Brianna Hansen joins Thornton Oliver Keller

Congratulations to 2007 Kuna High grad Brianna Hansen, who has joined Thornton Oliver Keller’s retail brokerage team, following a highly successful collegiate experience at the College of Idaho, where she graduated cum laude with a B.A. in business administration (with a marketing concentration) and played for the C of I Women’s basketball team. Hansen was selected to participate in Thornton Oliver Keller’s brokerage training program, specializing in retail brokerage.

Are you looking for a Christmas service in Kuna or Melba this weekend?

If you're looking for a place of worship to celebrate Christmas this weekend, we have just the list for you:

Anchor Baptist Church
7910 S. Meridian Road, corner of Columbia Road.
• Dec. 25: Special invitation to the most important birthday celebration of the year! Anchor Baptist family is celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ at 11 a.m. with a special Christmas music presentation and the Lord’s Supper.

Calvary Chapel
757 Stagecoach Way
• Dec. 24: Two Christmas Eve services, 5 and 7 p.m.
• Dec. 25: No service Christmas Day.

Community Baptist Church of Melba
4th and Randolph St, Melba
• Dec. 24: 6 p.m Christmas Eve, special music
• Dec. 25: No Christmas service

Desert Streams Fellowship
Meeting at Kuna City Hall, 763 W. Avalon St.
• Dec. 25: Brief, family-oriented, “homey” service, 11 a.m.

Kuna Baptist Church
1250 N. Linder Road
• Dec. 25: Christmas service, 10:45 a.m. (no service at 9:30 or in the evening).

Kuna Bible Missionary Church
489 W. Shortline St.
• Dec. 25: 10 a.m.

Kuna Church of the Nazarene
1281 W. Avalon St.
• Dec. 24: Christmas Eve service, time unknown.
• Dec. 25: free breakfast 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., service from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Living Hope Kuna United Methodist Church
260 W. 4th Street
• Dec. 24: Candlelight service at 7 and 11 p.m.
• Dec. 25: 10 a.m.

New Beginnings Christian Church
Meeting at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 820 Linder Road
• Dec. 25: 11 a.m. to noon.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church
5th and Randolph, Melba
• Dec. 24: English Mass at 6 p.m.; Spanish Mass at 8:30 p.m.

South Valley Baptist Church
1615 Linder Road
• Dec. 25: Christmas Service 11 a.m. only

Ten Mile Community Church
4440 E. Columbia Rd., Meridian
• Dec. 24: 5 and 6:30 p.m.
• Dec. 25: Service at 10:30 a.m.

Greenhurst Bible Church
5423 E. Greenhurst Rd., Nampa
• Dec. 24: Candlelight service, 5:30 to 6:15 p.m.
• Dec. 25: Christmas service, 10 to 11 a.m. (no Sunday school)

Congratulations to the Down Home Country Christmas Youth Essay Contest winners

While you're lazing about this holiday weekend, if you're looking for some good reading, we have three pages of essays from students who won first place in this year's Kuna Chamber of Commerce Down Home Country Christmas Youth Essay Contest. Great stuff in there. You might even make an evening of it and read them out loud to your children.
Below are all of the winners in all of the grades. The first-place essays are all in this week's special Christmas issue of the Kuna Melba News.
Photo is courtesy of the Kuna Chamber of Commerce. Thanks Melanie Willer for taking the photos.

Kuna Chamber of Commerce Down Home Country Christmas essay winners

Kindergarten
1st: Chase Bybee, Hubbard

First Grade
1st: Maya Rosenberg, Silver Trail
2nd: Carly Pearson, Silver Trail
3rd: Jackson Graves, Indian Creek

Second Grade
1st: Addi Frisch, Reed
2nd: Carter Bybee, Falcon Ridge
3rd: Olivia Coburn, Silver Trail

Third Grade
1st: Carly Raap, Falcon Ridge
2nd: Carson Steiner, Silver Trail
3rd: Hunter Higbee, Reed

Fourth Grade
1st: Morgan Erickson, Teed
2nd: Samantha Sumpter, Falcon Ridge
3rd: Kacie Andrus, Silver Trail

