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Monday, May 20, 2013

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Obituaries, A5 Keep up-to-date with us, comment on our Facebook page at facebook.com/Idaho.Press.Tribune

THAT SINKING FEELING$250,000 lost after invested in fraudulent Las Vegas company

By JOHN MILLERThe Associated Press

BOISE — As Wil-liam Corbett was pre-paring a final federal elections disclosure for his boss, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, in October 2008, he said there was something important he wasn’t told.

Crapo’s then-campaign manager, Jake Ball, shifted $250,000 from a campaign account to another account at now-defunct Washington Mutual that was controlled by Ball’s friend, a Boise real-estate investor, for a loan. Corbett, who was leaving as Crapo’s volunteer treasurer at the time, said Ball kept him totally in the dark.

Please see Crapo, A4

Sen. Crapo’s campaign plagued by loose controls

Alexa Aguilar will attend the University of Idaho this fall

By NICK GROFFngroff@idahopress.com

© 2013 Idaho Press-TribuneThere is at least one thing that is

pretty obvious about Alexa Aguilar: She’s a leader.

The Skyview High School senior was even recognized by the Nampa Chamber of Commerce for her ef-forts. She was honored with the Fu-ture Leader of Excellence Award last Tuesday.

Aguilar is a co-captain of her dance team — it took the state crown this year — and vice president of the school’s chapter of National Honor Society.

She has also volunteered with Saint Alphonsus, the Salvation Army and the Rotary Club, among other organizations, all four years of high school.

The senior boasts a 4.03 GPA and has taken more than 10 advanced placement or concurrent college credit classes. She will attend the University of Idaho in the fall. She plans to study computer science and would like to work for a major tech company like Google or Apple, or an independent company incorporating green energy into society.

Please see Kid, A3

Skyview senior a known leader

How DoES A SINKHoLE oCCUr?The water moves below the highway or other

surface, and as it flows, it carries away the fine sand and silt, which leaves spaces between the

larger materials. If the flow is heavy enough, the larger materials move too. As the materials move

out, they leave a void at the depth of the flow.The “roof” of the void will gradually work its

way higher, as material from the top falls into the flow and is washed away. When the roof moves high enough, the surface is unsupport-ed and caves in, especially if a heavy weight travels across it, which is why cars and trucks accelerate the cave-in.

wHAT Do AGENCIES Do To PrEVENT SINKHoLES?Other than regular road maintenance, trans-

portation workers stay on the lookout for soft spots and running water that could cause sinkholes. “We know what to look for and treat it quickly,” Bryant said.

How CommoN ArE SINKHoLES?Fortunately road sinkholes are not very common locally. Nampa Highway Dis-

trict crews take action like the work on Can-Ada Road about once a year, District Engineer Eric Shannon said. And there is no way of knowing if that

situation would have ultimate-ly caused a sinkhole.

CAN A VEHICLE CAUSE

A SINKHoLE CAVE IN by DrIVING oVEr THE roAD?Yes, according to Bryant.

“About 20 years ago I saw a car fall into a sinkhole at Cole Road and Ustick,”

Bryant said. “There was no warning sign at all until the car’s front wheels dropped through

the pavement.”

How CAN yoU IDENTIFy AND rEPorT SINKHoLES or PoTENTIAL SINKHoLES?

Sometimes road indentations can be the asphalt trying to act like a bridge over the sinkhole for a short time. Other times there’s suddenly a pothole in the road, and when you look into it you can’t see the bottom.

Please see Sinkholes, A3

Roadway collapses are rare, but transportation workers need your help preventing them

By MIKE BUTTS | mbutts@idahopress.com | © 2013 Idaho Press-Tribune

W

hat are the chances a roadway sinkhole gob-bles up you and your vehicle?

Very slim, according to highway transpor-tation officials.

But sinkholes do cause road damage beginning this time of year and they can be dangerous. The spring, when agricultural irrigation has started and gophers

are more active, often brings more road sinkhole potential.

Last summer a Melba woman died when her car hit a sinkhole on Butte Road.

Earlier this month workers for the Idaho Transportation Depart-

ment fixed a sinkhole east of Marsing on State Highway 78. No one was injured.

