MARK: Welcome back to 'Happening in Pocatello,' the only podcast brave enough to tell you what's actually going on in this town between holiday-induced food comas. I'm Mark, and as always, my will to live is hanging on by a thread.

JOLEEN: And I'm Joleen. That thread is probably frozen solid by now. It is Monday, December 29th, 2025, and we're staring down the barrel of a New Year. Try to contain your excitement.

MARK: My excitement is fully contained, bordering on hermetically sealed. Before we get into the week's... happenings... let's do the housekeeping. If you have a hot tip, a complaint, or just want to tell me my voice is like gravelly, sarcastic silk, email us at pocatello@thehappeningnetwork.com.

JOLEEN: And do us a favor. Like, subscribe, comment, leave a five-star review telling the world how we've changed your life. Or at least made your commute slightly less miserable. It helps the algorithm gods smile upon us, and frankly, we need all the help we can get.

MARK: Alright, let's kick this pig. First up, the top headline isn't some salacious crime, but a big fat check for the school district. It looks like Christmas came a little late for Highland High School.

JOLEEN: You could say that. School District 25 just accepted a thirty-six-million-dollar insurance settlement for the Highland rebuild. That's a hell of a lot more than the twenty-five million they were initially offered.

MARK: Thirty-six million? Holy shit. For that much money, I expect that school to have gold-plated toilets and a water fountain that dispenses Diet Coke. What changed their tune? Did the insurance adjusters finally develop a conscience?

JOLEEN: Apparently, after they factored in the 'true scope and cost of rebuilding,' the number just kept going up. The settlement even includes money for stuff the district hasn't even bought yet, like equipment and installation costs. They're basically getting an advance on their shopping spree.

MARK: So what you're saying is, some bureaucrat did the math and realized, 'oh, right, things cost more than they did in 1985.' It's a Christmas miracle. This rebuild is still going to take forever, though, right?

JOLEEN: The first phase, which is gyms and some classrooms, is slated for completion in January 2027. The fancy new nine-hundred-seat auditorium won't be done until the fall of 2027. So, today's freshmen might get to see it.

MARK: Fantastic. Well, good for them. I'm glad they squeezed more money out of the insurance company. It's the American dream. Now, let's pivot from nine-hundred-seat auditoriums to something a little less grand. What's happening in the world of local crime?

JOLEEN: It's been suspiciously quiet. Maybe the holiday spirit has calmed the savage beasts of Pocatello, or maybe everyone's just too busy returning shitty gifts to cause any real trouble.

MARK: I'm sure it's a temporary ceasefire. The New Year's Eve shenanigans are just around the corner. I give it until 12:01 AM on Thursday before someone does something impressively stupid, probably involving fireworks and a stolen flamingo from someone's yard.

JOLEEN: It's tradition. Since we don't have any fresh arrests to dissect, how about the school district? Besides the massive pile of cash for Highland, what else is going on? I know the kids are on winter break, so at least they're not actively causing problems on school grounds.

MARK: The break is a mercy for all involved. But the district is still staring down some less-than-festive realities for the new year. All that talk from earlier in the year about declining enrollment and budget cuts hasn't magically disappeared.

JOLEEN: Right, the public hearing back in January about possibly closing Washington or Tendoy elementary. It feels like they've been kicking that can down the road for a while. The budget is supposedly short by millions because they have fewer kids to collect state money for.

MARK: It's a classic case of 'less kids, less cash.' They had to cut over a dozen staff positions last year and were looking at cutting another twenty to forty over the next couple of years. It’s a slow-motion budget crisis.

JOLEEN: So while Highland gets a brand new palace, other schools might get the axe. The irony is thicker than cafeteria gravy. You'd think with a city growing this much we'd have the opposite problem.

MARK: You would think. But that's a problem for the school board to solve after they've had their fill of holiday cheer. Let's move on to something that's supposed to be cheerful. Food. Have you eaten anywhere that didn't involve leftovers this week?

JOLEEN: I have not. My body is seventy percent stuffing at this point. What's the word on the street? Any new culinary masterpieces we should be aware of, or is it the usual rotation of fast food and disappointment?