Fifth Grade
1st: Gage Wilson, Teed
2nd: Benton Higbee, Reed
3rd: Diana Pigulko, Crimson Point

Sixth Grade
1st: Jamie Sugai, Silver Trail
2nd: Ariana Reisenauer, Reed
3rd: Austin Evans, Silver Trail

Seventh Grade
1st: Peyton Goodman, Falcon Ridge
2nd: Julie Grigg, Falcon Ridge
3rd: Andrew Ashton, Falcon Ridge

Eighth Grade
1st: Jace Holdaway, Falcon Ridge
2nd: Nate Hansen, Falcon Ridge
3rd: Janna Gilster, Falcon Ridge

9-12th Grade
1st: Kaytee Shelp, Initial Point
2nd: Konner Major, Initial Point
3rd: Michael Riley, Initial Point

Grand Prize winner
Renae Ann Feist, Kuna High School

Merry Christmas from the Kuna Melba News

In what has become a Christmas tradition, the Kuna Melba News has once again published a front page of local houses decorated for Christmas.
So grab your copy of this week's issue, put some Johnny Mathis Christmas music in the CD player and head out for your tour of Christmas lights.
Merry Christmas to your family from our family,
Scott, Nicola, Luke and Robert McIntosh

Idea for a Kuna city-sponsored light show

As we wrap up this Christmas season, I thought I would throw out an idea for the city of Kuna for next Christmas season.
I’d like to see the city of Kuna create a Christmas light and music show along the Indian Creek Greenbelt. As evidenced by the front page of this week’s issue as well as a drive through just about any subdivision in Kuna, local residents are fond of decorating their houses for Christmas.
Let’s turn this into an annual city-sponsored event. My idea is to set up Christmas light displays all along the Greenbelt starting at Swan Falls Road and extending as far as possible, maybe even all the way to Indian Creek Elementary. We could pipe in Christmas music, and residents can simply stroll along the Greenbelt at their leisure taking in the sights and listening to the music. Kids would love it.
Given the way society is going, we could set this up on the day after Halloween and run it for the months of November and December. You could have it set up from 6 to 9 p.m. each night.
Not only could this be simply a nice perk to offer local residents, I think this could be an economic development tool. Such a display could attract not only the 15,000 residents who live in Kuna but the 25,000 residents who live within the Kuna school district boundaries as well as residents from Melba, Nampa, Meridian and elsewhere.
We could allow vendors to set up and sell hot chocolate, popcorn, roasted chestnuts, etc. Local businesses and restaurants could offer coupons to people who walk the Greenbelt to come into their shop or restaurant for a discount off selected items.
The hard work would come during budget time. The City Council would have to set aside a certain amount, let’s say $50,000 or $60,000, to get this thing going. Last budget cycle, city treasurer John Marsh identified about $150,000 in carryover funds, so some of that could be used. Further, Mayor-elect Greg Nelson has said he’s planning on looking for areas of the budget to shave down, so there might be further “found” money for such a venture. It’s just a matter of priorities.
Finally, I’d like to see the city work closely with the Kuna Chamber of Commerce on this project. City Council member-elect Briana Buban-Vonder Haar said she wants to foster a greater spirit of cooperation between the city and the chamber, and this would be a perfect project for the two to work together. For example, the chamber could work with local businesses to sponsor a light display of their own. Each business would be given — for free — a space of their own along the Greenbelt to create their own light display. The business would simply have to provide their own lights. It could be as elaborate as they like, and they could put their business name on a sign with the display to promote their business. I could envision Les Schwab doing Santa in a race car, or the Kuna Melba News having Santa throwing newspapers. One business could have a Charlie Brown theme, another business a Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer theme. There are all sorts of possibilities.
The city and chamber could ask local residents to donate old lights they’re not using anymore or donate lights (purchased at Kuna Lumber and Kuna True Value) to the cause.
I don’t think it would take a lot. The city might have to solve some problems such as electricity and piped-in music and passing a resolution to exempt the event from the city’s new after-dark ban. But it’s definitely doable.
As we say goodbye to Christmas 2011, let’s set our sights on 2012 with new vigor and new ideas.