Last week Nampa Highway District workers repaired a portion of Can-Ada Road where gophers had dug underneath the pavement and water from irrigation flowed through the holes. The incident created poten-tial for a road sinkhole cave in.

All three of the above circumstances were caused by gopher holes.

Other circumstances can also cause sinkholes. In each case, road and highway agencies could use residents’ help in identifying potential or actual sinkholes, even though there is little in the way of warning in most cases.

wHAT CAUSES A roAD SINKHoLE?“Soft spots” in a road usually are the result of uncon-

trolled water moving below the surface, ITD Maintenance Coordinator Dan Bryant said. A broken pipe, worn-out culvert, a spring or subsurface flows from heavy precipita-tion or fast-melting ice and snow are common culprits. So are water flows through gopher tunnels.

Page design and illustration by Randy Lavorante/IPT

mike CrapoU.S. senator

KID yoU SHoULD KNow

IPT file photo

Alexa Aguilar was presented with the Future Leader of Excellence Award at the Nampa Chamber’s Evening of Excellence May 14.

SPUrS bEAT GrIZZLIESrandolph struggles, memphis routed in Game 1 SPorTS, b1

SwIFT ToP AT bILLboArDArtist wins eight trophies, bieber nabs three at awards show NEwS, A5

OneRepublic, Sara Bareilles co-headline Botanical Garden’s last summer concert with special guest Serena Ryder

By DAN LEAae@idahopress.com

©2013 Idaho Press-TribuneBOISE — All good things

must come to an end. The 2013 Outlaw Field Summer Concert Series at the Idaho Botanical Garden caps off another blockbuster season Sunday with co-headliners OneRepublic and singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles. They’ll be joined by Juno Award-winning artist Serena Ryder.

OneRepublic is touring in support of their third studio album, “Native,” which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart when it dropped in March. Praise has poured in for the album and the hit single “Counting Stars.”

Please see Outlaw, C2

CHECK IT OUTWHAT: OneRepublic and Sara

Bareilles with Serena Ryder at the Outlaw Field Summer Concert Series

WHEN: 6 p.m. SundayWHERE: Idaho Botanical GardenTICKETS: $40, at the Botanical

Garden box office, (866) 468-7624, ticketweb.com or knittingfactory.com

By DAN LEAae@idahopress.com

©2013 Idaho Press-TribuneNAMPA — Rock icons Alice In Chains

and Jane’s Addiction headline the fourth an-nual Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival that invades the Idaho Center amphitheater Thursday. The day-long hard rock music ex-travaganza boasts a stellar lineup of multiplat-inum superstars and breaking talent. Seminal alternative rock bands Coheed and Cambria and Circa Survive will join Alice In Chains and Jane’s Addiction on the Rockstar Energy Main Stage.

The Zippo Encore Festival Stage will host performances from Walking Papers (with Duff McKagan), Middle Class Rut, Sick Puppies and Danko Jones. The COLDCOCK Herbal Whis-key Showcase Stage will feature performanc-es from breaking talent including The Dead

Daisies, Beware of Darkness and Charming Liars, as well as the 2012 Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands winner Chuck Shaffer Picture Show and this year’s local winner.

Please see UPROAR, C3

Rockstar Energy UPROAR Festival WHEN: 12:55 p.m. ThursdayWHERE: Idaho Center amphitheater, 16200

Idaho Center Blvd., NampaTICKETS: $45/advance, $49.50/day of

show, at the Idaho Center box office, TCBY locations, 442-3232 or ictickets.com

MORE: Exclusive interview with Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney at bit.ly/XVL0FB; UPROAR video clips at bit.ly/UPROARTV

On the townTONIGHT:

Picnic at the Pops ‘Americana’ concert tonightEAGLE — Last weekend’s “Space” concert sold out as more than 1,800 patrons flocked to the

picturesque outdoor amphitheater at Woodriver Cellars, two miles north of State Street/Highway 44 on Highway 16, to listen to the Boise Philharmonic’s second Picnic at the Pops

performance of the month. Tonight, Maestro Robert Franz and the orches-tra join forces with the 100-voice Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale for “Americana,” featuring the “1812 Overture,” “Lincoln Portrait” and “Stars

and Stripes Forever.” The concert will also unveil the world premiere of “Sacred Land,” by Idaho composer Jim Cockey with choreogra-

phy danced by Ballet Idaho. The music was commissioned to celebrate the Boise sesquicentennial.

