REGIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP: Company applies for approval of solar farm in Garfield County

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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POMEROY — Appaloosa Solar Project LLC has posted a notice of application with Garfield County Planning for a proposed solar farm that would be constructed in Garfield County, about 13 miles northwest of Pomeroy, on leased land between U.S. Highway 12 and the Snake River.

The project area is bordered on the east by Meadow Creek and State Highway 127, the road from Dodge Junction to Central Ferry, runs through it. The total acreage leased for the project would be approximately 7,000 acres.

The Appaloosa Solar Project will construct and operate 300 megaWatts of alternating current solar photovoltaic arrays with a battery energy storage facility with a capacity of up to 150 MW of energy. It will require approximately 27 miles of new and improved roads for construction and maintenance access.

The project is anticipated to begin construction in June of 2024, but it will begin earlier if all permitting and approvals are obtained before then. The operational life of the Appaloosa Solar Project is 40 years. Garfield County would receive a significant increase in the tax base from the construction and operation of the project.

Public comment may be submitted in written form to Garfield County by Jan. 19. A public hearing will be held for the Garfield County Hearing Examiner to consider the matter, but a time and date for the hearing have not yet been set.

— Naomi Scoggin, East Washingtonian (Pomeroy), Thursday

Kamiah School District’s K-3 in top 10 for reading

KAMIAH — Elementary students in grades K-3 put the Kamiah School District in the top 10 of traditional (small and rural) Idaho districts on the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI). With a score of 71.1, Kamiah ranked fourth in this category across the state (Troy was at the top at 73.5). Superintendent Paul Anselmo reported the result to the board at the Dec. 18 monthly meeting.

IRI testing is administered to all K-3 public school students and is an early reading screener and diagnostic assessment.

“It’s cause for huge celebration!” exclaimed Anselmo. “The teachers deserve all the credit here.”

High school counselor Jen Wilcox brought to the board’s attention queries by some students regarding repeating dual credit classes for a higher grade. In cases where a student receives an A and B in a yearlong class for high school credit, it is a one-semester A for college credit. Students, hoping to stay in the running for valedictorian and salutatorian graduation honors, asked if it was possible to retain the grade A for the yearlong high school grade to be consistent with the college grade. After some pro and con discussion, Superintendent Anselmo said that he would approve only if he received in writing from the college that the dual credit course cannot be retaken. In that case, a student could petition the superintendent to retake the class to bring up his or her high school GPA.

— Lyn Krzeminski, The Clearwater Progress (Kamiah), Thursday