MY TURN: KCRCC Town Hall melee
Doug Albertson
Mere minutes ago, I left the KCRCC-sponsored legislative town hall meeting (Saturday, Feb. 22). My departure was abrupt and abbreviated by an unwillingness to be associated with the melee ensuing about half way through the presentations of the attending legislators. Roughly four and a half Idaho legislators were able to verbalize the bills they were working on and their concerning interests with only a few outbursts from the people attending. Tony Wisniewski was able to get about halfway through his presentation describing his concern with the prevention of crossbreeding animal and human genes and the prevention of abortion before a female member of the audience erupted in anger. The interruption devolved into an ejection attempt that ultimately resulted in the woman being dragged out on her back, zip tied and missing a shoe.
Having youthful prison working experience, I had seen and been involved with similar situations that never ended well. I made a retreat as police arrived. My intent in attendance was to learn what each legislator was doing for me and our state. Upon learning what I could, I would have liked to ask a few questions of the legislators regarding my concerns for the community, hopeful of receiving answers to allay some of my fears. A few days ago, I received an email from Russ Fulcher, our Idaho Congressman. Russ told me that in 2024 wildfires had burned 640,000 acres across Idaho and he was discussing wildfire prevention with the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, and local agencies. I had also received other news that federal firefighting agencies had funds withdrawn for hiring and training firefighters. North Idaho is forested and wildfires are becoming more common. It’s great to be concerned about wildfires, but it seems counterproductive to pull federal funding with the potential of larger and more life-threatening fires in the future. I was also going to ask about the legislators’ goals regarding the continued community benefit of North Idaho College (NIC), considering our local legislators had voted against Idaho Launch bills and higher education funding.
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