Rename Boise’s Cesar Chavez Lane for Dolores Huerta | Opinion

Cesar Chavez Lane

The Cesar Chavez Lane in Boise must be renamed for Dolores Huerta. She was at least as effective at building the Farm Workers movement as Chavez. Ms Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Padilla, which eventually merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers. She has been instrumental in helping Latina women become more active and visible in politics, has been honored with the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award, and the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The original reasons for Chavez’s name on the lane are still relevant and even more applicable to Dolores Huerta. Her strength, resilience and accomplishments richly deserves to be honored.

Tim Teater, Boise

Vote

Remember the saying, “Honesty is the best policy.” Remember the Constitution and the rule of law. Remember when safety was taken for granted in schools, places of worship, theaters, restaurants and malls. Remember the saying, “Never forget.” Remember peace.

Mary Feeny, Boise

Idaho jobs out of reach

I’ve been searching for work in Idaho for two years, and despite submitting countless applications and attending several interviews, I still have not received a single job offer. Again and again, employers tell me they selected someone with “more experience.” After spending more than 30 years in the workforce, hearing that explanation repeatedly is both discouraging and difficult to accept.

What is happening in Idaho no longer reflects the state many longtime residents once knew. An influx of people moving here from other states has made it harder for lifelong Idahoans to compete for jobs, housing, and opportunities in their own communities. It feels like the people who built their lives here are being pushed aside while wages remain low and competition continues growing.

Businesses constantly claim they are desperate for workers, yet many qualified Idaho residents can’t get a fair opportunity. The emotional toll of years of rejection disappoints. Meanwhile, living costs continue rising while stable employment becomes increasingly difficult to find. I never imagined I might need to leave Idaho simply to survive. No one who has worked hard for decades should feel forced to abandon their home state to earn a living.

Kelly Caufield, Nampa

Term limits

Republicans, Democrats and independents believe term limits for Congress are needed. Surveys show more than 80% want term limits for Congress. They will not come from Congress; limits are not in the members’ interests. It has been said “we have term limits, they’re called elections.” That means term limits are in the hands of voters.

Incumbents are difficult to defeat because of name recognition, party loyalty and funding from networks they have built. In 2024, more than 95% were reelected. However, voters have the authority and capability to make a change.

Term limits for the president could serve as a guide. George Washington set the precedent, and a two-term limit was codified in 1947. If two terms are sufficient for the president, two terms are enough for senators. If eight years works for the president, then eight years should work for representatives.

The political parties have taken away the power of the people. Voting term limits can return the power of the vote. A way to get back to Abraham Lincoln’s “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Now is the time to exercise our right to impose term limits at the polls in 2026.

Bill Walters, Eagle

Iran war

According to the Atlantic Council, the Gulf of Hormuz “supplied roughly 20 percent of global seaborne jet fuel, 10 percent of seaborne diesel, 23 percent of ammonia demand, and 33 percent of helium production. Half of global seaborne sulfur came from the gulf too, as did 9 percent of the world’s aluminum.”

This unnecessary war could be devastating to the world economy. The Trump administration treats Congress with contempt. The recent congressional hearing where secretary of war/defense Pete Hegseth acted as if he were a hysterical frat boy and showed an inability to solve problems. If members of the administration would calmly work with Congress maybe more problems could be solved.

Sidney Asker, Boise

Forest Service

Instead of planting a tree this Earth Day, the Trump administration has announced a sweeping “reorganization” of the 121 year-old U.S. Forest Service in the latest administration attack on science.

This restructuring would disrupt forestry positions across the nation. It would eliminate all USFS regional offices, which provide on-the-ground expertise to multi-agency wildfire responses. Lost will be the staff, their institutional knowledge, and regional relationships essential to forest management.

Additionally, more than 50 research facilities would be closed and consolidated into a single office in Colorado. These closures will erode decades of knowledge about wildfire behavior, forest disease, and watershed health, which guide responsible stewardship. The resulting chaos will make upcoming wildfire seasons even more dangerous.

Congress oversees federal agencies, and has the power to criticize executive actions that would reshape and dramatically weaken our public institutions.

Yet Representative Mike Simpson, chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee, supports dismantling the agency.

Tell him how important the Forest Service is to the economy and safety of our communities, and to deny funding this “reorganization.” To protect our precious national forests, let’s oppose this weakening of the U.S. Forest Service.

Linda Rytterager, Boise