Bonneville County home sales skyrocketed in 2016

With 2016 well behind us now, we figured it was time to look at how real estate fared in Bonneville County. Crunching the numbers, we think it's fair to say it was the best year ever, surge well ahead of 2015 and even 2007, the last year home sales were in triple digits for all 12 months.

Home sales in 2016 rose 17 percent over 2015. Homes sold faster, while at the same time the median price rose 9.8 percent.

I think it's fair to say we have a seller's market on our hands, but I'd be interested in hearing what others have to offer.

Idaho National Laboratory named 2017 Digital Edge 50 Award winner

The 3D Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) in the Applied Visualization Laboratory at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies

Idaho National Laboratory has been named a 2017 Digital Edge 50 Award winner by IDG Enterprise in recognition of its High Performance Computing immersive 3D visualization capabilities.

Selected by a panel of industry experts and business and technology executives, the annual Digital Edge Awards recognize innovations in technology used to transform traditional methods of solving complex problems challenging the effectiveness of industries such as energy, health care and agriculture.

The 50 winners will be honored onsite at the AGENDA17 conference, March 20-22, at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“From the creative minds of researchers, INL is taking scientific experimentation to the next level — virtual reality,” said INL Chief Information Officer Denise Stephens. ”The research possibilities are almost unlimited, including designing nuclear facilities capable of withstanding the impacts of earthquakes and other natural disasters, or developing new and secure energy technologies.”

A team composed of INL researchers, data scientists and technology specialists designed and developed the capability to fully immerse a scientist into a highly interactive virtual environment capable of generating complex scientific models and simulated scenarios. The team’s goals included delivering a visually immersive and robust virtual experience enabling scientists to interact with their environmental surroundings while experiencing and simulating events. The immersive experience improves access and mobility through the use of consumer technology, keeping costs at a minimum.

INL possesses a four-sided 3D Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) in the Applied Visualization Laboratory at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. It allows scientists and engineers to probe, analyze and predict trends while standing in the midst of computer-generated renderings of their designs. Scientists also desired access to 3D modeling and simulation capability within their unique research environments, including use in the field.

In order to develop a solution that researchers could adopt to perform modeling and simulation analysis outside of specialized facilities, such as the CAVE, they evaluated standard game engines, modeling applications and consumer technology.

As they selected technology, scientists and technology experts collaborated closely to model facilities and simulate events measuring outcomes with scientific precision. Once they cleansed and layered INL’s Big Data, it was transformed using gaming platforms and modeling software and ultimately delivered into the hands of scientists and staff through Samsung’s Gear VR®headsets using several platforms, including PCs, Macs and standard smartphone technologies.

“They are taking advantage of new capabilities to enhance their mobile and analytics practices worldwide,” said Digital Edge Program Chairwoman Anne McCrory, adding that innovations in technology produce dramatic results and allow quicker and more efficient customer service.

“Completely reworked business processes show how even the most traditional businesses can go big with the right vision and leadership.”

Co-sponsored by CIO and Computerworld, the Digital Edge Awards recognize 50 organizations for digital transformation initiatives with significant, measurable business impact. Through digital technologies such as mobile, analytics, AI, the Internet of Things and cloud, award winners see business results that indicate a true “digital edge.” Winning entries span more than 15 industries and seven countries outside the U.S.

Some help on searching Idaho Falls building permits

I don't think I've figured out anything anyone else can't, so I don't think I'm shooting myself in the foot here. Since the Idaho Falls Building Department went all computerized last year this is how I keep tabs on building permits being applied for and being issued. The good news is you can too!

Go to this link: https://trakit.idahofallsidaho.gov/etrakit3/Search/permit.aspx. In the boxes up top, search like I've laid it out. As the year goes by, advance from COM17-0001 to -0002, etc. In 2016, the last commercial building permit was COM16-0183 (pictured below; it wasn't anything too exciting).

So far this year, only a test permit has been filed.

This isn't as much fun as stopping in at the Building Department office on Park Avenue and visiting friends Reggie, Bryan, Ken, et al. Nor is it as thrilling as stumbling across actual site plans for something like Home2 Suites. But it will have to do. We're all so much busier now, aren't we?

Happy 2017 to all of you. Send me an email if you have any questions.

WestBank Convention Center plans grand reopening New Year's Eve

The newly remodeled WestBank Lounge

After nearly two-and-a-half years in limbo, the WestBank Restaurant, Lounge & Convention Center is planning its grand opening Saturday with a New Year’s Eve bash.

