The Idaho Press-Tribune has only good things to say about state Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, who has decided to leave the Legislature to become a lobbyist for the University of Idaho. The Nampa-Caldwell paper wonders if Far Right ideology drove Stegner out: “Perhaps Sen. Stegner’s stand against the so-called “loyalty oath” supported by the right wing of the Republican Party is what led to his decision to leave the Senate. Only a few months ago he spoke out against the oath: “It seems to be directed at purifying the party. It smacks of some rather heavy-handed party membership requirements that I think in the last century have certainly been abused in any number of nations, and I don’t think that’s the direction America should be going”/Idaho Press Tribune. More here.

Question: Are party and legislative ideologues muzzling debate by driving off members who aren't 100 percent behind current Idaho Republican leadership?

Former Idaho U.S. Sen. Larry Craig is working for a sportsmen's group that wants Congress to lift Endangered Species Act protections from wolves on grounds the prolific predators are hurting big game populations that are coveted by hunters in the region. Craig represents Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife and was in Idaho's Capitol Monday, touting wolf delisting bills now in the U.S. House and Senate. Lawmakers, including Idaho U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, Craig's successor in Washington, D.C., seek to bypass the Endangered Species Act and lift 36-year-old protections for today's booming U.S. wolf population. Advocates who accompanied Craig say they have about 50 co-sponsors for federal legislation, including lawmakers from outside Rocky Mountain states, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan where most of the nation's wolves roam/John Miller, AP. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Is Larry Craig the right person to lobby against Endangered Species Act protection for wolves?

In this Sept. 18, 2008, AP file photo by Susan Walsh, then secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne left, seated next to Interior Department inspector General Earl Devaney, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a House Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing. Now, the former agency director will become a life insurance lobbyist. See story below.

• Kempthorne takes job as life insurance lobbyist/Associated Press
• UCDavis, Cal Poly to join Big Sky for football/Associated Press
• Spokane police release Deputy Hirzel’s statements re: shooting/KREM
• Boise State earns high TV ratings, praise from around USA/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Hokies’ fan gets 2000 followers by urging potato boycott/Katy Moeller, Statesman
• Sandpoint Bypass girder work to begin this week/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
• Path of the Hiawatha attracts record usage/Nicole Nolan, Shoshone News-Press

Question: Is a job as a life insurance lobbyist a fitting next step for former U.S. senator/Idaho governor/Interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne?