Three of the five towns in this valley have a money question headed for the November ballot, and eight days left to get it certified. Ketchum wants a bigger local-option tax. Hailey wants to fold its fire department into the county fire district. Bellevue has not settled on what it's asking for, and it's fielding a recall petition against its mayor at the same time.
Also this week: school opens Tuesday with 2,830 kids and a bus system two drivers short, a sow and two cubs are working the Draper, a 100-year-old in Elkhorn set three world records and shrugged, and the Music Festival plays its last note tonight. Here's the week.
Top of Mind
Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue each want something in November.
Blaine County has to certify ballot questions by Friday, Aug. 28 for the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election. Ketchum is in. The council gave final approval, 2-1, to a local-option tax measure that renews the LOT before it expires in 2027 and raises it: retail and building materials each go up half a point, lodging goes up two points, short-term rentals included. Cordovano and McGraw voted yes, Hutchinson no, Hall absent. It needs 60%.
Hailey is in, on a different question. Voters decide whether to annex the city into the BC South Fire Protection District, the last step in folding Hailey Fire, Ketchum Fire and BC South into one countywide district by Jan. 1. Simple majority. The county's own math says a full merger takes the countywide fire cost from roughly $60 per $100,000 of value down to about $31.
Bellevue is the one to watch, because it has two things racing the same date. The council still hasn't decided whether to send its levy increase to voters, and it meets Monday, Aug. 24 at 5:30, the last regular meeting before the deadline. Separately, a resident filed a recall petition against Mayor Christina Giordani citing the budget-meeting outburst, unpermitted riverfront work on Trout Lane, and two election-law violations. It needs 267 valid signatures, 20% of the 1,333 people who voted in 2025, certified by that same Aug. 28. Down-valley is going to have a loud fall.
Sources: Idaho Mountain Express on Ketchum's LOT, the fire vote, the recall and the levy
Big ideas for youth sports, built right here.
Secondslide gives clubs, schools and teams one place to handle registration, uniforms, gear, team stores and more, with less admin and more money staying close to the field.
Town Hall
CountySchool opens Tuesday, Aug. 25, with about 2,830 students and two new principals: Shaun Walker at Wood River Middle, Allison Barber at Silver Creek. The board passed a $77 million budget that already carries a planned $750,000 gap. The district expects it to reach $2.5 million next fiscal year and about $8 million the year after, and says closing it may take cutting up to 26 full-time positions by 2027-28. [IME]
CountyTeachers and the district broke a months-long impasse over pay. The dollar figure did not move: it's still the $1,195 payment for full-time staff, pro-rated for part-timers, that the district put in its July "last best offer." What changed is the shape. It now pays out over 12 months instead of all at once. The union votes next week, and the board considers final approval Tuesday, Sept. 8. [IME]
HaileyThe district is two to three bus drivers short, so routes got consolidated. Some Hailey pickups move 15 minutes earlier, some afternoon drops run up to 25 minutes later, and a few routes now start at 6:05 a.m. No neighborhood loses service. Superintendent Jim Foudy: "All students will still have a stop." Check the notice before Tuesday. [IME]
ValleyBears are down in town. A sow with two cubs was reported in Hailey's Draper Preserve around noon on Wednesday, Aug. 12, including a boardwalk confrontation, and a juvenile has been tipping cans in West Ketchum all week. Fish and Game says a bear can put away 20,000 calories a day right now, which is the whole explanation for your garbage. Secure it, pull the bird feeders, leash the dog. [IME]
