Tag Archives: rexburg

U.S. Housing Collapse: No more ‘My Immigrant Idaho’, mass exodus begins!

13 October 2022 (01:46-UTC-07 Tango 06) 21 Mehr 1401/17 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1444/18 Geng-Xu 4720/13 октября 2022 года

Idaho’s reign as a top destination for domestic migrants (U.S. citizens leaving their states for The Gem State) was short lived, and is now reversing; more people leaving than coming in!

I’ve documented how for decades the entrenched, arrogant, leaders of Idaho boasted of how things were booming in Idaho, using domestic migration as one of their proofs.  They claimed that one reason for the influx of domestic migrants, was that Idaho was full of good paying jobs.  Anybody that has lived in Idaho for as long as I have knew that was a bold face lie!  I have experienced what I call revolving door employment for almost 20 years as employer after employer downsized or halted operations altogether!  If it wasn’t for the fact that my property is paid for, I would have been forced to move a long time ago.  (I am not here for the money, I love the climate and the space, which apparently is what many recent newbies to Idaho don’t like)

Here’s another wake up call for our fearless leaders: There was only a slight uptick in Idaho’s overall population, from 2010 to 2020.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the sparse population of the geographically large state of Idaho went from 1.8-million to only 1.9-million, despite a decade of ‘leaders’ telling us that the population was booming.  The overwhelming majority of that population growth took place in the Boise Metro Area (Treasure Valley, Southwestern Idaho region).

Here’s another reality check: More than 61% of land in Idaho is owned by the federal government. Less than 30% of available land is privately held.  So, in reality the relatively small population is partly due to lack of available privately owned land.  There is also the fact that one of President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior’s first executive orders (America the Beautiful Initiative, or 30×30 order)  makes it even harder to make land available in Idaho:

The state government owns land, and has been selling it off, not just to make more land available, but it has become a major revenue source for the state government (which might explain its mysterious budget surplus).

KTVB: Idaho turns to remote bidding to increase state-owned land sales

Men’sJournal: Study Finds Idaho Illegally Sold Public Land for 97 Years

Then there’s the fact that rich people from other states (Texas) are buying up private property and then using it to block access to public lands:

By 2020, moving company trackers had ranked Idaho as the number three destination, but now, just two years later an Atlanta, Georgia, moving assistance company reports that Idaho has dropped to 20th position, and the region of Eastern Idaho is experiencing a mass exodus!

While the Move Buddha report admits that people are changing their minds about moving to Idaho, the author still says Idaho is “The Place to Go”!  Move Buddha reports that the Eastern Idaho city of Rexburg, home to the Brigham Young University-Idaho, is bleeding residents, and blames it on lack of jobs.  According to Move Buddha’s “in-to-out” formula, for every 49 people moving into Rexburg, 1-hundered are leaving!  In Rexburg’s next door city of Idaho Falls, once the economic darling of Eastern Idaho, there are now 1-hundred people leaving for every 95 moving in!

But even the top five cities that people still want to move to are on the decline, with Southwestern Idaho’s Eagle leading the pack with a 56% decrease in Move Buddha’s “in-to-out ratio”.

107.9LITEFM: Idaho experiences largest migration drop in entire U.S.!

KBOI: Idaho sees a 60% decline in new people moving in from 2020.

The Center Square: It is not just Idaho, the entire Pacific Northwest is losing population.

29APR2022:

 

27APR2021:

05DEC2018:

There is still massive housing construction going on in Idaho, all across the state, it has been going on since the late 1990s.  Housing developers and politicians have always claimed it is because the population is booming, and it is necessary to keep housing costs down.  That is interesting, because homes prices/values skyrocketed, anyway.  Just this year, Bannock County jacked up the value of my property to where they now consider it worth four times what I paid in 1997, despite the massive home construction that is still going on around my neighborhood!  In 1997, my neighborhood was surrounded on the south and west sides by farm fields.  By 1999, the farm land was sold and huge housing tracts were under construction.  This never let up, year after year the city slowly moved westward, annexing County territory, farm land being sold-off and new housing development taking its place.  The claim was that the population and economy is booming, yet starting in 2001, I witnessed, experienced and documented the economic destruction in my part of Bannock County, and it has never recovered.

