Ron Paul's presidential campaign manager, John Tate, on Thursday condemned the effort by Paul supporters to take over the Idaho Republican convention by capturing precinct committeeman posts in Tuesday's primary. Tate said the activity in Idaho — following a binding caucus that gave Mitt Romney 62 percent of the vote among 45,000 GOP voters — is not in keeping with the Paul campaign's practice of chasing delegates in other states with non-binding “beauty contests.” “In Idaho, isolated instances of grassroots activists working toward an ostensible ‘hostile takeover’ of the GOP are not sanctioned by the Ron Paul national campaign,” Tate said in a news release that came four days after an Idaho Statesman account of an effort led by Ryan Davidson, an Ada County GOP Central Committee member/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here. (SR file photo: Ron Paul works the crowd at the front of the ballroom at the Spokane Convention Center Feb. 17)

Thoughts?

If you want to work in poverty, Idaho's for you. So says an Economic Policy Institute study that ranked the Gem State eighth worst for the share of its people — 31 percent — working below the federal poverty line - pegged at $23,050 for a family of four. You have to travel to the Deep South to find anything more dire. By contrast, Washington is one of the top 10 states — only 19.5 percent of its jobs pay a poverty wage. Just as University of Idaho economist Stephen Cooke noted a year ago, Idaho is caught in a low-wage employment trap. The openings come in occupations that pay less - food preparation, personal care, building maintenance and retail sales. Most of the employment Idaho is creating requires little advanced training. Which matches precisely with Idaho's poor record of producing highly skilled workers. It's a vicious cycle. Poorly educated workers attract low-wage jobs and vice versa/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Has Idaho become the Mississippi of the West?

(Idaho singer Carole) King’s new memoir, A Natural Woman, which she has been writing for years, tells how a Queens girl was able to get in on the ground floor of Rock and Roll in the Brill Building music machine of the early 1960s and rise to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and become the multiple Grammy winner with songs like “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel The Earth Move,” and “You Got a Friend.” Remarkably, King, who always sought to protect her private life, reveals the relationships with her four husbands that were unsettling and sometimes painful. Goffin suffered mental health issues that forced King to become a single mother. Her third husband Rick Evers brought her to Idaho and, she reveals in the book, physically abused her regularly. In one of the most dramatic pages in the book King writes what she said was more difficult to acknowledge: “I stayed.” She told the story so that other women in similar circumstances can relate and perhaps find their own way out. Her gutsy introspection adds a new chapter to her pioneering life. But for Idahoans the real treat is her own story of life her/Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Are you a Carole King fan?

California regulators on Thursday issued a warning letter to the president of the state Fish and Game Commission over a mountain lion hunting trip he took earlier this year, but they decided against issuing a fine. The Fair Political Practices Commission took the action against Dan Richards, a Republican commercial real estate developer from San Bernardino County. It said he violated the state's $420 gift limit when he accepted a hunting trip in January worth $6,800 from Flying B Ranch in Idaho. Richards repaid the ranch, but he did so after the required 30-day window for repayment. He could have faced a $5,000 fine/AP. More here.

Question: Do you agree with the way this controversy was resolved?

A report released today by the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy questions whether the state is meeting its constitutional duty to “maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” The report is authored by the center’s director Mike Ferguson, who was also Idaho’s chief economist for 25 years. “One of the things I wanted to draw attention to is that unlike most state programs, public school funding is enshrined in the state constitution, it is basically different,” Ferguson says. More here. Findings:

• Public school funding has significantly decreased over the last 13 years.
• Tax cuts and increased funding of Medicaid have been the two biggest reasons why education funding has declined.
• Because of property tax differences and local levy options, school districts are not being funded equally, as required by the state constitution.

Thoughts?

Another day, another study that places Idaho among the worst states in terms of the gender pay gap. This time, it’s the American Association of University Women that’s tracking the disparities in men’s and women’s earnings by state.  The AAUW study places Idaho 43rd, based on federal data from 2010. What does placing 43rd mean?  Well, median pay for a full-time worker in Idaho is $41,128, if that worker is a man.  If the worker is a woman, it’s $30,403.  Put in other terms, women in Idaho earn about 74 percent as much as men/Molly Messick, StateImpact. More here.

Question: Why such a bad disparity in Idaho?