MARK: Well, I haven't seen any grand openings that would change the face of Pocatello dining, but I keep hearing people talk about trying the food truck scene. It feels like a weird time of year for it, but people are committed. There’s one I’ve been meaning to check out called 'The Poutine Plug.' It's a food truck dedicated entirely to poutine. That’s it. That’s the whole concept.

JOLEEN: Just poutine? That's an aggressive business model. I respect the dedication. Are we talking classic cheese curds and gravy, or are they getting all artisanal with it?

MARK: Oh, they get weird with it. They have the classic, of course. But then they have things like a Philly cheesesteak poutine, a buffalo chicken poutine, even something called the 'nacho poutine' which seems like a crime against two different cultures at once. But I'm morbidly curious. It’s the kind of food you eat when you’ve given up on the day.

JOLEEN: So, any day that ends in 'y.' Where does this magical truck of fried potatoes and regret park itself?

MARK: That's the adventure. They post their location on social media every day. It's like a scavenger hunt for carbs. One day it might be downtown, the next it's lurking in a hardware store parking lot. It's perfect for when you need a hot, greasy mess and don't want to be seen by anyone you know.

JOLEEN: I'm sold. The thrill of the chase combined with the promise of gravy-soaked fries. Let's move from the poutine plug to the local sports plug. How are our beloved Idaho State Bengals doing?

MARK: The ISU men's basketball team is taking a bit of a holiday break before they dive headfirst into Big Sky conference play. They're sitting at a record of seven wins and six losses after their last game, a loss to UC Davis, which we talked about last time.

JOLEEN: So, perfectly, aggressively mediocre. Right at .500, give or take. What's next for them? When do they get back to the grind?

MARK: Their next action is the conference opener on New Year's Day, a home game against Portland State. Then they host Sacramento State a couple of days later on January third. So it's a big home stand to kick off the important part of the season.

JOLEEN: A New Year's Day game. That's a bold choice for anyone planning on celebrating New Year's Eve. I imagine the crowd will either be non-existent or full of people still wearing last night's clothes. And what about the women's team?

MARK: The women's team is actually doing a bit better, with a record of seven and four. They had a pretty solid pre-conference run. They also open Big Sky play at home on New Year's Day, but they're playing against Northern Arizona. A real holiday doubleheader for the truly devoted Bengals fan.

JOLEEN: The 'truly devoted' or the 'truly has nothing better to do.' It's a fine line. So, if you're looking for an excuse to sit in a mostly empty gym on New Year's Day nursing a hangover, Reed Gym is the place to be.

MARK: Couldn't have said it better myself. Speaking of having nothing better to do, that brings us to our community events and weekend guide. What fresh hell awaits us for New Year's Eve and the following weekend?

JOLEEN: For New Year's Eve, your options are... limited, but they exist. For those who want to pretend they're fancy, there's a 'New Year's Eve Masquerade' somewhere in town. No specific venue is screaming from the rooftops, which is always a good sign.

MARK: A masquerade party. The perfect opportunity to not recognize the person you're about to disappoint with a midnight kiss. What else you got? Something with less... pageantry?

JOLEEN: Wanderlust is having a 'Cheers to the New Year' party. It runs from 5 to 10 p.m., with live music. It's an early one, so you can celebrate the new year and still be in bed by 10:30 like the tired old soul you are.

MARK: That is insultingly appealing. My lower back just breathed a sigh of relief. Is there anything for the degenerates who want to stay out past midnight?

JOLEEN: Of course. Club Charley's is having a New Year's Eve party that goes from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. So you can properly ring in 2026 with questionable decisions and a pounding headache on January first.

MARK: Now that's more like it. A place where hopes and dreams go to die, just in time for the new year. What about the weekend *after* all the forced merriment? What are we looking at for Friday, January second, and beyond?

JOLEEN: The first major cultural event of 2026 is, naturally, the First Friday Art Walk on January second. You can stroll through downtown, look at some art you can't afford, and pretend to be sophisticated for a few hours.

MARK: Ah yes, the Art Walk. A Pocatello tradition. It’s a great way to walk off the ten pounds of cheese and despair you accumulated over the holidays. Anything else, or is that it? Is the entire city just collectively recovering on Saturday?

JOLEEN: Pretty much. As we mentioned, there's the ISU basketball game against Sacramento State on Saturday the third. Other than that, the calendar looks bleak. I'd suggest catching up on laundry and contemplating your life choices.

