Nationally recognized keynote speakers Daniel Burrus, Charlie Cook and Rebecca Ryan will be headlining at the Conference on Housing and Economic Development to be held at the Boise Centre on October 6-7. Organized by Idaho Housing and Finance Association, the conference features speakers and workshops on timely topics of interest for professionals in or related to the housing, finance, and economic development sectors.

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson has introduced a resolution recognizing community water fluoridation as an effective and important public health measure. This year marks the 70th anniversary of communities utilizing fluoridated water which helps strengthen teeth and prevent tooth decay.

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter announced the appointments today of Derick Attebury of Idaho Falls and Daniel Blanco of Moscow to the seven-member Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson issued a temporary injunction blocking a controversial Obama Administration rule that would vastly expand federal jurisdiction by rewriting the four-decade-old definition of “navigable waters”under the Clean Water Act. The “waters of the United States” rule was scheduled to take effect today. The judge said the rule posed an imminent risk of irreparable harm to 13 states, including Idaho, which sought the injunction

Late yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Erickson issued a temporary injunction blocking the controversial U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the United States” rule, which had been set to go into effect today. Under the preliminary injunction, the 13 states, including Idaho, that were parties in the suit against the regulations will temporarily be exempted. Crapo, who has repeatedly pushed back on the rule since its proposal in 2014, released the following statement

Wastewater discharged into the Snake River, the J8 canal and other waters will be cleaner as a result of a recent settlement between the City of Jerome, Idaho and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The City has agreed to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant to ensure the facility has the capacity to handle future discharges.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is accepting a Falls Water Company application to extend its service territory in Bonneville County. Falls Water serves an area adjacent to the City of Ammon’s municipal water system. Over the last 16 years, developers have built additional residences adjacent to the company’s original service areas. At the conclusion of the company’s last rate case in 2012, the commission directed Falls Water to amend its certificate to include subdivisions the utility is serving that were outside its assigned boundaries. At that time, the company was serving about 3,840 customers.

Registration is now open for the 2015 Conference on Housing and Economic Development to be held at the Boise Centre October 6-7. The conference draws hundreds of professionals from all corners of the housing and economic development sectors every three years, including mortgage finance, construction, single-family and multifamily housing, senior housing, real estate, nonprofits and government, affordable housing and more.

As more homeowners rent out their homes or rooms in their homes to the public for temporary lodging, the Idaho State Tax Commission is reminding them that they need to charge tax on the accommodations.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is taking comment through August 27 on an Idaho Power Company application to enter into a long-term contract with Siemens Energy to maintain the electric utility’s three natural gas plants. Idaho Power also proposes to sell Siemens $21.9 million from its spare part inventory.

Site Based Energy claims that ten, 100-kilowatt projects are separate projects with different owners. The projects are seeking power purchase agreements with Idaho Power under the provisions of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act or PURPA. The federal act requires utilities to buy output from qualified renewable projects at an “avoided-cost rate,” or the rate the utility avoids by not having to generate the power itself or buy it from another source

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over federal asbestos violations at a building demolition site near Priest River in northern Idaho’s Panhandle. According to the EPA, ITD failed to inspect a former commercial building located in Priest River, Idaho for possible asbestos contamination prior to its demolition and failed to notify EPA of its intent to demolish the building. The settlement includes a $51,986 penalty.

The Idaho Office of Drug Policy has awarded a new Cohort of Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) Grants to 6 communities throughout the state. The funds are provided through a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to fund community-level substance abuse prevention strategies and to improve local prevention infrastructure

The company’s application to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission states that Murray Water Works has been purchased by the Murray Water Association, a non-profit association with elected board members and a president.

Rocky Mountain Power is asking state regulators for authority to shift variable net power supply costs from a temporary rate mechanism into permanent base rates. If approved, the shift would result in an average 3.9 percent increase to base rates, 2.7 percent for residential customers. The monthly bill for a residential customer using the company’s average of 801 kilowatt-hours per month would increase by about $2.35