STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Blaine County is co-hosting the 2018 National Association of Counties (NACo) Western Interstate Region Annual Conference at Sun Valley today through Friday, May 25.

More than 400 elected county officials are expected to meet with program and policy experts, federal officials and NACo legislative staff to focus on issues challenging communities across the western United States.

Topics will include innovations in rural health care delivery, building a local food network, tracking opioid abuse, strengthening the rural poverty safety net, financing affordable house, improving communication during disasters and public lands management.

Three-time Paralympic Gold Medalist Muffy Davis, who grew up ski racing in Sun Valley, will serve as keynote speaker in the opening session Thursday morning. Other local presenters include Teresa Beahen Lipman of The Senior Connection, Jail Administrator Capt. Jay Davis, St. Luke’s Wood River Administrator Cody Langbehn, Idaho Housing Finance Association Director Gerald Hunter and Airport Manager Chris Pomeroy.

Other notable conference speakers include Michael McKeown, executive director of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and James Ogsbury, executive director of the Western Governors Association.

To see the agenda go to http://www.naco.org/events/2018-wir-conference.

The conference provides a forum for Blaine County’s rural progressive voice to be heard in Washington, D.C., said Commissioner Larry Schoen, who along with Blaine County staff helped plan the conference.

The National Association of Counties was founded in 1935 to offer research education, advocacy and programs, such as discounted prescription drugs. States involved in the Western Interstate Region include Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, North Dakota and South Dakota.