The Payette National Forest invites the public to celebrate Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 28 at the McCall Smokejumper Base’s south lawn at 605 N. Mission St. Parking will be available at the Riverfront Park large gravel lot below Mission Street.

Smokey Bear has been an icon in promoting forest fire safety with his tagline “only you can prevent wildfires.” This celebration is to honor his legacy as the face of America’s longest-running public service campaign for over eight decades, according to a press release from Payette National Forest. 

Activities include:

• Children touring fire engines and playing “pin the bucket and shovel on the campfire”
• Singing “Happy Birthday” to Smokey Bear
• A local library reading “The True Story of Smokey Bear” 
• Raffles with Smokey Bear Prizes
• Various fire organizations collaborating to promote fire safety 

The event is a collaboration with the McCall Fire Department, Valley County Fire Wise, Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association, Idaho Department of Lands, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and the Donnelly Library. 

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Idaho Lottery says every play benefits Idaho’s schools, students, and property tax payers.

• July 19, Idaho Lottery celebrated 35 years!
• New legislation will continue to provide funding for public school buildings.
• Learn more about Where the Money Goes.

(Broadcast Transcript)
“The lottery has provided millions of dollars in the last several, the last many years,” said Gideon Tolman, the Chief Financial Officer of Idaho Dept. of Education.

Another thing to celebrate, Friday, Idaho Lottery turned 35. Fun events at the Village consisted of games, live music, and plenty of birthday cake.

5 contestants from across the state tried their luck… digging through frosting… to find a prize in a ‘cake-stack.’

Nampa local Evan Crawford found the $10,000 reward in his pile of pastry.

“What are you planning to do with the money?” asked Meridian Neighborhood Reporter Allie Triepke.

“I am probably going to pay off some bills if I’m being honest,” said Evan Crawford, with his new-found luck, “and [buy] a few more lottery tickets of course.”

So how does the Idaho Lottery benefit students and taxpayers? We asked the state’s Dept. of Education.

“So school’s in the past, up to this point, have used it for kind of their routine maintenance, paying their maintenance team salaries, and doing their repairs on their buildings and a lot of their summer projects that they do between school years. That’s a big portion of what is spending has gone to as far,” said Tolman.

West Ada School District tells me the money has been a “significant help” for the district to maintain buildings.

Starting this year, new legislation, House Bill 521, combines state money, in part with lottery funding, to fund more public school districts.

“In this legislative package that included that piece where the lottery funding is going to be redirected, there was some additional funding from state sales tax revenues that will go to additional facilities support for schools,” said Tolman.

And good news for taxpayers, as the federal and lottery funding allows districts like West Ada to “hold off” on putting bonds on the ballot.

More than 300 firefighters continued to fight the Bench Lake Fire burning in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, achieving 8% containment on Friday as the fire grew to more than 2,000 acres, fire officials said. 

The fire started July 11 and is burning near Redfish Lake and the iconic Redfish Lake Lodge near the town of Stanley. 

Crews have used pumps and hoses to water Redfish Lake Lodge and other structures in the area, according to the Great Basin team four public information office’s interagency InciWeb report on the fire.  

Sawtooth National Recreation Area officials have issued emergency closures for the Redfish Lake Recreation Complex, including the lodge, trails, campgrounds and roads in the vicinity. 

In an update posted Friday morning, fire officials said the firefighters’ efforts were paying off. Altogether, 346 firefighters, six helicopters, 14 engines and two scooper planes were fighting the Bench Lake Fire.

“Structure protection efforts at Redfish Lake Lodge and adjacent facilities are proving successful,” the Great Basin team four public information office wrote. “Pumps and hoses continue to spray water increasing the relative humidity, making it harder for any fire embers to ignite adjacent fuels. Crews near upper Bench Lakes have made substantial progress building containment lines in the extremely rugged terrain.”

The Times-News reported on Wednesday that it may take a major rain storm or snowfall to completely put out the fire. That’s according to Sawtooth National Recreation Area Ranger Kirk Flannigan, who addressed the impacts of the fire in front of almost 200 people gathered at a town hall meeting in Stanley, according to the Times News.

The cause of the Bench Lake Fire remained under investigation as of Friday. Once again this year, more Idaho fires have been caused by people than lighting, according to the Idaho Department of Lands fire division.

Crews fighting the Texas Fire that is burning east of Kendrick in Latah County reported achieving 10% containment of the fire, fire officials said Friday morning. 

The human-caused fire started July 15. As of Friday morning, 175 firefighters were fighting the Texas Fire, according to a news release issued Friday by the Idaho Department of Lands. 

On Wednesday, the Lewiston Tribune reported that four structures have burned in the fire and others have been threatened since the fire ignited. 

As of early Friday afternoon, Level 3 evacuation status was still in effect for the Cedar Creek Canyon Area. For the latest evacuation statues for the Texas Fire, visit the Latah County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.