I see that the St. Anthony Police department even after laying seveeral officers off still don't have enough to do. They still have to leave the town and go hide under the bridge on the 4 lane to go after speeders. The Chief complained that he wouldn't have enough manpower to take care of city businss. It appears he must have more than enough staff to take care of city business, if he can send them down under the bridge to hide. It is interesting the County and State officers don't HIDE under the bridge. They park where they can be seen thus being an automatice reminder for drivers to check their speed and slow down if needed. When someone ignores their being in plain sight they pull them over. The City officers are good at hiding out instead of being upfront and visible in town. Time to cut them all and just contract with the county, since the city officers want to do county and state work instead of what they were hired to do. I suppose it makes them feel pretty proud hiding to write tickets to out of...

We are in tough financial times and it seems every state agency is taking some hard hits. Positions lost, time off without pay, offices closing and services cut. Last year the state took money from its war chest to support education. This year the state has used most of its reserves and is tapped out. Its time education stepped up to the plate and excepts some responsibility. Education believes they are the Holy Grail and should be excluded from budget cuts. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Along with that now we are hearing some folks in IP wanting another new school. Don't you think it time to take care of what you have and quit whining about what you don't.

We have a new man stepping into the Mayors office. I have high hopes that under his guidance our city counsel will take a long look at some of the programs our city has in place. We are spending somewhere around a half M. dollars a year on the police force. There are other areas of duplication of services that should be looked as well. I would like to wish them good hunting.

I see by changing the format for bloggers on The Standard Journal Newspaper articles, they must have accomplished what they wanted. To stop people from commenting on what is written. That is to bad. Jeers to the Standard Journal.

I am outraged by what I've just read in this news story. I encourage all to browse to http://rexburbia.com/2009/09/23/soldier-gets-mocked-by-sugar and read for yourself. We can't let our soldiers be treated like this, especially our young recruits, otherwise what will happen to the volunteer military we depend on so much?

We the people deserve and should have the same health care as Congress period. Not what ever they shove down our throats. EITHER WAY WE THE PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE WHAT THEY (Congress) HAVE NO IF'S AN'S OR BUTT'S

I SUGGEST SCOTT KAMACHI START RUNNING FOR MAYOR NOW. HE HAS THE BUSINESS SENSE FOR THE JOB AND HE PROVED IT WHEN HE WAS ON THE COUNCIL BEFORE. BRYAN HAS PROVED HIMSELF AS BUDGET MINDED AND THAT HE WAS REASONABLE AND PRUDENT WHEN HE WAS THE POLICE CHIEF. HE WOULD MAKE A GOOD MAYOR ALSO. HOWEVER IF HE WILL CONTINUE ON THE COUNCIL AND SCOTT AS MAYOR WITH A COUPLE NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT KNOW HOW TO SAY NO THIS CITY COULD TURN AROUND IT'S SPENDING AND IT'S IMAGE. FIRST THING TO CHANGE THE IMAGE WOULD BE TO GET A NEW POLICE CHIEF THAT KNOWS THE PEOPLE AND HAS A GOOD HEAD ON HIS SHOULDERS. THAT WOULD BE AN EASY PICK, APPOINT LUKE DAVIS AS POLICE CHIEF IF HE WOULD ACCEPT. HE IS JUST THE MAN FOR THE JOB. A LEVEL HEADED COMMON SENSE INDIVIDUAL. HE GREW UP HERE, HE KNOWS THE COMMUNITTY AND IT'S PEOPLE. HE HAS THE GOOD SENSE AND GUTS TO CLEAN HOUSE WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND TO BRING BACK THE WELL KNOWN AND KNOWLEDEABLE IMAGE IT HAD STATEWIDE PRIOR TO THE FORMER CHIEF'S RETIREMENT. GARTH PROVED HE WASN'T MAYOR...

A civil rights case against Fremont County has been settled. Seems Jordan Carter got mouthy with the deputies daughter who was a ride along guest in the patrol car. I think it would have been really good if Deputy Griffel would have gave him a right good thrashing. Maybe Jordan Carter would have learned some manners.

Isn't it nice the St. Anthony Police Chief now has an Assistant to do his menial chores for him. The Assistant is paid $400.00 per week? How in the world did Bryan Fulmer ever do his job with way less pay and no chore assistant. Oh that is right Bryan served the taxpayer not the other way around. What is the Police Department Budget now?