Prices for homes are finally ticking down in Idaho, but don’t blame the Pandemic, the massive focus on property development, that was never justified, is to blame.  Now, the mass exodus that is beginning to take place will push Idaho’s housing market into the Pit of Hell.

U.S./Canadian Housing Hooliganism: DRUG LORDS, FOREIGN SPECULATORS & LLC MONOPOLIZING!

U.S. Disaster 2022: MORE WILDFIRES, BLAME HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SPECULATION GAME!

Idaho Collapse 2021: IDAHO HOUSING COSTS “LITERALLY MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE”! KILLING IDAHO’S ECONOMY! GET READY FOR THE CRASH-N-BURN!

Chubbuck & Pocatello 2019:

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, July 2019.

IDAHO’S BRIDGE TO NOWHERE?

My Immigrant Idaho 2021: MEXICAN DRUG WAR TARGETS SOUTHEAST IDAHO, MORE THAN 200% INCREASE! CONNECTION TO PANDEMIC?

My Immigrant Idaho 2016: FEDERALES (pronounced the Spanish way) SAY IDAHO IS DOMINATED BY POOR IMMIGRANTS!

Chubbuck 2017: NO MORE XMAS LIGHTS? THE TRUTH ABOUT GENTRIFICATION

In this report, which chronicles the destruction of iconic Green T, the mayor of Chubbuck boasts it’s “…the beginning of some real good things coming in.”: POPEYES QUIETLY SHUTS DOWN FOUR IDAHO RESTAURANTS!

Bannock County, Chubbuck & Pocatello shenanigans, June 2016: Governor declares economy has “RISEN FROM THE ASHES”

Hoku-Gate, PaveGate now Amy’s-Gate!  It’s been revealed that Bannock County administrators were under investigation by the Idaho Tax Commission over massive local tax breaks given to California based frozen veggie food maker Amy’s Kitchen.

EXCEPTIONAL FAILED STATE: IDAHO POLITICIANS GIVE AWAY TENS OF MILLIONS TO COMPANIES THAT SHUT DOWN!

Here is an old photo, via Margaret Facer, of the Alameda Plaza Albertson’s, in Pocatello, from 1966.

A HISTORY LESSON IN ECONOMIC DECLINE: POCATELLO’S OLD FRED MEYER & ALBERTSONS ON YELLOWSTONE AVE (Alameda Plaza), DID NOT CLOSE DOWN IN THE 1990S  (This story is more relevant because Kroger owned Fred Meyer is now celebrating 20 years at their ‘new’ location [which used to be the Pocatello Mall] in Pocatello.  Their old location was just across the street [where the ‘new’ Winco is] in the Alameda Plaza, back in the 1990s!)

“no longer economically feasible to continue” Taxpayers spend $5,555 to kill 1 wolf! Covert op to Dumb-U-Down revealed! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 09 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

24/7 compiled the top nine retailers shutting down a minimum of 1-hundred stores in the U.S.:  Wolverine World Wide; 1-hundred. Chico’s; 120. Sports Authority; 140. Finnish Line; 150. American Eagle; 150. Walmart; 154. Walgreens; 2-hundred. Children’s Place; 2-hundred. Office Depot; 4-hundred.

Alabama: The saga of the sudden mass FMP owned Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC restaurant shutdowns continues as at least four Ryan’s were suddenly shutdown in as many cities.