Patrons can bring a picnic dinner or pur-chase food and libations from Wood River Cel-lars. Tickets to the 8 p.m. performance range

from $20 to $175 with children as low as $5, available at 344-7849 or boisephilharmonic.org.

Please see On the town, C3

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Arts & Entertainment

Rockstar music festival invades Idaho Center amphitheater Thursday

Time for an

ALICE IN CHAINS

OUTLAW FIELD FINALE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2013

C MY KC MY K

PAIN, SET, MATCHDjokovic clinches quarterfinal but injures ankle SPORTS, B1

Samantha Rodriguez passionate about DREAM Act immigration reform

By NICK GROFFngroff@idahopress.com

© 2013 Idaho Press-TribuneSamantha Rodriguez is

about to experience a few “firsts.”

Tuesday will mark the first time she’ll ride in an air-plane. It will also be the first time she travels out of Idaho. And this spring, she will be the first of her fam-ily to graduate high school.

Please see Kid, A4

Melba High senior will present in front of U.S. Congress

Republican Thayn, Democrat Durst on faster path for high school students to college

By HANNAH FURFAROThe Associated Press

BOISE — When the Sen-ate Education Committee convened in a basement wing of the Capitol during the 2013 Legislature, Sen. Steven Thayn and Sen. Bran-den Durst took their seats at opposite ends of the panel’s long, mahogany-stained ta-ble, separated as much physi-cally as they may seem politi-cally and personally.

Thayn is a demure, con-servative 59-year-old former Spanish teacher from the town of Emmett, with eight children and 18 years under his belt as a dairy farmer.

Durst is a 33-year-old Dem-ocrat from Boise’s southeast side, notably outspoken and a partner at a marketing and political research firm during the legislative offseason.

Please see Lawmakers, A4

Odd couple lawmakers team up on ed bills

Read the story on A3

Photo illustration by Randy Lavorante and Aaric Bryan/IPT

Monday, April 8, 2013Monday, April 8, 2013

Classifieds ������� C4-6Comics ��������������� C3Legals ����������� C7-14

Lottery �������������� A2Movies��������������� A2Opinion ������������� A6

Weather ������������ A2 DeathsThelma JordanBob Brooks

David Taylor Obituaries, A5

Keep up-to-date with us, comment on our Facebook page at facebook.com/Idaho.Press.Tribune

‘BUSY’ FIRE SEASON AHEAD

Samantha Rodriguez

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPSLouisville plays Michigan in the men’s final tonight, while Cardinals women’s team advances to title game SPORTS, B1

Idaho Press-Tribune • Monday, April 8, 2013 A3idahopress.com

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STATE/LOcAL nEwS

866520

Experts: 2013 will be ‘typical’ fire season

By IDAHO PRESS-TRIBUnE STAFF

newsroom@idahopress.com

© 2013 Idaho Press-TribuneBOISE — Simply Cats’

mission is to care for, protect and find quality homes for the cats entrusted to their organization. The group’s purpose is also to reduce cat overpopulation through spaying and neutering and provide educational com-munity outreach programs promoting the humane treatment of all animals.

IPT: What does Simply Cats do?

Simply Cats Adoption Center: We are a no-kill or-ganization, we are unique in many ways. Our adoption center is cage-less, there-fore, the cats do not have to spend their “residency” here in cages. We utilize the ASP-CA’s research based Meet Your Match™ program, where a cat’s “Felineality™” is matched with its poten-tial adopter’s lifestyle. This process leads to more suc-cessful adoptions. We are the only adoption center in Idaho utilizing this program

for cats.We maintain strict veter-

inary procedures and stan-dards, thus maintaining healthier cats and kittens. Our adoption fees include spay or neuter (all cats are altered prior to adoption), veterinary exam, vaccina-tions, deworming and mi-crochip.

IPT: What is the history of Simply Cats?

Simply Cats: Simply Cats got its start (with just six cats!) as Just Strays Animal Foundation, Inc. in a one room office in the late 1980s.

