McMillan Road work runs to Dec. 4, a delayed Meridian trial, and Costco opens Thursday

Welcome to issue one hundred eleven. Today is sunny and around 57 with the wind finally calming down, which is a nice change from yesterday.

Today: McMillan Road's construction timeline, a delayed trial over a Meridian building, a look at how young Idaho is, six Meridian events (including a Costco ribbon cutting), the forecast, and a trivia question about Costco's very first warehouse. Know someone who should be reading this? Forward them the sign-up link →

Let's get into it.

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🧠 Meridian gets its first Costco on Thursday. Where did the very first Costco warehouse open, back in 1983: Seattle, Portland, or Boise?

(Answer at the bottom.)

Thursday is the day: the new south Meridian Costco cuts its ribbon, and the rest of the week leans toward game shops and a Saturday car show for Toys for Tots. Wednesday itself has nothing new from us, so Wednesday night is yours. Looking a little further out: the Meridian Friends Church Holiday Bazaar is Nov. 14 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1021 W. Pine Ave., details), and the Chamber's Man & Woman of the Year luncheon is Nov. 17 (11 a.m., Galaxy Event Center, 1385 S. Blue Marlin Ln., details).

✅ Alerts: we could not pull a live NWS alert feed, so check weather.gov/boi for watches or warnings. The NWS Meridian point forecast we normally use was last refreshed Oct. 19, so we did not use it. Today's numbers come from Idaho News 6/KBOI's Boise-area forecast, so a later update could shift them.

Wednesday, November 4 — Meridian

Sunny, with lighter winds than Tuesday's gusty east wind, per KBOI. No overnight low was published (Boise was in the 40s Tuesday night). We have no fresh NWS Meridian number, so we cannot say whether Meridian runs warmer or cooler than Boise today. Plan for a few degrees either way. Sunrise is about 7:25 a.m. and sunset about 5:32 p.m. (both calculated, not from NWS).

The week ahead: Thursday looks partly cloudy near 56, with a weak system bringing scattered mountain showers and light snow at higher elevations. Temperatures warm into the 60s over the weekend. NWS Boise →

Two of today's three stories are Meridian-proper. The third is statewide, and we say so.

If McMillan Road has been rearranging your commute, KIVI has the timeline. The Ada County Highway District is still finishing its work at McMillan and McDermott: a new traffic signal, dedicated left-turn lanes and pedestrian upgrades, with completion expected in early November. McDermott stays open with lane restrictions while the crews finish.

The bigger headache is farther west, where a stretch of McMillan is fully closed for sewer work. That is the third and final phase of the City of Meridian's Can Ada Lift Station project, which expands sewer capacity for growth, and the city now expects it to wrap up by Dec. 4. One resident quoted by KIVI called it "just a temporary inconvenience," and another said the new crossings should make it safer for pedestrians. The article does not name contractors or give a cost. What neighbors on the closed stretch told KIVI is in the article →

Source: KIVI, published Nov. 3. The image above is an illustration.

Quick question while you are here: be honest, it stays between us and the other readers.

The federal trial of Sarah Elizabeth George, 43, of Boise, has been pushed from early November to Jan. 19, 2027, Idaho News 6/KBOI reports. Prosecutors allege she drove a stolen Canyon County Paramedics ambulance through the entrance of the Portico North office building in Meridian, near St. Luke's Meridian, on Feb. 18. The building housed office space leased for the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Prosecutors say she poured gasoline across the lobby floor and fled as police arrived. No fire started. The delay comes as the volume of discovery has grown to about 90,587 pages. George has pleaded not guilty and remains in federal custody. These are allegations, not findings. Read more →

Source: Idaho News 6/KBOI, published Nov. 2. The image above is an illustration.

New Census Bureau numbers, as reported by Idaho News 6, put Idaho's median age at 37.9, the seventh-youngest in the country (the U.S. median is 39.5). About 31% of Idaho households have children, fourth-highest nationally. Median household income rose 1.2% to $84,234, just under the national $84,780, and Boise-area incomes top $92,000.

The housing numbers are the part that will sound familiar: median home value is just under $458,000, and 45% of Idaho renters are cost-burdened, down from 48% last year. Nearly 10% of the state's housing units have been built since 2020, about double the national share. This is statewide data, not a Meridian breakdown (Ada County is named once), but the school-pickup line tells the same story. Read more →

Source: Idaho News 6/KBOI, published Nov. 3. The image above is an illustration.

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🧠 Trivia answer: Seattle.

Costco opened its first warehouse in Seattle in 1983, founded by Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman, and it merged with Price Club in 1993. The food-court hot dog and soda combo has held at $1.50 since 1985, which has been a company obsession ever since. Read more →

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