California: In San Jose, after 30 years the Silicon Valley Ballet shutting down due to a crash in donation funding.  In the Santa Cruz Mountains, God is powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Christian campsite in San Mateo County Parks Department’s Memorial Park.  It’s due to water supply issues.  The state water regulations concerning the campsite limits how many people can use the site at one time, apparently God’s minions have been overpopulating the camp.  God’s minions tried to build their own water well, but failed (remember, there is a drought): “We have our last group in here now and are closing down Thursday and I’m laying off staff.”-Reverend Larry Rice

Connecticut: In Wallingford, after six years Panacea a Boutique shutting down by the end of the month.

Florida: In Tallahassee, Gold’s Gym shutting down their 26 years old Apalachee Parkway Center operation next week.  The operators admitted that due to competition and increased costs they should’ve shutdown three years ago: “It was a good club for 10 years. And then you could start to feel it through the years that it became harder and harder to make it work.”-Doug Dickinson

Idaho: In Boise, public school officials are finally outing the so-called friend of education J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation for what it really is, a covert effort to Dumb Down Idahoans: “Why would someone want to undermine public education in Idaho? The motive is quite clear. At a recent Downtown Rotary Club meeting, the executive director of the Albertson Foundation stated that the goal of the Foundation is to increase charter school seats by 20,000 in the next few years. That will only happen if Idahoans lose faith in their public schools…..   …..Let’s be clear; this campaign promotes an agenda designed to undermine public schools. It is highly inaccurate. It offers no real solutions to increasing post-secondary readiness. It is a disservice to the work public school teachers, parents, and students do every day.”-Boise School District

Also in Boise,  Blind Bat News readers report that the Maverik convenience store (#175 on 1909 West Boise Avenue and Protest Road) has suddenly shutdown, the fuel pumps have already been removed.   As well as Boise Maverick store #206 (Franklin and Maple Grove)!  

And the Garden City Maverick store #4 on Chinden Boulevard!On the other side of the state, the Rexburg Maverik #169 shutdown by giving away free drinks. Company administrators told EastIdahoNews that they’re shutting down all older convenience stores/fuel stations that need upgrades, because under current economic conditions it’s not worth it.  It’s actually cheaper to build new stores, and they’re hoping to sell-off the old properties to help pay for the new ones!  And while businesses continue to shutdown and public schools flounder for lack of state funding, the state Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved $400-thousand USD to fund the killing of wolves.  Last year 72 wolves were killed under the program, if the same amount are killed this year that’ll cost taxpayers $5,555.55 per wolf!  This proves the majority of happy taxpayers are the ‘bitches’ of the extreme minority of farmers and ranchers!

Illinois: Kishwaukee College has decided to eliminate about 24 jobs due to Failed State ‘lawmakers’ failing to come through with funding.  Sycamore School District 427 approved an additional 18 layoffs, on top of the 56 approved last month.  Administrators blame it on a shortfall of $2.3-million USD, partly caused by Failed State ‘lawmakers’ failing to approve state funding.   More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Chicago based internet coupon service Groupon conducting more job culling, this time 25 Breadcrumb employees were let go. Back in August 20 Breadcrumb employees lost their jobs.  News reports say Groupon has now cut in half the number of Breadcrumb employees it once had.  Inside sources say eventually Groupon will shutdown Breadcrumb altogether, despite adamant denials by Groupon administrators.

Iowa: In Cedar Rapids, so much for creating jobs with your donations; Goodwill’s pre-vocational training program and sheltered workshop shutting down due to changes in federal funding.  Yep, that’s right, Goodwill’s job creation is mainly funded with federal taxpayer money, not your donations.

Kentucky: Convergys eliminating up to 1-hundred jobs at their Erlanger call center, due to the loss of a client.

Louisiana: Oil industry company Frank’s International announced it will conduct a third round of layoffs since Spring 2015, no numbers given at this time.  Last year more than 6-hundred employees were laid off, with about 250 in Lafayette.  In Baton Rouge, Xerox State & Local Solutions issued a layoff WARN, 84 jobs lost by May due to “a change in business condition”.

