual 2-minute shopping spree, in which a random shopper is selected to go on a 2-minute shopping spree throughout the store, picking up as many Western Family items as they can for free.
To see some more running, head back over to the high school gymnasium for the boys basketball district tournament semifinal matchup of Kuna vs. Middleton, who split their two regular season games this year.
Lots to do in Kuna today. Take advantage of it.

Looking for a Sock Hop to go to tonight in Kuna?

The Ross/Indian Creek Community Sock Hop Dance, featuring Mr. D’s band, The Fabulous Chancellors, will be 6 to 8 p.m., tonight, Friday, Feb. 17, at the Old 4th Street Gym. Come one, come all. Get dressed up in your favorite ’50s duds (not required) and dance the night away.
This is the night before an extended weekend, so your children will be able to dance till they drop and sleep in the next morning. Come enjoy the company of your children and their friends and families from school.
Take a family photo in front of a real 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Other activities will include a choir showcase, hula hoop contest, best dressed contest, snacks and of course dancing. Students must be accompanied by an adult guardian. This is a family event, not a date night.

Crime rate in the city of Kuna dropped 15.5 percent last year

Crime in the city of Kuna fell 15.5 percent in 2011.
The total number of crimes fell to 447 in 2011, down from 520 in 2010. At the same time, Kuna’s population increased a bit to 15,470.
The number of crimes per 1,000 residents went from 34.2 in 2010 to 28.9 in 2011, a 15.5 percent decrease.
The year-end numbers were presented to Kuna City Council members last week by Kuna’s police chief Kody Aldrich, of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, with whom the city of Kuna has a contract to provide police services.
The city of Kuna pays the Ada County Sheriff’s Office $1.28 million this year for one chief, two sergeants, eight deputies, two detectives and a part-time clerk.
In 2011, person crimes (assault, homicide, kidnapping, sex offenses) dropped from 190 to 172.
Property crimes (arson, burglary, forgery, vandalism, fraud, theft) dropped from 232 to 206.
Society crimes (drugs, gambling, pornography, weapon law violations) dropped from 98 to 69.
The overall clearance rate, or rate of crimes solved, dropped a little from 59.6 percent in 2010 to 57.7 percent in 2011. The clearance rate for society crimes was 88.4 percent, person crimes 73.3 percent and property crimes 34.5 percent.
The number of felony cases dropped from 186 to 148.
The number of misdemeanor cases dropped from 334 to 299.

Josh Watkins making Kuna proud

It has been fun receiving updates on Kuna graduate Josh Watkins, who is a leading member on the Boise State University Talkin’ Broncos forensics team.
I first wrote about Josh in October 2008, when he and Will Eichelberger were named Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Too often, we send our graduates out into the real world and we never hear what becomes of them. But after Josh enrolled at BSU, I started receiving press releases from BSU about the Talkin' Broncos team, and I spotted Josh's name on the list. Over the past couple of years, we've seen Josh's star rise, culminating in last week's announcement that Josh, now a junior at BSU, has been awarded the Northwest Forensics Conference Coaches Commemorative Trophy, recognizing the single most successful competitor in the conference this season.
Congratulations to Josh for doing such a great job.
And by the way, keep an eye out for another Talkin' Bronco from Kuna, Jessica Gresl, who is also racking up awards.

Kuna school district considers "frontloading" purchase of classroom technology for every classroom

Kuna school board members are 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.

Kuna school board debates what to do with the Old 4th Street Gym building

The issue of whether to sell or lease out the Kuna school district’s Old 4th Street Gym building has come up again.
Kuna school board members discussed the pros and cons of selling or leasing out the building during a special session on Feb. 1.
Among the advantages listed by board members were:
• collecting money that could be used for other projects.
• removing an inefficient space.
• district still able to absorb need for gym space in other facilities.
• if leased out, the gym could still be put to use.
Among the drawbacks listed by board members:
• less space for the district.
• moving out would create new costs.
• emotionally difficult.
• last connection to the old school.
• if sell now, the district would be “selling low.”
The gym dates back to 1947, when it was built next to the old Kuna High School building. The district has converted some of the building’s space into the district’s technology center, with offices for the technology staff, among other district employees. Other parts of the building are used as warehouse and storage space.
The gym is still extensively used by the community, for youth sports and practices, by seniors as an indoor walking space, for community events, such as the Kuna Chamber of Commerce’s Down Home Country Christmas, and by such youth organizations as the Cub Scouts, who filled the gym with about 200 people recently for their annual Pinewood Derby.
Board member Royleen Anderson said, “it’s too bad the city has nothing like this,” and that the district has to provide such an amenity.
However, “we can’t be a community rec center,” said board member Carl Ericson.
What do you think? We have a poll going on right now at www.kunamelba.com.