Bruce Willis appears onstage at the “The Comedy Awards” presented by Comedy Central in New York in this 2011 AP file photo. Willis says he’s willing to give away his popular central Idaho ski resort to a nonprofit. The action star has already put his lavish home in nearby Hailey, on the real estate market, it’s listed at $15 million, along with his local bar and nightclub, The Mint, listed at about $4 million. Story here. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

• Early morning drug bust in Coeur d'Alene/KHQ
• Groups call for investigation into wolf trapping death/AP
• Hart facing pressure on federal, state levels/Alecia Warren, SR
• Twisp man pleads guilty in wolf killing case/Thomas Clouse, SR
• Idaho AFL-CIO president Whaley dies at 54/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• Trial ordered in Bonner County slaying/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
• State seeks OK to evict Occupy Boise for lawnmowing, watering/Eye On Boise

Long-term unemployment benefits are being reduced sharply in Washington and Idaho. Later this month, most unemployed workers will be cut off after 73 weeks of long-term payments in Washington, the state announced today. That’s down from the 99 weeks now available – a reduction of six months. As a result, an estimated 12,500 Washington residents who are out of work will lose their benefits after April 21, state Employment Security officials estimate. More than 11,000 others will exhaust their benefits within eight weeks of that date, and another 40,000 people on unemployment are at risk of being dropped from the program in the final half of the year. … In Idaho, jobless workers will see their extended benefits reduced by 29 weeks, to a maximum of 44 weeks, the Idaho Department of Labor said/Scott Maben, SR. More here.

Question: Are you — or someone you know — having trouble finding a job?

Item: Idaho's charter school law ranks high/AP

More Info: Idaho now ranks among a dozen states with the strongest charter school laws. That's according to the Center for Education Reform, a school choice advocate based in Washington, D.C. Idaho climbed several notches in the group's annual report, which was released Monday and ranked Idaho 12th among 42 states with laws allowing charter schools.

Question: Do you support the charter school movement in Idaho?

Wolf hunting ended Saturday in most of Idaho. Hunters have bagged 372 animals since the season began in August,  cutting the state’s estimated wolf population roughly in half, according to the latest count. Idaho Fish and Game officials are pleased, while wolf advocates find the high total worrisome.  There was high interest in this year’s hunt. Idahoans and out-of-staters purchased more than 43,000 wolf tags. The individual success rate wasn’t great. But overall, Idaho wildlife manager Jon Rachael says the hunt met the state’s goals. … Idaho didn’t put a season limit on wolves killed except in select parts of the state. Conservationists worry about the effects of losing nearly 400 wolves to hunting/Jessica Robinson, Boise State Public Radio. More here. (US Fish & Wildlife photo)

Thoughts?

A new report by a watchdog group ranks Idaho among the lowest states when it comes to operating a government that is transparent, accountable and has viable protections against corruption in place. The 50-state report was issued Monday by the Center for Public Integrity. Using a report card grading scale, the authors gave Idaho a D-minus and ranked the state 40th overall. No state received an A and just five states earned B grades The study considered strength of laws and policies designed to encourage open government and deter corruption. It also considered access to information, campaign finance laws, lobbying disclosure and ethics enforcement/AP. More here.

Also: Bonner County celebrates National Sunshine Week by hiding public records/KEA Blog

Question: How do you react to news that Idaho lags far behind in government transparency? Concern? Shrug shoulders?

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) doesn’t think much of Idaho’s online spending transparency offerings. In a report issued Wednesday morning, PIRG ranks Idaho at the bottom of all 50 states in online state transparency. The group ranked states on their online fiscal databases and other websites lending themselves to shedding light on financial affairs. The grades also consider how easy it is for users to access data in a one-stop-shop experience. Idaho earned six out of 100 possible points, the lowest point total of all the states. Montana is barely ahead of the Gem State, garnering seven points in the report/Dustin Hurst, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Question: Are you surprised that Idaho ranks last re: online spending transparency?

Idaho Republicans play a role in Super Tuesday this evening as they gather throughout the state for presidential caucuses. It will be a new experience for many. For decades, the Idaho GOP has used the results of a presidential primary to award delegates to the candidates while Democrats have used caucuses. But the presidential primary was part of the state primary in May, which is usually so late that the nominee is already chosen. This year Idaho Republicans switched to the caucus system and scheduled it as early as the national party allows for awarding all of a state’s delegates, hoping to get some attention from the candidates. The tactic worked: All four presidential candidates visited the state, and party officials report voters are caught up in the excitement/Jim Camden, SR. More here.

Question: Are you going to participate in the Super Tuesday caucus election in Idaho today?

