The State Board of Education, now in its second day of meetings in Moscow, is expected to green light a new six-year, multi-sport apparel contract with Nike, the Oregon-based sportswear and equipment supplier.

The plan totals $6.24 million, retroactive from August 2011 through June 2017. In addition to receiving $6 million worth of product and equipment, Nike would pay Boise State $30,000 each year for the first two years of the deal, $40,000 in the third and fourth years and $50,000 per year in the final two years. The deal also includes an extra $75,000 in product allowance once the Bronco's football program joins the Big East in 2013.

Additionally, there are hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in bonuses if the football team or men's or women's basketball teams win conference championships or tournament championships.

But there's a big caveat: Nike is allowed to reduce its cash payments if Chris Petersen departs Boise State as the head football coach.

Stakeholders of Les Bois Park met this afternoon to celebrate the launch of the racetrack's first full season in four years. At a podium next to the dirt track, General Manager Kerry Lawson, horse owners and other officials addressed the crowd while jockeys worked their horses on the stretch behind them.

• A local owner addresses the crowd at Les Bois racetrack.

"We have about 600 [horses] here right now," said Les Bois' Tim Thibert. "We have another 200 coming. Our capacity is just over 800. They're coming from Seattle, Potland, [Ore.], Montana, Nebraska. We had over 1,400 applicants."

The stables at the back of the facility were abuzz with preparation for the season, which begins with a Wednesday, May 2 evening race. Thibert said the racetrack on those mid-week nights becomes a social setting for a younger demographic.

• A tractor works to maintain the dirt track at Les Bois.

Harry Bettis, from Midvale, owns seven horses stabled at Les Bois. He said that while he's not sure which steed will participate on May 2, one of them will be out there. Another owner's horse, Rousing Sermon, will participate in this year's Kentucky Derby.

"There's a lot of work that goes on to make this happen," said Bettis. "Riding the horses was considered the 'play.' I think I was 20 years old before I knew you could shoe a horse after supper on a Sunday," said Bettis.

"Ours is a thoroughbred," said owner Larry Williams. "We've been around horses our whole lives. When I was a kid, it was 'milk the cows and feed the chickens.'"

• A jockey preps a horse for the upcoming race season.

The two mentioned that there wasn't much to see at Les Bois in the past few years—the racetrack has been empty. Now the stables are filling up again. Boise Weekly caught up with Lawson for this week's Citizen.

Initial plans have been given the green light to build what is being billed as a "massive horse complex" on the Idaho border.

The Idaho State Journal reports that The Horse Station in Cache Valley would include nearly 170 acres of training and boarding facilities, retail businesses, an equine veterinary center, indoor and outdoor arenas, a hotel and condominiums. The project has an $80 million price tag.

The Franklin County Planning and Zoning Commission has given unanimous approval to rezone the land for the project. The Horse Station is to be located in Franklin County along Route 91, which is a major tourism route linking Idaho to Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming.

Only one year after the State of Montana took over all simulcast racing operations, thinking it could do a better job than the private sector, government officials said they're swimming in red ink and have shut down off-track betting sites indefinitely beginning next week.

As reported in today's Missoulian, Montana's state racing board took over all simulcasting in November 2010, following two decades of private operations. But today, the state board is more than $560,000 in the hole, after "overspending on live racing in anticipation of simulcast generating enough revenue to cover it."

But according to state officials, simulcasting has not been profitable since the day the government began operating it. According to the Missoulian, state officials now recognize they don't have the expertise to oversee the simulcast operations.

On June 1, simulcast racing operations returned to the Treasure Valley for the first time in two years. Treasure Valley Racing opened its off-track betting parlor at Les Bois Park in Garden City, in anticipation of a live racing season at the track. The live racing season, though abbreviated, was deemed a success and a 2012 racing card has already been announced, with 36 days of thoroughbred racing, beginning Wednesday, May 2, 2012.

Additionally, Treasure Valley Racing became 100 percent local in November, when Idaho investors bought out their Alabama-based partners to take over TVR.

Four decades after history's most famous stuntman Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle, a Utah man has plans to build and test a new so-called Skycycle, in preparation for a new attempt.

Scott Truax, a self-proclaimed producer is pitching a new reality TV series, Mech Sci, where he turns his lens on cool engineering feats. Tuesday's Times News reports that Truax is also the son of Bob Truax, the man who designed Knievel's original Skycycle. That rocket failed in 1974 because a parachute deployed prematurely, according to Truax.

Truax said he has worked with Robbie Knievel, the late daredevil's son, to recreate the jump. Robbie Knievel dropped out of the project, but Truax said he's trying to get other stunt devils interested.

