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Happy Tuesday, Meridian! Good news: yesterday's heat advisory expired at 9 p.m. and today should shave a few degrees off. Less good news: the smoke didn't get the memo. Today we've got an air quality advisory running through tomorrow afternoon, a very large warehouse store quietly taking shape down on Lake Hazel, and a chance to yell about your road tax dollars on Thursday. Let's get into it.
In this Meridian Local Scoop issue…
😷 Unhealthy air: a smoke advisory runs until 3 p.m. Wednesday
🛒 Meridian is about to become the only city in Idaho with two Costcos
🛣️ ACHD opens its 2027 road budget to the public Thursday
🎄 Christmas in July, a bighorn tag drawing at Loose Screw, and a free Thursday playdate
🌤️ A touch cooler — mid-90s instead of 103
🧠 Trivia: Meridian is home to one of the oldest continuously operating asphalt short tracks in the western U.S. — and it's been running races for longer than most of us have been alive. What year did it open? (Answer at the bottom.)
Events — your week ahead
Six Meridian outings between today and next Monday. Several are indoors, which this week counts as a feature. 🎉
Tuesday, July 21
Mingle + Play — Playdate for Moms & Kids — 10 a.m.–noon · 📍 535 N. Locust Grove Rd., Ste. 120 · Indoor play, coffee, and grown-up conversation that isn't about nap schedules. Air conditioning included. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, July 22
Life Line Screening — Meridian — from 9 a.m. · 📍 1406 W. Cherry Ln. · Walk-in preventive health screenings (stroke, artery, heart rhythm) hosted locally. Pre-registration is recommended. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Thursday, July 23
Free Playdate at The Learning Experience — 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. · 📍 6241 N. Linder Rd. · Free weekly play morning with snack and lunch included. RSVP required, which is a small price for someone else feeding your kid lunch. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Friday, July 24
Idaho Bighorn Lottery Tag Drawing & Summer Social — 4 p.m. · 📍 Loose Screw Beer Co., Meridian · Wild Sheep Foundation folks, a cold one, and the drawing for one of Idaho's most coveted tags. Long odds, short walk to the bar. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Saturday, July 25
Christmas in July Craft Show & Market — 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m. · 📍 Mint Barrel Barn Event Center · Free admission, handmade goods, and a completely reasonable excuse to start holiday shopping five months early. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Monday, July 27
Meridian Monday Night Market — 4–9 p.m. · 📍 Storey Park, 215 E. Franklin Rd. · Local makers, food trucks, and live music in the park. Go later in the evening once the pavement stops radiating. · 📅 Add to Calendar
🌤️ Tuesday, July 21 — Meridian
~94°F
Overnight low ~61°F · Sunny and hot · smoky and hazy
Yesterday's heat advisory expired at 9 p.m. and today backs off to the mid-90s, with another mid-90s day Wednesday before easing toward 90. The catch is the air: an air quality advisory from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is in effect for Ada County until 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the index forecast to reach Unhealthy. Translation: this is a treadmill day, not a Kleiner-loop day. Full forecast at the National Weather Service.
The air is officially "Unhealthy" — and it's staying that way through Wednesday
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has an air quality advisory up for Ada County — plus Canyon, Gem, Payette and Washington — running until 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the Air Quality Index forecast to hit Unhealthy. That's the tier where it stops being just a "sensitive groups" problem: DEQ says everyone may start feeling it, and folks with asthma, heart conditions, or little kids should skip prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity entirely. Smoke is drifting in from fires to our west and north. Open burning is prohibited under air quality rule while the advisory is active. If you were planning an evening run or a yard project, this is the week to move it indoors or push it to Thursday. Read more →
Meridian is about to become the only city in Idaho with two Costcos
Construction is underway on a second Meridian Costco at South Meridian and West Lake Hazel roads, and it's not a small one — a little over 200,000 square feet, which would make it one of the largest Costcos anywhere. Plans filed with the city show a 16-pump gas station and close to a thousand parking stalls. It'll be the chain's fourth store in the Treasure Valley and eighth in Idaho, and when it opens in late 2026, Meridian becomes the only Idaho city with two of them. South Meridian residents who've been driving to Chinden for a rotisserie chicken: your commute is nearly over. Read more →
Want a say in what gets fixed on your street? Thursday's the night
The Ada County Highway District — the agency that actually owns and maintains nearly every street in Meridian that isn't a state highway — is holding its 2027 draft budget public meeting on Thursday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. at ACHD headquarters. This is the meeting where the road, intersection and pathway projects for next year get argued over, and it's open to the public. If you have opinions about a particular intersection (and if you drive in Meridian, you do), this is the room. It'll also be live-streamed if you'd rather complain from the couch. Read more →
Meme of the Day
Brought to you by Meridian Local Scoop. When the air quality index says "Unhealthy," the correct move is the one this guy figured out an hour ago. Want your business in this spot next to the whole town? The open slot's up top. 🐾
Trivia answer: 1951. Meridian Speedway has been running stock cars on Main Street since 1951, making it one of the oldest continuously operating asphalt short tracks in the western United States. Seventy-five seasons of left turns, and the town grew up around it rather than the other way around.
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