Thanks to a very dedicated group of people, the shel-ter grew and moved into a larger building. By 2005, the name of the shelter was changed to Simply Cats Adoption Center to reflect its feline-only animal popu-lation. Simply Cats operated in this space for four years while plans were underway to construct a brand new adoption center. Thanks to generous founders, by 2007 our new state of the art facil-ity was constructed, donat-ed and has been our home ever since.

Our current facility houses 10 cage-less adop-tion rooms with an indoor-outdoor (contained) con-cept. At any one time, each adoption room generally houses 8-10 cats. In addi-tion, we have three smaller indoor only adoption rooms that we utilize as necessary. The building also houses designated quarantine, isolation, and holding and exam room areas. These designated ward rooms are utilized for sick cats and cats awaiting veterinary approv-al to be put out for adoption.

IPT: How does Simply Cats raise money?

Simply Cats: Our organi-

zation has two main fund-raisers annually: The direct mail “No Show Ball” and our casino-style gaming event, “Catsino”, where we hold a raffle and silent/live auction each year. We also offer many opportunities for members of the public to sponsor cats, which allows them to provide for the care of that sponsored animal. We accept monetary and in-kind donations throughout the year. And we also receive several small private grants that assist with our funding.

Simply Cats Adoption Center is a not-for-profit organization that relies en-tirely on donations for fund-ing. We do not receive any government funds.

IPT: How do you spend your funds?

Simply Cats: In 2012, Simply Cats spent over $113,000 on cat care expen-ditures that included veteri-nary care, food and supplies and medical supplies. Our average cost for cat care was $91 per cat per month, with an average of 104 cats per month in residence. With these funds, we were able

to save a record number of cats and kittens, taking in 502 and adopting out 474. This reflected a 35 percent increase in adoptions over 2011.

Because we do not eu-thanize for space, we treat many more illnesses than most other feline rescue organizations. This also in-creases our costs.

IPT: What can local residents do to help Simply Cats?

Simply Cats: In addi-tion to monetary donations, there are many ways in which the public can help, such as donating in-kind items from our “wish list” – this usually includes cat beds, toys and other useful items for our facility (the list can be found on our web-site); volunteer – we rely on volunteers to maintain the function of our organiza-tion and facility; or foster a cat or kittens. Each year we are looking for special peo-ple that can assist us with fostering a litter of young kittens, a pregnant momma or a cat that may need addi-tional socialization.

Simply Cats finds good homes for local felines

Officials don’t expect as many wildfires this year, but dry grass can still create high risks

By nIcK GROFFngroff@idahopress.com

© 2013 Idaho Press-Tribune

E

xperts predict the looming wildfire season will be “busy” — as is usual for southwestern Idaho — but it likely won’t

hit “benchmark” status like 2012.Shelby Law, predictive services meteorolo-

gist with the Bureau of Land Management, said it is difficult to closely predict the coming month’s fire season, but a few clues add accu-racy to the predictions.

“We’re below normal on precipitation, therefore snow pack is not very good either,” Law said. “The weather forecast is going to keep us near normal as far as temperature and precipitation goes, which is good. There isn’t a really dry or warm period coming up this spring.”

More than 1.4 million acres of Idaho land burned in 2012, costing more than $150 mil-lion. The “benchmark” season, Law said, is a result of a “bumper crop” of grass, or fuel, carried over from 2011. That crop only carries over about one year — it should not add to this year’s fuel level.

However, as July and August nears, long-term dryness in Idaho mountains could pose a problem, she said.

“I doubt it will be a repeat of last year. It will be a busy season, but that’s typical,” Law said. “It’s pretty early to do any major predictions, but I’d be very surprised if we had a year like last year.”

Fire Mitigation Specialist with the BLM Boise District, Nick Yturri, said the area has already seen a number of small fires, and one in March south of Boise that burned about 750 acres.

He said a lack of spring precipitation has slowed “fuel loading,” or grasses drying out and greening up.

If precipitation levels do not pick up, and temperatures continue to rise, grasses will cure out — turn green, die, then dry — earlier, he said. At that point, grasses are prime fuel for range fires.

The BLM prioritizes life, property and natu-ral resources, in that order, Yturri said. One concern for any fire in the area is Sage Grouse habitats and grazing allotments.

