Idaho Rep. Phil Hart, in his first public comment since House Speaker Lawerence Denney said yesterday he'd appoint an ethics committee to investigate Hart's conduct, sent a guest opinion to newspapers this afternoon defending his fight against income taxes, but making no mention of his…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican congressional hopeful Raul Labrador failed to include his past role as president of a company that sold self-help kits on legal immigration to America in a U.S. House of Representatives filing this…
Personal income in Idaho rose during the first quarter of 2010, marking two straight quarters of increase after declining or remaining stagnant for five quarters. The Idaho Department of Labor termed the news "another signal the state's economy may have started to recover from its…
The Idaho Transportation Department has scheduled an additional public meeting in Moscow June 28 to provide information and hear public comment on plans by Imperial Oil to truck up to 200 large pieces of equipment on U.S. Highway 12 from Lewiston to Montana; that route…
Idaho's State Board of Education, meeting yesterday in Idaho Falls, backed upgrades in the University of Idaho's athletic facilities but was leery of a UI proposal to establish a new nonprofit research lab in Post Falls; that proposal was delayed until the board's August meeting.…
House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said he discussed Rep. Phil Hart's case with "many" members of his House minority caucus, and also heard lots of comment from the public about it, before deciding to formally call for a House ethics committee to be convened.…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how the Idaho House will convene a rare ethics committee to look into a complaint regarding Rep. Phil Hart.The last time the Idaho House convened an ethics committee was in 2003, when then-Speaker Bruce Newcomb…
House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, has filed a formal request for the Speaker of the House to convene an ethics committee to look into two issues regarding Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol: Hart's invoking of legislative privilege from civil process in his personal tax disputes…
Idaho's State Board of Examiners made it official this week - no further holdbacks will need to be imposed to balance Idaho's state budget by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Instead, following legislation passed this year and signed into law by…
According to the latest statistical report from the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, the top cause of death for Idahoans is cancer, which crept ahead of heart disease in 2008 to claim the top spot. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, including emphysema, asthma and chronic…
Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred says he's grateful a campaign website has deleted material attacking his stance on Idaho's state budget, but the business group behind the Internet page says it sticks by…
Idaho's top state elected officials have voted unanimously to sign a 29-year lease of state lands for a proposed feldspar and quartz mine and mill near Bovill, Idaho, though the Canadian firm proposing the project has generated no operating income and is deemed financially "high-risk."…
Here's a link to my full story today on how Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, has used the legislative session to hold off the tax man four times in the six years he's served as a state lawmaker, starting his first year in office; and here's…
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…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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