Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.
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GRANGEVILLE — Local UPS driver Jay Daniels joined a prestigious club Jan. 9 when he rolled into work following his route.
Daniels entered the UPS “Circle of Honor” for 25 years of safe driving.
“You are only one of 14 people in the state of Idaho to have this honor,” center manager Geoff Newman said at a celebration held Jan. 10. “We are fortunate to have two of you here in this center.” Jesse Fugate, a driver who has been on the job 27 years, is also in the Circle of Honor.
Newman said this class of drivers is “very elite.”
“You are industrial athletes,” he told the group. “Take the methods we use seriously, because, even though it might sound cliché, you want to get to your most important stop every night, and that’s home. Don’t do it for UPS, do it for yourself.”
Daniels graduated from Grangeville High School in 1993 and began working as a peak-time driver for UPS in 1994, doing this through 1996. He was hired part-time in 1997, and then became a full-time driver in 2000.
How has he gone 25 years without an accident?
“Defensive driving,” Daniels said. “And looking at what’s in front of me, always being aware, out on the prairie, especially.” He said slowing down a little when you need to didn’t hurt, either.
Daniels said the best part of his job is the customers he has gotten to know during the past 25-plus years. He drives the Craigmont, Winchester, Reubens-Gifford, Nezperce route.
“I’ve seen generations, and met some great people,” he said.
He also thanked his colleagues.
“This means a lot to me,” he said. He was given a UPS leather bomber jacket reserved for the inner circle members, as well as a coin, hat, plaque and additional memorabilia.
What does Daniels plan to do now?
“Drive five more years like this, then retire,” he smiled.
— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
Home prices level off, but remain high
McCALL — The price of homes from Cascade to New Meadows stayed roughly the same last year, down 1% from 2023, but the market holds little good news for buyers looking for affordable housing, according to data from the Mountain Central Association of Realtors.
While the median sale price remained similar to the previous year at $748,000, there was a 16% rise in the number of sales, mostly in the second home and vacation rental market, said Steve Jones, a real estate agent for Amherst Madison Real Estate in McCall.
Many of these homes are spoken for before they even hit the market.
“Of these, many are new homes being built for spec homes, built to sell. In the past year, 52 homes sold that were built in the past two years,” Jones said.
Prices in McCall were higher than most in the county last year, with a median home sale price of $865,000, a 2% increase in price over the previous year.
“These numbers show the market in McCall is strong and the vacation and second home market is in demand,” Jones said. “McCall is still the best value for all four seasons as compared to many other markets in the country.”
There were few homes available in McCall at more affordable prices, but Cascade and Donnelly continued to have the lowest priced homes in the area.
The median sale price in Cascade was much lower at $482,000. Cascade also saw an 8.5% increase over last year, with 15% more homes sold over the year.
Donnelly saw the largest increase in the number of homes sold at 25%, also seeing a 10% drop in the median sale price over the year to $522,000.
“One reason is the demand is there, and prices are slow to catch up,” Jones said.
That trend will not last long because prices on the lower end of the scale are likely to increase as more buyers compete for affordable properties, he said.
New Meadows also saw a drop in the median sale price, down 11% to $600,000. Sales were also down 15% overall, but strong in the higher end market. The most expensive home in the area in the Whitney Ranch subdivision sold for $3.1 million.
At Tamarack Resort, there was a 28% increase in sale numbers, with a median price of $1.35 million, up 3% from last year.
“Condos in the Village have been selling as well as the new lots and homes on the golf course,” Jones said.
There were 59 homes on the market in the Tamarack Area as of this week, he said.
“This is the first year we get a look at the lot sales at Brundage Mountain Resort. The North Woods is the first real estate offering ever at Brundage,” Jones said.
Only lots have sold so far at the ski area with six sales last year, as well as many larger lots selling two years ago, he said.
Across the entire area, there were 366 residential sales last year, compared to 241 lot sales.
The number of bare lot and land sales was down 14% from last year, and the median sale price increased to $230,000, up from $215,000 the year before.
Jones expects that the trends of steady home prices and increasing lot and land prices will hold through the next year.
“With interest rates predicted not to change much we can expect the trends at present to continue,” he said.
Numbers might increase slightly, but only by about 5% in the number of sales and about 1% in median price across the entire area, Jones predicted.
— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
