I saw a lot of empty shelves at stores when I looked into the coolers. A sign at WinCo explains that the avian flu virus is to blame. The illness has been spreading through large operations nationwide.

Restaurants are struggling too. A friend in Idaho Falls wrote me with details:

The restaurant my son cooks for wasn’t able to do Saturday brunch yesterday because eggs were too expensive. $68 a case to $160? They are a small restaurant/catering service and can’t bear the cost. There would be no profit.

The thing is, the guy who gets blamed is usually the one in charge of the government. The guy at the top. Donald Trump is taking over much the way he left, being dogged by a viral pandemic.

Are you a conspiracy theorist?

News media spent the last four years telling us that a president had little control over fuel prices, and very few tools for dealing with inflation. Which the media blamed on supply chain issues and not the copious printing of currency. Will Trump be given the same pass that Joe Biden received? Don’t hold your breath.

I don’t dislike eggs, but I’m always eating on the fly. I rarely have time for them on weekends, and even if I wanted them on a Saturday morning at a restaurant, there’s now a challenge finding any.

This will pass, but flocks are going to be greatly reduced.  When they do recover, we’ll probably have birds with hardier immune systems.  Bouncing back could take a very long time.

TULSA, OK – The Idaho Steelheads (20-14-3-0, 43pts) defeated the Tulsa Oilers (20-12-4-2, 46pts) Saturday night in a shootout by a final score of 3-2 in front of 7,009 fans the BOK Center. Idaho and Tulsa will wrap up this weekend’s three-game series in Tulsa Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. (MT). 

Despite outshooting the Oilers 10-7 in the opening 20 minutes of play Tulsa led 1-0 after the first period as Michael Farren scored at 12:03. 

Idaho received their second power-play of the night just 2:39 into the second period and 59 seconds into the man advantage Andrei Bakanov (5^th) provided the equalizer. From the right half-wall Brendan Hoffmann fed Matt Register at the center point. Register sent a wrist shot to the net where Bakanov banged home the rebound at 4:38 tying the score at 1-1. After the Steelheads killed off their second penalty kill of the night they went on the power-play again at 12:41 of the stanza. With five seconds left on the man advantage Andrew Bellant (4^th) gave Idaho back the lead. Hoffmann from the right point rolled the puck to Bakanov in the right corner where he connected with Bellant inside the right circle where he blasted a one-timer into the net making it 2-1 with 5:24 left in the frame. 78 seconds later the Oilers tied the game thanks to Easton Brodzinski. Tulsa outshot Idaho 13-10 in the period. 

Shots were 8-5 Oilers in the third period and then 7-5 Tulsa in overtime but for the second straight night a shootout was needed. For the second straight night Brodzinski, as the first shooter, scored for Tulsa but then Bryan Thomson would turn aside the next three shots he face. Patrick Moynihan and A.J. White were stopped as the first two shooters before Bellant kept the game going and Hoffmann ended it. 

Bryan Thomson  made 33 saves on 35 shots in the win while Talyn Boyko turned aside 28 of 30 shots in the loss. 

BOX SCORE

ICCU Three Stars

1) Brendan Hoffmann (IDH)                      

2) Andrei Bakanov (IDH)                      

3) Easton Brodzinski (TUL)              

GAME NOTES

• Idaho finished 2-for-3 on the power-play while Tulsa went 0-for-2.            
• Tulsa outshot Idaho 35-31. 
• Romain Rodzisnki (IR), Ty Pelton-Byce (IR), Hank Crone (IR), C.J. Walker (IR), Nick Canade (IR), Wade Murphy (IR), Jason Horvath (IR), and Matt Ustaski (DNP) did not dress for Idaho.
• Andrei Bakanov has (2-3-5) in four games with Idaho including two multi-point games.
• Brendan Hoffmann tallied two assists for his eighth multi-point game.
• Andrew Bellant has two goals in his last three games.
• Matt Register has an assist in back-to-back games.
• Patrick Moynihan led all Idaho skaters with five shots.

Stay up to date with all things Steelheads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Watch all Steelheads home games on FloHockey and KTVB 24/7 (Channel 7.2) and listen on the Steelheads flagship station 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”. 

The following is a news release from the Idaho Falls Fire Department.

IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Fire Department responded to a structure fire Saturday afternoon on the 400 block of Higbee Avenue.

Around 4:40 p.m., multiple people called 911 to report that a manufactured home was on fire. One caller reported everyone was outside of the home. It was also said the home was close to several other structures.

Idaho Falls Firefighters responded immediately and discovered the small manufactured home with flames coming out of the window.

Firefighters immediately worked to knock down the fire while protecting the other homes close by. Other firefighters also worked to search the home to confirm everyone made it out safely.

Idaho Falls Police officers provided traffic control while Idaho Falls Power and Intermountain Gas secured utilities.

There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters.

IFFD responded with four engines, four ambulances, a ladder truck and a battalion chief.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the IFFD Fire Prevention and Investigation Division. An estimated total of damages is not known at this time.