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Happy Friday, Meridian!
Sunny and around 80 today, warmer tomorrow, and then Saturday evening a cold front comes through with real wind behind it and knocks Sunday down into the 60s. So: do the outdoor thing Friday and Saturday morning. Below — the council voted, and your water and sewer bill goes up on Oct. 1; the South Meridian Costco finally has an opening month, plus an honest answer about how big it actually is; a 30-year sentence out of Ada County; and a thin but real events board. Let's get into it.
📌 In this issue
💧 Water and sewer rates go up Oct. 1 — here's the actual number
🛒 The South Meridian Costco has an opening month (and it is not the world's largest)
⚖️ Thirty years for a Meridian man in a 2025 domestic violence case
🎨 A free girls' night pop-up at The Lark House on the 17th
🌤️ 80 today, 60s by Sunday, and a windy front in between
🧠 Trivia
The waterpark that bills itself as the largest in the Northwest is not in Boise, whatever the rest of the country thinks. Which Meridian road is it on — and what is its newest ride, the one with the twin double-looping beehives, called? (Answer at the bottom.)
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📅 What's on around town
Twelfth issue running with a picked-over calendar, and we're not going to pretend otherwise: almost everything on the Meridian listings for the next week has already appeared here in the last fortnight, and we don't re-run listings. Two clean ones, then the sweep.
Thursday, Sept. 17
🎨 Mingle, Make & Take: a Girls' Night Pop-Up, 6–9 p.m., The Lark House, 1748 W. Island Green Dr. Entry to the pop-up market is free — turn up, shop a curated group of local makers, bring something you're working on or a game to play. There are mahjong sets on site. Three small-group workshops run alongside it; those are ticketed, limited, and have to be booked in advance. Add to calendar →
Saturday, Sept. 19 — the one out-of-town pick
🎤 Foster the People, The Good Mourning Sunshine Tour, with Goth Babe, 8 p.m., Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater, 16200 Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa. Yes, it's Nampa — it's also twenty minutes down the freeway and the biggest thing on any calendar we touched this week, so it earns its spot. Tickets through the Idaho Center. Add to calendar →
About this morning: today is the 25th anniversary. In past years the city has held a short 9/11 remembrance outside the Meridian Police Department on E. Watertower, with the Honor Guard and a moment of silence at 6:40 a.m., the minute the first plane hit. We could not find a published 2026 notice for it anywhere, so we're not listing it as fact — check the city's or the police department's Facebook page this morning before you go.
Already covered, still happening: Bike Night with the Hot Bike Tour and The Upper Room Rave (tonight); E-Bikes 101 at High Desert Harley, the Ten Mile Autumn Market opening, the Juniper Market at The Village, Race 4 Hunger at the Speedway and Rise & Riffs at Dunkley Music (Saturday); the Backyard Bash and car show (Sunday); the Monday Night Market's return on the 14th; the Chamber lead groups, NIA meetings and the Thursday playdate at The Learning Experience all week; Meridian Art Week and the Art Drop kicking off Sunday; the Golden Hammer Cornhole Classic on the 18th.
And four we opened and dropped: Space Day is at the Nampa Civic Center, not here. The West Bench Farmers Market is in Boise. Justice Uncorked is at Split Rail, over in Garden City. And a "Meridian" varsity football game that surfaced for Saturday is Meridian, Illinois. We read the venue address on every one of these so you don't drive somewhere for nothing.
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🌤️ Weather
Two forecasts, and they disagree about Saturday, so you're getting both.
Today (Friday): Sunny, high near 80, northwest wind 5–7 mph, breezy in the afternoon. Low near 52–55.
Saturday: Sunny. The National Weather Service's Meridian point forecast says 78. The newest Idaho News 6 forecast, written last night, says near 87. That's a nine-degree spread, which is unusual — dress for the top of it and you won't be wrong.
Saturday evening: This is the event. A cold front sweeps through with gusts of 35–45 mph in southern areas, then a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight, low near 48–52. Rainfall in the valley itself will be small — hundredths of an inch — so the wind is the part to plan for. Put the patio umbrella down before bed.