MARK: My favorite weekend activity. Well, at least we know what the weather will be like for all this... fun. Joleen, what does the forecast have in store for us? Please tell me it's not another windpocalypse.

JOLEEN: No, the forecast is surprisingly calm, almost boring. Today, Monday the 29th, is sunny with a high of 35 and a low of 16. So, you know, cold.

MARK: I'm shocked. Cold in Pocatello in late December. Unprecedented. What about the rest of the week as we march toward the new year?

JOLEEN: It’s actually going to warm up a bit. Tuesday will be mostly sunny with a high of 41. New Year's Eve on Wednesday will be overcast with a high of 44. Perfect weather for standing outside, freezing, and waiting for a ball to drop somewhere else.

MARK: A high of 44? That's practically beach weather. What about for the weekend, when we're all supposed to be starting our New Year's resolutions to 'get outside more'?

JOLEEN: New Year's Day will be around 41 with some late sprinkles. Friday gets up to 47, again with sprinkles. And Saturday is the big winner with a high of 51, but with showers likely. So, wet and mild. The roads will be a sloppy, disgusting mess.

MARK: Ah, the classic Idaho winter mix. Not cold enough to be pretty snow, just wet enough to make your socks miserable all day. At least the roads won't be a sheet of ice, which is good, considering the ongoing construction nightmares.

JOLEEN: Speaking of which, any updates on our eternal road projects? I know the big I-15/I-86 interchange project was supposed to be finished last summer. Did they hit that deadline?

MARK: They did, for the most part. The project that snarled traffic for years was declared substantially complete back in August of 2025. So, the constant detours and existential dread of that interchange are mostly a thing of the past. Mostly.

JOLEEN: I'll believe it when I see it. There are always orange barrels lurking somewhere. What about the other big one, the Center Street Underpass? Last we heard, they were having an open house right before Christmas.

MARK: That's the next big headache on the horizon. Construction is scheduled to begin in early January 2026. They're re-doing the whole underpass to make it deeper, wider, and add a pedestrian bridge. So, get ready for another major artery of the city to be completely fucked for the foreseeable future.

JOLEEN: Fantastic. Just as one 'legacy project' ends, another begins. It’s the circle of life for Pocatello commuters. A never-ending cycle of construction and rage. It builds character.

MARK: It builds my desire to work from home permanently. Let's shift from the rage of the road to the quiet desperation of the housing market. What's the latest in Pocatello real estate? Is it still a good time to be a buyer's market millionaire?

JOLEEN: The market is... sleepy. It's the end of December, nobody is moving unless they absolutely have to. The data from November showed prices were actually down about 2.5% compared to last year, with a median price of around three hundred seventeen thousand dollars.

MARK: Down? I thought prices only ever went up in some kind of unstoppable, gravity-defying pyramid scheme. And three hundred seventeen thousand is still a ridiculous amount of money for most houses here. How long are these overpriced palaces sitting on the market?

JOLEEN: Longer than they used to. The average home is selling after about 53 days, which is up from 41 days last year. Zillow, on the other hand, says the average home value is about three hundred thirty thousand, up half a percent over the past year. So, it’s basically flat. Stagnant.

MARK: Stagnant is the perfect word for it. It feels like everyone is just holding their breath, waiting to see what happens in the spring. Will the mortgage rates go down? Will a thousand people from California show up with cash and buy everything? Who knows.

JOLEEN: It’s the great Pocatello pastime: speculating on the housing market. It's what we do instead of having professional sports teams. The forecast from Zillow predicts about a 3.2% rise in value over the next year, for what that's worth.

MARK: About as much as the paper it's written on. It’s a complete crapshoot. My advice? Stop looking at Zillow. It's a disease. You start by casually browsing and next thing you know you're judging the interior design choices of strangers at two in the morning.

JOLEEN: It's the only way to feel alive. And that just about does it for this edition of 'Happening in Pocatello.' We’ve given you just enough information to be cynical about the week ahead.

MARK: It's our gift to you. Remember to send your angry emails and declarations of love to pocatello@thehappeningnetwork.com. And for the love of god, like and subscribe so we can keep doing this.

JOLEEN: Stay safe out there, especially on New Year's Eve. Don't be the asshole who makes our crime report next week. Be safe. Be smart. Or at least be clever enough not to get caught.