Longtime Idaho legislative aide Kathryn Yost has died at the age of 86; she is being mourned today by lawmakers and staffers alike. “She was full of energy and worked hard,” Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, told the Idaho Statesman today. “The appropriations process is very demanding. We have meetings every morning and bills were flying left and right, and she was always on top of all of them.”

Yost, who had worked as the secretary for the House Revenue & Taxation Committee prior to shifting to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee in her 25-year Statehouse career, was known for her style as much as her work, including her flashy dressing, bright red hair and the bountiful array of nuts and sweets she kept on her desk. Said retired longtime Secretary of the Senate Jeannine Wood, “She was an icon at the Legislature and she dressed like a million bucks.”

Idaho Statesman reporter John Sowell has a full story online here. He reports that Yost, who was still active and working, died Wednesday after suffering an aneurysm while playing cards with her sister in Garden Valley.