A day after the Meridian Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum for 1st District congressional candidates, the Meridian Chamber PAC has announced it has decided to endorse incumbent Congressman Walt Minnick in the race. "It was a real treat for the Meridian Chamber to…
A new campaign commercial from Keith Allred, the Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, blames GOP Gov. Butch Otter for the state of Idaho's economy, saying Otter "focused on helping special-interest cronies instead of creating jobs." Allred cites a big decline in the rate of…
Democratic candidate for governor Keith Allred has launched a new television commercial, which is airing statewide including the Spokane TV market, criticizing incumbent Gov. Butch Otter over the economy; you can watch it here. Coming soon: A look at the claims.
K12 Management Inc., a for-profit curriculum developer based in Virginia that provides the curriculum for Idaho's largest online charter school, today donated $25,000 to a Nampa-based political committee, Idahoans for Choice in Education, which immediately spent $25,000 on an Arizona firm to handle broadcast advertising…
In perhaps the weirdest news yet on the wolf front this week, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter late yesterday reversed himself on comments he'd made to the Associated Press a day earlier about whether people ought to shoot wolves. Here's the AP news item on the…
Here's a statement from the Nez Perce Tribe, whose reservation includes 70 miles of the route that proposed mega-loads of oil equipment would travel along Highway 12 in north-central Idaho, in response to news that ISP patrols to accompany ExxonMobil's proposed mega-loads were approved by…
State records show that Idaho’s top three elected officials signed off in June 2009 on a plan to have ExxonMobil pay state patrol officers to accompany oversize truckloads of oil refinery equipment as they traveled scenic U.S. Highway 12 in North Idaho. That was a…
NPR today aired a national story based on an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity into so-called "letter-marking," or congressmen writing letters to agencies to request funding for specific projects, as opposed to earmarks, in which specific projects are funded in congressional bills. Idaho…
Democratic candidate for governor Keith Allred is blasting Gov. Butch Otter over the DentaQuest contract issue, on which Otter today announced a reversal, keeping all previously contracted dentists in the state Medicaid contract. Otter's announcement came after a meeting with stakeholders he convened today. "There's…
DentaQuest has issued this statement:"DentaQuest has been successfully managing the Idaho Smiles program for Blue Cross of Idaho for the past three years. In that time, we have increased the percentage of Idaho Smiles members who receive dental care from 38 to 68 percent. We…
Gov. Butch Otter today announced the reversal of a move to kick hundreds of Idaho dentists off the state's Medicaid program, a move that left both the dentists and their low-income patients scrambling. Otter, who convened a stakeholders meeting today, was put on the spot…
Congressman Walt Minnick stressed his business experience in a forum before the Meridian Chamber of Commerce today. "I think I have the skill set to go back and work with my colleagues across the aisle to do a business-like job," he said. Independent Dave Olson…
Among the comments so far at the Meridian Chamber of Commerce 1st CD candidate forum: GOP candidate Raul Labrador said, "The Democratic Party is destroying our nation." He said "the worst thing we can do" is send Democratic Congressman Walt Minnick back for a second…
The Meridian Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum in the 1st Congressional District race today, featuring Congressman Walt Minnick, GOP challenger Raul Labrador and independent candidate Dave Olson. In his opening comments, Minnick told the crowd, "There's no question but what our country's in…
Here's a link to our full story on Gov. Butch Otter's decision yesterday to back away from wolf management in Idaho, turning that task over to federal authorities. In practical terms, Monday’s pronouncement means state employees won’t monitor wolf populations, investigate suspicious or illegal killings…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter spoke out tonight about his decision today to pull the state out of wolf management, shifting that authority to federal officials. Asked his response to opponent Keith Allred's charge that by doing so, he's yielding Idaho's state sovereignty to the feds,…
Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, announced today that he's sending a check to the state for the 1996 "fair market value" of logs he stole from state school endowment land in 1996 to build his log home, and said, "I was mistaken to have…
Keith Allred, the Democratic challenger to Gov. Butch Otter, has issued a statement calling Otter's move today to withdraw the state from wolf management "reckless," and saying, "Butch Otter just gave away more state power to the federal government. We need to be asserting our…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has notified Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the state is terminating its "designated agent status" for wolf management - meaning the state no longer will be in charge of wolf management, turning that back over to the federal government. "I join…
Idaho will collect $1.65 million in a legal settlement with the prescription drug manufacturer Sandoz Inc. for overstating the average wholesale price of drugs, causing Idaho's Medicaid program to overpay; among others, Sandoz manufactures a generic version of the drug Prozac. The company admits no…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press, via the Moscow-Pullman Daily News: MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Republican State Senate candidate Gresham Bouma denies sending out religious-leaning mailers in Latah County that urged voters to become true believers or be "struck down." Bouma's campaign is…
Freshman Rep. Walt Minnick has sponsored more legislation, and seen more of it pass, than any other first-term U.S. House member from Idaho in the past two decades. A Spokesman-Review analysis shows that Minnick has sponsored 27 bills or amendments in his two years in…
Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick had nearly half a million dollars cash left in his campaign warchest heading into the final stretch of the campaign, more than three times as much as GOP rival Raul Labrador. In campaign finance reports filed today, Labrador reported raising $255,832…
Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick has launched two new campaign commercials, one touting his work on veterans' issues and the other criticizing GOP challenger Raul Labrador for his votes in the Idaho Legislature on domestic violence issues. Labrador has no beef with the veterans' ad, which…
The Idaho Statesman's Kevin Richert offers a breakdown here of last night's 1st CD debate - who won, who lost, and how it went. It's an interesting take. And here's some background from the Statesman's Dan Popkey on the Reagan tax issue that came up…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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