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Planners value downtown areas, and it shows
[caption id="attachment_177201" align="alignleft" width="300"] Customers at the Caldwell Farmers Market this summer. The market has about 30 local vendors. Caldwell officials are banking on a few planned projects, including the Indian Creek Plaza and Trolley Square, to attract locals and visitors back to its downtown. Photo by Pete Grady.[/caption] Idaho's largest cities are showing new life.[...]
Where creativity and economic development meet
The arts and business work closely together. Both test the envelope of human creativity, intellect, energy and promise. Both seek to motivate, to produce, to achieve excellence, to grow and to unite. For many businesses, sponsorship of the arts is about more than prominent logo placement. The benefits of investing in the arts are well documented. Americans for the Arts — a nonprofit organi[...]
Health care reform and the 60 day repayment rule
As most are aware, the federal government, primarily through its Medicare program that pays healthcare costs of America’s seniors, is the preeminent payer of healthcare in the United States. In addition, Medicaid, as administered by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, provides a limited safety net for Idaho’s poor. As such, Medicaid is also a major payer in the healthcare market. Fo[...]
Take time with four ‘standard’ contract terms
No one doubts the adage “time is money,” particularly in bringing construction projects on-line on time and on budget. Spend any time within spitting distance of a project and you’ll instantly feel the vibe; the crush of time pressures affects those involved in varying ways with multiple ripple effects. There's also pressure on contract negotiators to quickly tie everything up and get goi[...]
Parking proposal offers a new option for developers
From reading recent stories and a column in the Idaho Business Review, there appears to be a misunderstanding regarding the parking requirements included in a proposed amendment to the Boise City Development Code. Without debating the merits of the proposal, it’s important the public understand that the proposal does not require fewer parking spots for new multi-family developments. It simply[...]
Let’s increase teen unemployment
[caption id="attachment_105135" align="alignleft" width="75"] Suzi Budge[/caption] Raising Idaho’s minimum-wage rate, as Senate Bill 1334 calls for, would have an immediate effect: It would start killing off jobs for teens and those second and third wage-earners helping to support their families. That is if you choose to believe the overwhelming body of economic research. There is no issue[...]
New salary survey mostly good news
After several years of bad news for the legal profession, this year, things may be looking up, in large part because of the economy. You may say it’s the economy stupid, but part of the problem also has been a change in the way legal services are delivered, billed and distributed. The mostly good news comes from the Robert Half Legal 2014 Salary Guide, an annual survey that’s even used b[...]
Idaho’s independent doctors join forces
One of the nice things about TV hospital dramas is how simple the physicians’ lives are. A regular ER stint in the life of a TV doctor is fraught with emotional cliff-hangers, disease of stupefying complexity and legal conundrums. But nowhere in shows like Grey's Anatomy do you see the drama that keeps real-life providers, patients, and payers up at night: the life-altering policy dilemmas[...]
The Hole no more
I just had a kind of out-of-body experience. Right there in the middle of downtown Boise. There I was, having lunch in the new Flatbread Pizza restaurant in the new Eighth and Main building. My lunch partner and I had come in off the street. As I walked through the streetside door, rode up the escalator and took in the lobby, I felt weird. “How can I be here? I never thought I would be here.�[...]
Lawyers can make themselves more likeable
[caption id="attachment_107721" align="alignleft" width="110"] Katie Reagan[/caption] When selecting legal counsel, corporate counsel consider likability to be a key factor. But what qualities — aside from courtroom victories — make a lawyer more likable? * Be a good communicator How do potential clients prefer to be contacted? It’s no small matter. Some will avoid potentially dragg[...]
After surging in 2013, markets take a breather
After 2013, when the markets packed three years of returns into one, they stumbled out of the gate in 2014. In January, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 5.3 percent, the S&P was down 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq was down 1.7 percent. The four biggest stock markets – U.S., U.K., Europe and Japan – all were down. It was the first time they have had simultaneous declines for January[...]
Is 2014 the ‘Year of the Cloud’ for lawyers?
I’ve been writing about cloud computing since 2008, but more often than not my claims that it was the future of computing were met with skepticism, especially from legal professionals. Even so, I maintained this view and have long believed that mid-2013 would be the tipping point and that from then on, an increasing number of lawyers would, slowly but surely, begin to use Web-based tools in t[...]
