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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Courage award: Wasden ‘lets the chips fall where they may’

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has been awarded the "Courage in Public Service Award" from the Conference of Western Attorneys General, presented at the group's annual meeting in Santa Fe today. The award, which has only been presented four times and was last given out in 2004, recognizes an Attorney General who "has acted with courage and integrity to uphold the office of the Attorney General, above and beyond the high standards always expected of its occupants," the group said.

Wasden notably pressed charges public officials of his own party for official misconduct, including former Boise Mayor Brent Coles, and he's currently challenging the state Land Board - on which he serves - over the constitutionality of a cottage-site rent plan. Karen White, the group's executive director, said Wasden was recognized for "placing himself in a position of political peril with his peers, in order to better the state of affairs for the people of Idaho and throughout the country," and that he "is an effective leader because he consistently does what he thinks follows his legal obligations and responsibilities of office and lets the chips fall where they may.”



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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