Rick Santorum has seen Idaho at 35,000 feet. He knows Idaho is a conservative bastion. He reads about a place seething with resentment toward federal agencies restoring wolves to the wild and choking off logging. He hears the antipathy toward Washington, D.C., that Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter regularly expresses. From these factoids, Santorum has concluded Idahoans are ready to throw off the yoke of their federal landlord. The federal government owns about 33.7 million acres of forests and rangeland, about two-thirds of the state. By stoking the fires of the Sagebrush Rebellion, Santorum believes he can peel off a sizeable number of votes in the March 6 Idaho Republican presidential caucus.So Santorum parachuted into Boise last week and promptly said: “We need to get it back into the hands of the states and even to the private sector. … And we can make money doing it.” Now why didn't somebody think of that before? Fact is, they have. Idahoans have spent a lot of time thinking about this/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here. (AP file photo of Santorum visiting Coeur d'Alene earlier this month)

Question: What do you think about Santorum's idea, espoused during his trip to Idaho, to sell off federal land to states and private individuals?

Patrick Teems completed a political odyssey Saturday. The Boise pilot last week got to attend political rallies for three of the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of Idaho’s March 6 GOP caucus. Teems came into the week leaning toward Mitt Romney, but seeing the other two made him reconsider. Ron Paul’s libertarian message Saturday resonated with him. And he liked Rick Santorum’s electrifying speech Tuesday at Capital High — and Santorum’s willingness to stay afterward to have his picture taken with people such as Teems’ teenage son, Max. Republican Congressman Raul Labrador would have loved to see all three, too, but he was in Washington, D.C., until Saturday and was able to attend only Paul’s rally. He’s not endorsing any candidate/Dan Popkey & Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here. (SR file photo: Santorum with Coeur d'Alene High students (from left) Adam Borsheim, Derek Scharf and Ty Higbie)

Question: Did the visit of three of the top four GOP presidential candidates last week boost Idaho's status on the national Republican scene?

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum addresses the crowd at a rally on Tuesday in Boise. State Treasurer Ron Crane (red tie) is sitting in lower right behind Santorum. (AP Photo/Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield)

Idaho's Treasurer, Ron Crane, has been a friend of mine for many years. … He joined me in '94 in supporting political “upstart” Helen Chenoweth when I was in her “kitchen cabinet” for her first GOP Primary win, against David Leroy, the near-titular head of the GOP, at that time. To the best of my knowledge, that was the last time Ron Crane ever opposed any establishment Republican, in favor of an “outsider”. That is, until last night, when he publicly announced his support of Rick Santorum - and even sat on stage behind the presidential candidate. Despite years of friendship he never endorsed me in any of my runs for office. And yet he endorsed Rick Santorum last evening. That's amazing — and highly encouraging. And more than a bit controversial. Something's happening in the ranks of the GOP big boys/Dennis Mansfield. More here.

Question: Do you think “something's happening in the ranks of the GOP big boys”?

Idaho is No. 3 among states with the most residents experiencing symptoms of lovesickness, which include high levels of stress, high blood pressure and heart palpitations, according to a recent study. Practice Fusion, a San Francisco firm that analyzes clinical databases, examined more than 2.8 million “de-identified” electronic patient records for the symptoms. Scientist Jake Marcus said Vermont ranked first on its 2011-12 “love index,” with 32 percent of patients experiencing at least one of the symptoms. Hawaii followed at 28 percent and Idaho at 26 percent. Based on the firm’s analysis, Idaho had about 122,044 patients suffering from one of the symptoms/Dara Barney, Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP photo, for illustrative purposes)

Question: Are you now — or have you ever been — love sick?

Jon Downing thinks maybe he'll get married in two decades. Not because the 29-year-old necessarily wants to wait. But that's when he suspects it will finally be legal for him to do so in Idaho. “I'm hoping two years out,” said Downing, a Coeur d'Alene resident open to admitting he is gay, even when he expects a variety of reactions. “But the reality is it's probably going to take a little bit longer to change people's hearts and minds.” There are signs to indicate it's already happening, with same-sex marriage legislation whipping through the Washington Legislature and gaining approval on Wednesday, the day after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California's Proposition 8 outlawing gay marriage. Idaho following soon might be a tall order/Alecia Warren, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (AP file photo of a same-sex cake decoration in New York City)

Question: Do you think Idaho will legalize gay marriage in the next decade?

The 10 most conservative states, as compiled by Fellowship of the Minds: Conservatives Who Love America, are as follows, according to Frank Newport reports for Gallup. Orbusmax link here.

Question: Can anyone believe that Idaho ranks as low as 9th?