Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the news from today's megaloads hearing, including ITD's contention that it wouldn't be "practical" to require the giant loads to be cut down and run on routes other than scenic, winding U.S. Highway 12 -…
The megaloads contested-case hearing has wrapped up for the day, at 4:30 p.m. Boise time, and will take up again tomorrow morning at 9; ITD official Regina Phipps will continue her testimony then. The hearing is scheduled to last all week and possibly into next…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued this statement in reaction to the recovery of the body of miner Larry "Pete" Marek, who had been missing for more than a week after a cave-in at the Lucky Friday Mine in North Idaho: “With the news of Mr.…
Regina Phipps, vehicle size and weight specialist for the Idaho Transportation Department, is the next witness called at the contested case hearing on U.S. Highway 12 megaloads, which is scheduled to run all week and possibly into next week. Among the issues that have been…
With the wintry conditions, Brundage Mountain got 3 inches of snow this morning and has announced it'll extend its "bonus" late-season weekend openings through May 15 - and maybe even further, if conditions warrant. “We have an extremely healthy snow base, and it actually continues…
Under questioning from Laird Lucas, attorney with Advocates for the West representing megaloads opponents, ITD official Reymundo Rodriguez said the department was advised the ExxonMobil is reducing the loads already in Lewiston so they can travel by a different route, rather than on U.S. Highway…
The contested case hearing for the Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil megaloads has taken back up, with Michael Sasser, attorney for Mammoet Transportation, the trucking contractor for Imperial/Exxon, continuing the questioning of ITD official Reymundo Rodriguez. Sasser put a copy of the over-legal permit up on the screen…
The opponents of the Highway 12 megaloads have called their next witness, but he's also an ITD witness: Reymundo Rodriguez, the ITD's motor carrier services manager. So ITD attorney Tim Thomas will conduct the direct examination, and the megaload opponents will do the cross-examination. Rodriguez…
Peter Grubb, co-owner and operator of the Riverdance Lodge and ROW Adventures, a whitewater rafting and fishing outfitter, is the next witness called at this morning's contested case hearing on the 200-plus proposed megaloads that Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil wants to haul across U.S. Highway 12 in…
The contested case hearing on the proposed 200-plus megaload shipments of oil equipment across U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho has opened at the ITD headquarters this morning, with retired Judge Duff McKee, second from left, presiding as hearing examiner. The first witness is Ruth…
House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a pediatrician, is praising GOP Gov. Butch Otter's veto of HB 298, the grandson-of-nullification bill on health care reform, saying, "Gov. Otter prevented legal mayhem - for that he is to be thanked." He has concerns, however, about the…
On tonight's “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, I join Jim Weatherby, Ken Miller and host Greg Hahn to discuss the upcoming redistricting that could change the political landscape in Idaho for the next decade. Also, Greg interviews former Idaho House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, former…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how final piece of legislation from Idaho's tumultuous 2011 legislative session has been allowed to become law without the governor's signature, adding a one-year phaseout to a funding cut for school districts that lose enrollment…
Idaho Democrats have announced their three appointments for the 2011 Redistricting Commission, a bipartisan citizen committee that will draw new legislative and congressional districts lines this summer for the next decade's worth of elections. Republicans haven't yet announced their three picks. The Dems' choices: Allen…
Gov. Butch Otter's education adviser, Roger Brown, says the reason Otter decided to let HB 315 become law without his signature was that he "wasn't crazy about" its provision for a one-year phaseout of the 99 percent funding floor for school districts; the bill creates…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has allowed HB 315, legislation from Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, regarding school funding and teacher contracts, to become law without his signature. There's no word yet on why the governor took that stance, which signals he had a problem with the…
May will be "Lupus Awareness Month" in Idaho, under a proclamation signed this morning by Gov. Butch Otter, to draw attention to what Otter called "an important public health issue." Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, said her 12-year-old granddaughter died of the disease in 2005, just…
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill has agreed to step down from the lawsuit over conditions at a violence-ridding Idaho private prison at the request of the lockup's operator, Corrections Corp. of America, the Associated Press reports. Click below for a full report from AP…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Faculty governance at Idaho State University is in for a shake-up under a plan endorsed by the state Board of Education. The board voted Thursday to allow the university to move forward with…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued this statement: "In light of the recent accident and continuing rescue efforts under way at the Lucky Friday mine, out of respect for the community and in consultation with the City of Mullan and Hecla Mining Co., the Governor is…
The Idaho State Board of Education has voted to approve, as requested, proposed tuition and fee increases from the state's four-year colleges and universities: 8.4 percent at the University of Idaho; 7 percent each at ISU and LCSC; and 5 percent at Boise State University.…
You can read my full story here at spokesman.com on Gov. Butch Otter's first - and only - veto of legislation this year, in which he vetoed the final version of the health care reform "nullification" bill, HB 298. Otter said Idaho can set up…
Here's a link to Gov. Butch Otter's veto message on HB 298, the final version of the "nullification" bill on the national health care reform law. "Even though I vetoed the bill today, I have issued an executive order ... prohibiting state agencies and departments…
Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed HB 298, the final version of a much-debated legislative effort to "nullify" the federal health care reform law; the bill declared that Idaho wouldn't comply with discretionary provisions of the law for one year, made various declarations, and prohibited the…
As the Idaho State Board of Education meets today to consider student tuition and fee increases at the state's colleges and universities, it has a new member: William H. Goesling of Moscow, a former Naval aviator and educator and retired financial consultant, has been named…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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