Notorious multiple murderer Joseph Duncan was back in a Boise courtroom this morning, as lawyers and a federal judge wrangled over setting a date for a new hearing into whether Duncan was mentally competent when he waived appeals of his triple death sentence for torturing and murdering a 9-year-old North Idaho boy. Duncan, brought to Boise from federal Death Row in Terre Haute, Ind., his hair close-cropped and graying and wearing a baggy white T-shirt, left all the talking to his attorneys on Friday morning. But in December of 2010, he submitted a hand-written, two-page letter to the court saying he now wants to appeal after all.

Duncan in the past has strongly opposed contentions that he wasn't mentally competent to make that decision in 2008. He underwent two lengthy mental evaluations before U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled him competent and allowed him to dismiss his lawyers in that sentencing trial and represent himself; he already had  pleaded guilty to all charges. The lawyers filed an appeal to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals against Duncan's wishes, arguing he was mentally incompetent.

“I have been very stubborn about not appealing my death sentence,” the condemned killer wrote. “My belief is that if I appeal, then I am acknowledging the system's authority to commit murder.” But he wrote that more recently, his younger brother had died, making Duncan his mother's only surviving son. “It would be utterly cruel, and indeed, inhuman, for me not to consider my mother's love when deciding what to do in regard to my own life,” Duncan wrote. “So I hereby inform you, and any others concerned, that I withdraw my waiver of appeal, and consent fully to all efforts and advice given by my attorneys to appeal.” You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

An Idaho Public Television documentary, “The Color of Conscience: Human Rights in Idaho,” has won the Silver Gavel Award for television from the American Bar Association. The hour-long special examines the development of the human rights movement in Idaho, including the small group of concerned citizens who stood up to the Aryan Nations, ultimately bankrupting the neo-Nazi supremacist group in North Idaho. The program also examines other current human rights issues in the state, from gay rights to immigrants to hate crimes. Marcia Franklin is the producer, writer and host, and Jay Krajic is the videographer/editor.

The national award was just the latest honor for the program, which also won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a Cine Golden Eagle Award, among others. You see show online at idahoptv.org/colorofconscience/.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Idaho's corrections chief says the agency is switching to a one-drug lethal injection for future executions of death row inmates. Idaho Department of Corrections Director Brent Reinke said Friday execution teams will administer a single, lethal dose of the surgical sedative pentobarbital. That's a change from the execution carried out by the agency last fall, when the condemned inmate was injected with three-drug mixture, which included pentobarbital. Reinke says the change was driven by difficulties in obtaining the other two chemicals used to kill Paul Ezra Rhoades in November. The decision makes Idaho the latest death penalty state to switch to using only pentobarbital in its lethal injection. Reinke says the one-drug protocol will be used in the June 12 execution of convicted murderer Richard Leavitt.

Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dropped for the ninth straight month, falling to 7.7 percent for April. That's two-tenths of a percentage point down from March. Idaho Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick said employers hired at seasonal levels in April, and the number of Idahoans with jobs was up by 1,700 from March. Hiring in all sectors was normal for this time of the year, Fick reported, except for government and professional and business services, which saw below-normal hiring. It was the third straight month that hires have exceeded the five-year average. You can read Fick's full report here.
  

A death warrant was issued today for Richard A. Leavitt for the July 1984 murder of Danette Elg in Blackfoot, Idaho; the execution date is set for June 12, 2012. Leavitt's final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected on Monday.

Leavitt was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985; he was re-sentenced in 1990, again receiving the death penalty. A federal judge ordered a new trial in 2000 due to issues with jury instructions, but that order was overturned on appeal in 2004. Additional appeals followed, but they're now at an end. Click below for a full announcement from the Idaho Attorney General's office.

Idaho completed its first execution in 17 years in November, putting triple murderer Paul Ezra Rhoades to death by lethal injection.

Among the fallout from Tuesday's primary election:  Tax-protesting Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart's legislative career will end this year. Hart was defeated in a four-way GOP primary, edged out by Ed Morse, a longtime real estate appraiser from Hayden. Now Morse will face former longtime Kootenai County Clerk Dan English in November.

Despite high-dollar attempts by interest groups and even other lawmakers to target various legislative incumbents around the state for defeat, Hart and eastern Idaho Rep. Jim Marriott, R-Blackfoot, were the only legislative incumbents defeated by challengers in the primary. Both incumbent Kootenai County commissioners also held their seats. Meanwhile, Idaho's new closed primary drew record low turnout of just 23 percent of registered voters. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Idaho Gov. Otter endorsed seven candidates in yesterday's GOP primary for legislative seats; all but one won. The exception: Former Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, who lost a rematch with Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, who unseated him two years ago.

