This may not surprise you, but occasionally, Cathy and I just take off driving to see what we can see. Last Friday afternoon we headed out north of town and decided to turn off at Mann Creek Reservoir. We then went north past the Mann Creek Campground and headed toward the lookout. Cathy was questioning my choice of driving this way. She was not that impressed with looking at trees that had lost their leaves and were now just “gray.”
However, in just a few miles we were into the evergreens and her opinion of the scenery changed. The trees were dusty from summer and fall road traffic, but the sight of the evergreens was refreshing.
A little ways later, I stopped to point something out to Cathy. At first Cathy didn’t understand what it was I was trying to show her but then she caught on. There, on a log, was snow. The snow had melted from the trees and the ground but had remained on the fallen log. About then, we realized that there were also a few flakes falling.
We continued on up and came to snow on the tree branches, followed by snow on the ground, followed by snow on the road. We stopped to get out and stretch. The dog loved the snow and kept checking out the creek, the trees, the snow, and whatever else she could smell.
Even though winter is cold and can become dreary, there is something about the first snow of the season that is just special. There is something about the brisk air on the skin and the need to bundle up. Maybe it’s because it is a change. Maybe it’s because the Holidays are coming. Maybe it’s just because we have an excuse to slow down. Whatever the reason, the first snow is special.
Well, so much for talking about the weather.
In City news this week, the Street Department will be finding out within the next week or two whether the City has been granted $2,000,000 to fund rebuilding parts of Commercial Street and repairing the Monroe Creek bridge.
As you may recall, Commercial Steet, as one of the older roads in town, was never designed to accommodate the semi-truck traffic that now uses this road. It was built for the much lighter trucks used three-quarters of a century ago. Also, the Monroe Creek bridge on Commercial Street is experiencing cracking and if left unchecked will require weight restrictions. Weight restrictions and commercial trucking do not go well together.
If these issues are not addressed the truck traffic now using Commercial will be using the State Highway one-ways, namely Main Street and Idaho Street, to go east-west in town. Due to the number of residences along Idaho and Main Streets, the City considers this project to be a safety priority.
The City should also be finding out shortly if we are the recipient of a grant to help fund a City-wide traffic study. The study would help identify potential choke points and possible solutions related to future growth within the City and surrounding areas. If we are not the recipient of this grant it is my understanding that there will be other grants available for the same purpose.
In other news, Wayne Wallace, the Electrical Department Director would like to thank everyone who called last Sunday morning to report the power outage. By identifying where you called in from, the Electrical Department was able to quickly locate the cause of the outage and save time in getting the power back up and running. Sooooo, THANK YOU!
Also, Mick Campbell, the Public Works Director, would like those of you who use the small trash cans to wheel cans off the curb and into the street. Also, please do not place the cans between or near cars. The garbage truck lift arms require room to pick up the cans. Nearby cars and the hydraulic arm are not compatible companions.
Also, if you live in a cul-de-sac, please move the cans further into the street than just off the curb. This will then accommodate the turning radius of the garbage truck. Our drivers and our insurance company will thank you.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope the cooler weather isn’t too much of a shock after the beautiful fall. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play!

Hello Everyone! It’s been a few weeks since you have heard from me. A lot has gone on.
For one thing, the Idaho Hospital Association held their annual conference in Sun Valley. Cathy went with me as she usually does and had a nice time. For me, it was mainly sitting in sessions and furiously taking notes as information was presented. What I learned was worthwhile and had application not only to the hospital, but much of it could be applied to managing the City as well.
The most enjoyable part of the trip for me was driving back through the Stanley Basin and Loman with the fall colors. It was gorgeous.
Something else we did in the last couple of weeks have the grandsons overnight. I’ve mentioned before that it is interesting to watch their interests change as they get older. The thing that was most notable this time was their interest in art and painting. We have taken them to a local art shop before to paint treasure boxes and little wooden toys and they have enjoyed this.
However, this time was different. They painted pictures. One was on a blank canvas and the other on a blank wooden puzzle. The canvas was a ghost scene for Halloween and the blank puzzle became a picture of a Seattle Seahawks football helmet lying in the grass. I know Cathy and I are slightly prejudiced when it comes to these boys, but I thought the pictures were quite good for their ages. We just might have a couple of junior Michelangelos on our hands.
Well, now on to City business.
It is not only the Stanley Basin and Loman area that look great this time of year, but Weiser looks awfully good as well with the leaves turning. Which brings up the subject leaves falling.
For those of you who might not know, the City provides you with a leaf pickup service. All that you need to do is to rake your leaves into the street next to the curb. The City will come by throughout the fall to vacuum up leaves. The leaves are then taken to the County Transfer Site where they are disposed of.
That being said, there are a few things to know that make the process work best with the least amount of disruption and expense to you as a taxpayer.

