A Meridian bakery cart meets city code, Winter Lights wants parade entries, and a showery 70 Thursday

Welcome to issue ninety-eight. Today is showery and around 70, with thunder possible this afternoon, and Friday drops into the 50s, so dig out the jacket you were so proud of ignoring.

Today: a Meridian family's honor-system treat cart runs into city code, the Winter Lights Parade opens its entry list, and there's a free drive-through for old medications on Saturday. It's Thursday, so the Local Business Spotlight is a wine bar on Old Town's Main Street. Know someone who should be reading this? Forward them the sign-up link →

Let's get into it.

Browse the highlights — read Meridian Local Scoop online →

🧠 Trivia: In 1911 Meridian bought a 550-pound, 36-inch cast steel fire bell and mounted it at the city's Water Works Plant. It was later restored and rededicated in 2011. What did the bell cost in 1911: $5.25, $52.50 or $525?

(Answer at the bottom.)

Five picks over the next week, plus three heads-ups, and every one has a Meridian address. Tonight is quiet (everything on the calendar for Thursday has already run in these pages), so the week really starts Friday. Saturday morning also has the free drug take-back drive-through in the news box below. A few listings skip the price, so check the event page before you go.

The National Weather Service forecast for Meridian we can read was last refreshed Monday midday, so we cross-checked it against Idaho News' Boise outlook from Tuesday and its live strip. Neither mentions any watches or warnings.

Thursday, October 22 — Meridian

Low tonight: 44°. Sunrise is around 8:07 a.m., sunset around 6:53 p.m. (both calculated, not from NWS).

Showers likely (70%) with thunderstorms possible after noon, and patchy fog around 9 to 10 a.m. Tonight is wetter: showers, maybe a thunderstorm before midnight, an 80% chance and a quarter to a half inch of new rain. Idaho News' Boise strip says 71, so Boise runs a degree hotter this time; plan for 70 to 71, and plan for wet shoes.

The rest of the week (NWS, with Idaho News): Friday is the drop: a high near 57, more than 20 degrees cooler than Wednesday, with a 40% chance of showers before noon and a gusty northwest wind (Idaho News mentions gusts of 35 to 45 mph east of Mountain Home, with snow levels falling to around 6,500 feet). Friday night's low is near 34, so bring in the tender plants. Saturday is mostly sunny and near 58, Sunday is near 64, and Monday is near 62. NWS Boise →

Bigfoot's Munchies started as a homeschool project: Melissa Ohrt wanted her kids to learn how a business works, so the family set up an honor-system cart outside their Meridian home where customers pick a treat and pay with a QR code or a cash dispenser. It runs "in the evenings and on the weekends." About three weeks after opening, a complaint led the City of Meridian to contact the family's landlord, saying the setup violated city codes, and Ohrt took the carts down immediately.

The snag was two separate rulebooks. Idaho's Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act covers how homemade food is prepared, packaged and labeled, while Meridian's land-use code covers where business activity can happen. The city says preparing food at home needs no permit if the sales and pickups happen elsewhere, but outdoor business activity at a house may require a home-occupation permit. Then the neighbors showed up. "It's been nothing but support," Ohrt said, and her son Leland says the business now has "three different locations when we had one in front of our house." The rules "kind of made sense," he said, though they left him with questions. Where the three carts now sit is in the article →

Source: Idaho News 6 (KIVI), published Oct. 21.

🗳️ Quick one: a kid's cookie cart, a city code, and a landlord in the middle. Where do you land?

The City of Meridian is accepting applications for the Meridian Winter Lights Parade and Tree Lighting, which rolls through downtown on Friday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., with pre-parade festivities starting at 5:30. Businesses, nonprofits, organizations and creative groups can apply to enter floats, walking groups, performance teams, motorized or animal entries and marching bands. The city is picking up to 50 entries, and the deadline is Friday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m.

Every entry has to be brightly lit and decorated, and the suggested theme is "A Candy-coated Christmas." Entries cost $100, or $50 for registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and school bands are free; payment links go out only after an application is accepted. Apply on the event page at MeridianCity.org/Christmas, or call the city at (208) 888-4433. Read more →

Source: City of Meridian, published Oct. 21.

Got a drawer of old or expired prescriptions? The Meridian Anti-Drug Coalition and Republic Services are hosting a DEA-sponsored take-back on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's a drive-through in the front parking lot at Republic Services, 2130 W. Franklin Rd., so you can drop and go without leaving the car.

The city's page says unused or expired medications are accepted and sharps are not. Can't make Saturday? The Meridian Police Department lobby has green Rx disposal boxes, though the city's page lists two different sets of hours, so call 208-846-7395 before you drive over. Read more →

Source: Meridian Police Department / Meridian Anti-Drug Coalition, posted Oct. 17.

Featured Restaurant: Vintage 61 Wine Bar & Kitchen

Overview. Vintage 61 is a wine bar and kitchen on Old Town Meridian's N. Main Street, serving contemporary American food alongside a curated wine list. Idaho News visited in 2023 and found a farm-to-table kitchen with a regularly changing menu inside a renovated 1913 house. Locals keep booking it: it holds a 4.8 rating on OpenTable and sits at No. 3 on OpenTable's Meridian date-night list.

Highlights

Ambiance & Experience. Intimate and unhurried. A recent OpenTable diner called it a "small comfortable vibe," which is a polite way of saying book ahead.

Location & Contact

Operating Hours. Tuesday through Friday 3:30 to 10 p.m., Saturday 2 to 10 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. Dinner service runs 4:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4:30 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Hours drift, so call or check the site before you go; reservations are encouraged.

Final pour: a rainy Thursday is the most respectable excuse we've heard for a wine bar. Visit Vintage 61 →

This Spotlight is a free editorial feature, and the slot is open to sponsors. Own a Meridian business? Hit reply or start here →

Brought to you by Meridian Local Scoop. What's faster than word of mouth? The Meridian Local Business Spotlight! Keeps you up to speed on what's happening around town — and connects local businesses to our community.

🧠 Trivia answer: $52.50.

In 1911 Meridian paid $52.50 for a 550-pound, 36-inch cast steel fire bell and placed it at the Water Works Plant. The fire department itself dates to early 1908, when volunteers tested a newly bought chemical fire extinguisher, and the bell was restored and rededicated in 2011, a hundred years after it first rang out. These days the department runs eight stations and answers more than 11,300 calls a year. Read more →

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