Word is that freedom of press or speech is not allowed in Fremont County buildings. Our famed Joette ordered removal of some papers in Island Park at the County Shed? The employee first ordered by Skip and then Joette refused to do so. HIS DAYS COULD BE NUMBERED SAME AS ANY OTHER EMPLOYEE THAT IS WILLING TO STAND UP TO THEM. Fear and Intimidation are wrong! IT IS TIME FOR THE EMPLOYEES TO STAND TOGETHER AND FOR THE TAXPAYERS TO BACK THEM UP AND STAND WITH THEM TO STOP THE INTIMIDATION. UNITED THEY CAN STAND DIVIDED THEY WILL FALL HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT. If anyone has more information please post it. Has this job gone to Skip and Joette's head. We know it has gone to the little man and now these two. Mr. Miller please help the people of this County. Step up to the plate and stand up for the taxpayers andespecially the County employees working under fear and intimidation.

Parker-Egin Elementary second- and third-graders present "The Cheese Stands Alone." They are the students of Sandra Angell and Chris Brown. The music teacher is Jeffrey Coletti.

The St. Anthony Police chief is now wanting a seventh Officer on his staff. According to what has been said by him in the Law Enforcement Building. 7 Officers and 1 Chief is a little over the top for the small town of St. Anthony. One thing about it if he keeps spending the City will be broke. Plus the more staff he has the more pay he will get to supervise them. Does a town of this size really need that many Policemen/women? The Chief has mentioned to some of the Council, the ones he has now don't have enough to do on night shift. That is why they issue parking tickets at night. I am sure he thinks can justify it to some, I just hope the Council doesn't buy into it. It begs to ask, how do the towns like Ashton, with 2 Policemen, Teton, 0, Newdale 0, Parker 0 survive. I realize the populations are different. Is this town that crime infested. How has this City managed to survive for so many years? Is St. Anthony 4 times the size of Ashton to justify 8 policemen including the Chief? Does that include...

It is my understanding that the County Commissioners gave Mr Vance Derricott a pink slip and he no longer is a member of the P & Z commission. That is what happens in this county when you run contrary to the opinions of the high and mighty commissioners who think that they are the only ones who have a worthwhile opinion. It is too bad that the only way to get rid of a commissioner is to recall or vote them out of office on election day. They only know two things - one is to spend somebody else's money (exa- their extra ordinary pay raise), and how to penalize someone who does not follow their warped thinking. I hope at the next election, voters in Fremont County will wise up and leave two of the three commissioners at home.

It has been stated that the Mayor of St. Anthony is 3 and a 1/2 years behind on his taxes. It is a fact at the Fremont County Treasures office.

Question,

If a person is going to hold an elected office in government, and decide how to spend tax dollars that honest taxpayers have paid, should they be allowed to do so, if they owe taxes thenselves? Taxes that they cannot or will not pay.

Does it matter the excuse as to why they have not paid, if they hold an elected office.

Should they step down unless they pay all back taxes in full?

Are our elected leaders supposed lead by example?

Should they be held to a higher standard if they are an elected offical?

Is it right to oversee taxdollar budgets if not paying your own taxes? It is legal to hold the office but is it the right thing to do?

Just wondering peoples thoughts on this.

We recently ran an article that made us groan, “Not again!”
It was “Family: Steiner had no Trigon connections,” which appeared on the front page Jan. 23. The article quoted people trying to discredit a rumor spread by another news organization.
Just to narrow down where this rumor came from, the TV reporter cited “sources.” That’s it.
This is the same mindset we’ve written about before — when a 10-year-old girl gave birth in April, government and law enforcement officials were tight-lipped about the details. They wouldn’t even confirm it happened. Plenty was said off the record, but finding an official who would put a name to a statement was next to impossible. But the news must go on, so the information about the young mother was given to the TV stations through “sources,” or to be more specific, “sources close to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.” That still could have been anybody: an official from another agency or a janitor who overheard something while cleaning toilets, perhaps. It could have come from...

Recently there have been several opinion articles critical of the St. Anthony Police Department. Since most attacks seem to be of a personal nature, I'll start with some background and then address what's been levied.

I was born on an Indian reservation in Montana, lived in eastern Washington (Pasco), the California East Bay Area, France, Utah, Alabama, upstate New York, southern Arizona, Korea, Texas, and Los Angeles County where my wife’s parents lived at the time we moved there. We finally came to a place that feels like home, here in St. Anthony, where most everyone seems friendly and generally happy. My great-great-grandparents helped settle this area. My mother was born in Idaho. My parents live about three hours from St. Anthony where my Dad was born. I have lived and worked in smaller towns than this one. I have a master's degree in public administration, am a retired US Army Miltary Police (MP) Lt. Col., and have worked under Federal, New York, California, and Arizona laws. I have an Advanced Idaho...

