Acting Idaho Gov. Brad Little this morning declared an emergency for Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties in the wake of the disastrous Nov. 17 windstorm, paving the way for federal and state funds to help cover part of the cost of restoring damaged utilities....
I’m awaiting comment from Gov. Butch Otter’s office on why the state is now paying more to Tom Perry, the governor’s former chief legal counsel, to represent it in the sage grouse lawsuit than it paid to Perry when he was a $100,000 a year...
A new report from the AP on the Idaho Legislature’s legal defense fund details the $275,000 lawmakers have spent on outside counsel in the last three years rather than using Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s office, and contains this revelation: Gov. Otter’s former chief counsel,...
A 75-year-old Hayden man is pushing ahead with a campaign finance ballot initiative that he personally wrote and is sponsoring, even after a review by the Idaho Attorney General’s office found it unconstitutional. Bob Perry, who turns 76 in January, said he wasn’t swayed by...
Gov. Butch Otter joined the governors of Nevada, Wyoming and Montana at the Western Governors Association meeting in Las Vegas today, where they heard a keynote address from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and talked wildfires, security and more. Otter also had a chance to attend...
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” features a report on wildfires, land management and climate change; also, AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi joins the pundits for discussion of legislative interim committees, tax policy and more, including myself, Jim Weatherby, and co-hosts Aaron Kunz and Melissa Davlin. The show airs…
Bogus Basin announced this afternoon that it’ll open three more lifts tomorrow: Bitterroot, Morning Star, and the No. 6 Pine Creek chair, the big one that provides access to the east-facing backside of the mountain. That’s in addition to the No. 1 Deer Point and...
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter declared an emergency situation and police on Friday started the process of clearing out a homeless tent camp containing about 135 people. Bieter says the homeless camp near downtown isn't sustainable and there's concern about the health and safety of people living there. The mayor says a temporary shelter has been set up...
Lawmakers on the Legislature’s interim committee on purchasing laws have wrapped up four hours of discussions today, and set their next meeting for Jan. 14; they took votes on just two of the seven proposed bills they reviewed today, sending the other five back for…
The Port of Portland is subsidizing a barge and rail system to get products out of Lewiston, Idaho after major shipping lines stopped serving the port. The Oregonian reports that a container barge set off Thursday from Lewiston for the first time in eight months carrying containers of agricultural and paper products to the...
The first bill lawmakers on the Purchasing Laws Interim Committee are examining this morning would require annual reports to the Legislature on high-dollar and high-risk contracts signed by any state agency or officer, and require rule-making that lays out policies and procedures on contract monitoring...
The Legislature’s interim committee on purchasing laws is meeting at the Capitol today to review draft legislation; you can listen live here. There’s quite a bit of it; there are proposed bills on contract oversight; delegation of authority; ethics in procurement; multiple contract awards; open…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wildfires, sage grouse, cybersecurity and highway funding will be among the topics governors from four Western states take up with federal land and transportation officials at a Las Vegas Strip resort. The governors…
Idaho’s two GOP congressmen split their votes on two major pieces of legislation that passed the House: The highway funding bill, which passed 359-65 today; and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization, known as the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” which passed yesterday on a…
J.R. Simplot Co. has agreed to pay a $900,000 fine and spend about $42 million on pollution controls to cut sulfur dioxide emissions at five fertilizer plants in three states, the AP reports. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice announced the...
The Idaho State Tax Commission will hold its annual meeting next Tuesday to highlight its record over the past year and plans for the future, along with holding a panel discussion on what customer service from the Tax Commission should look like. Panelists will include…
A 28-year-old Kuna man was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison today for possession and distribution of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, after he admitted he’d stolen the gun while “jockey-boxing” in Boise the night before his arrest...
Each year, the state Department of Education sponsors an art contest for school kids for the department’s official holiday card; this year’s winner is 2nd grader Ashlynn Baldus of Orchard Elementary School in Lewiston, with this picture of a cardinal resting on a tree branch…
An environmental group has sent Ada County a notice of its intentions to file a lawsuit over what it says are violations of the federal Clean Water Act involving an event center and horse racing track. Idaho Rivers United on Wednesday sent the 60-day notice...
Idaho state Rep. Hy Kloc, who was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany at the end of World War II and came to America as a refugee, has sent out a guest opinion to Idaho newspapers on the current controversy over refugee resettlement....
The Idaho Supreme Court has ordered the state of Idaho to pay attorney fees and costs to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in the instant racing case, rejecting the state’s arguments that the tribe shouldn’t get the payment because it missed a time limit; but it also reduced the amount of...
Bonner County commissioners are calling for the resettlement of refugees from Iraq and Syria to stop until security procedures are reviewed. Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution Monday echoing Gov. Butch Otter's call for the immediate halt of resettling new refugees until vetting rules can be…
Boise will join London, New York and Tel Aviv as sites for a series of conferences dubbed “Wisdom 2.0 Connect,” focusing on bringing mindfulness and innovation to the contemporary workplace. The Jan. 22 session is set for Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, or JUMP, the new…
Idaho school officials say a nascent movement among some anti-Common Core parents to boycott required annual student testing could endanger tens of millions in federal funding for the state's cash-strapped schools. At a series of hearings on minor rule changes for the testing program held…
Planned Parenthood has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn two recently passed Idaho laws that ban women from receiving abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest in a lawsuit filed Tuesday says that the laws, signed by...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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