Meridian's police drones have been flying since April, the smoke advisory expires at 2 today, and it's going to be 102

Small mercy this morning: the DEQ smoke advisory is written to expire at 2 p.m. today. The heat advisory is not — that one runs until 9 p.m. tomorrow, and the National Weather Service has Meridian at 102 this afternoon, which is the hottest number we've printed all week.

Also in here: Meridian PD opened up about what its drone program has actually been doing since April, a family farm on S. Linder Road is having its worst season in 26 years, daycares are keeping kids indoors five days before school starts, and Wednesday is the last Main Street Mix of the summer. Let's get into it.

🧠 Trivia: Meridian is Idaho's second-largest city, and it took the spot from Nampa. What year did we pass them? (Answer at the bottom.)

Straight with you: this weekend is thin, because we already ran everything in it. The Vitality Festival, the Speedway, the market, the movie in Settlers Park — all of that was in the last few issues, and we'd rather not tell you twice. So the list picks up midweek and runs a little past seven days.

Friday, Aug 7

Wednesday, Aug 12

Thursday, Aug 13

Sunday, Aug 16

And the one that isn't optional: West Ada's first day is Wednesday, Aug 12.

🔥 Today: areas of smoke, sunny and hot, high near 102. That is the NWS point forecast for Meridian, refreshed yesterday afternoon, and for once it's running at or above the Boise-area numbers rather than below them — so take 102 at face value. Tonight's low is around 64.

The heat advisory runs until 9 p.m. Saturday. The Weather Service is calling for triple digits across the lower valley with overnight lows only backing off to the mid-to-upper 60s. Saturday tops out near 100.

Air quality: the DEQ advisory for Ada County and nine others is written to expire at 2 p.m. today. Worth saying plainly, because we've watched this one get extended twice already: an expiring advisory is not the same thing as clean air, and open burning stays prohibited under air quality rule regardless.

The week ahead: Sunday 97, Monday 96, Tuesday 95, Wednesday 92, Thursday 90. It's a slow walk down rather than a break, but by the first day of school we're back to merely warm.

Same advice as every day this week: water before you're thirsty, outdoor jobs before 11, and knock on the door of whichever neighbor you suspect isn't running the AC because of the bill.

Meridian's Drone First Responder program launched in April, and this week the department gave a closer look at how it's being used. Drones are flown remotely out of the department's Real Time Support Center; when a call comes in, one can be launched to put live video in front of officers before they arrive.

Chief Tracy Basterrechea's argument is mostly about not wasting people: "You could get that drone on scene very quickly and put that information out and now you're not wasting those resources and pulling them from one area to another area when they don't need to be pulled there." Capt. Sean Sopoaga went further — he called it "probably the best de-escalation tool that we have in our toolkit right now."

The privacy question hasn't gone away, and Basterrechea addressed it head-on: the department views a drone response as no different from sending an officer, just faster. Whether that framing satisfies you probably depends on how you feel about the difference between a squad car and a camera at 200 feet. The department also says the drones now help Meridian Fire, feeding aerial views of brush fires to crews en route and helping officers on the ground decide which roads to close. Boise and Caldwell are running similar programs.

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Wendy and Steve Smith have run Spyglass Gardens here for 26 years. "This has probably been the toughest year we've ever experienced here on the farm," Wendy told Idaho News 6.

It went wrong in order. A winter that never really got cold enough to kill off the insects or the weeds. Then an early spring, then a late freeze that took out roughly 90% of their fruit trees. Then this heat. The result: fewer peaches, no sweet corn at all, and noticeably different boxes going out to the families in their CSA.

Here's the part worth understanding about how a CSA works — members pay for a share of the farm before the season starts and take whatever comes. In a year like this that advance money is the difference. The Smiths say the memberships basically cover the cost of running the place; the profit normally comes from bulk sales, and there won't be much bulk this year. Their CSA sold out anyway.

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Meridian parent Miranda Olmos told Idaho News 6 her kids' daycare has been keeping everyone indoors because of the smoke — going on two weeks now. "It was worrisome, but also, I'm aware that they are doing it for the sake and the health of the kids," she said. Her family has two dogs and a mini pig and normally walks every night; none of that is happening. Her husband has been taping obstacle courses onto the floor.

Michael Toole of the Idaho DEQ said the current levels are high enough that "even healthy adults can start seeing impacts from the smoke," and recommended everyone limit time outside. Parents can check conditions on the DEQ and EPA air quality maps.

The reason this matters five days out: school officials say they'll be using air quality guidelines to decide whether recess, PE and after-school activities move indoors or get canceled outright. West Ada starts Wednesday. It's worth knowing that's the call being made before your kid comes home saying recess was inside again.

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Every Meridian dog, roughly 3 p.m. today.

2014.

It was close for years. In 2013 Nampa had 86,518 residents to Meridian's 83,596 and was still comfortably Idaho's number two. Then COMPASS — the regional planning agency that keeps the Treasure Valley's population estimates — put Meridian ahead as of April 1, 2014, and it has never gone back. What makes that worth sitting with is the starting point: Meridian's 1990 census population was about 10,200. In other words, a town that could have fit inside one of today's subdivisions passed a hundred-year-old city in a single generation. That is also, more or less, the entire explanation for every conversation this town has about traffic, schools and water.