1. If you do not have a curb, rake the leaves onto the pavement at the side of the street. The City uses a vacuum. If leaves are not on the asphalt, rocks and dirt will be vacuumed into the blades.
2. Do not have anything mixed in with the leaves. Again, sticks, rocks, and other objects will damage the fan blades and cause stress on the clutch.
3. Do not park on or drive through leaf piles. Squashing the leaves, especially if they become wet, and even worse, freeze, makes it much more difficult to vacuum the leaves. Also, cars are difficult to vacuum under, much like your furniture.
4. Do not pile leaves in the alley to be picked up with the alley clean up. You may not be aware, but the County Transfer Site requires different materials to be separated, including leaves. Leaving leaves in the alley requires the crews to separate the leaves out from your yard waste which increases costs.
5. Do not include grass clippings in with the leaves. The grass is denser than leaves and causes stress on the vacuum’s clutch, which tends to be sensitive and easy to blow out.
6. Here is a new one: Do not place cinder blocks or bricks on the bottom of your pile to keep cars from driving through your leaves. This may not only be hard on the City’s equipment, but it may result in a car permanently disabled on your leaves.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you are enjoying this wonderful fall weather! Have a great week!

I was reminded of the need to stay in shape this weekend. I knew I had not been exercising as much as I normally did. I was half-heartedly getting some exercising now and again, but not the way I should.
So, despite this, when our daughter wanted to schedule an overnight backpacking trip for her birthday, Cathy and I of course said yes. We met up with our daughters and grandsons in Horseshoe Bend Saturday and drove about 12 miles east of Loman to Ten-Mile Creek.
The weather was beautiful, the country was great, the terrain wasn’t bad, there was a hot spring at the end, and of course, the best part was spending time with the family.
It is fun watching the ways the boys find to entertain themselves; finding rocks to slide down into the hot springs, looking for woolly worms, attacking their dad when he wasn’t looking. The boys are old enough now that they can carry most of their own gear. They are starting to get self-sufficient and are such a pleasure to be with and to watch them develop both physically and mentally.
However, I felt less self-sufficient because I had let myself get out of shape. Carrying a 35-pound backpack is not as fun when you are not prepared. Also, I was a little less fun to play with because of my lack of energy. Lesson learned. That is motivation for me to get back into the exercise routine.
Now to move on to City topics.
Timbra Long, Weiser’s Librarian Extraordinaire, would like to let you know about a new reading program coming called “Let’s Talk About It.” The purpose of the program is for people to read new books then meet and discuss the books with other readers. It is a great way to meet other people and explore ideas.
The way the program works is like this. The program is limited to 25 people. The Library will receive 25 sets of 3 different books over a three-month period. The first book, “The Best We Could Do,” is read by each person. Then the group meets to discuss the book. A professor from Boise State University will be there to lead the discussion and possibly point to aspects of the writing that the reader may not have noticed. The leader is well versed in each of these novels and should be able to provide significant insight into each of the authors and their stories. (Don’t worry, even though it is a professor leading the discussion, there are no grades.)
At the end of the discussion the next book, “Verge”, is then passed out and the process is repeated. The final book is “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.”
Each of these three award-winning books are on entirely different subjects and in different styles.
If you are open to experiencing something new in your reading, or are interested in meeting other people, or simply would like to do something different this fall and winter, please contact Timbra or any of the librarians at Weiser’s Public Library located at 628 E. First St. or call at 208-549-1243 to reserve your place in what should prove to be a very interesting reading experience.
Well, that’s it for this week. The weather is great right now to get out and exercise. And yes – I will be taking my own advice.

