The Idaho Department of Correction says it will not allow media witnesses to view the entire execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades, and two separate groups are protesting the policy, the Associated Press reports. Rhoades is scheduled to die by lethal injection Friday, making him the…
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals tonight rejected Paul Ezra Rhoades' last-minute bid for a stay of execution on grounds that Idaho's lethal injection method, if improperly administered, could cause him severe pain; a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court issued its decision the…
As last-minute pleas for clemency continued to pour into Idaho's state Capitol this week in advance of the state's first execution since 1994, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter wasn't there – he was at a posh resort in Maui to speak about presidential politics, leaving Lt.…
Twin Falls County has filed its redistricting challenge with the Idaho Supreme Court today, as promised, and it includes several additional parties. Those joining the county's challenge include not only several cities in Twin Falls County, including Twin Falls, Filer, Hansen and Buhl, but also…
Idaho's state Board of Education, in a special meeting this afternoon, named Steven Albiston the new president of Eastern Idaho Technical College, replacing Burton Waite, who will retire at the end of December. Albiston, an eastern Idaho native and longtime EITC employee, is the current…
Bob Fick, former longtime Associated Press correspondent in Boise, witnessed Idaho's last execution in 1994, and shares his experience in an interview today with Boise State Public Radio's Samantha Wright; you can listen here. Fick said his lasting impression came from how quiet and antiseptic…
Attorneys for condemned Idaho inmate Paul Ezra Rhoades have filed an emergency appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking a stay of his execution while his legal challenge to Idaho's three-drug lethal injection method of execution proceeds in court. A U.S. District Court…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Kootenai County commissioners voted today to sue over Idaho's proposed new legislative district plan, saying they object to a proposed large new district that would take in a 5,000-person chunk of the county and…
Kootenai County's board of county commissioners has formally decided to join a planned lawsuit challenging Idaho's new legislative redistricting plan that Twin Falls County plans to file this week. The North Idaho county's commissioners say in a news release that they object to the proposed…
After a hearing that stretched for more than an hour and a half and saw extensive testimony both for and against, Idaho's Oil & Gas Conservation Commission has voted unanimously to approve new rules for development of crude oil and natural gas resources in Idaho,…
Attorneys for condemned killer Paul Ezra Rhoades have issued a statement saying they plan to file an appeal to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals today seeking a stay of execution; Rhoades' execution is scheduled for Friday. “We remain dedicated to challenging Idaho's lethal…
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ron Bush, in his decision on Paul Ezra Rhoades' emergency motion for a stay of his Friday execution, wrote that Rhoades proved in court that "if Rhoades is not rendered sufficiently unconscious from the first drug used in the three-drug lethal injection…
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ron Bush has issued his 43-page decision in Paul Ezra Rhoades' last-minute bid for a stay of his execution - scheduled for Friday - while he challenges Idaho's lethal injection protocol, and the judge has denied a stay. That means Idaho's first…
One more contest between legislative incumbents prompted by Idaho's new legislative redistricting plan has been averted by an incumbent lawmaker's decision to retire: Rep. Elfreda Higgins, D-Boise, had this announcement on Facebook over the weekend: "I have had numerous inquiries regarding my running for re-election…
Idaho's two U.S. District Court judges are juggling three times the caseloads of federal judges in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Alaska, and each of those states has three federal judges, instead of two, the Idaho Business Review reports. In fact, the state's population has…
Today is the day that a federal judge will decide whether to stay the execution of triple murderer Paul Ezra Rhoades, which is scheduled for Friday, while he challenges Idaho's lethal injection execution method as unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Yesterday, Rhoades' attorneys filed another…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, a Catholic who once studied for the priesthood, is the only one who could spare the life of condemned Idaho inmate Paul Ezra Rhoades, a multiple murderer scheduled for execution next Friday. Otter, a supporter of the death penalty, has stuck…
Boise State University, with more 2,200 veterans among its students, was one of 150 colleges and universities across the nation today to participate in Remembrance Day National Roll Call, in which the names of the casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars over the past…
Idaho state Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, has been named the new special assistant to the president of the University of Idaho for state governmental relations - chief lobbyist - and will start his new job Dec. 1, UI President Duane Nellis announced today. "The pool…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Overseas demand for Idaho dairy products and silver helped drive export growth to 16.6 percent from July to September, keeping the state on pace for record out-of-country sales for 2011. Idaho's third-quarter export…
A hearing that started at 1 this afternoon stretched into the evening tonight, as condemned killer Paul Ezra Rhoades pressed for a last-minute reprieve from his execution, scheduled for next Friday. The Associated Press reports that after the arguments, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush said…
A 2009 law passed by the Idaho Legislature drew complaints from voters in Tuesday's city elections that they were forced to drive miles outside their cities to personally cast absentee ballots; Secretary of State Ben Ysursa is considering backing changes in the law as a…
I just got back to Boise from Moscow, where I spoke at a symposium at the University of Idaho entitled "Open Access: Citizens, Media & Government," sponsored by the University of Idaho School of Journalism and Mass Media, with support from the McClure Center for…
Former state Rep. Allen Andersen, D-Pocatello, has died of an apparent heart attack, the Idaho State Journal reports. Andersen co-chaired the first Idaho redistricting commission this year; he was 67 years old. Andersen was a retired high school math teacher and ISU professor, and served…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The J.R. Simplot Co. is planning to build a new potato processing plant in Caldwell. But it's coming at a cost for the company's employees elsewhere in Idaho. Company executives announced Wednesday plans…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| Dec. 2011 | Nov. 2011 | Oct. 2011 | Sept. 2011 |
| Aug. 2011 | July 2011 | June 2011 | May 2011 |
| April 2011 | March 2011 | Feb. 2011 | Jan. 2011 |