As it starts out, we the people refers to all Americans. But lets look at we the people. Over 2oo years ago we (Americans) stood against tyranny. Over 60 years ago we (Americans) stood against tyranny again in the Islands of the Pacific, the Fields of Europe and the Deserts of Africa. The free press of the United States was beside us, keeping us informed dying at times for the truth. Now the Standard Journal (the free press) can't understand what? The rights of the people. I see no investigative reporting, only reacting with opinion. And it's not the opinion of the community of St Anthony it's more Rexburg bla, bla, bla. Anything to get the attention off of your city. Not only do we want our city back, we want our police department back, our clerks back we also want our own paper back the one that you took out. Get it straight Bill Beck told the residents (we the people) to go to hell. Then he threatened a citizen before he walked out, and the Chief of Police saw this crime in progress and did nothing. I saw...

Well the dust hasn't even settled on the recall and the Ex-Mayors old cronies are lining up to take his place. So how will council members that failed to protect the rights of the citizens who entrusted them now step up and make it right. Will Garth Rose or Woody Anderson remove Jim Smith the current Chief of Police? I doubt it, same ward you see. The key points of the citizens outrage is not the enforcement of laws but the selective enforcement of laws. Let the people decide, lets have a vote thats all a recall will do is bring it to a vote.
We have about 340 people who want the Chief of Police removed and most would like to see Ex-Chief Fullmer back at the helm.
I find it a little presumptuous for Council members who are facing recall to nominate or appoint themselves without the publics support. But maybe we cant afford an election.
Thanks Scott and Bryan for stepping in and good luck.

I attended the city counsel meeting last night. It was interesting to see the counsel at work. They have moved on never missing a beat. I think Garth Rose did a good job of following the agenda in a timely manner. I hope the city counsel will soon select a new mayor. The group needs to get down to the difficult busness of a good house cleaning.

After reading for countless days how racist and bigoted Rexburg is I think it is time for everyone to take a deep breath and relax. Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill. Yes, it was wrong what a few kids said and one should never wish harm on other person but this was an isolated incident and should not be used as a representation of this community. This community does more for those in need than any other community around. With that said, I find it interesting that there was never any big deal made about the last 8 years. A hollywood movie made about assassinating President Bush and all the liberal websites and blogs and protest marches wanting Bush dead. I'm sure there was never any assasssinating chants of Bush on school buses in Chicago, New York or San Francisco.

Just a thought. If you're going to make remarks regarding the quality/expense of education in our area, perhaps you should see to your own first. In the above comments, you made numerous mistakes in your usage, punctuation, and spelling. I'm not an educator, but it looks as if maybe more money should have been spent back when you were in school to insure that you learned how to convey your thoughts so that they are taken seriously?

Spug wrote;
danl, Sorry I don't write and express my self to your satisfaction. I am sure your much better educated than I. Your absolutly right they should have spent more money back when I was in school so I could convey my thoughts so they could be taken seriously. Maybe you could help me out here by editing my grammer, punctuation and thoughts and that way my comments would say what you would like to hear.

Read a good article on the SF News web site that discusses the recent happenings and "Where do we go from here". The new mayor and city counsel has a big job ahead of them to sort out the nonsense that has transpired durning the years of the Beck reign. The first place the new Mayor and the counsel should start is to stop the bleeding with the budget and other city resources. Until the budget is under control and the rains are tightened on the dept. heads nothing will change. Hard decisions will have to be made by the new new mayor and city counsel that will probably require some house cleaning. Most of all the city needs to run a transparent operation.

As a school employee, it was fascinating to see what many parents teach their children about our voting system. If your
man doesn't get in, you can assassinate him. Kill Obama, kill Obama....Obama kill's babies!!!!!!!Obama will make us wear jerseys!!!!!!Obama will take away our guns!!!!!! Obama is going to make us wear uniforms!!!!!!! We need to kill, Obama!!
These were not isolated occurrences, this involved high-school students and on down to elementary aged students. Shame on you!

Beck resigns in stunning fashion you ‘He said the town can go to hell,’ councilman says afterward

ST. ANTHONY — Mayor Bill Beck resigned from his office at the beginning of a City Council meeting in a surprise move Wednesday night.
Councilman Bryan Fullmer said that Beck entered the meeting and resigned, then walked out of the building after making brief remarks directed at the city Council saying your to stupid to work with. Beck told the audience he was tired of people who were too stupid to understand. Really puts things in perspective of Bill Becks opinion of himself and other ha. This move is typical of the superior attitude by which the former mayor run the city. Good Job Bill, you finally got it right.

I have a couple of questions about the St. Anthony Police Department. Was the current Chief of Police hired to be an administrative chief? I have heard that he thinks so, but that is not what was advertised. Why have we lost all of the senior officers in the department? A couple retired (did they really want to or were they forced out?) and two others resigned after being harassed. Why aren't the officers out in the school zones in the morning and afternoon? I see we have a fancy radar cart; does that take the place of the officers? What do they do in the office for hours on end? I thought they were paid to serve and protect. Is that how we save gas, by having them in the office? I have many more questions and comments, but I will see if this raises any concern from anyone else. :-)