Oppenheimer Development wants 614 homes on the Flying Hat Ranch, the farmland east of Highway 75 between Hailey and Bellevue. It takes two separate cities to say yes. It's been a fight since July, and the public gets its first real look at the plan on the 15th.
Also this week: nobody filed for a Bellevue council seat, and the write-in deadline is tomorrow at five. Ketchum put $4.15 million into two housing deals in seven days. The city is mapping which streets an avalanche would reach. The Wildhorse Fire is out at 107,562 acres. The Big Hitch comes down Main on Saturday, and Labor Day is getting rained on. Here's the week.
Top of Mind
Somebody wants to build 614 homes between Hailey and Bellevue.
The project is Blaine Crossing. Alongside the homes: a hotel, light industrial and commercial space, and about 25 acres of athletic fields for the rec district. The annexations run 108.8 acres into Hailey and 118.7 into Bellevue, and the developers open the plan to the public at The Mint in Hailey on Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 4:30 to 7.
It's been a fight since July. Hailey's council approved an annexation review agreement on July 13, which approves nothing: the developer pays $35,000 for city staff and consultants to run traffic, floodplain, avalanche, wildlife, water rights, and fiscal impact studies. Five days earlier, County Commissioner Lindsay Mollineaux had called it "a bad deal for Hailey's residents and businesses" in a guest opinion, arguing it would cannibalize Main Street with a second commercial hub and draw millions of gallons a year off ground that's irrigated a few months. Mayor Martha Burke said she and her planning staff felt "insulted." Councilman Sage Sauerbrey put the process plainly: "We can still say no."
Here's the odd part. Doug and Skip Oppenheimer made their case in the Express on Tuesday and it's entirely a housing case: the valley is short, people who work here can't afford to stay, and concentrating homes near infrastructure beats sprawl. All defensible, and they never say how many homes, how many are deed-restricted, or what any of them cost. Mollineaux's case never reaches a tax number either. The only hard number anybody has published is 614, and both arguments are built on top of it without touching it. For scale, Hailey has 3,751 households. The open house on the 15th is the place to ask. And the question worth bringing isn't whether the valley needs housing. It's how many of the 614 a teacher or a line cook could actually afford.
Sources: the IME on the unit count and the review agreement, on the exchange with the county, and on the open house, plus the guest opinions by Mollineaux and the Oppenheimers
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Town Hall
BellevueNobody filed for one of the three council seats on the November ballot. Tammy Davis and Genoa Beiser filed for reelection and neither drew a challenger. Suzanne Wrede is stepping down after nearly two years, and her seat drew nobody. Write-in candidates have until Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 115 E Pine: $40, or five signatures from registered city voters. If nobody files, Interim City Clerk Chloe Sullivan says the mayor nominates in January and the council confirms. [IME] [City of Bellevue]
CareyThe Wildhorse Fire was contained Sunday at 107,562 acres, and crews expected it controlled by 8 p.m. yesterday. An infrared flight Saturday evening found no hotspots. It was down to nine engines and 26 people by Monday, with two dozers on rehabilitation work. Lightning started it southeast of Richfield on Aug. 24 and it ran for two weeks. [IME]
KetchumPhase two of the city's urban avalanche study came back to the council last week. Consultant Don Sharaf pitched a three-tier alert system, On Alert, Prepare, and Take Action, plus a paid avalanche adviser out of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center. Phase one named the paths: Warm Springs Road, Lower Board Ranch, the back of Dollar, Gimlet Hill, Della Mountain, Frenchman's Bend, and Galena Summit. Mayor Pete Prekeges balked at taxing people for something that may never happen. [IME]
KetchumNo votes were taken on the fiscal 2027 wish list, but it's worth reading. A one-way Fourth Street, which is the mayor's version; Councilman Hutchinson wants it closed to cars entirely. A pathway down Second Avenue. A roundabout at Warm Springs and Lewis. Building heights in the Light Industrial District up from 48 feet to 58. And the parking sensors, installed last year, coming back out. [IME]
BellevueThe Urban Renewal Agency built its budget around a $650,000 grant it's chasing for the Historic Downtown Alleyway Improvements Project. Alley money sounds like nothing until you've walked one. [IME]
Out & About
This week
Tonight, Thu Sep 3 Engineering the Lewis Big Hitch, 5:30 to 6:30 at the Ore Wagon Museum, 580 4th St E. How the rig works, two days before it comes down Main. [info]
Tonight, Thu Sep 3 The Sun Valley Suns launch the 2027 calendars at Grumpy's in Ketchum, 5 to 7, all ages. $25 each or $45 for both, signed, with the money going to the team and youth hockey.
