The Mayor’s Corner 05/30/18

Mayor Diana Thomas

Memorial Day weekend is usually seen as the official beginning day of summer. The traffic along Hwy 95 this past weekend would certainly be evidence of that. We continued to see heavy traffic going through town on the highway all weekend, thus showing the need for additional safety measures along the north-south to northern Idaho.
The AAA and the National Safety Council, along with other traffic safety organizations label the days following Memorial Day as the “100 deadliest days for teen drivers”. Teens are more likely to be carrying friends in their vehicles and out later at night during the summer months. The risk of crashes increases, too, because the weather is warmer and clearer and speeds tend to increase along with the number of drivers from June to August.
Even though much of the media emphasis is on teens, we all know adults are not always the best role models for good driving practices. A large number of adults will admit they use their phones and other apps while driving either by holding their phones in their hands or using hands-free speakers. Unfortunately, parents are prone to text or call to check on their kids even when they know the teens are likely to be driving and they expect the teen to answer. According to AAA statistics, “driver distractions, such as talking on cell phones and texting contribute to 58.5% of the crashes”.
Please put your phones aside and encourage your teens to do likewise. It’s not worth the loss of one life.
Alley cleanup begins this week on the west side of town and will progress as the weather permits. Remember garbage such as tires, sofas and mattresses are not part of the alley cleanup. The Adopt-a-Truck program is available in the evenings and on the weekends for large projects. Remember not to mix materials in these loads.
The Street Crew will continue to get the town spruced up for Fiddle Festival by painting curbs and crosswalks. Please watch for signage and drive carefully.
Two-a-week garbage pick up is scheduled to begin the week of June 4. A new driver is being trained to cover part of the routes. We appreciate your patience as the schedule gets worked out. As usual the planned scheduled at this time is Monday-Thursday pickups and Tuesday-Friday pickups. If you have questions, contact the City office.
The City Electric crew will have a scheduled outage on this Thursday, May 31 that will affect some residents in the area of Hanthorn and E. 4th Street. The outage is planned from 9 am until 1 pm. If you have any questions or concerns contact the office. Residents being affected will receive direct notification. Than you for your patience.
I received an email that the Weiser Youth Symphony Summer Pops Concert has been moved to Saturday, June 2nd at 7:30 pm at the Snake River Heritage Center. This is always a fun night with lots of outstanding talent on display. If you have an open evening the $5 admission is a bargain.
Fiddle Contest is coming soon. The City crews are working to get the city cleaned up before the third-full week of June. We encourage residents and businesses owners to join with us in cleaning up for our visitors. If you have an elderly or disable neighbor, this is a great time to offer help to spruce things up.