Western governors are interested in following Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire's lead to closely track National Guard members after they return from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, for everything from health to employment needs. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said, "I want to go back and make…
A Montana judge has dismissed a portion of a lawsuit against a plan for hundreds of megaloads of oil equipment to travel through the state, on a constitutional issue, but not the rest of it, so the case will continue. Click below for a report…
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said when military veterans return home from deployment, "The transition has got to be seamless." She shared "a little issue that my state has come upon:" That returning vets may have learned valuable occupational skills, "but for whatever reason we've set…
David Brasuell, administrator of the Idaho Division of Veterans Services, said several programs in the state are gearing up to help returning veterans. Among them: The state Department of Transportation got a grant to work with the state Department of Labor to help returning vets…
Brigadier General Robert F. Hedelund, addressing how states can better help returning veterans, said, "This is a very, very important subject to the Marine Corps." He said the military can't promise veterans jobs outside the service, "but we can promise them, I think, opportunity ...…
Former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson told the Western Governors Association this afternoon that more than 27 percent of returning veterans age 18-24 "do not have a job today - that's more than one out of four. So I think we can stipulate…
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is moderating the Western Governors Association session this afternoon on how states can better help returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. She said she pledged to visit her state's national guardsmen who were deployed to Iraq, and when she did so,…
BSU head football coach Chris Petersen told the Western Governors Association that for the past decade, he's been studying successful teams - not just athletic teams, but other groups, and what makes them successful. "It doesn't matter if it's sports, business, government, individual success, the…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has opened the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association, which opened with the singing of both the U.S. and Canadian national anthems by Aaron Baldwin, along with a flag ceremony. The governors in attendance so far are those of Idaho,…
As western governors, state and federal agency officials, lobbyists, industry people, lawmakers, reporters and others filter in for the soon-to-start Western Governors Association meeting, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, the association's current chairman, buttonholed the Canadian ambassador, Gary Doer, here to talk about a water issue.
After several days of gorgeous weather, clouds have moved in over Coeur d'Alene, the breeze is kicking up and thunderstorms are threatening as the Western Governors Association gathers for its annual meeting, which starts today at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. Eight western governors will convene;…
It's possible that giant megaloads of oil equipment bound for the Kearl oil sands development in Canada could take both identified routes through Idaho - scenic Highway 12, where the extra-wide loads would take up both lanes of the two-lane road, and a Highway 95/I-90…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
