| Cottonwood
Chamber of Commerce meets
The Greater Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce held their April meeting last Wednesday, April 8 at the Duman Mini-Mall. The major upcoming event is the NICI thank you barbecue put on by the school district and the Chamber on Thursday, May 7. It will be held at the Cottonwood City Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the second annual event and is aimed at thanking NICI for all they provide to the community. School superintendent Gary Blaz came up with the idea for this last year after seeing all the help the schools received in their summer projects. Community members are invited to attend as well. Rick Johnson reported that the Chamber web site, cottonwoodidaho.org, received over 400 hits in the past month and is fast approaching 10,000 total. A river cleanup will be held after the Spring flows drop, likely in July. A new secretary is sought as Stephanie Connolly is being transferred from her local position with the BLM. Apparently Melissa Rau of NICI is willing to take on this position. The Cottonwood Community Yard Sale has been set for Saturday, May 16. Two new businesses were welcomed last month and given a year’s membership in the Chamber of Commerce. They were Mager Bargains and The Corner Cupboard. A new community brochure is in the works. The Chamber is looking at something more specific to the Cottonwood area. Lynn Guyer, warden at NICI, reported the state is still looking into privatizing the Orofino prison. He says this could have an adverse affect on the prison here because if the Orofino prison is privatized that would throw most of the current workers there onto the job market and nearly all of them have seniority in the Idaho Correctional System over the current staff at NICI which includes many local people. He also reported the one privately run prison in Idaho has the highest violence rate of any prison in the state. Members of the Chamber decided to draft a letter to the State Board of Corrections opposing privatization at Orofino. The next meeting of the Chamber is tentatively set for Thursday, May 14 at noon at the Duman Mini-Mall meeting room. |
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