Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two scheduled to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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COLFAX — Whitman County commissioners are expecting a $4.2 million budget shortfall next year.
The expectation was explained during a regular meeting Monday, Dec. 13, on the proposed $38.1 million budget.
The meeting included approval of the 2025 budget as well as discussions on the financial status of county funds and projects.
Whitman County Chief Financial Office Jessica Jensema estimated the county budget shortfall for 2025 to be $4,183,472.
But she noted the shortfall doesn’t accurately reflect county finances.
“I do not believe that will be the case in 2024,” Jensema said, adding that with some big adjustments, she does not expect that to be the actual outcome of the budget next year.
“We have this big variance between what actually happens and what is in the budget, and I expect it to be less than a million dollars for a deficit,” Jensema said.
Jensema said she believes revenues are under budgeted.
Commissioner Art Swannack said commissioners should address the under-budgeting of revenue and the over-budgeting of expenses and get a better handle on actual finances.
Commissioners are planning additional budget workshops at the start of the year to address the discrepancies.
Commissioner also heard reports on the status of multiple county funds.
The accounts and fund balances reported are as follows:
American Rescue Plan Act obligations — $996,238.04.
Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund — $104,231.
Veterans Service Officer expense through the end of 2026 — $132.64
Mental Health and Palouse Counseling — $200,000.03.
Boys and Girls Grant contract award through the end of 2026 — $171,900.78. “I have a feeling they’ll spend that before then,” Jensema said.
Remaining jail upgrades — $24,705.01. Jensema noted the upgrades are complete, but the bills have yet to be paid.
Kamiak drinking water project — $595,094.18.
Commissioners unanimously approved and passed the obligations.
— Teresa Simpson, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
Chief Hotel sign comes down
CASCADE, Idaho — The bright neon sign reading “Chief Hotel, Restaurant & Lounge” that has hung over Main Street in Cascade for years came down last week.
The 1,300-pound sign measuring about 15 feet tall was located on the building that now houses the Palooza Base Camp and Eatery, a restaurant and hotel owned by father-daughter duo Jeff and Sydney Tyler that the family purchased in June 2021.
Repairs are needed on the front of the building and the sign had to be taken down to complete those, said Sydney Tyler.
Because of a lighting ordinance enacted by the city, the sign could not be put back up again without significant, and likely impossible alterations.
“It has definitely been a little emotional,” Tyler said.
“It was a huge part of this building that has been such a journey for my family, and I have so much respect for the others who have lived in this town for a long time and have seen that sign often when they drove by, or got groceries,” she said.
The sign was sold last week. The buyer and sale price were not disclosed.
The sign was originally installed on the front facade of 112 North Main St. in 1946. The original was taken down in 1984. A replica was installed in 2000 and hung there until last week, according to records from the City of Cascade.
Approval of the sign in 2000 required a conditional use permit because the old sign did not comply with the city’s signage rules, said Cascade Mayor Judith Nissula, who chaired the Cascade Planning and Zoning department at the time.
In 2019 the city adopted a dark sky ordinance to preserve the view of stars in the night sky above Cascade. Despite being in direct violation of those rules, the sign was one of several exempt from the ordinance and allowed to remain in place.
“That sign could have stayed there forever,” Nissula said.
But the city’s dark sky rules require any sign that is taken down to be brought into compliance with the ordnance before it can be put it back up.
Now that the sign is down, it will stay down. Because of the sign’s design, there was likely no way for the Tylers to bring it into compliance with the ordinance.
To do so, they would need to change all the light bulbs to meet the ordinance, add shielding to prevent light from shining upwards into the sky, and other modifications that would be difficult to achieve given the size and shape of the sign.
Besides the technical complexities of shielding a 15-foot-tall sign from the night sky, the colossal sign has become a costly safety issue.
“The building needs siding repair, so the sign had to come down to repair the siding no matter what,” Tyler said.
“We are planning to do the siding repairs to the building as soon as possible to keep this building revitalized, and in working order. We are working with a local sign maker to create a code complaint sign for Palooza Basecamp & Eatery,” she said.
One of the bulbs caught fire recently, and the Tylers decided the risk of yet another building on the block catching fire was not worth the risk.
The Watkins Pharmacy, formerly located on the same city block, burned to the ground in February 2022. The building that formerly sat between Palooza and the pharmacy was also destroyed by a fire.
In a 2022 interview Tyler told Idaho News 6 that they planned to keep the sign.
Reflecting on that interview, she said recently that “I never expected a fire to result from it—putting the whole building at risk. That really changed things for me.”
— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
