A legislative interim committee has agreed on the concept of state Public Defense Commission to help oversee improvements in the state’s spotty and problem-plagued system of criminal defense for indigent defendants. But the senators and representatives also agreed that the new commission should make recommendations…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOSTON (AP) — A former mob associate who spent over a decade posing as a cattle rancher in Idaho has been convicted of federal charges including the attempted murder of a man who became the boss of…
Idaho Sen. Branden Durst, D-Boise, is resigning from the state Senate, effective Dec. 1. Durst said he's resigning to focus on his family's needs; earlier this year, his wife and family moved to the Seattle area, where she now is employed as a teacher, and…
First the weather turned colder and the mountains turned white. Now, the annual Warren Miller ski film is coming to town this week – sure signs that the ski season is on the way. “Ticket to Ride” is the 64th annual Warren Miller ski film…
Only 30 of the more than 200 Idaho high schools and junior highs set to get state-funded WiFi service under a statewide contract are up and running with the service, Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News reports, but the contractor, Education Networks of America, says…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has introduced a bill designed to add a third federal judge in Idaho to help offset an expanding and cumbersome caseload. The Republican says it's past time for Idaho…
Idahoans for Openness in Government filed a complaint against the city of Twin Falls Tuesday, asking county Prosecutor Grant Loebs to look into the City Council’s practice of delegating city business to subcommittees that meet secretly, flouting the Idaho Open Meeting Law. The council voted…
An email from the Idaho Freedom Foundation arrived in the inbox of nearly every Idaho legislator last week touting a controversial and unsuccessful bill to criminalize Idaho police officers who enforce federal gun laws that might pass in the future as a paragon of “constitutional…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how the state Tax Commission today refused to extend a big property tax break to operators of railroad tracks, pipelines, cell towers and underground tanks, despite the urging of a roomful of officials from those…
The Tax Commission has voted unanimously in favor of its two proposed rules to define real and personal property for purposes of property tax, despite objections from railroads, utilities and similar interests. Commissioner Ken Roberts said, “There’s a lot of water under the bridge over…
Idaho’s state Tax Commission has a full house today at a hearing on two proposed rules setting definitions for personal property, now that the Legislature has enacted a new partial property tax exemption for personal property. Canyon County Assessor Gene Kuehn was the only person…
Embattled Idaho state Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, is now threatening to sue Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney for revealing Patterson’s 1974 guilty plea and withheld judgment for assault with intent to commit rape, the Idaho Statesman reports today. The freshman lawmaker told KIDO radio that…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson's bid for a ninth term got an assist Monday when former presidential candidate Mitt Romney released an endorsement letter. Simpson faces challenger Bryan Smith in next May's Republican…
Idaho’s biggest business lobby, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, has come out in favor of Medicaid expansion, a move that could save the state budget more than $600 million in the next decade and save county property taxpayers $478 million. In a letter…
Chuck Staben, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of South Dakota, has been named the new president of the University of Idaho; the state Board of Education voted unanimously today in favor of the choice. Staben’s salary will be $350,000 a…
Here’s a link to my Sunday column on the crowd forming to run in the GOP primary for Secretary of State, now that longtime Secretary of State Ben Ysursa has announced he’ll retire rather than seek another term in 2014. Those expressing interest so far…
With snow in the forecast, Bogus Basin has launched a surprise, this-weekend-only $299 season pass sale – a price skiers otherwise would have had to buy by Sept. 30 to get; until today, the passes were being sold for $389. At $299 for a season…
With longtime Idaho Department of Labor Director Roger Madsen's planned retirement taking effect today, Gov. Butch Otter has announced his pick for the new director: Ken Edmunds, a Twin Falls business consultant and current member of the state Board of Education. Madsen, an attorney and…
Caldwell attorney Christopher Nye has been appointed by Gov. Butch Otter to be a district judge, filling a new judgeship in the 3rd Judicial District that was created by the Idaho Legislature this year. In addition to Nye, finalists for the post were Kenneth Jorgensen,…
Add another name to the list of those pondering a possible run for Idaho Secretary of State now that longtime Secretary of State Ben Ysursa has announced he’ll retire after his current term: Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene. “It’s definitely intriguing,” said Malek, a first-term…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A group of Idaho Department of Juvenile Correction employees who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the state say the agency is violating a judge's order to meet and decide which documents should be…
The Idaho Republican Party has decided to stick with plans to hold its 2014 state party convention in Moscow, the AP reports, after a tiff between Chairman Barry Peterson and a local party official there prompted threats to move the event. "We're excited about going…
Idaho Public Television’s “Idaho Reports” program has a new episode up online looking at education issues as the legislative session approaches; you can watch it here. On the program, co-host Aaron Kunz interviews state schools Superintendent Tom Luna; there’s a segment on early childhood education…
Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is protesting the FEC's proposed $360,000 in fines and restitution for tapping campaign accounts for his legal defense following his 2007 arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting, calling the penalties "harsh" and "unjustified," the AP reports. Craig also argues…
Nearly 120,000 Washington residents have completed applications for health insurance through the state’s insurance exchange, a federal report revealed today, and more than 10,500 Idahoans have completed applications through their state’s exchange. Those numbers are far higher than the numbers who have selected the plan…