The NCAA gavel has dropped on Boise State, with the college athletics organization citing the university with several major infractions over a five-year period.

The violations of NCAA rules occurred in five sports, although the majority were found in women's tennis and both track teams, according to the official report released today. Many of the violations dealt with improper housing, travel, transportation and other expenses extended to student athletes and during recruiting, although some were as serious as a women's tennis player being allowed to compete a full year after the end of her eligibility. The football program was specifically noted for having violations involving 63 athletes from 2005-2009.

Former Boise State women's tennis coach Mark Tichenor was specifically cited in the report for unethical conduct and failure to monitor the program. A former assistant track coach was also cited for unethical conduct.

The Boise State football program was also cited for housing and transportation violations.

A new survey says that Idaho has one of the best minor-league cities in the nation, and it's not Boise.

Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal's biannual ranking of the nation's top minor-league sports cities names Idaho Falls as the ninth best in the nation. While Idaho Falls only has one minor-league franchise, the Chukars, who play in the Pioneer Baseball League, the Eastern Idaho city got high marks for its facility, Melaleuca Field, which opened in 2007 with a capacity of 3,400. Idaho Falls also got high marks for its attendance and relatively stable economy.

Boise ended up in 64th place, even though the City of Trees boasts three minor-league franchises: the Boise Hawks (baseball), the Idaho Steelheads (hockey) and the Idaho Stampede (basketball).

The number one minor-league market was Hershey/Harrisburg, Penn., followed by San Bernardino County, Calif., and Providence/Pawtucket, R.I.

To the world, he was an amazing athlete: the 2001 Freestyle Junior of the Year, an 11-year member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, World Cup Champion in 2007, and an Olympic Silver Medalist. But to Boise, Jeret "Speedy" Peterson was the kid from Timberline High who regularly wore a belt buckle emblazoned with the names of his high-school friends: Jay, Mase, Skiff and Tyler.

Salt Lake City Police reported that Peterson died Monday evening from a gunshot wound. He left a note in his pickup truck in Lambs Canyon, just outside of Salt Lake.

Peterson's young life was scarred by tragedy. When he was 5 years old, his older sister was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. When he was 24, he lost a friend to suicide. Later the same year, Peterson was accused of felony burglary and grand theft. The next year, he was sent home from the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for being involved in a bar fight.

But in February 2010, Peterson's fortunes changed with with a silver medal performance at the Vancouver Winter Games. The following month, he was presented the key to the city of his hometown.

This past weekend, Peterson was charged with DUI, speeding and using fake license plates outside of Sun Valley.

"The entire Olympic family is heartbroken to hear the news of Jeret 'Speedy' Peterson's untimely passing," said U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun.

• U.S. Ski Team

In the wake of a just-released market viability analysis of a new multipurpose stadium for Boise, a new group calling itself the Better Boise Coalition wants to step up to the plate.

"Where stadium projects have been well-planned, they have offered a tremendous boost to the local economy," said Bill Connors, president and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber, along with ownership of the Boise Hawks, and representatives from Washington Trust and Key Banks, will team up with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter on Thursday to take the lead on finding the ideal site for a new Boise stadium.

On June 29, Citydesk first reported that an analysis concluded that Boise could attract a higher caliber of baseball, could boost attendance to baseball games by as much as 43 percent, and could host a variety of varsity athletic events. Hawks ownership even expressed interest in purchasing a minor league soccer franchise to serve as a second anchor tenant" to a new stadium.

Three years after the Treasure Valley's last live race and two years since going dark, Treasure Valley Racing reopened its simulcast facility at Les Bois Park in Garden City today.

Beginning today and continuing each Wednesday through Saturday, simulcast wagering will take place at the clubhouse restaurant. Hundreds of thoroughbred and greyhound races will be beamed into the betting parlor from 16 tracks across the country.

Historically, Les Bois Park used to open each Kentucky Derby weekend in May, but the track's 2011 season is abbreviated, needing to wrap up before the Western Idaho Fair opens in mid August.

Dozens of thoroughbreds have already arrived at the horse barns to train for the season. Les Bois Park will host 15 races on Wednesday and Saturday throughout the summer. The track will also hold special race nights Monday, July 4, and Friday, Aug. 12, for the Idaho Cup. TVR’s lease agreement guarantees the races for the next five years.

“It’s my livelihood, the horses,” said Hammet horse owner Paul Treasure.

Of course all winnings are achieved with a little luck, but his advice for the 2011 season is to keep an eye on Red Limo, which he of course owns.

• Elizabeth Duffy

• Elizabeth Duffy

• Elizabeth Duffy