Sunday: Much cooler and breezy, 30% chance of morning showers, high near 65–68, low near 44–46. Snow levels drop to 7,000–8,000 feet, so the high peaks may get a dusting.
Monday: Sunny, around 67, with patchy valley fog early. Then it warms back up through the week.
Sourcing note, because we keep one: the NWS Meridian point file we pull is stamped midday Wednesday — it did not refresh today, after refreshing cleanly yesterday. So we cross-checked it against a live Thursday-evening Treasure Valley forecast and the live three-day strip, which had Friday at 79 and Saturday at 79. Two of three sources have Saturday in the high 70s; one has it near 87. Hence the range.
📰 The news
💧 The council voted: your water and sewer bill goes up Oct. 1
We've been chasing this one for three issues. The Meridian City Council has approved the water and sewer rate increase, effective Oct. 1. Water goes up 9% on the base rate and 5% on usage; sewer goes up 4% on the base and 3% on usage. Public Works Director Laurelei Bakken told the council it works out to about 4.2% combined, or roughly $2.71 more a month for an average household.
Context worth having: even after the increase, Meridian's rates stay the lowest in the Treasure Valley. The average Meridian water-and-sewer bill was running $65.24 a month against a region-wide average of $101.12. Bakken's case to the council was that the increase is what keeps the utility solvent over the next five years. Councilman Luke Cavener called the low rates "a celebration unto itself."
If money is tight: the city funds an assistance program through El-Ada Community Action Partnership worth up to $100 a year toward water, sewer and garbage. Bakken said only about 100 to 120 Meridian households use it annually — call El-Ada about qualifying.
Separately, in a workshop the same evening, staff walked the council through proposed fee changes for next year: 207 fees reviewed across five departments, 121 going up, 25 coming down, 59 unchanged. The four flagged as most likely to draw comment are a water meter fee jumping from $36.94 to $102.94, a water system repair fee from $18.09 to $28.50, a nuisance-and-weed abatement fee from $186.37 to $491.60, and a temporary use permit from $50 to $77.97. Those are proposals only — they come back for a vote at a future meeting.
🛒 The South Meridian Costco opens in November — and no, it's not the world's biggest
If your feed has served you a breathless video about the world's largest Costco going up in a Meridian farm field, BoiseDev went and checked. The store at Lake Hazel and Meridian Road, near the Kuna line, is confirmed to open in November — in time for the holidays. It's 200,342 square feet in total.
The "world's largest" part doesn't survive contact with the facts. Salt Lake City's is about 235,000 square feet, and roughly 26,000 of Meridian's square footage is a Market Delivery Operation — a fulfillment area for bulky deliveries that shoppers never set foot in. Strip that out and the shopping floor is about 174,306 square feet, which is bigger than Boise's (~165,000) but smaller than Idaho Falls' (~180,000).
What it is: comfortably the largest store in Meridian. The current Costco in north Meridian is 152,000 square feet. That's a real thing to be, and it doesn't need the upgrade.
⚖️ Thirty years in a Meridian domestic violence case
A 47-year-old Meridian man was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison, 15 of them before he is eligible for parole, for a November 2025 attack on his wife. The charge was domestic violence in the presence of a child, with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury. Four of the couple's children were home; a 16-year-old intervened and called 911. The Ada County Prosecutor's Office says he had a long history of domestic violence offenses and was on supervised felony probation at the time.
We'll leave the details there. If you or someone you know needs help, the Idaho Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 669-3176, staffed 24 hours.
😂 Meme of the Day
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Trivia answer: W. Overland Road — and the ride is THE HIVE. Roaring Springs sits at 400 W. Overland Rd. in Meridian, not Boise, and calls itself the Northwest's largest waterpark, with more than 20 attractions. THE HIVE is its newest, built around twin double-looping beehives you drop through. Also on site: the Whitewater Bay wave pool that hosts the summer dive-in movies, the Class 5 Canyon action river, and Camp IdaH2O for small kids — plus Wahooz next door with another 14 attractions. It is, quietly, one of the biggest tourist draws in the state, and the rest of the country almost always files it under Boise. It's ours. Season runs mid-May to mid-September, so you have about a week left.
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