Maryland: The saga of the sudden mass FMP owned Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC restaurant shutdowns continues as the Hagerstown Ryan’s shutdown without warning or paychecks.   Bethesda based tax-sucker Lockheed Martin is pushing 1-thousand employees to suffer “voluntary layoffs”!  Most layoffs will take place in Texas and Georgia.  Administrators say it’s their only way of “staying competitive”, never mind that fact they’ve raped taxpayers for decades over their never ending ‘development’ of the grossly failed F-35 project! The at least 16 years old F-35 project has cost taxpayers $400-billion USD so far!

$400,000 helmet for F-35 pilots

If the Department of Defense finally decides to buy the plane it’ll cost and additional $85-million per plane, and the special helmet for the pilot will cost $400-thousand each!  The F-35 has continually failed to live up to it’s original billing, yet your ‘elected’ government continues to throw your money at it!     It should also be pointed out that Russia boasts that its current fighter aircraft can easily take out the F-35.

Massachusetts:  In Leominster, after 21 years Gear Works Cyclery shutting down by the end of the month.  It’s blamed on increased costs and decreased sales.  Yet again, Chipotle restaurants are being shutdown due to employees getting sick!  This time an employee at their Billerica location got sick with norovirus.

Michigan:  The saga of the sudden mass FMP owned Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC restaurant shutdowns continues as the Battle Creek Old Country Buffet shutdown and is being auctioned off.

Minnesota: After ten years of paying for eye checkups, tutoring and giving teachers grants, non-profit Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation shutting down due to lack of corporate donations.

Missouri: In Maryland Heights, Belgium based Bellevue Pharmacy issued a layoff WARN, 150 jobs lost by May!  The parent company Fagron blames it on ObamaCare for causing crashing reimbursement rates for drugs, to the tune of a $248-million USD crash in 2015! Fagron also warns that if things don’t improve revenue wise, they’ll be forced to sell-off Bellevue Pharmacy.

New Jersey: In Middlesex, Impax Labs shutting down its manufacturing and packaging ops, 213 jobs lost over the next two years! Impax took over the site from CorePharma in 2014.  Impax is consolidating operations among all the competitors it took over in 2014-15.  It was also revealed that Impax is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney General for fraud.

New York: The saga of the sudden mass FMP owned Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC restaurant shutdowns continues as the Amherst Old Country Buffet was suddenly shutdown.

North Carolina:  Rite Aid shutting down their Charlotte distribution center, 270 jobs gone by the end of Spring, following the big trend this year of consolidating operations!

Ohio: Atwood Lake Resort and Golf Club shutting down: “Management informed us it is no longer economically feasible to continue operations due to the current economic state.”-Bob Wirkner, Carroll County Commissioner

Pennsylvania: In Duncannon, the ‘ancient’ Doyle Hotel shutting down in two weeks due to lack of revenues: “With no hikers on the trail during the winter season, the timing of the tax deadlines and mortgage deadlines just hits at the wrong time of year.”-Pat Kelly, co-owner

Texas: In Alvin, Dish Network eliminating 550 call center jobs!  Administrators said the lease was up and it wasn’t worth it to renew.   In Houston, hospitality contractor Compass Group-Eurest issued a WARN, 55 jobs lost by the end of April.  In Cleburne, Caddo Street Grill shutting down, the owners directly blaming the Affordable Care Act: “The Obamacare mandate has effected us in ways that do not effect other local restaurants, due to the various businesses we own. This forces us into an uncompetitive business environment and it is no longer viable for us to continue in the restaurant business.” 

Utah: Maverik shutdown their store #227 in Salt Lake City, claiming new stores are-a-comin’ for the old employees.

Virginia:  In Leesburg, Melodee Music shutting down their 40 years old store by the end of the month.  The owners are focusing on their Sterling shop.   