Kuna school district may request to be in the first phase of computer rollout

Kuna school district administrators are recommending that Kuna be among the first school districts in the state to request mobile computing devices in the first year of a multiple-year phase-in of the new state program.
As part of the state’s new Students Come First education reform legislation, all high school students will receive a mobile computing device. The devices will be purchased and distributed to all high school students over the course of three years, starting in 2013-14.
The state Department of Education has reported that as many as 73 of the state’s 144 school districts have requested to be among the first districts to receive the mobile computing devices.
The Kuna school district had discussed the possibility of waiting until the second or third year in order to allow other districts to work out the flaws in the system and to allow Kuna more time to develop policies and procedures to deal with the potential headaches associated with giving every student a laptop computer.
Not all of the districts that are requesting mobile computing devices will receive them in the first year, but the Kuna administration is recommending that Kuna be put on the list for the first phase.

Kuna's Indian Creek Winery has a Valentine's weekend planned

Cupid is excited to visit Indian Creek Winery, 1000 N. McDermott Road, Kuna, this weekend, the weekend before Valentine’s Day to celebrate the new release of its 2011 Sauvignon Blanc and sample local chocolates.
Cupid loves the dynamic live art and live music playfulness of Kris Hartung and Dana Logan (Saturday) and the jazzy sounds of the JB Duo (Sunday).
Cupid cannot wait to fully relax from all of the Valentine’s stress with a table massage by Rose’s In-Home Spa and get his photo taken with his sweetie from the Valentine’s Photo Booth by Life Captured Photography.
With all the fun activity and wine samples, Cupid will surely be ready to enjoy some spring rolls from the Rice Works Food Truck and throw a ball for any pooches that want to run around on the grass. (Dogs welcome outside-only)
All-in-all, there are great times to be had at Indian Creek Winery, noon to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 11 and 12. $5 per guest; Wine Club Members free entry. Extra charges apply for massages, and a photo booth donation is requested for charity.

Kuna school district saves $900,000 with bond refinance

The Kuna school district will save about $900,000 over the next 10 years after refinancing about $8 million in bonds.
School board members on Feb. 1 unanimously agreed to issue new bonds to replace parts of the district’s 2004 bond issue that was used to build Reed and Crimson Point elementary schools.
The school district is taking advantage of historically low interest rates, similar to a homeowner refinancing a mortgage.
Eric Heringer, senior vice president of Seattle Northwest, briefed board members on the details of the bond sale.
The average interest rate on the bonds that the district refinanced is 4.81 percent. The district was able to secure a new interest rate of 1.46 percent. Heringer said municipal bond rates have been this low only .11 percent of the time over the past 20 years — meaning rates have been lower than current rates only eight days out of the past 20 years.
Bond payments on these bonds will go from $1.33 million this year down to $1.27 million. Over the 10-year life of the bonds, total payments will drop from $14.657 million to $13.711 million, a saving of $945,955, which translates to $877,741 in present value dollars.

