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...

I read in the Standard Journal about the hiring of prosecutors to help J. Lookabaugh prosecute cases in our county. This is in direct opposition of what she said at the meeting of Republican candidates in Ashton previous to the election. She said SHE would prosecute all cases rather than dismissing them as the previous prosecutor was doing. She emphasized SHE would do the prosecuting not someone else. Again, it does not matter whether politicians are local, county, state, or national, all they think about is spending taxpayers money and deceiving the electorate so that they can be elected. I guess it worked as she was elected over the incumbent. It would certainly be nice to be able to believe what a politician tells us. Keep up the good work, J. Lookabaugh, as you just lost my vote in any election in the future.

I can't believe that tragically there has been another crosswalk fatality in Rexburg and at the same crosswalk where a life was taken last year. Only this time there are two victims, one fatality and one critically injured. My heart goes out to the family of these two women and I hope for the best for the one who survived last nights horrific accident.

From what I've read it seems obvious that in this case the driver should have been paying closer attention to what was going on. But I see another issue here that should be dealt with. The City of Rexburg has been real good about dealing with this crosswalk when they have had lots of media coverage and can run a hyped up "sting operation." But once the hype is over it's still a deadly situation that needs a permanent solution.

Paperboy,
I saw the pictures and videos you posted today. I hope you forwarded them to the police department! People in this area are insane when it comes to pedestrians in crosswalks.
One would think in light of all the recent accidents, correction, collisions in crosswalks, not to mention the front page articles, that people would be a bit more cautious. Not just for safety sake but for the possibility of a ticket due to increased patrols!
Are the police actively patroling crosswalks to send up some red flares? I would hope that there would be one officer with a couple of people using the crosswalks to bait these idiots! Something needs to be done before it's not just an out of town student but one of our kids!

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. :-)

I agree that crosswalks are dangerous, but I think both drivers and pedestrians are discourteous. In the video that Matthew Flitton posted, with the intersection at the front of the Snow building (I'm guessing), when should pedestrians not enter a crosswalk? Some of the pedestrians came much later, forcing cars to wait for several different groups of pedestrians, spread several feet apart. One group seemed to enter the crosswalk as one was just leaving.

I also am amazed at four way stops, when cars are trying to work out who should be going next, that pedestrians don't try to figure out the flow of traffic and accommodate it.

My biggest question is, what is the etiquette for when a driver is already in the intersection and a pedestrian enters the crosswalk? For example, I am driving on 1st south, heading west, and come to the intersection of 1st south and 1st east. I don't have a stop sign, but the cross traffic does. A pedestrian enters the crosswalk from the north-west corner, opposite me, after I have...

I would like to know why it is ok to publish something about one officers family and not another. Recently there was a article in the paper about Bryan Fullmer's son and there has been one the paper about Donald Powell's son in the past about drinking, but when it was brought up about the chief of police's son being arrest for murder in California it wasn't ok to run that article because it wouldn't be right. Why is not ok to let everyone know about the chief son when its ok to let them know about other officers children? I guess I don't see the difference.

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.

I think rebuilding the Teton Dam should be weighed equally with other water-storage options.
Still, I wasn't around for the flood, so I was wondering what any of those who lived through the disaster think about the idea of rebuilding the dam.

Looks like the Commisioners voted them selves a very nice pay raise. Maybe no one noticed but property taxes went up considerably in Fremont County. Any idea where the money came from? I wonder who evaluates the work habits of the commisioners? Must be Bill Beck the mayor of St. Anthony. Beck likes to tax hell out of people and spend the tax dollars as fast as he can. The commisioners must have been watching him work. Not very thrifty elected officials we have in office right now. As far as the Commisioners go, we have one who don't know what the heck is going on cause he sleeps all the time. One who is againt everything except his pet projects, you know replacing perfectly good bridges and such. One who does all the work and gets beat up in the press for his trouble. Any ideas who fits the discriptions. Maybe the Commisioners should ask the voters if a pay raise is in order. Maybe the one who does all the work should get a pay raise at the expense of the others.

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...

The Standard Journal does a biographical article once a week about someone who is or has been an important part of our communities.

This discussion post is for people to offer suggestions about who they would like to see an article about.

The only criteria is that the suggested individual lives or a least lived for a significant portion of their lives in Madison, Fremont or their surrounding counties.

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.

I read in the paper there is a move on by Bill Beck to recognize former mayors of the city. This is being sold as recognition for Boyd Yancy the former mayor. I think Boyd was a fine man and was very conservative in his busniss dealings. I doubt Boyd would favor city tax dollars being spent on somthing of this nature. Anyone who knew Boyd I am sure would agree. This leads me to question what is the real motive for doing this? It would appear to be just another "dog and pony show" by the current mayor. You know the kind he likes to give to the tax payers from time to time. Just think of the possibilities, this could give Bill Beck a chance to imortilize himself for ever in one of the city parks.

There is a cell tower going up behind the city building. Good move, the city can generate some income for the city. Oh but wait - it is unexceptable for government agancies to compete with private busness. Busnesses in the St. Anthony area struggle hard to keep the doors open. Now the city is moving in and taking income away from local busness. Don't seem to me the mayor really cares about private busness. I know the city counsel didn't have anything to say about it cause Bill Beck doesn't listen to them anyway. The voters need to clean house.