Tonight, Thu Sep 3 Bugs and Brews at the Sawtooth Brewery taproom in Hailey, 6 to 7:30, free. Entomologist Jackson Birrell on what's hatching on the Big Wood, talk at 6:45, flies at the vise, $5 raffle. Fishing guides drink free. [info]
Fri Sep 4 Wagon Days, Friday. Sun Valley history bus tour 10:15 to 11:15. Cowboy poetry 1 to 4 at the Ore Wagon Museum. Grand Marshal reception at 5:30 in Ketchum Town Square, free, with food and drink. [info]
Fri Sep 4 First Friday at the Sun Valley Museum of Art with Sawtooth Strings, 5 p.m., free. Afternoon Art for families runs at 2:30 at the museum, also free. [info]
Fri Sep 4 Movie on the Lawn: "Cars" on the Pavilion Lawn at 7, free. Earlier, free music on the Boiler Room patio Friday and Saturday afternoons, the Mark Mueller Trio and Wildwoods. [info]
Sat Sep 5 Wagon Days, Saturday, and this is the one. Pancakes in Town Square from 8, run by the 5B Kids Fund. Horsemanship demonstrations at Champions Meadow and kids' activities at East and 4th, both at 10. The Big Hitch Parade steps off at 1 at Sun Valley Road and Main. Street party at 2:30 in Town Square with Susie Brown. Free to watch; reserved seating is sold online. [info]
Sat Sep 5 Yoga at River Run, 9 to 10, free, all levels. Register ahead and be there by 8:45. Last one of the season. [info]
Sat Sep 5 Sun Valley on Ice with Jason Brown, the outdoor rink, ticketed. Last show of the summer run. [tickets]
Sun Sep 6 Portugal. The Man at the Pavilion. Social Animals at 6:30, headliner at 8:15, doors at 5:30. Ticketed, and it's the last big night of the season. [tickets]
Sun Sep 6 and Mon Sep 7 Bellevue's Labor Day Celebration, year 101. Gates at noon both days, vendors and food in Memorial Park until 7. Sunday at 2 it's the first ever Bellevue's Got Talent, an open mic for all ages, no audition, sign up first. Monday the Grand Parade lines up at 10 and rolls down Main at noon. Free. [info]
Every week
Sat 10 to 2, Wed noon to 4 Wood River Farmers Market, twenty-fifth season. Hailey Saturdays at Roberta McKercher through Oct 3, Ketchum Wednesdays at Forest Service Park through Oct 7. [info]
Fri 7 to 9 Live music at G-Man's Mountain Eats in Bellevue, running through the end of summer.
Wed to Sun, 6 to 9 Larry Harshbarger on the piano at The Ram in the Sun Valley Inn, free. [info]
Wed 6 to 9:30 Wicked Wednesday at the Wicked Spud, 305 N Main in Hailey, free.
Fri 5 to 8 Live music at the Birdies snack shack on the Bigwood course, 115 Thunder Trail. Worth Gibson plays tomorrow, Adam Williams on the 11th, Graham Fuze on the 18th.
Coming up
Sat Sep 12 Women's clothing swap at Bluebird Village in Ketchum, 10 to noon. Everything is free and the leftovers get donated. Drop-offs run through Sept 10, at Hemingway School in Ketchum and 401 Tendoy in north Bellevue, washed and labeled by size.
Mon Sep 14 Chairlift Co opens in Ketchum, a somatic and breathwork studio. Classes start the 14th. The launch party is Thursday, Sept 17: a free 30-minute breathwork class at 5:30, spots limited, then food and drinks at 6. [info]
Thu Sep 17 Henry Diltz at the Sun Valley Opera House, 5:30, ticketed. He was the official photographer at Woodstock in 1969, 1994, and 1999. [tickets]
Sun Sep 20 The Board Bin's 4th Street Block Party, 3 to 7, back for another year. Dual slalom skateboard race down 4th, live music, food from Johnny G's Sub Shack, and a silent auction of decks painted by local artists. It raises money for the SVSEF snowboard team.
Wed Sep 23 to Sun Sep 27 "School of Rock" at St. Thomas Playhouse, 201 Sun Valley Rd. Wednesday through Friday at 7, Saturday at 2 and 7, Sunday at 2. Tickets are on sale. [tickets]
Thu Sep 24 Plant Bingo at the Sun Valley Garden Center, 771 N Main in Bellevue, 5:30 to 7:30, $30. Six rounds, every player leaves with a plant, winners get another. Come early for 10% off in the store. Space is limited; register at (208) 788-3533.
