Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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GRANGEVILLE — Gem State city populations are thriving, though small towns in rural areas — including in Idaho County — are not sharing in the growth.
According to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the population living in Idaho’s 200 incorporated cities grew 2.3 percent from 2018-19, faster than the state’s 2.1 percent growth. At best, Idaho County communities reached on average slightly more than 1 percent growth during this same time, with two either stagnant or declining.
Most Idaho County communities experienced just more than 1 percent population growth from 2018 to 2019.
Each increasing 1.1 percent were Cottonwood (up 10 for 940 total population); Kooskia (up seven for 664 total); and White Bird (up one for 95 total). Each increasing 1.3 percent were Grangeville (up 41 for 3,237 total) and Stites (up three for 232 total). Riggins increased 1.5 percent (up five for 416 total).
On the low end, Ferdinand saw an increase of one for a total 162 population in 2019.
“Most of Idaho County is growing at a fairly good clip, relative to other counties in the region,” said Kathryn Tacke, regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor.
“There are still things that are dragging the county population growth back a bit,” she continued. “One is the population in Idaho County is very much older than in a typical U.S. county, and as a consequence, there are fewer babies being born, and babies are one way to add to the base.”
Considering both these factors, the natural increase — the number of births exceeding those of deaths — is not significant.
Kamiah was the only area city to lose population; down by 12 (1 percent) for a total 1,244.
“Some rural communities are struggling from a long legacy of forest product jobs declining,” Tacke said. “That is one reason for the Kamiah decline.”
Five county communities saw population increases of 3 percent or higher from 2010 to 2019.
“One of the things to remember is we started out with this period hard on communities still suffering from the Great Recession,” Tacke said, “so, we had some population declines in some communities and very slow growth, in general.”
The biggest increase was in Kooskia, which grew by 9.4 percent (up 57) during this time. Stites gained 11 more people (up 5 percent).
Both experiencing a 4.4 percent increase were Cottonwood (up 40) and White Bird (up four). Grangeville increased by 3.1 percent (up 96), and Ferdinand by 1.9 percent (up by three).
Two communities saw decreases during this period; Kamiah dropped 3.9 percent (down 51) and Riggins went down by three (a 0.7 percent decrease).
“A lot of rural communities and cities in Idaho experienced population declines over the last 10 years, so it is a problem common to many rural parts of the state,” Tacke said. “We’re not having enough of an increase in employment opportunities to keep young people, and young people are moving to Boise and other faster growing communities, in and out of the state.”
— David Rauzi, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
More Shore Lodge workers test positive for COVID-19
MCCALL — More employees at Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club in McCall have tested positive for COVID-19, resort President Tom Garcia said Monday.
The employees contracted the virus after being tested by Shore Lodge and Whitetail earlier this spring and found not to have the virus, Garcia said.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Valley County surged from three last week to 13 as of Wednesday, according to Central District Health.
The new cases were the first in Valley County to be caused by community transmission, which is when the person who falls ill has not traveled recently or had contact with a known infected person, the health department said.
One of the infected persons confirmed last week required hospitalization, the department said.
Garcia declined to disclose how many of the 10 additional cases were Shore Lodge or their specific positions in order to protect the privacy of the workers.
Some of the infected employees worked in restaurants at Shore Lodge, a public facility.
The employees had contact with guests, but precautions put into place by Shore Lodge and Whitetail avoided exposing the guests to the virus, Garcia said.
Guests were not within 6 feet of infected employees for more that 15 minutes, which is the standard to be considered exposed to the virus, Central District Health Public Information Officer Christine Myron said.
The employees have been placed in quarantine, as well as 36 employees who were found to potentially exposed to the virus, he said. The employees are being paid during their isolation and will return to work over the next week.
Shore Lodge and Whitetail tested all 187 of its permanent employees as part of its reopening May 16.
Additional tests were conducted in early June on 141 seasonal employees who recently arrived, during which one employee was found to have COVID-19, but without symptoms.
Those tests led resort managers to conclude the new cases were acquired in the community rather than brought in from the outside, Garcia said.
“We can control what we can control while at work, to the best of our ability, but I cannot control what happens outside our oversight,” he said.
The new cases have led Shore Lodge to limit the hours of their public gathering spaces.
The Bar tavern and The Cutwater restaurant are both taking last orders at 9:30 p.m. and The Narrows steak house has been closed until further notice, Garcia said.
Early closures also have been implemented at Whitetail Club.
The number of appointments at The Cove day spa at Shore Lodge has been cut by half and guests are required to wear masks and have temperature checks. No manicures, pedicures or facials are being offered, Garcia said.
Shore Lodge is booked to capacity with overnight guests over the Fourth of July weekend, but nearly all of the lodge’s special events for the summer have been canceled, including weddings and corporate meetings, he said.
The lodge urged some of those planning larger gatherings to cancel because of the risk of spreading the virus, even though it would cost the lodge revenue, Garcia said.
The downturn led Shore Lodge to hire about 40 fewer seasonal workers than planned, he said.
Garcia said he can be a resource for those in the community that have questions or are looking for advice with protocol initiatives for their businesses.
“I am here to assist and help in anyway I can,” he said.
— Tom Grote, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
