The city of Ketchum will celebrate the designation of Main Street as one of five "Great Streets" in America at festivities on Thursday, Oct. 20, at noon in Town Square.

 

"Nowhere is the quirky spirit of the Mountain West stronger than on Main Street in Ketchum, Idaho," the American Planning Association said in making the award.

 

Speakers will include Mayor Nina Jonas, state Sen. Michelle Stennett and Idaho American Planning Association President Daren Fluke.

 

Vendors from downtown businesses will have booths at the celebration. Cajun and zydeco band Tom Rigney & Flambeau, here to perform for the Sun Valley Jazz & Music Festival, will begin at 12:30.

 

"This year's designees highlight the power of a single, well-planned street to stimulate economic activity and energize an entire community," said Carol Rhea, president of American Planning Association. "The main thoroughfare of this tiny Idahoan town hosts unique festivals that are only enhanced by a pedestrian-focused design."

 

All of the shops and restaurants on Main Street are locally owned, a distinction that sets Ketchum apart from other communities. While a few now have additional locations in Idaho, all started in Ketchum.

 

Buildings on Main Street range in age from the Limelight Hotel, now under construction, to the 1887 Mercantile Building that is still in use with Enoteca restaurant on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors.  

 

Two other historic buildings are still in use. The 1884 Lewis/Lemon General Store is now the Cornerstone Bar & Grill. The 1925 Ketchum Kamp Hotel has been the Casino Club since the days that it was frequented by Ernest Hemingway.

 

Festivals frequently occur on Main Street. Wagon Days' centerpiece, the Big Hitch parade, one of the largest parades in the country without motorized vehicles, brings a procession of carriages, wagons, horses and occasional camels each Labor Day weekend. The grand finale, as always, is the "Big Hitch," historic Lewis Ore Wagons pulled by a 20-mule team from Bishop, California, on a jerkline.

 

This past weekend featured the Trailing of the Sheep Festival, with 1,500 sheep trailing along Main Street as they returned from summer grazing in the mountain meadows north of town. Halloween will bring Nightmare on Main Street, a giant block party for all ages.

 

" Ketchum's Main Street is more than a century old, displaying its character with architecture from then and now. I have much appreciation for all those who have worked to build and preserve Ketchum's pedestrian-oriented and charming Main Street," Mayor Nina Jonas said.

 

"Community values and a strong sense of place have become priorities in the global economy. Ketchum is a lively destination whose citizens honor what a special place it is and focus on maintaining its authenticity," she added.

 

The selection committee considered a number of factors:

"Ketchum meets all of these criteria, and the city is proud to have been recognized," Mayor Jonas said.

 

Banners recognizing the award will be placed at six locations on Main Street. 

 

The construction of a second overhead transmission line from Hailey to Ketchum has been a topic of discussion for over a decade. Throughout this period, many questions have been asked. Is it necessary? What other options will provide redundancy? Will the new line accommodate future energy solutions like solar or microgrids? Is this $30 million project the most cost-effective solution to providing power reliability? These and other questions have been asked, yet no clear answers have been provided by Idaho Power.

The Wood River Valley is not the only area dealing with the issue of power reliability and redundancy. Both urban and rural communities are working with their utility providers to identify innovative and cost-effective solutions for providing redundant power. Utilities such as Central Hudson Gas and Electric, Duke Energy, DTE Energy Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Edison International's Southern California Edison are turning to other options to ensure power reliability. Options such as distributed energy resources (DER) and microgrids are cost-effective, viable options for providing redundant power.

So what is a DER or microgrid and how can it improve reliability? First, we need to understand how the power grid works. According to the US Department of Energy, the typical power grid connects homes, businesses and other buildings to central power sources, which allow us to use appliances, heating/cooling systems and electronics. But this interconnectedness means that when part of the grid needs to be repaired, or goes down, everyone is affected.

This is where a microgrid can help. A microgrid generally operates while connected to the grid, but importantly, it can break off and operate on its own using local energy generation in times of crisis like storms or power outages, or for other reasons. A microgrid can be powered by distributed generators, batteries, and/or renewable resources like solar panels. Depending on how it's fueled and how its requirements are managed, a microgrid could run indefinitely.

Before the Idaho ratepayers invest over $30 million on a second overhead transmission line in the Wood River Valley, we need to know if this is the best and most cost-effective solution to providing redundancy. This is why the Ketchum City Council is asking the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to require Idaho Power to conduct an independent cost-benefit analysis of energy reliability solutions for the Wood River Valley prior to the approval of a second overhead transmission line.

Ketchum has concerns that the second overhead line as proposed by Idaho Power, may not be the optimal use of ratepayer funds to meet our power reliability needs now and into the future. The study is critical in determining the solution. It would take only about four weeks to complete and would respond to questions on these topics that have gone unanswered for years.

 

Hemingway's Way-Ta-Walker program is a classroom competition. Students receive tokens for each lap, earning steps to "walk" to various places in the world.

 

The mayor who walks the most miles in October during the Mayor's School Walking Challenge can win up to $5,000. Every time a mayor walks with an elementary school during the challenge, they will earn an additional 10,000 steps, which will be added to their step total at the end of October.

 

The students who walk with Mayor Jonas will help her to earn money for every step. She plans to contribute funds raised to the scholarship program of Girls on the Run of the Wood River Valley this year.

 

Mayor Jonas is competing with 25 mayors in southern Idaho for her donation, funded by Blue Cross of Idaho.

 

"I want to thank the students who allow me to join them this month," she said. "With their help, the goal to contribute to Girls on the Run is much more achievable."

 

Girls on the Run is a program for girls in the third through eighth grades whose mission is to "inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running." Lessons inspire girls to become independent thinkers, enhance their problem-solving skills and make healthy decisions.

 

October has been designated as "Walktober," and celebrations around the world are designed to inspire everyone to make walking a priority throughout the year.

 

"Walktober is great fun. Walking is a wonderful way to get exercise, share an experience and, while walking with the Hemingway students, learn what they are thinking and what they are wearing for Halloween," Mayor Jonas said.

 

Last year Mayor Jonas raised $1,000 for the playground equipment at the school. So far, she is in fifth place with over 220,000 steps since the program began on Oct. 3.

 

You can hear her talk about the program in a " commercial" for the Hemingway School news program, broadcast each morning at the school.