I just heard something that is very disturbing. Apparently the St. Anthony Police Department is not willing to do it's job. The Fremont County Prosecutor complained that the city officers would not do the work needed to prosecute felony cases that occur in the city. So, the Fremont County Sheriff is now handling felony cases that occur in the city. So, why do we need a police department? And why do we pay these officers over $20 an hour to write tickets and sit in the office? This is crazy. It is time that something was done!! The citizens need to let the Mayor and Council know that they will not stand for this. I certainly hope the new mayor will take care of this disaster we call a police department. The whole department needs to go. If the Sheriff's office is going to handle felonies, they might as well take care of it all.

Former Mayor Bill Beck is on the aggenda for the next Council meeting to discuss the City Budget. This raises a question or two, Has Bill become more stupid since he resigned as Mayor, and now he believes that he can talk to them on their level. Or Has the Council become smarter since he resigned so that they will be able to understand what he will be discussing at his level. Either way this should be an interesting meeting. Especially since his (Beck's)former right hand man is now the Mayor. His former right hand man (Rose) basically went along with whatever Bill wanted which in many ways put the City in the economical problem it is in today.

I read in the journal and heard on the news of the catastrophic emergencies in Fremont County. If I was Garth Rose I would be ashamed to declare the city of St. Anthony in need of emergency help. Why don't the city employees get busy and remove the snow. It is much easier to declare an emergency and then be able to spend more of the taxpayers money frivolously. It is indeed wonderful to be able to involve other agencies, such as Keith Richey's God-in-Heaven haven,so that more taxpayer monies can be used as they see fit. It also gives them great publicity to have their picture plastered throught the news media indicating they may be doing something worthwhile. As far as the flooding west of Ashton is concerned, anybody with any sense at all knows that the frozen ground was not the cause of the flooding. Ground has frozen before. It is not newsworthy to really tell the reason, and more money could not be spent on either project. I just wish that the County Commissioners would rein in some of these people...

Webmaster's note: This Our View editorial appeared in 6A of Saturday, Nov. 29's paper.

There’s something strange afoot in Fremont County.
As an editorial board, we wonder why residents are so dissatisfied with their leaders, many of whom they voted for. We aren’t just referring to recall petitions circulating through St. Anthony or Mayor Bill Beck’s sudden resignation.
Look through older copies of the newspaper. The Parker mayor was recalled. This was the second attempt to get Beck out of office. In the past year, it’s been tough to be an incumbent in the county and St. Anthony.
We came up with a few possibilities. Keep in mind that we are not trying to stereotype the people of Fremont County, say that local officials are infallible or condemn anyone who gets involved in the government process. We are trying to understand the logic behind the actions.

VOTERS ARE NOT AS INFORMED AS THEY SHOULD BE
Why else oust nearly everyone who steps into power? Obviously the person voters saw before the election and after differed....

As a person looking on from the outside, I see People who don't want to obey the Laws. People who don't want to enforce the laws, and people who really don't care what happens in their community. I'm sadened to see a nice town deteriorate into a in-fighting, back biting, mean spirited community. No wonder you don't have any growth and join in the 21st century. If there is any one there who still has pride in a town that could be great, stand up and fight for it.

I'm wondering, where is the silent (apathetic) majority in all of this. The ones who know Bill Beck and respect him and are aware of all the good things he has done in the past 7 years. The ones who voted him into office, where are you when you hear things that are not true---when do you stand up and take the title of layalty and honor on behalf of your friend? No one is perfect and you can never please everyone in any given situation. But the bottom line is, Bill Beck is a honorable and good man who has had the best interests of his city at heart!!!

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!

I came across an old copy of the Island Park News this week that contains a story about Skip Hurt running for his second term as commissioner. I got a good laugh out of it. His first key area of concern is the financial health of the county. If he's so concerned, how can he justify his salary increase and many of the other expenditures he has approved. Like tearing down the old school district building when the county is worried about office space for the extension service and the attorney? He is concerned about the new comprehensive plan, and now that it's been completed, he and the other commissioners are dragging their feet about approving it. He took credit for the snowmobile advisory committee in Island Park. He has nothing to do with it. He secured the grant for the milfoil weed project. I think not. He negotiated the turn lanes at the Red Rock Road in Island Park. Bull. That was in the works long before he came along. He secured the land for the proposed EMS building in Island Park. He's only delayed the...

Cheers to the Rexburg PD!!
(especially the officer who literally risked his life walking back and forth across the street)
They ran a sting today and nabbed 9 people for failing to yield to a pedestrian! And this was in just one hour!
The footage was on Channel 3 news and I've attached it to this post.
Kudos to Nate Eaton for his taping of this but as he said near the end, there's soon going to be a population increase of 13,000 in town. Let's hope all will be safe this year. Let's all do our part and watch closely at all crosswalks.
Thanks again for running this operation. Keep up the good work!

I already mentioned the worst. Now it's time for the best. I've seen a few quoted on resumes. You hear them all the time. You don't even have to see the movie to know the really good ones. Chances are you'll read a few on T-shirts.
So here's a list of my favorite movie lines:

10. "You never had a camera inside my head," Jim Carrey, Truman Show.
9. "...I'm a columnist." "You're not a columnist. You're a reporter who writes long," Randy Quaid and Michael Keaton in the paper.
8. "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men.
7. "Dear Wheeler: you provide the prose poems. I'll provide the war." Orson Wells Citizen Kane
6. "Luke, I am your father." James Earl Jones, Empire Strikes Back.
5. "You've got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It's going to get you in trouble someday." Christopher Guest, Princess Bride.
4. "I'm a ring-tailed roarer. I can draw faster, shoot straighter, ride harder and drink longer than any man alive. I ride cyclones and I wrestle –" "You got a name,...