What do you get when you combine a bad idea, a disregard for local control and a highly questionable motive? You get something like Rep. Joe Palmer’s ill-conceived legislative trifecta: his bill to disable parking meters near the Statehouse during the legislative session. Palmer, R-Meridian (pictured), has been quiet during four years in the Statehouse. But his first attempt at high-profile legislation is a not-ready-for-prime-time effort … Palmer says his idea is to provide free parking to allow Idahoans to attend hearings or talk to their lawmakers. But constituents would have to get up early in the morning to snag a free spot. The bill creates a first-come, first-served free-for-all for the coveted freebies, with Downtown workers and Statehouse lobbyists and reporters likely to avail themselves of the coveted spots/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.

Question: What would happen if the city allowed unlimited, free parking in downtown Coeur d'Alene?

Gov. Butch Otter has signed HB 404a into law, emergency legislation that bans camping on certain state land and effectively evicts the Occupy Boise encampment from state property across from the Capitol. “I will be communicating with the leadership and attorney from 'Occupy Boise' to let them know that I  have received and signed the bill,” Otter said in his signing statement, “and to provide that they have a deadline of 5 PM on Monday to vacate the impacted state properties”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Are you glad Occupy Boise is finally getting boot from Capitol area?

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, walks toward the Idaho Capitol in Boise on Monday. After another Republican representative quit smoking last year, Nonini is the lone open smoker in the Idaho Legislature. (AP photo)

Standing outside the Capitol on a brisk January afternoon, Rep. Bob Nonini cups his hand deftly to shelter a cigarette — not from the wind, but from a camera. The Coeur d'Alene Republican and House Education Committee chairman has the distinction of being the lone Idaho lawmaker who still regularly, if bashfully, steps outside for a smoke. “This is private,” Nonini says, declining further comment this week. His solo status in Idaho's Statehouse underscores a decadeslong transformation in American culture. But despite a near absence of smokers in the Republican-dominated Legislature, don't hold your breath in anticipation of new anti-cigarette laws, even with about a quarter of lawmakers belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids tobacco use/John Miller, AP. More here.

Question: Would you be more/less/same likely to vote for a candidate who smokes?