Kuna closes park after dark

It’s now illegal to be in the city park after dark without permission.
Kuna City Council members on Dec. 6 unanimously approved changes to a city ordinance that sets the hours of city parks. Hours of park operation are now dawn to dusk, instead of midnight.
“No person shall use, enter upon or occupy the premises of any Kuna City park between dusk and dawn,” the new ordinance states. Currently, the ordinance prohibits people in the park between midnight and 6 a.m., leaving open a big gap, particularly in the winter, of people using the park after dark.
Kuna’s police chief, Lt. Kody Aldrich, has said that activity in the city park after the sun goes down presents a public danger, in particular without the proper lighting in city parks.
The ordinance defines dusk as 30 minutes after sunset and dawn as 30 minutes before sunrise.
A violation of the ordinance is punishable by a $50 fine for the first offense and $100 for each additional offense.
Residents are still be able to apply for an “after-hours” permit to use city parks after dusk.
In conjunction with the park ordinance, City Council members also approved a new set of fees that benefits smaller groups of people.
Council members agreed to keep the rental fees of the bandshell or gazebo at the Col. Bernard Fisher Veterans Memorial Park at $100 for groups of 100 or more. But council members unanimously agreed to add a tiered system for smaller groups: $10 for up to 15 people and $25 for up to 35 people.
Similarly, refundable cleaning and damage deposits are tiered at $10 for up to 15 people, $25 for up to 35 people and $100 for over 100 people.
Council members also lowered fees to rent the senior center at $50 for the first hour and $10 for each additional hour. A cleaning and damage deposit is $150.
Another major part of the parks ordinance concerns dogs in the parks.
With a couple of exceptions, dogs are required to be on a leash no longer than 8 feet.
Dogs are prohibited within 25 feet of a playground.
Dogs are allowed off leash, as long as the dogs are under control, in Sego Prairie Park, Sadie Creek Park and on the south side of the Indian Creek Greenbelt walking path to the high water mark of the creek.
The ordinance also mandates that dog owners clean up their dog’s waste.
A few other highlights of the proposed ordinance:
• glass containers are prohibited.
• fishing will be prohibited in any area posted as a “No Fishing Zone,” as adopted by city resolution.

Sidewalk will be torn up along East Avalon Street in Kuna

The city of Kuna will pay an estimated $8,000 to rip up and replace the sidewalk on East Avalon Street from Kay Street to the Kuna Lube ’N Go to make way for a new pressurized irrigation line.
The line will extend to the east side of the property being developed for the purpose of a new AutoZone store. Kuna City Council members earlier this year approved a $60,000 capital improvement project to extend the pressurized irrigation line as part of the budgeting process.
The line was a point of contention, as City Council member Rich Cardoza argued that the developers should be responsible for putting in the irrigation line to their property. But Mayor Scott Dowdy argued that the irrigation line should have been put in long before, when other businesses along Avalon Street were being developed. The developers of the AutoZone property would be unfairly burdened, he argued, by a mistake the city had made earlier.
City engineer Gordon Law said he explored several options to avoid ripping up the sidewalk but couldn’t come up with a viable solution. The most efficient and least expensive option was tearing up and replacing the sidewalk.
Law said he has contacted the merchants along that stretch.

Liberty Quartet to perform at Kuna Baptist Church Sunday

Kuna Baptist Church, 1250 N. Linder Road, will be hosting Liberty Quartet on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 10:45 a.m. Everyone is invited to attend.
Liberty, a traditional Southern Gospel Quartet, is a full-time concert ministry based in Boise. Liberty currently averages 50,000 to 70,000 miles a year ministering in approximately 150 to 200 performances for church services, large conventions including the Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival, the National Quartet Convention, Pacific Gospel Music Convention, nursing homes, prisons, rodeos, fairs, and other ministries. Liberty goes wherever the Lord directs.
Liberty has had the opportunity to share the platform with groups such as Legacy Five, Greater Vision, Gaither Vocal Band, the Booth Brothers, and many others. Liberty averages two recording projects each year.
Whether or not you are a fan of Southern Gospel music, you will certainly enjoy the enthusiasm these men exhibit while serving and singing unto the Lord. Their ministry bridges all generations, bringing enjoyment to traditional venues as well as contemporary.
No admission fees are required but a love offering will be taken in support of their ministry.
For further information, contact Kuna Baptist Church at 922-1124 or: Liberty Ministries, Inc., 55 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 100, Meridian, ID 83642; 938-9364; www.libertyquartet.com.

