A new survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows teen meth use in Idaho dropped by 52 percent from 2007 to 2009, from 6.4 percent of teens using the drug to 3.1 percent. It was the largest decline of any state…
It turns out that Rep. Phil Hart's current dispute with the Idaho State Tax Commission and state Board of Tax Appeals isn't the first time he's invoked his status as a state legislator to hold off the tax man. In 2006, as a newly elected…
An Idaho state legislator is fighting the state Tax Commission over $53,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties, claiming in part that because he's a legislator, he's exempt from the deadlines for tax appeals that apply to all other taxpayers. Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, who…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Police say a 74-year-old Boise woman arrested after pouring mayonnaise in the Ada County library's book drop box is a person of interest in a yearlong spree of condiment-related crimes of the same…
IACI, the big business lobby (Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry), is holding its annual conference today in McCall, and the group announced that its three-day gathering, which started yesterday, was kicked off by Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, who joined IACI Chairman Trent Clark. "We…
The IRS has filed nearly $300,000 in new federal tax liens against Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart in the past year, five years after Hart said he'd reached an agreement to repay $90,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. The new liens, filed in Kootenai…
The first invasive mussels have been found on a boat entering Idaho at a checkpoint on U.S. Highway 93 in Twin Falls County near the Nevada state line, the Times-News reports. The 20-foot pontoon boat, which was headed to Cascade from Lake Havasu, Nev., was…
Boise State University has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference and become its 10th member institution, joining such schools as the U.S. Air Force Academy, BYU, TCU and the University of Utah. The move is effective next summer, on July 1, 2011.…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — May tax revenue beat forecasts by $4 million, moving Idaho closer to balancing its reduced 2010 budget with a month to go in the fiscal year. House Majority Leader Mike Moyle said May…
Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo issued a statement today expressing disappointment at the failure of resolution they backed, which failed today on a 47-53 vote, aimed at stopping the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases. Risch said, “The EPA rule is nothing more…
When the Senate Judiciary Committee took up the confirmation of Wendy Olson to be Idaho's next U.S. Attorney today, the approval came quickly on a voice vote. "There had been lengthy debate about a judicial nomination earlier in the meeting, but there was no debate…
A legal news site is reporting that Wendy Olson has been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee as Idaho's new U.S. Attorney. Olson, the current senior litigation counsel for Idaho's U.S. Attorney's office, has worked there since 1997 and played a key role in the…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com and to links to briefs from both sides in today's oral arguments at the Idaho Supreme Court in the Land Board case, in which Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden is suing the board - on which…
Here's a news item from the Lewiston Tribune, via The Associated Press: GRANGEVILLE, Idaho (AP) — For erstwhile Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell, home may be where his voters are. Rammell, a veterinarian who ran second in May 25's Republican gubernatorial primary to Gov. C.L.…
An issue that was discussed in the briefs filed with the Idaho Supreme Court on the Land Board case, but that didn't come up specifically during the oral arguments in the case today, is that Idaho's Land Board has charged 2.5 percent of value annually…
Interestingly, Idaho Supreme Court justices allowed Deputy Attorney General Melissa Moody, speaking for Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's side, to give her entire presentation before asking her questions during arguments on the Land Board case today, while they interrupted attorney Merlyn Clark, representing the Land Board,…
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said after today's Supreme Court arguments on the Land Board case, "I thought that both sides represented the case well. The court has a couple of options here; we knew that going in." The court, he said, could either issue…
One light moment in today's Idaho Supreme Court arguments on the Land Board case came when Justice Roger Burdick, who asked by far the most questions today, asked Deputy Attorney General Melissa Moody for an explanation of the new "premium rent" plan for state-owned cabin…
Idaho's state Land Board set rents for state-owned cabin sites for an upcoming 10-year lease period "that it knew would not achieve market rent, and it said so on the record," Deputy Idaho Attorney General Melissa Moody told the Idaho Supreme Court today. "Attorney General…
Idaho's state Board of Examiners voted unanimously today to transfer another $11 million from the state's general fund to the tax refund account, to make sure Idaho income taxpayers' refunds go out on time (and to avoid the state having to pay interest, which would…
Disaster emergencies have been declared by the governor today for three Idaho counties - Adams, Idaho and Valley - due to flooding. But those declarations weren't signed by Gov. Butch Otter; he's on a trade mission to China. And they weren't signed by Lt. Gov.…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Boise Airport will keep an air-traffic control system that federal aviation officials had once aimed to relocate to Salt Lake City. The Federal Aviation Administration's announcement Tuesday that it has abandoned plans…
The early light kisses the hills around Lucky Peak Lake this morning, just after sunrise, as a lone windsurfer skims across the lake. Boise's cool, rainy spring has put a crimp on the usual spring recreation for this time of year, so today - forecast…
Fired ITD Director Pam Lowe has filed her response to the state's arguments against granting the core of her wrongful-firing claims in a partial judgment, and Lowe's lawyers contend the state's arguments misconstrued case law, overlooked clear rulings from the Idaho Supreme Court that an…
The Forest Service has issued new temporary guidelines on filming in wilderness areas under its jurisdiction, but they're kicking off even more controversy in a debate that began when Idaho Public TV was first refused permission to film a student conservation project in the Frank…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