The others: Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, who defeated Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, in a redistricting-forced face-off; Todd Lakey, who defeated Rep. Bob Schaefer, R-Nampa, in the GOP primary for an open Senate seat; Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, who won a three-way GOP primary for an open Senate seat in District 14; Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, who defeated challenger Maurice Clements; appointed Sen. Jim Rice, who beat Kent Marmon in the GOP primary for John McGee's former Senate seat in District 10; and Rick Youngblood, who won a three-way GOP primary for an open House seat in District 12.

Gov. Butch Otter told the Associated Press today that he expects GOP leaders at their state party convention in June to debate the merits of the party's new closed primary election, after Tuesday's record-low turnout. “It will be, 'What should we do? Should we make any changes?' ” Otter told AP reporter John Miller; click below for Miller's full report. Otter was among those who opposed closing the primary, but the Idaho Republican Party sued the state and won, overturning the previous open primary system. Then, the party opted to close its primary vote to anyone other than registered Republicans.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant has issued a post-primary election statement calling on Idahoans to vote Democratic in November. “In many Republican races, voters saw a choice between someone they were angry with versus someone they were scared of,” Grant said. “Republicans who prevailed, by and large, are the same people who cut education funding and who have treated state government like it is their own private club.” You can read his full statement here.
  

Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko has sent out a post-primary message, pleading for Republicans to come together after yesterday's bitterly divisive primary election. “2012 brings a great opportunity for Idaho Republicans - we must not, and we will not squander it,” Semanko writers. Of the primary he said, “Some would argue that this competition damaged the Party; I argue the opposite. I believe that the enthusiasm and energy we witnessed speaks to the strength of the Idaho Republican Party.” Click below for his full message.

Continuing the statewide trend of more-moderate Republicans winning in yesterday's GOP primary, Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, defeated Bonner County Commission Chairman Cornel Rasor, and Broadsword will become a Bonner County commissioner, as no Democrats filed for the seat. Rasor is the current chairman of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee. Broadsword, a log home company owner, is a fourth-term state senator.

Rasor is a tea party backer and property rights activist who declared on his re-election website, “Zoning and owning are incompatible.” As commission chairman, he hired local tea party leader Pam Stout to coordinate a controversial county “Property Rights Council.” As central committee chairman, he sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010 seeking Arizona license plates to decorate the GOP central committee's county fair booth, after members objected to the fair's “fiesta” theme, saying decorating to the theme might be mistaken for a weakening of their resolve that English should be the primary U.S. language, or their support for cracking down on illegal immigration.

Broadsword got 2,857 votes, 51 percent, to Rasor's 2,744 votes, 49 percent.

And now, well after midnight North Idaho time (and after 1 a.m. Boise time), Kootenai County has its final results, and they show an upset: Rep. Phil Hart has lost to challenger Ed Morse in the GOP primary. Hart had 1,746 votes, 31.2 percent, while Morse had 1,984 votes, 35.34 percent. Trailing were Ron Vieselmeyer with 1,116 votes, 19.94 percent, and Fritz Wiedenhoff, 751 votes, 13.42 percent. Morse will face former Kootenai County Clerk Dan English, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November for the House District 2B seat.

Meanwhile, Sen. Steve Vick defeated former Sen. Mike Jorgenson in the primary, and Rep. Vito Barbieri defeated challenger Mark Fisher. In the race for the open House District 3A seat, Ron Mendive edged Jeff Tyler in the GOP primary, 50.14 percent to 49.86 percent - a difference of just nine votes. Rep. Frank Henderson defeated his primary challenger, 55.57 percent to 44.43 percent. And Luke Malek won the GOP primary for the House 4A seat, 65.5 percent to 34.5 percent for Jeff Ames.

Finally, at long last, the first set of numbers from Kootenai County: In District 2, Sen. Steve Vick is leading former Sen. Mike Jorgenson, 59.4%-40.6%; Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, is leading challenger Mark Fisher, 53.1-46.9; and Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, is trailing challenger Ed Morse. Morse has 38.1%, Hart 31.1%, Ron Vieselmeyr 17.9% and Fritz Wiedenhoff 13%.

Meanwhile, in the District 3A race, Jeff Tyler leads Ron Mendive, 55.5-44.5; in 3B, Rep. Frank Henderson is holding off challenger Jack Schroeder 57.9-42.1; and for House 4A, Luke Malek leads Jeff Ames, 61-39.

Votes still are being tallied, but all three District 1 GOP incumbents appear to have easily held off challenges from tea party candidates. Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, had 70 percent of the vote over GOP challenger Danielle Ahrens, with 41 percent reporting. Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, had 66 percent over Pam Stout, and Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, garnered 61 percent of the vote in early returns while holding off two primary challengers. They were among a number of GOP lawmakers across the state who faced challenges from the right in the primary and turned them back. Among them: Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, who defeated Maurice Clements 60-40; Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, who carried 51 percent of the vote and defeated three challengers; Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who defeated challenger Douglas Pickett 57 percent to 43 percent; and House Majority Caucus Chair Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, who defeated two challengers.

