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Joe Vandal

Should Authorities be Separating Mothers from their Children in the San Angelo Polygamist Community?

by Joe Vandal April 22, 2008

(Article submitted by volunteer writer: “Local Author”)
Admin Note: IdahoFallz.com has for some time has had a “no religious discussion” policy. It is a good policy to maintain. Let’s keep this the discussion away from religion and keep in on the legal accusations and police involvement – and what should and should not take [...]

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Three Steps to End Our War on Drugs

by Joe Vandal April 13, 2008

I am surprised nobody has yet written an article at IdahoFallz.com about America’s decades-old War on Drugs. I read many comments where site users express their desire to read and discuss the Drug War. I personally waited to write about it because people who bring up the topic tend to be quickly smeared as “another [...]

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Let the wolf hunts begin

by Joe Vandal April 3, 2008

The reintroduction of wolves thirteen years ago began a long-arcing circle that has finally made a turn the other direction. Pro-wolf forces enjoyed thirteen years of watching the reintroduced wolf packs multiply and grow a population far larger than the original plan. Finally, the wolves have been removed from the endangered species list, Idaho can [...]

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Local News Station KPVI Stole My Work

by Joe Vandal April 2, 2008

This morning I discovered that our local NBC news affiliate KPVI published a news story on their website, and the graphic they used was stolen from my website, the IdahoFallz.com blog. You can see clearly from the attached images that they used my “IFPD” picture taken of an IFPD truck, originally published on IdahoFallz.com as [...]

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Is Citizen Journalism Useful or Important?

by Joe Vandal March 30, 2008

I see news stories and tidbit phenomena almost daily about citizen journalism (a.k.a. participatory media and many other titles). Normal, everyday people who have no journalistic base have been technologically and psychologically enabled by the Internet to become citizen journalists. What has it meant so far, and where do you think it could go from [...]

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How to not be stupid when dealing with technology

by Joe Vandal March 27, 2008

I hope to generate a meta-level discussion about wisdom and strategies when using technology. What I mean is we should discuss what technology means to us, how we need to adapt and re-orient our old frames-of-mind to the new digital world. Some things are radically different in technology, some things are the same. How to [...]

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How you can help solve the 1996 Angie Dodge murder

by Joe Vandal March 24, 2008

We are going to solve Idaho Falls‘ 1996 Angie Raye Dodge murder. This is an extremely ambitious goal, but solving this murder is vital for a local family to get closure, for our community to finally know what happened, and possibly to expose official misdeeds at that time. The stakes are high to solve the [...]

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Mesothelioma in Idaho: Asbestos Causes, Risk Factors, and Treatments

by Joe Vandal March 24, 2008

I keep hearing about mesothelioma, and I learned early on that it was a form of cancer caused by asbestos, but just recently I thought to write an article on the topic. I hope we can share mesothelioma facts and gain a greater understanding of this disease. What are the available or cutting-edge mesothelioma treatment [...]

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Idaho’s Otter Must Be On Drugs

by Joe Vandal March 22, 2008

Can we get our governor drug tested? Our legislature has one week left in session, is it possible for them to quickly introduce and pass a bill requiring weekly urinalysis of our Governor?
Why do I suspect Governor Butch Otter is on drugs? How else do you explain Idaho’s governor vetoing an uber-popular drug treatment [...]

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Should We Rebuild the Teton Dam?

by Joe Vandal March 21, 2008

I could not believe the news that our Idaho legislature has appropriated $400,000 to study whether the infamous Teton Dam should be rebuilt. The Teton Dam collapse and subsequent flood was the worst disaster ever in southeast Idaho’s modern recorded history. Five southeast Idaho counties were declared federal disaster areas by President Gerald Ford. I’m [...]

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Idaho Falls Reads…

by Joe Vandal March 20, 2008

This discussion thread is similar to our “Seen Any Good Movies Lately” thread, but on the topic of reading.
This month our Idaho Falls Public Library is doing another of their “Idaho Falls Reads” community readathons (or whatever you call them), and the selected book is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. You can get yourself [...]

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Dupre as Pandora’s Box: Should anyone profit from crime?

by Joe Vandal March 16, 2008

This started out as a poll suggestion from regular IFz contributor, Mike, but we decided the topic got too complicated for a simple poll and really deserved a full discussion thread.
From Mike:
As you know the Elliot Spitzer story is up and running. There is an interesting component that is now being focused on: the [...]