Sat Sep 26 The Baldy Hill Climb, forty-eighth running. Hike it, run it, or race it, with a KinderClimb for kids and a Community Cup for business teams. [info]
Over Galena
Fri Sep 4 and Sun Sep 6 Music on the Lawn at Redfish: Alexa Sluder Friday 6 to 8, Phunk Shui Sunday 5 to 7. Free, Lakeside Grill serving through both. These are the last two of the season. [info]
Fri Sep 4 and Sat Sep 5 Bo Depena Band at Velvet Falls, Mountain Village, 8 p.m. both nights, free. [info]
Sat Sep 19 The Sawtooth Valley fire department's Fireman's Ball at Velvet Falls, 7 p.m., with live music. Ticketed, and it's the kind of thing a town that small throws once a year. [info]
Wed 7:30 Trivia at the Kasino Club, 620 Ace of Diamonds Blvd.
Mon and Tue At Mountain Village, karaoke Mondays at 9 and family movie night Tuesdays. [info]
Mark it down
Fri Sep 18 and Sat Sep 19 Ketchum Oktoberfest, Friday 4 to 8 and Saturday 11 to 8 at Champions Meadow, which is in Sun Valley despite the name. German beer, German food, and a cornhole tournament. [info]
Wed Oct 7 to Sun Oct 11 Trailing of the Sheep, thirtieth year. Tickets are on sale now and the good ones go early. [info]
The Dirt
River and fish. The Big Wood is 121 cfs at Hailey, 68% of the median for the date. That's five cfs lower than last week and three points higher as a share of normal, because the median for the date fell from 191 to 178 in the same seven days. The river isn't recovering. The calendar is coming down to meet it. Silver Creek is 88 cfs, 82%, and read 59 degrees late morning. Cool water, dropping flows, and clear conditions, which is the combination that turns trout aggressive. [USGS]
Fire and air. Wildhorse is contained, and two smaller lightning starts are out: the Adams Fire, a Douglas fir snag on the ridge between Warm Springs and Adams Gulch, knocked down from the air Aug. 22, and the Casino Fire five miles southeast of Stanley, 4.7 acres, controlled Aug. 26. Stage 1 restrictions still hold across the Ketchum and Fairfield districts and the SNRA under order #0414-00-032. Contained is not the same as done. [Sawtooth NF]
The weekend, hour by hour. Thursday is cloudy and 64 with a 40% chance of rain. Friday clears to mostly sunny and 67. Saturday is sunny and 72, which is parade weather you'd order from a catalog. Sunday hits 74, then turns over: showers and thunderstorms overnight, and rain and thunderstorms likely on Labor Day itself, 60%, high near 67. [NWS Pocatello]
Roads and the mountain. First Avenue closes Tuesday, Sept. 8 between Sun Valley Road and 5th for mill and overlay, and stop control changes at three Ketchum intersections that same week, Sept. 8 to 11. On Baldy, the Bald Mountain Stewardship Project has cleared dead and dying trees off more than 600 acres and cut 50 acres of new glades in Frenchman's, Greyhawk, Cold Springs, College, Warm Springs, Seattle Ridge, and Olympic Ridge. [IME]
Over Galena. The Salmon below the Yankee Fork is 455 cfs, 102% of the median, and Valley Creek is 93 and 108%. Both above normal, which is more than the Big Wood can say. Floating and swimming closures for spawning salmon still run through Sept. 22 under forest order #0414-04-164, reach by reach, so call the Stanley Ranger Station at (208) 774-3000 before you put in. [Sawtooth NF]
Open House
Ketchum put $4.15 million into housing in seven days, two different ways. The council voted unanimously to pay the Wood River Community Housing Trust $1.25 million for first call on ten deed-restricted apartments inside the 81-unit River Bend project, restricted for 65 years, with the first $500,000 due Wednesday, Sept. 16. Some of the ten carry no income cap for full-time local employees, retirees, or people with disabilities; the rest run 80% to 120% of area median, $69,440 to $104,160 for two people. Separately, the Urban Renewal Agency approved a $2.9 million purchase at 700 N Washington that could carry 13 more. The council bought priority in a building somebody else is putting up. The agency bought the ground. [IME] [City of Ketchum]
Table Talk
Labor Day is the hinge, and a lot of summer hours don't survive Monday. The Roundhouse is still serving lunch at 7,700 feet Wednesday through Sunday, 11 to 3, on a schedule that ends with the season.
Fiamma's Sunday Supper brings Stephanie Izard, the Girl & the Goat chef, on Sunday, Sept. 6. The earlier dinners in that series sold out.
Birdies at Bigwood is on back-to-school hours, Thursday through Sunday, 11 to 7, with music at the snack shack Fridays from 5.
Know a new spot or a shuttered one? Hit reply. Tips are how this section stays honest.
If you do one thing this weekend, be on Main Street at one on Saturday. Twenty Shire draft horses come up the street pulling the Lewis ore wagons. Not one engine in the whole parade.
Then go to Bellevue on Monday anyway. Bring a raincoat.
See you next Thursday.
The Bigwood Brief
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