The property at 525 River Parkway was padlocked in August 2014. That was when the tower next door went into foreclosure after the owner, Idaho Hotel Holdings, filed a default judgment against the management company, Om Shiv Ganesh LLC, for more than $3.4 million. Om Shiv Ganesh also had been managing the motel and convention center, but when the tower went into receivership convention center owner Dane Watkins decided he would shut it down while he looked for a new operator.

The tower was sold at auction in 2015 and is now run as a Rodeway Inn by Idaho Falls Lodge LLC, a subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, which franchises more than 6,300 hotels in more than 35 countries and territories. Since late November or early December, the remodeled lounge and restaurant, now called the WestBank Restaurant, Lounge & Convention Center, have been managed by the same company.

A few events have been held since November, when remodeling was finished and the lounge reopened. The dining room has been serving complimentary continental breakfasts to hotel guests.

For the grand opening Saturday night, doors will be opened at 7:30 and dinner will begin at 8. Tickets are $55 a couple for dinner and dancing or $120 for dinner, dancing and a hotel room.

For information, call 523-8000. The Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/westbank.idahofalls/.

EIRMC celebrates 30 years today

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center officially turns 30 today. The tertiary care hospital at 3100 Channing Way was officially dedicated Dec. 22, 1986. If I could find the story I wrote that ran Dec. 23, 1986, I would post it, but in the meantime here is a history written by Kathy J. Fatkin on EIRMC’s webpage: http://eirmc.com/about/history.dot.

To celebrate 30 years in operation, the hospital announced this fall that it was asking the community for 30,000 canned food items, which it has accomplished. Canned goods have been collected through physical donations at the hospital and through a virtual canned food drive at EIRMC30Years.com. Visitors to the site were able to participate once each day and each time they did EIRMC committed to purchase canned goods on their behalf.

The canned food drive will continue through the end of the year (if you want to donate online, there is a link on the right side of this page.) After Jan. 1, the final count will be calculated, EIRMC will arrange to purchase cans generated by the virtual canned food drive, and preparations will be made to distribute the cans to 11 area food banks throughout EIRMC’s service area.

The 11 area food banks are Community Dinner Table (Blackfoot Community Pantry), Community Food Basket (Idaho Falls), Cornerstone Pentecostal Food Bank, Family Crisis Center (Rexburg), Idaho Falls Soup Kitchen, Jefferson County Food Bank, North Bingham County Community Food Bank, North Fremont Food Pantry, Salvation Army (Idaho Falls), St. Vincent de Paul, and Teton Valley Food Bank. EIRMC anticipates that the cans will be distributed in mid-January.

Local Marketing Boot Camp set for Jan. 19 at EITC

For anyone who wants to learn more about Internet marketing and social media, there will be a Local Marketing Boot Camp on Jan. 19, 2017, at Eastern Idaho Technical College.

Running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., it will feature talks, panel discussions and hands-on exercises with six local experts:

• Ryan Joos, Nifty Marketing
• Christopher Parrett, Netmark
• Tyler Kraupp, Kraupp, Inc.
• Michelle Ziel-Dingman, Artcore Visual Studio
• Molly Fischer, Glacier Marketing
• Jason Weaver, Local Marketing Boot Camp

Subjects to be covered include …

• Online marketing
• Basic to advanced search engine optimization
• Great design converts
• Facebook and Facebook Ads
• Google AdWords and pay-per-click
• Getting reviews
• Offline marketing

Price for the event is $75, which includes snacks and lunch. Tickets may be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/local-web-marketing-bootcamp-tickets-28985490382.  Seating is limited to 40 people.

For more information, visit the event’s webpage: http://localmarketingbootcamp.com/

Review: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (spoilers ahead)

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her ragtag band of Rebels in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"

Today we feature a review of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" written by Bill Menser. We saw it on Saturday and he had all sorts of opinions, so I asked him to write a review. He is being paid for this. 

Bill has been around long enough to know his "Star Wars." How long? Long enough to have seen "The Phantom Menace" from the balcony of the old Rio Theater. Long enough to have seen the VHS tape in which Han Solo shoots Greedo not because Greedo shoots first but because Greedo has become a bore and is obviously going to try something. Anyway, here's the write up ...

The reviews I have read of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” have been mixed, with more people saying they liked it than those who didn’t. I’m with the majority, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have problems with the film.

Before I go any further, a warning. This will contain spoilers, so if you want to avoid them stop reading right now and find another review to look at. If you are fine with spoilers and people having opinions different than yours, or possibly even the same, please keep on reading.