Wow! Talk about realizing that you’re old! I survived my 50th High School Class Reunion this last weekend.
It was great to see the people I had spent my high school years going to classes, playing sports, playing in band, and just plain goofing around with.
The interesting thing about going to reunions is that the older you get the less comparing or being compared with others is done. There is less sense of competition seeing where each other is in their careers and lives. At this point, what really matters is that people are healthy and life is going well.
A 50th reunion is one of those milestones in life that makes a person stop and pay attention. First, that we’ve made it this far. Second, that time and ability are on the downhill slope (Hopefully the ability hangs in there. Can’t do anything about the time other than use it wisely.) Third, that there were too many in our class who had already left this life.
So, this weekend was a good time catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was also a time of reflection about life, friendships, and what we have to be thankful for.
Part of my thankfulness has to do with you as members of the City of Weiser. I am thankful that you have allowed me to be your mayor. I am also thankful that as long as at least one person votes for me and there are no write-in challenges, I will continue to be your mayor for another four years. You help keep my mind sharp and I feel privileged to serve you. THANK YOU!
And now onto City business.
Ron McDaniel, working in the Street Department, is telling me that they will be patching streets furiously from now until they can no longer get asphalt or that they have all the patching done. Normally, the Street Department would spend the summer working on patching as soon as the weather warmed up enough to keep the asphalt workable. However, with the infrastructure dollars currently injected into the economy, the asphalt companies have struggled to keep up with the large projects, let alone producing small batches for patching.
So, now that the asphalting season is winding down and asphalt is available, the Street Department is repairing as much road as possible while we can.
Speaking of street maintenance, if you would like to see what 1,700 tons and $46,000 of rock looks like, just take a look at the pile of gravel on State Street just north of the Hillcrest Road cutoff to the highway. The City purchased this to be used next year for doing much needed chip sealing on streets in town.
It has been around ten years since the City has done chip sealing and we are behind. The reason for postponing this maintenance was to accumulate enough funds for the City’s grant match to upgrade W. 9th Street. Once that project was done, it has taken some time to save enough funds to buy rock (which is almost double the cost of when we last purchased as sizable load.) So, next year we will begin chip sealing.
I know that a newly chip sealed road is not pleasant to drive on, but it sure does extend the life of the road and is much less expensive than new asphalt.
In other news, Timbra Long, the Head Librarian, wants all of the kids to know that Friday, September 29 from 11:00 to 1:00 the Library will be showing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Free popcorn will be available. So, if you are kid, come on out and enjoy the movie with your friends! (When Timbra spoke of this in our weekly management meeting, I had to keep telling everyone this was for the kids, just the kids, only the kids!)
Also, you may be interested to know that Pickleball lines have now been painted on two of the Memorial Park tennis courts. If you are one of those interested in this game, go pickle away and have fun!
Well, that’s it for this week! Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play.

As some of you may know, Cathy has spent much of her time over the past 8 years watching two of our grandchildren while their mother taught. She has thoroughly enjoyed being with them, being involved in their development, and teaching them since Cathy is a retired teacher herself.
So, it was with a little bit of grief, mixed with an equal amount of relief, that the youngest started kindergarten this year. She wasn’t sure what she would do with so much time on her hands, but then she found that the Hospital needed a grant writer. So, Cathy threw herself into using her research and writing skills for a good cause while still having plenty of time for herself.
However, last week Cathy got a call from our daughter. It turns out that the youngest grandson needed some Grandma time. So, on Friday the two of them had the day to themselves doing whatever they wanted to do. They even roped Grandpa into taking them for pizza that evening. I think they both had a great day! And Grandma had a happy heart.
Friday was also the deadline for filing to get one’s name on the City Election ballot for this November. There are three 4-year City Council positions open, a 2-year City Council position, and the Mayor position. At 5:00 on Friday there were six candidates who had filed for the three 4-year positions including incumbent Larry Hogg, Herb Haun, Kerry Nyce, Susan McCoy, Christina Stanley, and Katie von Brethorst. There was one candidate to file for the 2-year position, Margie Chipman. Congratulations Margie!
On the Mayor’s position, it looks like you will be stuck with me for another four years since there were no other candidates to file. I look forward to continuing to serve you to the best of my abilities.
In City matters this week, Pat Malay from the Street Department had Mike Campbell and me meet him at Memorial Park to take a look at the beloved hillside above the football field. The hillside grass is dying due to a weed that is choking out the grass. As the weeds die out in the fall the hillside turns brown. This is the reason the hillside looks much different than the rest of the park.
There are two choices in dealing with this issue. We can either let it stay the same and watch the weeds spread. Or we can kill a section at a time, water the section to make the weeds grow again, kill it again, and replant grass.
To me, in order to have a healthy park, the only choice is to kill and replant. However, this will cause some inconvenience.
We will probably divide it into three sections starting at the north end. This will allow the hillside to be continued to be used for football home games this season. This would also have the hillside ready for the baseball season in the spring. The football section would then probably be replanted in the spring.
However, killing and seeding the norther section this fall might require this area to blocked off for snow sledding this winter. The southern portion above the football field would still be open, but any kid will tell you that the sledding is much better on the steeper north end. We will have to see how strong the grass is and how deep the snow is this fall before a decision can be made.
Also, for those of you who might be interested, the City has an opening for a part-time clerk in the front office. If that is something you might be interested in, please contact Natasha at City Hall, or call 208-414-1965.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you are enjoying this great fall weather. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play!