The saga of the sudden mass FMP owned Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC restaurant shutdowns continues as the Old Country Buffet shutdown without warning or paychecks in Alexandra. Local news reports revealed the so called “asset inventory” is a cover for mass auctioning of kitchen equipment: “Each store contains everything from kitchen equipment and smallwares to furniture and decor. To be able to bid on the entire Alexandria VA Old Country Buffet is an amazing opportunity for anyone in the restaurant business!”-Jose Paz, vulture auction manager

Washington: Georgia based underground utilities “damage prevention” service Locating Incorporated issued a shutdown WARN for their Lakewood ops, 60 jobs lost by May.

Wisconsin: River Hills West Health Center shutting down, 144 jobs lost starting in May!

Wyoming: Maverik shutdown their store #308 in Gillette. (too bad, 308 [aka 7.62mm NATO] is a good caliber)

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

08 March 2016: “It hit me like a brick!”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Idaho RadioShacks make the closure hit list! 1784 stores across the U.S. to close!

07 February 2015 (00:00 UTC-07 Tango 01)/17 Rabi ‘ath-Thani 1436/18 Bahman 1393/19 Bing Yin (12th month) 4712

It’s official, six (of approximately 24) Gem State RadioShack stores will be shutdown, pending a bankruptcy sale to cell phone service company Sprint.

Idaho shutdown list:

152 Bullock #4, Chubbuck
Elm Tree Plaza Suite 101, Meridian
Nampa Business Center, Nampa
733 Yellowstone Ave, Pocatello
3134 E Mullan Ave Ste A, Post Falls
Valley River Center, Rexburg

RadioShack has made public a massive list of 1784 stores across the United States that will be shutdown, called Radio Shack Exhibit 1A, B & C  First, Second & Third Tranche Stores. 

Radio Shack bankrupt busted & dying!

Pocatello Airport 1999, 2012 & 2014: Section Eight, Ole Yeller flies on in Idaho

Click the pics to make bigger, photos by AAron B. Hutchins:

In 1999, there was a small ‘air show’ at Pocatello Airport that was actually a promotional event for what was then called the Confederate Air Force (now called Commemorative Air Force).  One of the planes that showed up was Section Eight.

Me, Denise, little Jenny, and of course Aryssa is getting distracted again.

Me, Aryssa, Alex and little Jenny.

A bunch of crazy kids, get it, Section Eight is military lingo for crazy.

Government Incompetence: Pocatello, Idaho, doctor & ISU faculty member failed at autopsies

The Idaho Board of Medicine is investigating complaints that Steve M. Skoumal screwed up at least ten autopsies. It was brought to the attention of the Board mainly because the local  police questioned the results.

In one case Skoumal, a faculty member at Idaho State University in Pocatello (in Bannock County), ruled three deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.  But, local Rexburg police (in Madison County) said that didn’t match with x-rays, or the fact a recently fired gun was found at the scene, or the fact that there were bullet holes in the victims.

Supporters of Skoumal say the police are just upset because he didn’t give them the answer they wanted to hear.

But this case brings up a good point; Idaho does not have standardized, dedicated, official local government coroner services.  In many cases families of the deceased have to pay for a pathologist to conduct an autopsy, as one Pocatello doctor/lawyer said: “…people who brought the bodies have to pay for the doctor to do more autopsy or less autopsy.”-Richard Hearns

There is a state code concerning coroners, but in some Idaho counties coroners are elected.  In other counties they are hired from local doctors.  Officials say the tax revenues are not enough to support a dedicated 24/7 coroner (although taxes are pretty high here).

Skoumal is connected to three high profile cases in eastern and southeastern Idaho: Unsolved Madison County deaths, the death of a Bingham County woman whose granddaughter was prosecuted for homicide, and the 2006 murder of Pocatello High School student Cassie Jo Stoddart (fortunate the murderers incriminated themselves with their own video).

Skoumal is accused of misreading toxicology reports, being unable to determine knife wounds and bullet wounds.  One of the complaints filed with the Board of Medicine accused him of not being a pathologist, he admitted he was not a certified pathologist.

It could be another year before the Idaho Board of Medicine holds an Administrative Hearing regarding the complaints.