Both Mitch Toryanski and Evan Frasure announced today that they’ll formally announce their candidacies for Idaho Secretary of State on Thursday, Toryanski at 11:45 a.m. in 2nd floor rotunda of the state Capitol, and Frasure at 11:15 a.m. on the steps of the Bannock County…
Embattled Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, now says he'll resign from the Idaho Legislature, a day after party colleagues from his district in Boise urged him to quit. The AP reports that Patterson said today he'll submit his resignation to Gov. Butch Otter this week. The…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho director for the wildlife advocacy group Greater Yellowstone Coalition has pleaded guilty to poaching two elk. The Idaho State Journal (http://bit.ly/SxHTxs ) reports Marv Hoyt is currently on vacation and will…
Federal fish and wildlife officers confiscated the green sea turtle that had been on display at the Idaho Aquarium in Boise on Tuesday, the AP reports, because two aquarium founders who had a permit to keep the turtle - a federally protected species - are…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican officials from Boise want Rep. Mark Patterson to resign, saying they have "no confidence" in his ability to serve his district or the state of Idaho after disclosure of his guilty plea…
A popular charter school in Rathdrum, Idaho has been approved to expand from its current K-8 focus into high school grades – over the objections of the local school district, which says the move will funnel away money that now provides more course choices for…
The Idaho Transportation Department today is correcting some information it gave out yesterday regarding three giant megaloads that are proposed to travel through Coeur d’Alene on I-90 within the next month: The loads are headed for a refinery in Great Falls, Mont., as part of…
Idaho has the second-highest rate of uninsured veterans in the nation, Idaho KidsCount announced today, with an estimated 10,000 military veterans in the state – 15 percent – currently lacking health insurance. If Idaho opted to expand its Medicaid program at federal expense, the group…
On unanimous votes, the state Land Board has agreed to offer the 74 cabin site renters at Priest Lake and the 21 at Payette Lake who had been signed up for now-cancelled land exchanges an opportunity to go to public auction on their lots; you…
At the recent Western Governors Association meeting in Las Vegas, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter brandished a license plate that had been soaked for a year in Lake Mead and was encrusted with invasive quagga mussels, asking Interior Secretary Sally Jewell when the Obama Administration would…
A real estate auction firm that ran a successful auction of 13 state-owned cabin sites at Payette Lake in October is recommending that the state consider another big auction for cabin sites at both Priest and Payette lakes, with the Priest Lake cabin-site auction to…
State schools Superintendent Tom Luna says he believes the state’s distribution and investment strategy for endowment funds is short-changing current public school students by focusing too much on future students. “Every year … we have 3,000 to 4,000 more students that we’re serving with that…
Idaho’s state endowment lands, which make much of their money through timber sales, have had “a phenomenal year” for timber harvesting so far, state Lands Director Tom Schultz told the state Land Board this morning, “both harvest to date as well as revenue to date…
The Idaho Transportation Department is inviting the public to a meeting Thursday in Coeur d’Alene to discuss on-ramp widening and brief, temporary closures of I-90 at Sherman Avenue that are planned to allow three megaloads of oil field equipment bound for Canada to pass through.…
The Idaho Public Charter School Commission has approved up to 990 new charter school seats in the state in the coming years, under proposals from three charter school groups, Idaho Education News reports. Idaho currently has 11,400 students on waiting lists to attend an Idaho…
Embattled Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, told the Associated Press today that he won't seek a second term in the Idaho House, but said he hasn't decided whether to resign. Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney revoked Patterson's concealed weapons permit in October, contending he twice lied…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The Post Co. has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners contending the board is in violation of Idaho's open meeting law. The Post Register reports (http://bit.ly/JoFGnG) the lawsuit…
A 450-ton shipment of equipment bound for the Canadian oil sands is slowly making its way across eastern Oregon, and is expected to be near the Idaho border on Wednesday, the Ontario Argus Observer reports. The shipment, so large that it creates a rolling roadblock…
A North Idaho judge has ruled against a family that challenged the auction of its state-owned leased cabin site at Priest Lake, saying cabin owners who rent their ground from the state have no right to continue their leases or to appeal their appraisals prior…
Idaho state courts are reporting an 82 percent increase in the number of involuntary mental commitment cases filed vs. five years ago, and the startling statistic has some judges wondering if budget cuts to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the poor economy…
The interior of the state Capitol is decked in its holiday finery, a tradition that goes back many years. The decorations are simple – $2,500 worth of poinsettias, some greenery and a large wreath – and the total cost comes to about $2,600 each year.…
Special assistance has been approved for more than 350 Micron Technology workers laid off in Idaho since August of 2012 because of foreign competition; the Idaho Department of Labor announced today that the workers are eligible for special job assistance under the Trade Adjustment Program.…
Three names have been forwarded to the governor to replace Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, who resigned from the Senate to move to Seattle. Atop the list, submitted by the legislative District 18 Democratic central committee: Rep. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, who now represents the same district…
Governors in 16 states unveiled a high-tech wildlife habitat mapping project Thursday that they hope will encourage economic development across the West while protecting the region's environmental treasures, the AP reports. The Western Governors' Association wants to make it easier to chart paths across large…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A former Idaho legislator from Pocatello, Evan Frasure, is running as a Republican in the ever-more-crowded 2014 secretary of state primary. The Idaho State Journal (http://tinyurl.com/nvz2phw) reports Friday Frasure plans to make a…
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