Catch up on Idaho business news: January 2-8 2019 - Idaho Statesman

The top 10 Idaho business stories of the week:

1. Now you can get local hospital prices online

If you’re planning a knee surgery, a childbirth or even just a simple lab test this year, you’re probably thinking about where in the Treasure Valley you can get the best value. A new rule took effect Jan. 1 that requires hospitals to post their prices online.

Saint Alphonsus and St. Luke’s health systems now have sections of their websites dedicated to pricing information. Go to bit.ly/saintalsprices for Saint Alphonsus hospitals and clinics. Go to bit.ly/stlukesprices for St. Luke’s hospitals and clinics.

2. Most Governor’s Cup money goes to expenses

The nonprofit that runs Idaho’s annual Governor’s Cup golf tournament has spent at least twice as much money on throwing the event as it has awarded in financial aid to its beneficiaries, students, throughout most of the past decade.

Students received $2.1 million in scholarship awards in the time that the Idaho Governor’s Cup nonprofit spent $6.1 million on the annual event, an Idaho Statesman investigtion found. That doesn’t include the nonprofit’s other operating expenses.

The tournament draws business and political leaders as it alternates between resorts in Coeur d’Alene and Sun Valley.

PizzalChik was first featured on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” in 2009.

Idaho Statesman file photo Shawn Raecke/ Idaho Statesman

3. Restaurant won’t reopen: After PizzalChik chef and former owner Brad Breakell died unexpectedly in late December, it appeared his children might reopen the Boise restaurant after a temporary closure. That won’t be the case. PizzalChik, 7330 W. State St., has shuttered permanently.

4. Bike dealer closing: The financial failure of one of the nation’s largest bicycle retailers will cause the shutdown of Performance Bicycle’s 102 stores, including its Boise shop in the Franklin Towne Plaza, 8587 W. Franklin Road. A store-closing sale is underway.

5. Cuckoo for containers: Want to live in a shipping container? So do a lot of folks, as owners of Boise’s IndieDwell have happily discovered. “I’ve never seen a business take off like this,” said cofounder Pete Gombert. “The story of what we’re doing is resonating.”

6. Ex-Stampede owner pleads guilty: Bill Ilett, 74, former owner of the Idaho Stampede,pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace during a heated Boise City Council meeting when he tapped the forehead of John Brunelle, executive director of the city urban renewal agency. Ilett opposed a city plan to use public funds to support a new private stadium.

7. Suspicious of hemp: New Idaho Gov. Brad Little expressed caution about any efforts to legalize hemp farming in Idaho, saying it could be “camouflage for the marijuana trade.” Little also said he’s committed to implementing a voter-approved expansion of Medicaid coverage but has concerns about how it may be done.

8. Hard times on the farm: Crop prices are rising, but low milk prices are dragging down Idaho’s dairy sector. Fifteen dairy farms went out of business last year, an agricultural economist says.

9. Seltzer sold again: A company co-founded by local developer Tommy Ahlquist plans to buy Nampa’s Saltzer Medical Group, which would put the practice back in local hands. Saltzer was at the heart of an antitrust lawsuit against St. Luke’s Health System, which bought it over regulators’ objections. St. Luke’s lost and was forced to divest Seltzer, leading to its sale last year to a unit of McKesson, a national health company.

10. Economic slowdown predicted: State economist Derek Santos says the economies of the nation and Idaho are still doing well. “The question, though, is can we keep this up?” Santos told legislators. “The short answer is we think no. We think the economy will slow” — but not enough to cause a recession.

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