Kuna City Council rejects records fees

Kuna City Council members unanimously rejected a proposal to charge the public for requests for voluminous copies of public records.
City staff had proposed a fee schedule for copies of public records exceeding 100 pages or staff time more than two hours.
The resolution stemmed from a state law passed during the 2011 legislative session. The new law states that no fee shall be charged for the first two hours of labor in responding to a request for public records, or for copying the first 100 pages of paper records that are requested.
However, part of the reason the law was created was to make sure that public agencies were reimbursed for the costs of huge requests requiring large amounts of labor.
So the new law has two main impacts: it makes copies free for the first 100 pages and first two hours of labor but it also allows agencies to charge for copies that exceed 100 pages or for requests that require more than two hours of labor.
But if an agency charges, the fee cannot exceed the actual cost (paper, toner, etc.) incurred by the agency. For labor fees, “if charged” (an agency doesn’t have to charge anything), the fee must be at the per-hour pay rate of the lowest-paid employee necessary and qualified to process the request.
The city’s proposed fee schedule for public records requests included fees of 15 cents per page over 100 pages, $5 per disc for duplicate recordings, $24 per hour for staff time exceeding two hours $48 per hour for attorney time exceeding two hours, up to $100 per hour for requests (litigation related documents) requiring redaction by city attorney.
The Kuna Melba News wrote a letter seeking justification for several of the fees. During a City Council public hearing on Dec. 6, three residents testified expressing concern about the fees, arguing that public information should be free and that fees should not prove to be a barrier or have a chilling effect on public records requests.
City Council members questioned how city staff came up with the proposed fees and expressed skepticism about charging for hard costs such as overhead and staff time.
Deputy City Clerk Chris Engels said the city this year has received only two requests exceeding 100 pages and one request exceeding two hours.
City Council members agreed to repeal all existing fees, to not institute any new fees and to revisit the issue if it appears there are cases of abuse in the future.

Kuna's weapons ordinance still not ready

Kuna City Council members put off a decision on a weapons discharge ordinance after testimony from local farmers who said the ordinance would prohibit their regular use of weapons on their properties.
Council members on Dec. 6 were scheduled to vote on the long-discussed ordinance prohibiting shooting off guns in city limits.
The ordinance would make it illegal to discharge “any firearm capable of firing a projectile and using an explosive charge as a propellant, except at a regularly established shooting gallery or range licensed and authorized by Kuna City Code.”
The ordinance exempts law enforcement officers acting in the line of duty and also exempts citizens lawfully defending person or property.
In addition to the prohibition of firing a gun, the ordinance also prohibits bows, air guns, blow guns and paint ball guns in the public right-of-way and public parks.
Shooting a bow and arrow in your back yard is OK; shooting a rifle in your back yard is not.
Kuna’s police chief, Lt. Kody Aldrich, said that his department has had issues in the past with residents shooting guns in or on their property, potentially endangering others.
The main sticking point of the ordinance has to do with the large areas of undeveloped land that the city has annexed recently into city limits. The city is now about 18 square miles, including swaths of land to the southeast of Kuna proper. The concern is that this type of open land may be used for hunting or shooting but would be prohibited under the new ordinance.
Not wanting to prohibit that, council members directed city attorney Richard Roats to add language to the ordinance that would still allow hunting and shooting in open areas that are not yet developed.
But four farmers, who own large parcels of land recently annexed into city limits, testified during a City Council public hearing on Dec. 6 that they routinely use shotguns and rifles to shoot vermin and coyotes and put down cattle. They said that, as the ordinance is written, such activities that are necessary for their operations and protection of their land would be illegal.
Council member Rich Cardoza thanked the farmers for testifying. “It makes it easier for us to make a decision when we have feedback,” he said.
City Council members directed city staff to add language to the ordinance that takes into account the concerns raised at the meeting and to bring the ordinance back when it’s ready.