The McCall Star-News

05/07/2026

A photo of the McCall Winter Carnival hangs in a bunk room shared by six sailors on the U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear submarine, the $2.6 billion USS Idaho, as the vessel starts its 30-plus year service life.

The photo of the 2025 Winter Carnival was taken by Cascade resident Gary Munson while driving one of two colorfully painted Jeeps for the local Shriners chapter based in Cascade.

“I am honored that my photo will be hanging on the wall of a six-person bunk space for the entirely of its life,” said Munson, who attended the commissioning ceremony for the USS Idaho on April 25 at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.

A photo of Lake Fork Creek covered in snow was printed and wrapped on the ice cream machine in the vessel’s mess hall and a panoramic photo showing the No Business Fire Lookout on No Business Mountain was also selected.

Thoughtful nods to Idaho and its residents have been added throughout the submarine, organized by the USS IDAHO SSN 799 Commissioning Foundation and Committee.

Read the full story here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/winter-carnival-photo-selected-for-uss-idaho/

05/05/2026

The Central Idaho Mountain Bike Association will build three new mountain bike trails at Ponderosa State Park, starting with an intermediate trail for adaptive mountain bikes.

Trail work at the state park was authorized under a five-year agreement with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.

The two-mile intermediate trail will be built near the Huckleberry Bay Loop Trail on the peninsula between Scenic Drive and the Ridgeline Trail, ending at Lily Marsh.

The beginner trail will be built parallel to the west side of the Huckleberry trail and the advanced level trail will be on the east side of the peninsula.

Read the full story here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/cimba-to-build-new-mtb-trails-at-ponderosa-park/

05/04/2026

VANDAL SOFTBALL MUST-WIN TUESDAY
Ariana Schreiner hit a triple and Jill Thomas sprang for a double but the McCall-Donnelly softball team lost to Homedale, 21-6, on Saturday during the first round of the 4A District III Tournament.

The Vandals will now play in an elimination game set for Tuesday, against either Weiser and Fruitland, to try and keep their season alive.

M-D notched seven hits in all against the Trojans, with Makenzie Pedrow leading the way with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.

Harper Ferguson, Eva Rothwell and Halle Newcomb also notched hits for the Vandals, who had to travel for the game.

But Homedale jumped out to a 7-1 lead through two innings and M-D could not catch up.

The winner of Tuesday’s game moves on for a chance to advance to a state play-in game.

Photos courtesy of Christy Sofaly

05/04/2026

05/04/2026

Tomorrow, the Idaho Transportation Department will begin paving Idaho 55 through downtown Cascade from Payette Street to Warm Lake Road.

The project is expected to be finished on Thursday. Crews will work daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no traffic delays expected outside of those hours.

Paving will begin on the north end of town, and traffic will be reduced to one lane with flaggers in place. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

On Wednesday and Thursday, two lanes of traffic will remain open while crews pave the rest of town.

On-street parking along Idaho 55 will be temporarily restricted during the project and access to businesses and residences will be maintained at all times.

For more details: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/itd-to-pave-id55-through-downtown-cascade/

05/01/2026

An order for McCall residents to conserve water is still in effect today following an incident on Wednesday afternoon where a broken pipe at the city’s water treatment plant took the facility offline.

“Residents must immediately reduce water usage to only essential needs (drinking, cooking, cleaning, etc.). Any non-essential water usage or irrigation is prohibited at this time,” the city said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the city's Water Department had restored the plant’s ability to treat and produce potable water, but the order to conserve water remained in effect. There is no boil water order in effect and city water is safe to drink, officials said.

Replacement parts have been ordered, with officials “optimistic” that the plant would be back online today.

Find more here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/mccall-issues-water-conservation-order/

04/30/2026

McCall-Donnelly track and field athletes collected multiple golds while snaring team titles for both girls and boys at the Mile High Invitational on Tuesday.

Natalie Ruth also brought home a victory for Meadows Valley, edging Vandal Ada-Mae Kershaw with a leap of 9 feet, 6 inches in the girls pole vault.

Taylor Nalder (400-meters), Rebecca Nemec (300 hurdles) and Kalisa Jones (discus) all picked up wins while competing at the Richard Sabala Athletic Complex, helping the Vandal girls to 311.5 points to top a collection of seven schools that made the trip to McCall.

Read on for full results and a photo album of the track meet: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/vandals-host-mile-high-madness/

04/29/2026

Preservation groups have come together to urge the Idaho Transportation Department to keep the historic Rainbow Bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River rather than proceed with plans for demolition.

ITD plans to remove the current bridge once a replacement is completed because it would cost tens of millions to keep the aging bridge in place. Costs for various preservation options range from $20 million to $50.4 million in the short term.

The agency started planning in 2021 to replace the historic bridge with a modern structure. Construction is expected to begin in 2028.

A new design for the Rainbow Bridge replacement is almost ready to be released, with public meetings planned for 4 p.m. on May 21 at American Legion Post 60 at 105 E. Mill St. in Cascade.

Read the full story here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/preservation-groups-object-to-rainbow-bridge-demolition-plans/

04/24/2026

McCall-Donnelly students will now be able to play their orchestra instruments for free thanks to a donation of 77 instruments from the McCall Music Society.

Prior to the donation, the music society rented the instruments to students for $15 per month and covered the cost of major repairs while the school district stored the instruments and provided books, strings and rosin.

Now, violins, violas and cellos belong to the school district and will be used by youth orchestra students at Payette Lakes Middle School, M-D High School and High Mountain Strings, a community youth program for elementary and middle school students.

Read the full storyhttps://www.mccallstarnews.com/fiddles-for-free-mccall-music-society-donates-77-instruments-to-m-d-schools/

04/23/2026

Crews from the Idaho Transportation Department have been removing “hazard trees” from Idaho 55 between McCall and New Meadows.

The project to remove over 1,600 trees along the scenic byway is scheduled to wrap up in two to three weeks, officials said. (The print version of this story incorrectly listed the number of trees at 120 total).

“Hazard trees” are defined as trees that could fall into the roadway, block visibility or be struck by vehicles that leave the roadway.

ITD has increased efforts to remove hazard trees along highways following an incident in 2023 when a tree fell on a vehicle south of Banks, killing a McCall child.

Read the full story here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/itd-removes-hazard-trees-between-mccall-and-new-meadows/

04/22/2026

Following a winter of heavy wind events and low snowpack, the McCall Tree Advisory Committee has warned that a “perfect storm” for bark beetle infestations could be brewing, potentially killing thousands of trees.

Several severe wind events over the winter downed thousands of trees across the region. So much recent tree damage mixed with warm weather and an early spring is likely to trigger an abundance and early emergence of bark beetles, said McCall arborist Kevyn Boothe.

Dealing with downed trees before beetles infest an area is important because they cannot be removed once they have set up shop inside of trees, often resulting in a dead tree.

Cleaning up dead and downed trees and hanging beetle repelling pheromones on trees can prevent infestations.

Read the full story here: https://www.mccallstarnews.com/tree-committee-warns-of-looming-beetle-explosion/