The state ended its fiscal year June 30 with more revenue than legislators and Gov. Butch Otter had projected a year ago. That means the Republican governor lost a bet to Democratic former Gov. Cecil Andrus, who predicted last year that the revenue would be higher than projected.

Here's the full text of a news release Otter's office issued this morning:

STATE BUDGET ENDS FISCAL YEAR WELL AHEAD OF EXPECTATIONS; GOVERNOR URGES CAUTION

Here's the full text of the McClatchy Co. news release:

MI-AI PARRISH NAMED PUBLISHER OF THE KANSAS CITY STAR

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 14, 2011 – The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) today named Mi-Ai Parrish as president and publisher of The Kansas City Star. Her appointment is effective June 20.

Since July 2006, Parrish has been the president and publisher of the McClatchy-owned Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise. She arrived at the Idaho Statesman after a dynamic journalism career at some of the country’s largest metro newspapers.

Gov. Butch Otter spoke Tuesday at the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry's annual conference. Here's IACI's news release:

Twin Falls – Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter was the featured keynote speaker at today’s 37th annual IACI conference breakfast at Canyon Crest Events Center in Twin Falls. Governor Otter thanked IACI for helping him win legislative approval for his Hire One efforts, and encouraged IACI members to make the tough, bottom-line decisions that show confidence in Idaho’s economy and future.

The Bloomberg news service has posted an in-depth story about Credit Suisse's financing of luxury resorts. The story focuses heavily on Tamarack Resort and features an interview with developer Jean-Pierre Boespflug, who says the Swiss bank's loan offer in 2006 was so sweet it "like putting candy in front of a 4-year-old." Read Credit Suisse Resort Loans Default From Beverly Hills to Idaho.

From his perch on the Senate Banking Committee, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo gets a closer look at the government’s handling of the credit and housing crises than most lawmakers do. So I sat in and listened with interest when he stopped by the Statesman the other day to talk to our editorial board.

Crapo said the credit crunch is still very much with us in Idaho. “We’re getting a tremendous number of complaints from businesses that can’t get money,” he said.

Boise’s Micron Technology may be picked by the government of Taiwan to take part in consolidating the island nation’s memory-chip industry, Dow Jones Newswires reported Thursday.

Taiwan plans to select either a group led by Micron or a group led by Elpida Memory Inc. of Japan to lead the consolidation, according to the news report from Taipei.

Tough times for most of us mean good times for some businesses. Ask Alan
Armstrong, chief auctioneer for Armstrong Auctions in Nampa.

The 46-year-old ex-Marine started Armstrong Auctions with his wife, Dee Dee,
in 1992. They and their son, Alan Jr., conduct 60 to 80 auctions a year,
often for homeowners and businesses that are liquidating.

“Wherever our pickup is, that’s where our office is,” Alan Armstrong says.

Winters are slow seasons, but lately they’ve been getting more calls from

And for still more news on the fraud front:

The Idaho Department of Finance has been awfully busy lately. First, it sued DBSI (see previous blog post). Next, it announced that it is investigating Idaho Falls businessman Daren Palmer for what a department official believes is one of the largest Ponzi schemes in state history. Now, the department is suing a Driggs man and his Utah partner for selling unregistered securities based on viatical insurance death benefit interests and misrepresenting them as guaranteed.

A part of DBSI Inc. has been sold as the Meridian real-estate investment company’s bankruptcy case proceeds.

DBSI’s property management business was put on the auction block last month. This week, a 7-year-old South Carolina company, TIC Properties Management LLC of Greenville, won the auction.

Zions Bank publishes a monthly Small Business Index for Idaho. The index was a lousy 74.1 during December 2008, up from a revised 74.0 during November.

The index measures business conditions from the viewpoint of the Idaho small business owner or manager. That means conditions got ever-so-slightly more favorable from one month to the next, even as credit got crunched, bailouts blossomed, foreclosures flowered and stocks slid. (Sorry, I love alliteration.)