Here's a news item from the Idaho Falls Post Register, via the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An eastern Idaho bear and wildlife zoo wants to pay its workers less than federal minimum wage this summer, so it's asking the Legislature for help. Yellowstone Bear World, located in Rexburg, says it can't stay afloat amid the economic downturn if it must pay its 35- to 40-member staff of mostly high school students the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. So the Idaho Falls Post Register reports it's asking lawmakers to allow it to cut its workers' minimum to $6.50 an hour. Admission at Yellowstone Bear World is $16.95 for adult tickets — or $75 for a carload of up to seven visitors. Over objections from Democrats, the Senate passed the bill in February. But it's being modified in the House, after Department of Labor Director Roger Madsen raised concerns the first version could affect up to 20,000 workers.

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