The beginning of the end?

The University of Idaho announced that they received a $1 million grant from the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, to help start a U of I Law School in Boise. In the near future, the third year can be taken in Boise at classes held in the Idaho Water Center, but apparently they want to work toward a full three year program here.

The plan is to eventually be housed in a remodeled Ada County Courthouse, and to be co-located with the Idaho Supreme Court Library. They still need to raise another $6 million to achieve that dream.

I dunno about all this, though I'm not sure the U of I has much choice. If they don't get a Boise presence, the new Concordia Law School is going to siphon off a bunch of their students. And if they do get a three year Boise program, it will pull students from the Moscow campus. Either way, it's difficult to see how the Moscow law school stays viable, or at least, stays in anything like its current configuration. This will be interesting to watch.

The other part of this story that I really don't get is the law library issue. Really? A state law library? For what purpose? The Supremes will still be blocks away, and they don't go to the library anyway. They, like more and more lawyers, use Westlaw or Lexis for legal research. It really seems like the law library is an unnecessary expense that, if it accomplishes any purpose, subsidizes lawyers. To give you an idea of its usefulness, its hours are Monday - Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM.

If the library has some archival function, why not shift that over the the State Historical Society? The state is casting around to save money; this seems like an opportunity.

But, I suspect it's sort of a backroom deal. See, one of the key factors in rating a law school is the size of its library. The more books, the higher rating. So, co-locating the law school with the law library will allow the law school to get accreditation easier, and will help it gain credibility (assuming the proper deal between the school and the law library for use of and access to the books).

Wind story exposes a lot of hot air

From a story in the Statesman today about a large wind turbine project being built in south central Idaho.

First, note what Otter said of the project:

Otter said the development of the wind industry is the newest chapter in Idaho's long history of creating its own power using renewable sources, starting with the Swan Falls Dam on the Snake River, Idaho Power's first hydroelectric dam.

"The renewable energy industry is breathing new life into the Idaho frontier," said Otter.

The developer of the wind project said

"This project wouldn't exist save for the federal grant," Urquhart said.

Otter

acknowledged that without government help, Idaho would not have the energy system it has today.

It's nice to see the anti-government Governor admit that government can help, and can in fact breathe new life into the Idaho frontier.

Man, am I glad he's gone

Bryan Fischer, now spreading his special brand of lies and hatred on a national stage.

Update: More on Fischer's wackiness here.

Peak wingnuttia?

Nah, not even close, I suspect, but we've exceeded the wingnut capacity that I was expecting. Republicans are now seriously talking about repealing another constitutional amendment. First they took aim at the 17th Amendment (direct election of Senators) and now they want to repeal the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment provides important due process protections and requires states to abide by them. The wingers are unhappy with the amendment because it allows folks born on US soil to be US citizens.

Seriously, is there nothing these clowns won't stoop to in order to pander to the tea baggers? Do they have no sense of shame or embarrassment?