Kuna school district prepares projects list

The Kuna school district has put together a list of capital improvement projects, including parking lots at the middle school and Teed Elementary, fire and safety improvements at Ross and Indian Creek and restrooms and carpeting at Hubbard, totaling about $1.8 million.
The money for these projects will come out of a roughly $3.4 million remaining balance in a $25.5 million bond passed by voters in 2007.
A list of “must do” projects and a much longer list of “might do” projects were presented to Kuna school board members during a special session Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The $25.5 million school bond, passed by voters in May 2007, has already done some major heavy lifting. That bond was used to build Initial Point High School, Silver Trail Elementary School, the 800-seat performing arts auditorium at Kuna High School, an expansion of the Kuna High gym and a new parking lot between Teed Elementary and the school district administrative building.
Because of favorable costs for such construction projects over the past few years, district officials say they’ve been able to accomplish the bond’s major projects with a remaining balance.
Even with the list of $1.8 million remaining bond projects and other “must do” projects, the district could have as much as nearly $1.6 million still remaining.
Another, much longer, list of “might do” projects was also presented.
Superintendent Jay Hummel said that he and business manager Bryan Fletcher prioritized the list of “must-do” items based on requests from principals and other administrators.
Board member Royleen Anderson questioned items not on any list, such as instruments for the middle school music program, and school board chairman Jim Ford asked about lawnmowers and buses.
Some of those items could be funded by state technology money or plant facilities levy money rather than bond money, Hummel said.
You can read the list of "must do" projects in this week's Editor's Notebook in the Kuna Melba News.

Kuna boys basketball Senior Night is this Friday

The entire community is invited to Senior Night of the Kuna boys varsity basketball game on Friday, Feb. 10, at Kuna High.
A ceremony will be held around 7:15 p.m. before the game against Nampa. Eight seniors will be playing in their last regular season game for Kuna: James Simmons, Kyle Hoch, Dylan Kerbs, Brett Blackstock, Kenny Berger, Tyler Dubowsky, Scott Hukill and Kevin Nixon.
Following the game, there will be a reception in the foyer with cake and punch.

What happens if there's a hazmat train accident in Kuna?

Let's hope we never need this class.
A class will be held in Kuna on March 5 to help first responders, government administrators and emergency managers respond more effectively to a freight rail car incident. The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium will deliver a free Department of Homeland Security-certified course on Sunday, March 5, at the Kuna fire station, 150 W. Boise St.
The class is intended to educate those on the frontlines of defense in their home community on what to do in the event of a rail car incident involving hazardous materials.
In 2008, the Federal Railway Administration reported there were more than 7,000 rail car accidents and incidents — 20 of which involved hazardous materials — requiring the evacuation of over 5,000 people. In the last five years, there have been 166 incidents involving hazardous materials, most of which occurred in rural America, according to the FRA.
The eight-hour, instructor-led course will introduce the rural responder community to basic rail car design and construction features as well as damage assessment strategies to help interpret damage to the rail cars in a hazmat incident. Upon completion of the course, participants will be better prepared to respond to a freight car incident without endangering the health and safety of the responders and the environment.
The course was developed by the Ohio-based University of Findlay, an academic partner of the RDPC, to increase the participants’ knowledge and understanding of safety and hazardous conditions that may exist at the scene, and allow them to become more familiar with safe practices adopted by the railroad industry.
Although no formal prerequisites are required to attend this course, it is highly recommended that participants have a working knowledge of the National Incident Management System before attending.
The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Training and Education Division partnership of academic institutions with a vision of creating an environment wherein rural communities across America will have the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to enhance the safety, security and quality of life for their citizens.
Current members of the Consortium include East Tennessee State University, Eastern Kentucky University, The University of Findlay, Iowa Central Community College, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, and North Carolina Central University. Each of these institutions possesses extensive and unique capabilities relating to rural emergency preparedness training.
All training delivered by RDPC is certified by DHS and is offered tuition-free for a broad scope of stakeholders, including the traditional emergency response disciplines, and other emergency support functions as defined by the National Response Framework, as well as critical infrastructure owners and operators.
For further information, visit the Consortium web site at www.ruraltraining.org. To schedule this or any other RDPC training, contact the RDPC at (877) 855-7372, or contact Natalie Lahti, 422-3417, nlahti@bhs.idaho.gov.