Still unknown: Kootenai County. More than two and a half hours after the polls closed there, Kootenai hasn't reported out results from a single precinct.

Election results are starting to flow in, though it's just a trickle to start with. No big surprises as of yet, with Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador easily defeating their primary challengers - 71%-29% for Simpson over Chick Heileson, and 82%-18% for Labrador over Reed McCandless - and Democratic hopefuls Nicole LeFavour and Jimmy Farris also easily defeating their primary challengers. That's with  108 of 945 precincts reporting. The Idaho Secretary of State's office has live results here.

At the Idaho Republican Party's election-night watch party at the Riverside Hotel tonight, party Chairman Norm Semanko led off by introducing Gov. Butch Otter. There are very few election results in yet; just a smattering of numbers from a few counties. Otter talked about the race for the White House and California's problems - repeating his earlier comment that “if California were my horse, I'd shoot it, it is so sick,” and forgot to introduce his wife, Lori. He also made no mention of the unprecedented divisiveness in the Idaho GOP this primary election season, saying only, “Let's bring this party together and go into November with victory on our minds and victory as our banner.”

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna gave a campaign pitch for his “Students Come First” school reform laws, which are up for a referendum vote in November. “We know what's best for our children, and when we go to the polls in November we are going to vote yes … to keep these laws,” he told the GOP crowd.

Semanko said as party members await the results, “We want you to talk about what you're going to do this November to make sure all of our candidates win.” And GOP Congressman Raul Labrador told the crowd, “We have the choice of supporting the candidates that win (the GOP primary), or we have the choice of shutting the heck up.”

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The Idaho Department of Correction has agreed to increase staffing and dramatically increase medical care oversight as part of a long-running lawsuit over conditions at a prison south of Boise. The agreement filed with the U.S. District Court in Idaho Tuesday afternoon guarantees that the court will continue to review conditions at the Idaho State Correctional Institution for at least two more years before ending a decades-old lawsuit between inmates and the state. Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke said the agreement represents a significant step forward in the lawsuit, which was filed exactly 31 years ago. The agreement comes after a court-appointed expert made a scathing assessment of the medical care provided to inmates at the prison. The state and its medical contractor, Corizon, have disputed those findings. Click below for a full report from AP reporter Rebecca Boone.

Initial reports are suggesting a light turnout for today's first-ever closed primary election in Idaho, though that could still change, since the 5-8 p.m. time is the heaviest voting period of the day. “From 5 to 8, you either make it or break it,” said Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. “We just don't know.”

When I voted around 2:30 p.m. (non-partisan ballot only), things were anything but busy, and the poll workers said they'd only seen about 100 people so far, a turnout comparable to the Greater Boise Auditorium District election last year. Said Ysursa, “Auditorium district elections are not big-turnout elections.”

His office usually gets lots of calls on Election Day from voters unsure of where to go to vote; this year, he said, “I think people know where to vote - we're not getting those.” His office is offering a handy polling place location lookup on its website, www.idahovotes.gov. But those typical calls have  been dwarfed by calls about the new closed GOP primary and new party registration system. “The No. 1 call is people complaining a little bit about why in the heck is my party preference a public record, and why are we doing this,” Ysursa said. “We did expect those calls.”

The reason: The Idaho Republican Party sued the state and won, overturning the previous primary election system, allowing it to close its primary to anyone other than registered Republicans, and bringing official registration by party to Idaho for the first time since statehood.

Idaho voters go to the polls Tuesday - they're open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. - for the first election under the state's new closed-primary system. Idaho's legislative districts have been redrawn since the last election, and many polling locations have changed. To check districts and where to vote, go to the Idaho Secretary of State's voter website, www.idahovotes.gov. This will also be the first Idaho election in which voters must register by party; click here for my full story at spokesman.com.

Good grief. It turns out that it's not only up north that one warring GOP faction has tried to hijack another one's name (see this post from last week). It's happening in Twin Falls, too. Check out this press release from Twin Falls Republican Central Committee Chair Gretchen Clelland:

PRESS RELEASE

DATE: May, 14, 2012

FROM: Gretchen Clelland, Twin Falls County Republican Central Committee

TO: All Media

MISLEADING ADVERTISING CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

In the last several days leading up to the GOP Primary election material falsely claiming to represent the Twin Falls Republican Party has been distributed.

This is particularly true in the Castleford Precinct where incumbent Republican Precinct Committeeman Terry Kramer is being opposed by Rick Martin. Martin has distributed literature against Kramer which says “Paid for by Republican Central Committee of Twin Falls County, Inc.”

This deception should in NO WAY lead anyone to believe that the Twin Falls Republican Party, or ANY official Republican organization IN ANY WAY supports Rick Martin or his tactics. Whatever the “Republican Central Committee of Twin Falls County, Inc.” is, it is absolutely NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ANY WAY.