KetchumTwo changes worth knowing before you drive them. Stop signs flip the week of Aug. 24 to 28: 4th and Walnut goes from all-way to two-way, Sun Valley Road and Second goes the other direction. And First Avenue closes completely between Sun Valley Road and 5th starting Tuesday, Sept. 8, for about three weeks. [City of Ketchum]
SawtoothsThe Washington Post reported that Michael Boren, now the Under Secretary of Agriculture over the Forest Service, pushed for a bigger air response to the Cabin Creek Fire in July, about 15 miles from his ranch near Stanley. Six current and former Forest Service officials called the response larger than typical for a seven-acre fire that was out in three days. USDA calls it a non-story. Seven acres is small. The principle isn't. [IME]
Out & About
Today and this weekend
Tonight, Thu Aug 20 Music Festival season finale at the Pavilion, 6:30, free. Mahler's First. That's the summer. [info]
Today, Thu Aug 20 Last Sigi & Sepp's Porch Series, Sun Valley Village, 11 a.m., free, no registration, this one with the Environmental Resource Center. Built for kids, runs an hour. [info]
Tonight, Thu Aug 20 Last Hailey Rocks of the season, Caitlin Krisko & the Broadcast at Hop Porter Park, 6:30 to 9, free, all ages. DJ afterparty at the Liberty at 9. [info]
Fri Aug 21 to Sun Aug 23 Artists' Studio Tour, sixth year, 38 artists, 11 to 5 daily, free. Four zones, Sun Valley to Bellevue. Maps at the studios or the Ketchum visitor center. [IME]
Fri Aug 21 The Arkentones at the Cutthroat Club, 200 S Main in Bellevue, 6 to 9, no cover. Every Friday through Sep 4, and it's the most reliable free music south of Hailey. [info]
Fri Aug 21 Bryan Speth at Birdies Snack Shack, 5 to 8, out on the golf course at 115 Thunder Trail. Kevin Ware next Friday. [info]
Sat Aug 22 Yoga at River Run, 9 to 10, free, all levels. Mat on the plaza, get there by 8:45. Every Saturday through Sep 5. [info]
Sat Aug 22 Wood River Farmers Market in Hailey, Roberta McKercher Park, 10 to 2, every Saturday through Oct 3. The Ketchum market runs Wednesdays noon to 4 at Forest Service Park. [info]
Sat Aug 22 Kameron Marlowe at the Pavilion, 8:15, doors 7:15. Ticketed, and net proceeds go to cancer research at St. Luke's and the Masonic Cancer Center. [tickets]
Sun Aug 23 Pop Up Pilates in Sun Valley Village, 10 to 10:45, free, no registration, raffle after. Two Sundays left in the season. [info]
Sun Aug 23 Honey Island Swamp Band at the Liberty in Hailey, 7 to 10. New Orleans swamp rock, billed as the last boogie of summer. [info]
Sun Aug 23 Fiamma's Sunday Supper with Viet Pham of Pretty Bird in Salt Lake. Seats through Tock and the earlier ones in this series sold out. [tickets]
Also standing, all free: live music at The Ram in the Sun Valley Inn, Wed to Sun 6 to 9. Live Music in the Pasture at Hotel Ketchum, Thu/Fri/Sat 5:30 to 7:30.
Coming up
Tue Aug 25, 5:30 Ketchum Run Club, free, all paces, up to four miles. Start point posts on Strava. This week they finish poolside at Zenergy: pizza and salads $15, $3 drafts, $6 wines, service to 7:30, Normatec units, a one-week membership raffled off. [info]
Wed Aug 26, 6 to 9:30 Wicked Wednesday at the Wicked Spud in Hailey. Free live music, every week, and the reliable midweek option down-valley. [info]
Wed Aug 26, 5 to 8 Summer Series finale at River Run, Kim Stocking Band, with Rotarun and the 5B Kids Fund. Music free, gondola $19 to sightsee and $27 to bike. [info]
Sat Aug 29 Sun Valley on Ice with Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the Olympic ice dance champions. Ticketed. Jason Brown skates Sep 5. [info]
Over Galena
Tonight, Thu Aug 20 The Sean Hatton Band closes out the Stanley Streetdance season on Ace of Diamonds Blvd, 6:30, free, all ages. Papa Brunee's and the Kasino Club host. Last one until next summer. [info]
Also standing: trivia at the Kasino Wednesdays 7:30. At Mountain Village, karaoke Mondays at 9 and family movie night Tuesdays. Music on the Lawn at Redfish Lake Lodge runs Wednesdays and Fridays 6 to 8 and Sundays 5 to 7, free, into early September.
