Byron Yankey's blog

Boise's first Flash Mob!!!

Sounds like fun! Don't miss the pictures of Boise's first ever group pillow fight.  While events like this occur in more "sophisticate cities", this is Idaho's premier event.  It makes me chuckle. I think that is because of the clandestine pillow fights my brothers and I had while we were growing up.  Let me share a lesson learned from one memorable battle... if the hem of a feather pillow bursts, there is no way your mom is not going to find out...

Good Choice for Editorial Board

A new community member for the Statesman Editorial Board has been named.  Christine Donnell will bring experience, perspective, and a never ending commitment to our community.  I have had the privilege to work with Christine as an elementary principal colleague,as my superintendent,as a member of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce and now as executive director of the Idaho Business Coalition for Excellence in Education.   Few have her experience, and even fewer have her ability to focus on the future.

Republican Leaders need some automotive advice...

"We gave the old car a tune up...

In a press release jointly issued by Governor Otter, Senate Pro Tem Robert Geddes, and Speaker Lawerence Denney we find this quote:

"To draw an analogy to a typical Idaho family, we didn’t buy a new car or remodel our kitchen, but we gave the old car a tune-up and reinforced the foundation of our home.”

If the last legislative session was a tune-up, then I think the entire state is in trouble as we wait to see what more will come next January.  The only measure of success I can see from the last session is to say, "it could have been worse...I think..."

Not yet....

I will return to regular blogging next week...
                                           in the mean time... read Chris's
theunequivocalnotion    It is the best!

Be back soon...

This is my busiest time of the year...

This year it is even busier as schools and districts deal with cut backs and staffing changes resulting from the aftermath of the legislative session. That is what fills my day in addition to the end of school testing, events, meetings, and planning and planning...

I'll be back writing nearly every day next week. 

One quick story.... 

Tonight I stopped on the way home to get Chinese take out. It was nearly 7 pm and I had left for school at 5:30 this morning.  As I waited for my food to arrive, I looked around the restaurant and noticed a "seventy-something" couple sitting at a nearby table.  They both had on unusually nice clothes for a week night in Canyon County.  There was polite laughter,warm smiles and the aroma of Old Spice.  As I was leaving I heard the man say, "I always put new batteries in my hearing aids when I go out with a new girl...."  Love springs eternal!

It's over...it's finally over

It's Mother's Day and at least half of the news print across the state contains an autopsy of the legislative session.  Late Friday afternoon, I talked to several people who had spent much time at the Capitol Annex.  In the first 15 minutes I heard the phrase, "it could have been worse"  at least twenty times.  The trouble with that phrase is that there is another perspective..."it could have been better."  Political pundits and professional journalists are welcome to analyze the session down to the molecular level.  For me it comes down to this...it could have been better, much better.  The session was filled with missed opportunities and unkept commitments.  Idaho voters should expect better.

What do we have to show for this legislative session?

How the Idaho Legislature affects you

10 things lawmakers didn't do to you

 

2009 Legislature wasn't pretty

From Twin Falls:The 60th Idaho Legislature: A Report Card

From Pocatello:  Analysis of Idaho Legislature

From Lewiston: Butch Who?

Simply The Best and Easiest Peanut Butter Cookie Ever

    These cookies are amazing and tastes great.  They have not flour and really, anyone should be able to remember this recipe.  See what I mean.

Place 2 cups of any kind of peanut butter into a mixing bowl. I like chunky the best. Add 2 cups of sugar and mix well.  Next add 2 eggs one at a time. When the batter is smooth, add 2 teaspoons of soda. And finally, 2 teaspoons of vanilla.  Did you get the pattern...2 of everything.

Scoop and roll the dough in sugar.  Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment of lightly sprayed with PAM.  Use a fork to add the traditional cross hatched pattern. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Make certain the tops of the cookies are set and not soft and shiny. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the cookie sheet.  These cookies are very soft and tender and break easily if you do not let them cool completely.  

Platypus

They say the platypus is an animal that was designed by committee using left over parts. If that is the case, then the new transportation plan is a platypus.

As reported by Betsy Russell,

"The deal appears likely to clear the way for the session to adjourn Thursday - two days short of the 118-day record - even though it wouldn’t raise the state’s gas tax, as Gov. Butch Otter had demanded, and it leaves funding sources for the state’s big annual shortfall in road maintenance uncertain."

"Overall, the plan is estimated to raise an additional $54 million a year for roadwork, starting two years out in fiscal year 2011. But a large chunk of that amount - $21.2 million - would come from shifting funding for the Idaho State Police and the state Parks and Recreation Department off the highway fund. A task force would have to come up with a new funding source for those two agencies by the start of next year’s legislative session, or the money would come from the state’s general fund."

It's not over yet until the votes are in and until the Governor signs all of the parts and pieces. This plan has great potential for bigger problems. Shifting funds is just what it says, money is moved from one source to other sources.  And here is a great endorsement from Senator Dean Cameron,

“We’re nervous about the potential impact on the general fund down the road, and pushing off some difficult decisions. At the same time, we’re all frustrated and cantankerous. This will allow us to get out of here and maybe think more clearly about a permanent solution.”

Let's think for a moment...the last shift to the general fund was education.  We can see how well that worked out.  When a stable revenue source is replaced by a vulnerable one; problems result.  Few Republicans ever considered the possibility that general fund revenue could be diminished when the economy tanks and unemployment explodes.  Of course they were all counting on McCain to be president.

This plan is not a solution.  It is a "let's get out of town and we will fix it later" plan. That might work if anyone had confidence that the same people responsible for this mess could solve it later.  Confidence seems to be in short supply right now.

Popkey Profiles

As always an insightful perspective from Dan Popkey.   Denney, Moyle, Bedke and Roberts...it sounds like that name of a high powered lawyer firm.  I believe I'm not the only one who would love to listen to some of the behind the scenes conversations of this quartet. 

Who will make first string?

Kevin Richert writes a"Who's Who's in the Republican Party" has he raises the issue of the next Republican Primary. I predict many will speculate for months as to how this session will influence the next elections.  That promises to add to the political theater that sometimes goes away as soon as legislators return home.

An early predictor will be the ability of various players to raise campaign funds. Conflict such as we have seen during this session will push the cost of state and federal elections to record breaking levels and exaggerate the potential influence of lobbyists and special interests with money.  Oh, goody...maybe all that will speed our economic recovery.