The first ten minutes of the film start off on four different planets, with different characters for each segment. As I was finally adjusting to each planet’s story, the movie would suddenly switch to different characters in a different system, making the process confusing.

It finally settled on a planet where the main heroine is. Jyn Erso is young at this point — about 7, I would guess —and she is on a farm with her father and mother. An Imperial shuttle appears on the horizon and the father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) goes to meet it, telling his wife and daughter to hide. Galen, it turns out, used to be an Imperial scientist. Death Star Project Manager Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) has arrived to take him back. He politely refuses. Then Mommy Dearest decides she has to help Papa by showing up with a blaster, getting herself predictably killed and leaving Jyn hidden in the family bolthole as her father is taken away. Jyn gets found by ... some guy.

This turns out to be Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whittaker), a rebel extremist. By this time, Jyn (Felicity Jones) is older and on a prison ship. She gets rescued by rebels who see her as a way to get to Saw, now in seclusion. Saw eventually dies because he doesn’t want to run from the Imperials anymore. His death feels like a reason to give Jyn more issues, when she already has enough. But now she knows where her father is. She comes to his rescue in time for him to die. (Major spoiler: Nearly everybody in this movie dies.)

The only really refreshing bit for me was K-2SO, voiced by Alan Tudyk, of “Firefly” fame. He was a sigh of relief in what I felt was an over-budgeted fan-film. This sassy robot got a laugh with almost every line he delivered.

My enjoyment of his character was countered, however, when Darth Vader, after Force-choking Krennic and looking as smug as a man in a mask can, says, “Be careful not to CHOKE on your aspirations.” I had to roll my eyes at this. Vader has never been wisecracker.

Speaking of Vader, I know they got James Earl Jones to voice him once more, but he sounded like someone trying to impersonate James Earl Jones. If they touched his voice in post-processing just a bit and made it half an octave lower, it would have been Vader, but it sounded too much like some replacement with a head cold.

While the first half of the film didn’t hold my attention that much, the second had me invested. Of course the relationship between Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Jyn felt like a fan fiction: Jyn, the girl with a dead parent and daddy issues falling for the Rebel, angsty and seemingly uncaring. Of course they end up with each other.

For the climactic battle, a small team sneaks through a giant atmospheric shield with a captured Imperial cargo ship they somehow hijack from the Rebel base. The Imperial shield looks like something straight out of Mel Brooks’ “Space Balls.” The team lands on a pad and passes the inspection process, and they somehow manage to sneak by the soldiers on the pad.

While Jyn, Cassian and K-2SO make their way to the main tower, the Rebel team creates a distraction by blowing up as many different landing pads as they can, to make the attack seem much larger than it is. By this point Krennic has figured out they’re after the data archive. He takes some Death Troopers to investigate (these are basically Imperial Stormtroopers, except they can aim and wear black instead of white.)

Cassian and Jyn retrieve the Death Star plans (which her dad has thoughtfully named “Stardust,” his nickname for her), then Krennic and Cassian have a shootout while Jyn climbs to the radar dish on top of the tower. Cassian is hit and falls, seemingly dead. Which of course he isn’t. Jyn realigns the dish to transmit the file to a waiting rebel ship that has conveniently showed up during the attack. Krennic steps in between her and the console and at gunpoint asks who she is. Jyn reveals she is Galen Erso’s daughter, then Cassian shoots and kills Krennic.

Now able to transmit the data to the waiting ship, they do so just as the Death Star appears out of Hyperspace on the horizon. Uh-oh! Jyn and Cassian look at each other lovingly and make their way down to the beach as the Death Star fires on the planet. They die holding hands in a blinding white flash, but the Rebels have the plans. Vader shows up to butcher a few dozen Rebels, but they still manage to pass the plans on to Princess Leia, who gets off the ship.

Even though I felt like the script had been lifted from a fan-fiction website, “Rogue One” was still a “Star Wars” movie. It had all the proper elements. It was political and word-heavy, it had great fight scenes and big explosions. It had some wit, one-liners and even a villain (Krennic) you could feel something for. The supporting cast — a defecting pilot, a blind monk who is strong with the Force, and his friend, not so strong with the Force but an ace with heavy weapon — got some good lines and helped move things along. C-3PO and R2-D2 got a cameo to remind us this is a warm up to “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.” Same with Vader and Leia, but I felt like it could have left them out and still flowed perfectly into George Lucas’ original from 1977.

I don’t regret seeing “Rogue One” and would recommend it to others. On my personal “Star Wars” scale, with “The Phantom Menace” representing a 1 and “The Empire Strikes Back” rating a 9, I would give this one a 6.