More ideas about how to handle downtown Kuna

If we were to turn Kuna's Main Street into a pedestrian plaza, I like the idea of turning Fourth Street into a one-way street going around Main Street. But what you’d need to do is rehab Second Street and turn it into a one-way street going in the opposite direction. You could have everything connect up at Avenue D, perhaps at the four-way stop or perhaps create a roundabout at that intersection.
Parking would definitely have to be solved. But I think there are a lot of options. I think the first step would be to pave and stripe the parking lot that the city already owns at Second Street and Avenue B. With that, you’d be able to fit a lot of cars in there, and visitors would be able to walk easily to the park and downtown. Second, I’d like to see the city work with the school district on solutions for the Old Fourth Street Gym. The community already uses the district’s parking lot on Avenue D, and big chunks of that property are unused and fenced off, creating an eyesore. Opening up, paving and striping these areas would again provide plenty of parking for downtown. Further, the city could identify lots in and around downtown that could be converted into parking lots.
Such projects, it seems, could easily be funded by a community development block grant or some other type of downtown revitalization, economic development, community facility or even rural development grants. Kuna still qualifies for some rural grants for communities under 20,000 population.

Bring aluminum cans to the Kuna Senior Center today

Here's your chance to recycle and help our local veterans at the same time. Kuna VFW Post 7019 is collecting aluminum cans as a fundraiser to fund its efforts to support veterans, service members and their families and our community. We will begin collecting the cans on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Kuna Senior Center between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Kuna's Pack 106 holds its annual Pinewood Derby

Have I said how much I love Scouting? I'm the assistant Cubmaster for Pack 106, Kuna's only community Cub Scout Pack. My older son, Luke, is a Webelos, now in his third year in Scouting. I've been his den leader the past three years.
More than 50 members of Pack 106 participated in this year’s Pinewood Derby on Friday, Jan. 27, at the 4th Street Gym. The overall winners were Jaiden Van Tassell (first), Garrett Black (second) and Alex Wechselberger (third). Marv Flavel of Kuna volunteered his time and racetrack and took charge of the scoring system. If you are interested in learning more about Kuna’s only community pack, contact cubmaster Brendan Brazee at 908-2976 or me at 921-5520.
The photo above shows the final overall racers in the derby.

Get yourself to the Kuna Downtown Corridor public workshop today

Just a reminder that the first public workshop for the Kuna Downtown Corridor Plan will start at 5:30 p.m. today, Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Kuna High School commons, 637 E. Deer Flat Road. A formal presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
The Ada County Highway District and the city of Kuna have begun working on the Kuna Downtown Corridor Plan to identify how residents and visitors get to, through and around the Downtown using all modes of travel.
The goal of the plan is to identify projects and priorities for intersections; pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities; roadways; and truck routes along the Avalon Street/Main Street/Bridge Street corridor, between Kay Street and School Avenue.
The Feb. 2 workshop will give the public the opportunity to learn more about the plan and will offer hands-on activities to help residents identify and develop alternatives for downtown Kuna. The workshop will last until 8 p.m.
Should you be unable to attend this workshop but like to be involved, please call or e-mail Jeff Lowe, ACHD Senior Transportation Planner at 387-6235 or projects@achdidaho.org. For more information, please log onto www.achdidaho.org.

Kuna should go big on plans for downtown

The first public workshop for the Kuna Downtown Corridor Plan will start at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Kuna High School commons, 637 E. Deer Flat Road.
From many of the people you talk to around here, you kind of hear the same thing: Another study? Sheesh, we’ve studied this thing to death and still nobody’s done anything about downtown. I’m afraid to say that I feel myself slipping into that lot.
But we Americans are an optimistic bunch, so I’ll pull myself right on out of that naysaying attitude and pretend like something’s going to actually come of this most recent downtown study this time.
Well, for what it’s worth, anyway, I’ll offer my two cents.
I think we need to go big or go home. And going big means closing off Main Street to vehicle traffic and turning it into a pedestrian plaza.
What I see for Main Street is the entire street from Linder Road to Avenue D covered over in brick pavers, benches, planters, trees, restaurant and café sidewalk seating. If you’ve read about or seen the pedestrian plazas that New York City has implemented at Times Square, you get the idea. Of course, pedestrian plazas are nothing new. I recognize, though, that turning Kuna’s Main Street into a pedestrian plaza sounds like a radical idea and most likely impossible.
But I think it can be done.