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Idaho Transportation
Department

Office of Communications
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
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October 30, 2009


Daylight saving time ends Sunday morning
Remember to set your clocks back one hour Saturday night
Every spring we move our clocks one hour ahead and "lose" an hour during the night and each fall we move our clocks back one hour and "gain" an extra hour. But Daylight Saving Time (and not Daylight Savings Time with an "s") wasn't just created to confuse our schedules.The phrase "Spring forward, fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks.
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Administration
ITD representatives schedule statewide meetings with legislators
ITD administrators will meet with legislators next month in each of the department’s six districts to discuss transportation issues and the 2010 legislative sessions. The Legislative outreach meetings begin Dec. 7 in Shoshone at the District 4 office from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
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Highways
Orchard Bridge comes tumbling down...
Construction crews demolished the old Orchard Street Bridge in Boise Friday (Oct. 23) night while most people slept. Their work makes room for a new bridge at that location. Two more long-standing bridges over I-84 are destined for the same fate – Meridian’s Ten Mile Overpass (circa 1964) in late November, and the Vista Interchange Bridge (1969) near the Boise airport in mid-December.

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Employees
Changes announced for employee evaluation forms
HRS recently announced the revision of the performance evaluation form and has just completed delivering a series of supervisory trainings and employee orientations throughout the districts and Headquarters. During those sessions, feedback was requested and compiled, and HRS has carefully considered all comments prior to releasing the form.
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New rules regarding the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The Federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 has changed little since it was enacted more than 15 years ago. Recently, however, the act has been modified in an attempt to address “loose ends,” especially those related to military families, explains ITD benefits coordinator Carlin Hill. State policy requires that if employees experience a qualifying event, they must request FMLA – it is not a choice, Hill emphasizes.
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HRS to discuss Accommodation / Return to Work policy
ITD has enacted an Accommodation/Return to Work (A/RTW) policy that clarifies the roles of employees, supervisors and Human Resource Services when employees return to work after an illness or injury. The policy, A-18-08, applies regardless of whether the illness or injury is work related. It is supported by state and federal laws.

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Planning
ITD explains corridor options during series of meetings
Fifty people came to comment about road management and the future of two short routes in Canyon and Owyhee counties Oct. 14-15 and 21-22. Idaho 19, a 20-mile route running from Caldwell to the Oregon Line, was the subject of meetings in Caldwell and Homedale. Caldwell and Parma were the venues for public meetings on the 14-mile U.S. 20/26 corridor from I-84 to Nyssa, Ore. and the Snake River (excluding the eight-mile overlap of U.S. 95 from east of Parma to Anderson Corner).
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Safety/security
Drive carefully in ghost/goblin zones Saturday
The facts are scary. Four times as many young pedestrians (ages 5 - 14) are killed on Halloween than any other evening of the year, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.  Trick-or-treating can quickly turn into a nightmare if someone gets hurt. On Halloween, children dressed in dark colors and in costumes that sometimes cover their eyes walk the streets at dusk when many adults are heading off to parties.
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Residential fire prevention measures emphasized
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) this week launched an effort to encourage everyone to install and maintain home smoke alarms and, if possible, sprinklers. More than 3,000 people die in home fires each year, and the majority of them have no working smoke alarm. To prevent these deaths, the USFA, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is sponsoring the nationwide Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign, which emphasizes that “Smoke Alarms Save Lives.”

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President declares H1N1 national emergency
The President signed a proclamation Monday (Oct. 26) declaring the 2009-H1N1 influenza pandemic a National Emergency to facilitate our ability to respond to the pandemic by enabling – if warranted on a case-by-case basis - the waiver of certain statutory requirements for medical treatment facilities.
In particular, this proclamation is aimed at providing the ability to waive legal requirements that could otherwise limit the ability of our nation’s health care system to respond to the surge of patients with the 2009-H1N1 influenza virus.
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FDIC warns of fraudulent e-mails
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has become aware of e-mails appearing to be sent from the FDIC that are asking recipients to download and open a "personal FDIC insurance file" to check their deposit insurance coverage. These e-mails are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and disrupt the transmission.
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Highways
Idaho firms honored for safety record
Three of four transportation design and construction firms recognized nationally this month by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) are Idaho companies working on ITD projects.
The companies were recognized Oct. 7 for their outstanding worker safety programs. Awards were presented during the 2009 the organization’s National Convention in Charleston, S.C.
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Storjohann completing third year
as regional Order of Eastern Star coordinator

Andrea Paroni Storjohann, assistant district Engineer in District 1, is completing a three-year term as the Northwest Region Coordinator for the Visionquest Program of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. The Visionquest Program is a leadership development program for Eastern Star members.
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Son of ITD planner wins international Web site award
NewReleaseTuesday.com a Christian music, social and entertainment mega-site and part of the FrontGate Media group, has been recognized with the 2009 WebAward for Standard of Excellence in Web Development in the Faith-based category. The annual competition, now in its 13th year, welcomed more than 2,000 entries in about 96 categories and 45 countries.
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Please share information about your accomplishments or those of your colleagues with the ITD community. Send contributions to the e-mail link above.

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Do you have a question related to ITD processes, policies or projects? Has something been puzzling you about why we do what we do? Share your questions using the e-mail link above and let us find the answers.

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Accolades
Stratten, ITD video receive profession honors
ITD earned a national award for a bicycle safety public service announcement and Public Information Officer Jeff Stratten received the Founder’s Award at the National Transportation Public Affairs Workshop (NTPAW) last week in St. Louis.
The organization for public relations professionals in the transportation industry honored Stratten during an awards luncheon.

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Employees
Insurance premium deduction change starts with first pay check in November
During open enrollment in May, ITD was notified that insurance premiums would be deducted in two installments per month starting later in the year. That time has arrived. Oct. 30 will be the November 2009 premium, as normal. Then on Nov. 13, half of the December premium will be deducted. On Nov. 27, the other half will be deducted. (Link included for premium changes.)
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Employees still have time to support United We Care
ITD and other state agencies are in the midst of an annual campaign – United We Care – that provides resources for United Way.
Employees at Headquarters have a number of ways to participate in the charitable campaign. Do you plan on donating?
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Highway safety
Children turn art into life-saving messages
Young artists across Idaho trained their crayons, markers and pencils on important highway safety messages for ITD’s 2010 Highway Safety Kids Calendar.
ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety produces the full-color calendar each year. It features drawings related to highway safety that are submitted by teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade statewide.
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ITD Mailbox
Backcountry trip produced smooth landing
• DMV created calm during stormy time

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Adopted District 5 puppy succumbs to medication
It is with a heavy heart that I tell you this will be the last “Uber update.”
Uber has died. The District 5 McCammon Maintenance guys and I buried him near the guardrail where we found him.

With him lay his toys, his blankie and his state ID badge.

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