House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will come to Idaho the week after next to hold a fundraiser for GOP Rep. Raul Labrador. Labrador said, "I am thrilled that Congressman Eric Cantor is coming to Idaho. He is a thoughtful and effective leader who understands the…
In practically every legislative district in the state where there's a contested race - and even one where there's not - the Senate Republican PAC has made a campaign contribution to the Republican candidate. The two exceptions: Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth, in District 8,…
The most offbeat item I've seen so far in the latest batch of campaign finance reports is this: A $109.99 payment to Ace Septic Tank Service in Sagle, filed under the category for campaign event-related expenses. Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, laughed when I asked…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― With a looming deadline approaching, insurers are making a last-ditch plea to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter for a nonprofit, state-based insurance exchange in Idaho as part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.…
Gov. Butch Otter has announced that he'll hold his next "Capitol for a Day" event in Pine a week from Friday. That's the same tiny town where Otter has a cabin, and that faced evacuation this summer, along with nearby Featherville, due to the Trinity…
Not all the campaign finance reports are in from yesterday's 5 p.m. deadline, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're late: This deadline is a postmark deadline, so some candidates could have mailed their reports with a postmark by 5 p.m. yesterday, and still be on…
Idaho's campaign finance deadline came and went Wednesday without any word on who funded a statewide TV ad campaign in favor of controversial school reform measures - and backers say they don't plan to disclose their donors. Former state Rep. Debbie Field, the former two-time…
The fire chief for the city of Caldwell has won $1 million in the Idaho Lottery, the lottery reported today; Mark Wendelsdorf and his wife Kim claimed the prize today. The fire chief plans to stay on the job; the couple will use their winnings…
An eastern Idaho man has been diagnosed with fungal meningitis caused by a steroid injection in September, part of a nationwide outbreak of the serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a batch of contaminated steroids. “We are very concerned for this patient and are…
Three former workers with Idaho's largest dairy operation have been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, the AP reports, after undercover video shot by an animal rights group showed workers stomping, dragging and beating cows inside a milking barn. The video was shot using a hidden…
Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey reports that Debbie Field, Gov. Butch Otter's former drug czar and two-time campaign manager, has raised $200,350 from a single source and spent it on broadcast ads supporting Propositions 1, 2 and 3, the "Students Come First" school reform laws.…
Consulting firm KPMG has offered some estimates of the costs for a state-based health insurance exchange: $77 million to set it up, and $10 million a year for operations. A partnership or "hybrid" exchange, in which the federal government would handle some aspects and the…
Consultant Jack Grovner was asked by Gov. Butch Otter's health insurance exchange working group to look into whether Idaho could pursue a privately run model and still meet federal requirements under the health care reform law. The answer: Yes, if it comes through a state-established…
Gov. Butch Otter's health insurance exchange working group is meeting today; you can watch live here. First up, the panel is hearing a cost analysis report from consulting firm KPMG. Among the conclusions, KPMG project manager Robert Mitchell told the panel: "We believe it's impractical…
StateImpact Idaho is reporting that the Rexburg, Idaho cheesemaker that just closed a deal with Walmart to provide Idaho-brand cheese is shutting down. Nelson-Ricks Creamery Co. will still supply the cheese, but instead of making part of it it itself, it will buy it from…
Jerry Conley, the longest-serving director of Idaho's Department of Fish & Game, has died at age 71. Conley, who headed Idaho Fish & Game from 1980 to 1996, then became head of the Conservation Department for his native state of Missouri; he retired in 2002…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: FAIRFIELD, Idaho (AP) ― Hollywood actor Bruce Willis is handing over the keys to a small Idaho ski area to a nonprofit group. Willis, who starred in TV's "Moonlighting" and the "Die Hard" movie franchise, has owned…
Ada County Republicans are struggling with the bill from their biggest-in-the-nation presidential caucus last spring: $35,000. Now they're leaning against holding a big, single-site caucus again in 2016; the hefty price tag has left the Ada GOP coffers drained going into the general election season,…
Idaho's state tax revenues beat forecasts in September, driven by a month of strong individual income tax collections. The total revenue for the month of $248.1 million was 3.7 percent, or $8.8 million, over the forecast; individual income tax receipts, which had missed forecasts in…
The Lewiston Tribune reports today that former four-term Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus, who will be in Lewiston for Saturday's Cecil D. Andrus Statesmanship Award presentation to former longtime Idaho Sen. Marguerite McLaughlin, D-Orofino, tried hard to convince McLaughlin to run for governor. "She was without…
Idaho is discovering that it's easier to take a mansion than it is to give it back, reports AP reporter John Miller: The heirs to J.R. Simplot, the self-made billionaire who died in 2008 at age 99 and who donated his hilltop home to the…
Two decades ago, Coeur d'Alene's delegation to the state Legislature was all-Democrat, like most of the North Idaho Panhandle back then. Now, it's all-Republican, but District 4, which takes in the city, was the last Panhandle district to send a Democrat to Boise - and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The Idaho Court of Appeals says a lower judge has the discretion to seal a convicted sex offender's case because the felon's criminal record is hurting his finances. But the appellate judges made…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has sent out a guest opinion to Idaho newspapers this afternoon, blaming federal land management policies for this year's destructive wildfires and calling for change. Otter says the answer is more logging and grazing to reduce flammable fuels on federal lands.…
Idaho's U.S. Attorney's office has set a record by collecting more than $84 million in fines, restitution, civil debt and criminal forefeitures in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That includes $3.2 million from criminal fines, assessments and restitution; $79.4 million in civil…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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