Idaho GOP Rep. Raul Labrador has issued a statement welcoming President Obama to Boise, saying he thinks the president “could benefit from listening to Idahoans.” Here’s his full statement: “I welcome President Obama to our great state today. I wish him well as he speaks...
During today’s brief Idaho House floor session, Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, thanked the majority for accommodating the schedules of legislative Democrats as they take time off this afternoon to head to Boise State University to hear President Barack Obama’s address; it’s the first time…
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter will be on Air Force One with President Barack Obama when the official presidential plane arrives in Boise today for the president’s visit to Boise State University. Bieter’s office says Bieter was scheduled to be in Washington, D.C. all week attending…
Lawmakers’ agreement last year to allow State Hospital South and State Hospital North to access up to $85,000 a year each in endowment funds for student loan forgiveness for physicians and other high-level medical professors who commit to come to work at the hospitals is…
Idaho is in the final stages of negotiating a settlement agreement to the long-running Jeff D lawsuit over children’s mental health care in the state, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee was told this morning. As part of that, Gov. Butch Otter is recommending the state allocate…
Idaho’s Suicide Prevention Hotline, to which the state has contributed $50,000 a year for three years as part of a public-private partnership, has likely saved at least 100 lives so far, lawmakers heard this morning. The hotline, which is now operational 24/7, has received a…
The number of protective holds by law enforcement for Idahoans suffering mental health crises has continued to climb, lawmakers were told this morning, to a projected 5,432 in the current year, from 5,104 in fiscal year 2014. They’ve risen steadily from 3,745 in fiscal year...
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter was supposed to have a surgical procedure called hip resurfacing today, but his office reports that his surgeon determined that a total hip replacement was necessary instead, to repair deterioration discovered in the governor’s left hip. The hip replacement surgery was...
New North Idaho Rep. Sage Dixon introduced his first bill in the Legislature on Tuesday – to create a new specialty license plate to benefit the Friends of the NRA. The NRA actually already was the beneficiary of an Idaho specialty license plate, but it was discontinued in 2012 for lack of sales.
A state Board of Education subcommittee is backing away from one of the 20 recommendations issued by Gov. Butch Otter’s Task Force for Improving Education, reports Clark Corbin of Idaho Education News. The proposal to change the way the state calculates school funding was studied…
New legislation introduced in Idaho today could clear the way for Elio Motors’ new vehicle, which has three wheels, two seats one in front of the other, gets 84 mpg and sells for $6,800, to be operated in Idaho with a driver’s license. Without the…
A highly pathogenic strain of avian flu has been confirmed in wild waterfowl in western and southern Idaho, the state Department of Agriculture announced today, and has spread to falcons and backyard chickens. The department has initiated a multi-agency investigation. Wild ducks in Gooding County;…
There have been two patient deaths at Idaho assisted living facilities in the past year for which the state has received complaints; at one, in Idaho Falls, where an elderly woman with dementia wandered away from the facility and died, the facility received a serious…
The state agency responsible for inspecting and certifying health care facilities, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living centers, has a huge backlog, including 135 complaints awaiting investigation, and is experiencing heavy turnover due to stress and an unmanageable workload, lawmakers heard this morning....
As questioning began in the Medicaid budget hearing this morning, Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told Medicaid Administrator Lisa Hettinger, “Your budget always gives me a headache. There is so much to grasp.” He had questions about a supplemental budget request for drug payments...
Medicaid makes up more than 80 percent of the budget of the state Department of Health & Welfare, the state’s largest agency. This morning, legislative budget writers are holding their budget hearing on Medicaid, the state-federal program that covers health care for disabled and poor...
After much debate, lawmakers last year agreed to move food stamp distribution in Idaho from all happening on the first of the month to being staggered over 10 days, but it hasn’t happened yet. “Although legislation was passed last year, funding was not,” Lori Wolff,…
One in three Idahoans received state services through the Division of Welfare, which handles eligibility for state programs including food stamps, Medicaid, welfare, child support orders, home energy assistance and more. Lori Wolff, division administrator, told legislative budget writers this morning that after seeing the...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Agency officials tasked with taking care of Idaho's poor and disabled say people are still struggling despite the state's low unemployment rate and improving economy. Department of Health and Welfare Director Richard Armstrong...
Idaho state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra, who is from Mountain Home, has hired Kelly Everitt, who was managing editor of the Mountain Home News for the past 26 years, as her communications specialist, Idaho Education News reports. Reporter Kevin Richert writes that Everitt had announced in a newspaper column last...
Hundreds of people filled the Capitol rotunda on three floors for today’s Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day commemoration. Lt. Gov. Brad Little, reading an official proclamation, declared, “The celebration of Dr. King's birthday is intended as a time for all Americans to reaffirm…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: Northern Idaho police have launched a criminal investigation probing the legality of slot-like machines known as instant horse racing terminals, which are slowly gaining popularity across the state. Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug says detectives are...
In what’s become an annual Idaho tradition, more than 300 people marched from Boise State University to the Capitol today in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, and are currently holding a rally on the Capitol steps. Changing, “2-4-6-8, Idaho’s too great...
North Idaho lawmakers concerned about “federal overreach” helped kill a bill today that’s been pushed for the past five years by a determined 8th grader who wants to designate the Idaho Giant Salamander as the official state amphibian. Although an Idaho attorney general’s opinion advised…
As lawmakers questioned state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong this morning about his overview of the department’s budget request for next year, Sen. Roy Lacey, D-Pocatello, asked if Armstrong’s proposal about a new medical-homes system would replace the state’s Catastrophic Health Care Fund. Armstrong…