About Latah County, ID

A devotion to the arts is a signature quality of Moscow, Idaho. The city is divided between the more liberal university students and professors and the somewhat conservative farming community but one area of agreement is the appreciation of myriad forms of art.

The local paper, the Moscow Pullman Daily News, had this article of one of our local artists.

The rural life: Local artist inspired by life in small southern Idaho town

Forrest Gilchrist usually starts a piece of art without knowing what the final product will look like.

"It all has a human element, but there is no predetermined idea," he said. "It's open to interpretation."

The Moscow artist has delved into a variety of art forms over the years, but for his show at Above the Rim Gallery in Moscow, he put together 100 collages that combine book covers and pictures from books, magazines and other discarded media.

He uses brightly colored mistinted paint he gets through his day job at Moscow Building Supply to bring the collages to life and offset black and white images. (read more...)

If you're a jazz fan, Moscow ID has a treat that you really should indulge in at least once, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. I know - Idaho. Not where you would expect to find a hotbed of jazz. but there is a long jazz tradition

The University of Idaho sponsors the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival every year. The Festival is a major regional highlight. Imagine an environment that has world class jazz musicians sharing the stage with elementary, junior high and high school students.

I've had several childern participate in the competition. The level of commitment that even the youngest bands bring is impressive. Some of the talent that appears among the high schoolers is just awe-inspiring.

But it isn't just a kid's festival. It would be wonderful if it were - but the Festival also attracts the best in the world. It takes a special event to pull in a Bobby McFerrin or any of a dozen other performers that will be in Moscow in a couple of weeks.

The emphasis this year is Latin Jazz. I have to admit, I am not a big jazz fan with one exception. I love latin Jazz - a holdover from a trip to New York 2 decades ago. I missed it last year (no kids in the band) but have already picked up tickets for the shows this time around. The Festival is from 2/25-2/28. For anybody interested in jazz, this is a "you'll regret it if you miss it" type of event.

Stick it on your bucket list.

Quoting the webpage for the Appaloosa Museum,

The Appaloosa Museum is a non-profit organization established in 1975 to collect, preserve, study, and exhibit objects and information that illustrate the history of the Appaloosa horse.

The Appaloosa is a breed of horse known for its spotted coat pattern and other distinctive physical characteristics. The Nez Perce people of the American Pacific Northwest are credited with developing the breed. They were once referred to by white settlers as the "Palouse horse", possibly after the Palouse River, which ran through the heart of Nez Perce country. Gradually, the name evolved into "Appaloosa".

The Museum has annouced that the State of Idaho will be offerring a license plate to celebrate this uniquesly American breed. The Appaloosa plate is the first United States license plate to prominently feature a state horse along with the name of the breed, according to their press release.

While Idaho residents have the advantage of displaying their enthusiasm for the breed on their bumper, anyone in the world can purchase a souvenir plate. Getting asouvenir plate couldn't be easier. Visit http://www.accessidaho.org, click "DMV," then "Vehicle Services," followed by "Special Plates" and, finally, click on the rotating license plate graphic.

The ApHC receives $20 for each souvenir plate sold; and $25 for each initial registration, $15 for each yearly renewal of the Idaho license plate. These funds are exclusively used for youth education programs, including the Appaloosa Museum and Heritage Center.

It seems a worthy cause.

You can visit the Appaloosa Museum online at http://www.appaloosamuseum.org/cms/default.asp?contentID=1 or in beautiful Moscow ID at 2720 W Pullman Rd.

I have agents ask me whether they should have a new home inspected. We're a little more trusting out here - everybody knows everybody else and new homes are supposed to be "inspected" by the local building departments. I always tell them yes and tell them the story of a home that I did the forensics on - this one is still in litigation.

Now this is a bit extreme - I don't normally cut into walls to see what's happening but in this case, the homeowner was paying to have the structural components checked so we were intrusive.

This picture with the wood studs is indicative of what we found. There was supposed to be a steel post in the corner supporting the beam. In all, 4 steel posts were replace with wood. Two steel beams were replaced.

the client even asked the contractor if he could add another second story bedroom - and he did. Without re-engineering the plans. The walls below the new room are already bowing since they weren't designed to take that load.

The dining room, which cantilevered out about 15 feet was was originally designed to be supported on 5 10-inch diameter concrete pilasters. Instead, there were 3 6x6 wood posts.

As you can see in the picture, these posts aren't below the frost line, don't have the proper footing ( we did more excavation later) and are going to ROT because the contractor buried them in earth - which was going to take the entire room down with it.

I ended up with pages of defects just like this - and worse.

So when anybody asks about inspecting a new home, my answer is an unequivical "Yes!"

If you live in a hot climate, you've probably spent a significant amount of energy fighting the effects of the sun. In some parts of the country, air conditioning is as essential as water during the summer months, sucking the humidity out of the air and cooling things down enough so that you actually feel like moving around. Isn't it about time you started taking advantage of the sun's rays instead of feeling like one of their prime targets?

Solar power is a technology which has come way down in price over the past decade or so. This type of system uses the sun's energy to generate electricity that can power your home, heat your hot water or even be sold back to the local electrical utility. How does it work? In the simplest system, a solar panel is mounted in a high location on your property - usually your roof - and small photovoltaic cells on the panel are stimulated by the sun's light. This stimulation causes them to generate electron activity, creating a direct current that can be stored in batteries, or converted to alternating current in order to mesh with your home's electrical system. You can even use a combination system, so that during the day the panels are powering your home and simultaneously charging batteries that you can use during the night when the panels are no longer operational.

Solar panels are not nearly as fragile as they look, and their simple design sees many of them under warranty for decades. While the initial investment for a large number of panels can be pricey, the panels pay for themselves very quickly if you go for a full system that can virtually eliminate your home's dependence on the electrical grid. Many people instead opt to use solar energy as an additional source of power, only installing a small number of panels to provide them with a percentage of their daily electrical needs. This strategy also works well for those who want to build up their solar generating capacity slowly over time. Since the price of the technology decreases with each passing year, distributing your costs over a longer period can lead to significant savings by the time you are finished.

Of course, as with any form of power generation that is dependent on the environment, solar power does have its downsides. For one, the panels require unfettered sightlines to the sun in order to operate at maximum efficiency, and if your home is surrounded by trees or frequently under cloud cover, you might have some difficulty running a full system. However, the misconception that northern climates cannot take advantage of this type of energy is simply not true, as the dark coloring of most panels melts snow accumulation quickly in the presence of the sun. The only real downside to using solar power in the winter season is the shorter daytime and the previously mentioned cloud cover.

You don't have to jump into solar power with both feet in order to take advantage of this essentially free resource. Research your options and consider starting out small to supplement your current power consumption. You will be surprised at how much of a difference solar power can make in your life.

Coming up next - the low down on using batteries off the grid