Ribbon cutting for Eagle Rock Gallery June 3
What a great way to celebrate the unofficial start to summer by attending the Eagle Rock Gallery ribbon cutting Thursday at 4:45 p.m. We’ve all missed seeing fine art in person, and Eagle Rock Gallery has amazing pieces that recognize and honor the incredible environmental cradle of the Greater Yellowstone Region through photography, sculpture, paintings and more.
According to their website, the Eagle Rock Galley recently moved to its new location this spring at 315 River Parkway just next to Jalisco’s Restaurant along the River Walk by the falls. The new location is spacious and central to “hotel row.” The gallery will continue to host top artists from the area as well as artists from across the country. The gallery is owned by Kathi Cheyenne and Gary Jensen. Kathi is a fine art photographer who has been included in exhibitions ranked in the nation’s top five and who has shown in other galleries and numerous national juried shows.
Alaska Airlines set to take off starting June 17
As reported by the Post Register in March, the Seattle-based Alaska Airlines will launch four new routes on June 17 — one of which will be from Seattle to Idaho Falls and will operate daily. All of the routes will be operated by Horizon Air — Horizon being the wholly-owned regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines parent Alaska Air Group.
Looking on the bright side of unemployment
Last week, the Idaho Department of Labor announced the state’s first labor force increase this year. Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.1% in April, dropping slightly from 3.2% in March. It doesn’t feel like much, but as we baby step out of the pandemic, every little silver lining counts, right? Idaho Falls specifically earned solid increases in the local, nonfarm workforce earning a 13% increase from 2020 to 2021.
According to the Department of Labor, the state’s overall nonfarm jobs are up 13.1% over last year, with every sector showing year-over-year gains after sharp losses last April.
Leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 67%, dwarfing the job growth for the two sectors with the next largest increases — trade, transportation and utilities all up by 15.2%, and construction up 12%. Leisure and hospitality was the industry most affected by pandemic-related job losses and is now only 300 jobs below its February 2020 pre-pandemic level.
With Idaho Falls sitting at the 13% year-to-year nonfarm job gain, Coeur d’Alene saw the greatest increase at 16.6% followed by Pocatello at 13%, Boise at 12.5% and Lewiston at 10.2%. As more people returned to work, the number of unemployed Idahoans dropped by 72.2%, from a historic high of 101,309 in April 2020 to only 28,156 in April of this year.
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