Mark it down
Wed Sep 2 to Sat Sep 5 Wagon Days. Pancakes in Town Square Saturday 8 to 12:30, then the Big Hitch Parade at 1, Sun Valley Road to Main, six Lewis ore wagons behind a 20-mule team. Street party at 2:30. Free. [info]
Sun Sep 6 and Mon Sep 7 Bellevue's Labor Day Celebration turns 101. Two days in Memorial Park, Idaho bands, food and booths, parade Monday. Free. Vendor and parade applications are still open. [info]
The Dirt
River and fish. The Big Wood is 136 cfs at Hailey, 67% of the median for the date. Last week we said the percentage had broken downward. It went the other way. The river bumped to 149 on Monday and has already given that back; the number looks better because the 110-year August curve is falling faster than the river is. Silver Creek is 98 and 85%, up from 75. Tricos and Baetis mornings, Callibaetis in 16s and 18s after. [Silver Creek Outfitters]
Fire and air. No change: Stage 1 across the Ketchum and Fairfield districts, the SNRA and most of the county, north zone Extreme, south zone Very High. Campfires only in the agency rings at designated sites. The air is the good news. Ketchum read AQI 20 yesterday and DEQ's forecast, which finally updated after sitting on an Aug. 4 outlook for two weeks, has us Good through Friday. Grandjean stays closed. [Sawtooth National Forest]
Roads and the mountain. Southbound 75 has been detouring onto Second Avenue since Aug. 12 and the city put the end at Sept. 1. ITD's crews are on the Trail Creek Bridge, so expect short closures between Serenade and River. Stop signs change next week and First Avenue shuts Sept. 8. On Baldy, the gondola runs Wednesday to Sunday and the Bald Mountain Trail is closed for construction through September, so the summit is a lift ride, not a hike. [ITD]
Over Galena. The Salmon below the Yankee Fork is 494 against a median of 505, so 98% and the best number over the hill all summer. Valley Creek is 87 and 92%. Spruce moths in the morning, hoppers in the afternoon, and the mornings are cold enough now that the fishing has slid later. Stage 1 covers Custer County north and east of the SNRA. [USGS]
Open House
The valley's newest building is a garage. Storage Haus opened last week with 51 units in its first phase, heated and cooled, 14-foot doors and 18-foot clear heights, room to frame a mezzanine. It exists because there was nowhere here to park a boat or an RV under a roof. There's also a shared owners center with a patio, a barbecue and a conference room, which is the part that says what this really is: somewhere to keep the toys and somewhere to stand around talking about them. [info]
Elsewhere: Guyer Hot Springs is still continued to Thursday, Sept. 17 at 4:30, and Ketchum P&Z takes the development code rewrite back up today at 4:30 at City Hall. [IME]
Table Talk
Trail Creek Cantina is open at 220 N East Ave in Ketchum, and it is built for lunch, for locals. Thursday through Monday, 11 to 3, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Sandwiches named after drainages, mostly $12 to $17, chips and dip at $7, and you can order ahead. [info]
One thing worth booking early: Fiamma's Sunday Supper brings Stephanie Izard, the Iron Chef behind Girl & the Goat, on Sunday, Sep. 6, Labor Day weekend. [tickets]
Know a new spot or a shuttered one? Hit reply. Tips are how this section stays honest.
The Party Line
The valley's anonymous board. One tap, no name, and the link's at the bottom.
- Bellevue is running a levy question and a mayoral recall against the same deadline. Say what you want about this town. We are not boring.
- The bus now comes at 6:05. My kid has never seen 6:05. I have not seen 6:05 since college.
- To the guy who told me bear spray is for tourists: the bear does not know how long you've lived here.
- Two Ketchum intersections change which way the stop signs face next week. I give it eleven days before somebody clips a Sprinter van.
- School starts Tuesday and I have already bought the wrong size shoes. Third year running.
- Whoever runs the sprinkler on the bike path by the hospital: I have been rinsed at the same corner four times this month. I have started to enjoy it.
Have something to say? Submit anonymously → (one tap, no name required)
Charley French set three world records five days after turning 100. The Elkhorn resident turned 100 on Monday, Aug. 3. On Saturday, Aug. 8, at HardCore Training Center in Ketchum, he took the first three marks in Concept2's new 100-plus age group. He covered 100 meters on the SkiErg in 35.5 seconds. He posted 39.1 seconds on the RowErg, beating the standing mark by 10.3. Then he went 162 meters in one minute back on the SkiErg, in 44 strokes. His average power output is up 62% in a year, which is to say that at 100 he is still getting better at this. Asked how it felt, he said: "Not much. I don't have any feeling about it. It was just something Bill wanted me to do." [IME]
If you do one thing this weekend, drive the studio tour. It's free, it's 38 artists, and the map runs the length of the valley, so you can make a whole day of it in whichever direction you live.
Secure the trash. Check the bus notice. See you next Thursday.
The Bigwood Brief
Forward to a friend · Submit to The Party Line · Advertise with us