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What kind of sex scandals merit leadership changes?

by Joe Vandal March 10, 2008

Today news broke of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer being investigated in connection with an international prostitution ring. Rumors are circulating if Governor Spitzer will or should resign his office. Do you think Spitzer should resign his office? Do you think he should be forced out of office? Does anyone know if New York or [...]

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Does Idaho Falls want Areva?

by Joe Vandal March 2, 2008

Everyone has probably heard by now that our Idaho Falls area is being considered for a multi-billion dollar uranium enrichment plant, to be built by the French company Areva. There are many important issues surrounding this potential deal, and it could dramatically affect Idaho Falls’ future. This is important for locals to discuss. Some Areva [...]

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Dramatic High Speed Chase and Shootout in Idaho Falls

by Joe Vandal February 28, 2008

Last night our normally peaceful Idaho Falls was the scene of a crazy high speed vehicle chase, shootout, foot chase, and hostage situation. Most of us locals watched these events play out nearly live on our televisions last night. All three local news stations tried to get the best information, and this morning it seems [...]

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Will Concealed Weapons or Media Reform Make College Campuses Safer?

by Joe Vandal February 15, 2008

Yesterday our nation experienced yet another tragic school shooting. We can now add Northern Illinois University to the roster with Virginia Tech, Shepherd University, University of Arizona, Appalachian School of Law, University of Arkansas, San Diego State, University of Iowa, and the University of Texas. How can America or Idaho protect ourselves against future school [...]

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Should we reward people for doing what they should anyway?

by Joe Vandal February 14, 2008

I am conflicted over this Local News 8 report that our Idaho legislature is considering a bill to reward kids for staying drug free. Some lawmaker (anyone know who it was, and their party affiliation?) has put a bill up that would grant a $2,000 Idaho college scholarship for students who pledge to stay off [...]

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Should Cities Protest Military Recruiters?

by Joe Vandal February 13, 2008

What do you think about the Berkeley, California city council attempting to protest the Bush Wars with hostility towards their local Marine recruiting office? The Berkeley city council have spoken out for the past few weeks that because they oppose the war, and they wanted to kick the Marine recruiters out of their town. They [...]

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How would you improve the Idaho Falls Public Library?

by Joe Vandal February 6, 2008

I think our Idaho Falls Public Library is awesome. I lived in Nampa for six months (the drive-by capitol of Idaho), and Idaho Falls’ library is ten times better than Nampa’s library. The IFPL is not like a full university library (an amazing experience), but we are very fortunate to have a great city location, [...]

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Special Treatment for City Employees

by Joe Vandal February 5, 2008

An off-duty fireman spotted a fire and gave chase to a vehicle he saw leaving the scene. He probably followed my neighbor who has a black Ford Ranger and parks across the street from the site of the fire. In a distance of a block and a half that included one corner, he managed to [...]

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Daily News Reactions

by Joe Vandal February 3, 2008

I liked this idea an IFz visitor suggested for an article / discussion thread dedicated to the smaller stories appearing daily in our local media. These are the stories that are quite interesting to discuss, but on their own do not always merit a full article. If a particular topic gains traction with many comments [...]

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Campaign Against Plastic Shopping Bags

by Joe Vandal January 30, 2008

Have you heard about the campaign to ban plastic shopping bags? This is the latest environmental movement that appears to be going mainstream. The popular natural foods grocer Whole Foods announced they will stop distributing plastic bags by this year’s Earth Day. 100% recycled paper bags will be offered instead. Whole Foods is regarded as [...]

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Kudos to Officer Kenny Yellen

by Joe Vandal January 28, 2008

I think kudos are in order for Police Officer Kenny Yellen. I realize this happened down in Montpelier, but I want to highlight the important story that does not seem to have been widely reported.
This is the case where Kevin Buttars (who used to serve in our local Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office) was accused of [...]

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Is Idaho Tough Enough on Teacher Sex Crimes?

by Joe Vandal January 27, 2008

As a former public educator, I am shocked at the seeming abundance of teacher-pupil sex crimes lately. Fifteen other states are considering stronger penalties, and I wonder if we should also? Should Idaho preemptively change some laws to catch this problem before it becomes a problem? Is Idaho tough enough on teacher sex crimes?
Should Idaho [...]

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Idaho Falls Development Chatter 08Q1

by Joe Vandal January 25, 2008

This is a quarterly series about commercial, residential, and industrial developments in our area. IdahoFallz has other great discussions on particular real estate and business developments, so this is a general-purpose/open forum on this topic.
This discussion is for talking about what what went good and bad with old developments, new developments, proposed developments, and [...]

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