“We try to suppress every fire that comes our way,” Yturri said. “It’s a no-win situation if you just let (fires) go, even if it’s in the middle of nowhere, we try to put them out.”

Yturri said the BLM works with more than 50 rural and volunteer fire depart-ments in Idaho, cooperates with county and city departments, the Idaho Department of Lands and the Boise, Payette and Sawtooth national forests.

Fire crews battled blazes that scorched more than 1.4 million acres of Idaho land last year. While this summer is not expected to see the fire activity of last year, according to experts, a dry July and August could still keep crews busy.

Kari Greer/US Forest Service file photos

PREVENTING HUMAN-CAUSED FIRESn Take personal responsibility around homes. Clean up dry vegetation and hazardous fuels.n Use only marked trails when using ATVs.n Take caution when shooting target practice. Sparks can be emitted.n Extinguish campfires cold to the touch.n Secure trailers. Road-side starts can come from dragging metal on roads.If conditions are right, Nick Yturri with the BLM Boise District said, an acre of range land can be up in flames in a matter of seconds or minutes.

2012 FIRE SEASON BY THE NUMBERS

113: “Large” fires in Idaho61: Caused by lightning or natural causes49: Caused by humans3: Undetermined cause1,483,440: Acres burned approximately$150,445,825: Approximate cost of seasonMay 21: First fire. Human caused, 121 acres, $10,000Oct. 14: Last fire. Human caused, 137 acres, $56,000.3 acres: Smallest fires, White and Bear fires started by lightning. $1,000 a piece. Aug. 8.327,984 acres: Largest fires. Mustang Complex fire started by lightning. $38,323,413. July 30.

SOURCE: Predictive Services at Eastern Great Basin Coordina-tion Center

A COMMUNITY UNITED

Submitted photo

Simply Cats Adoption Center shelters more than 100 cats and kittens at any one time. It operates with the hard work of a small staff and over 100 dedicated volunteers.

SIMPLY CATS ADOPTION CENTER

n 2833 S. Victory View Way, Boise

n Adoption Center hours: Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.

n info@simplycats.orgn simplycats.orgn 343-7177

E. Idaho police tracking leads in triple slaying

BOISE (AP) — Names found in records associ-ated with a dogfighting ring and marijuana grow-ing operation at an eastern Idaho residence where two men and a woman were shot and killed are provid-ing leads, an eastern Idaho sheriff says.

“We believe that they knew who the killer was,” said Oneida County Sher-iff Jeff Semrad on Sunday. “There’s no evidence there was a robbery.”

The bodies of 61-year-old Brent L. Christensen, 32-year-old Trent Jon Christensen and 27-year-old Yavette Chivon Carter were discovered Friday outside Holbrook, a town of about 400 people just north of the Idaho-Utah state line.

Brent Christensen is Trent Christensen’s fa-ther, and Carter is Trent Christensen’s girlfriend. The sheriff said the couple had a 2-year-old and an infant, who were found unharmed, the infant un-der the arm of Carter. The children have been turned over to one of the grand-mothers.

Beekeepers across state deal with bee deaths

BOISE (AP) — Higher rental fee prices for honey bee hives are helping to offset an accelerated loss of bees due to a variety of ail-ments, a commercial bee-keeper in southwest Idaho says.

Nick Noyes of The Honey Store in Fruitland tells the Idaho Business Review that crop growers are trying to help by creating conditions more conducive to bee sur-vival.

“We had some pretty good years in the last cou-ple of years, so it’s difficult to preach too much doom and gloom,” said Noyes.

Bee experts say a myste-rious affliction called col-ony collapse disorder has been killing bees across the nation.

The United States De-partment of Agriculture said average losses of 33 percent of managed bees occurred every winter through 2011. However, that fell to 22 percent in 2012.

“We raise more bees to keep the same amount,” said Scott Hamilton, a com-mercial beekeeper with S&W Honey in Nampa.

Walter Sheppard, Wash-ington State University Department of Entomol-ogy chairman, said that on average about one in four bees dies before its time in each colony. He said in some years, as much as half a hive will be destroyed by a combination of varroa mites, poor nutrition and the effects of certain pesti-cides.