The state Board of Education subcommittee on online learning has voted to go with two courses as proposed for an Idaho high school graduation requirement, one of them being asynchronous; there were two dissenting votes, from Meridian school trustee Anne Ritter and Vision Charter School…
Anne Ritter, Meridian school district trustee, called for doing away with the "asynchronous" requirement entirely, as part of Idaho's new graduation requirement for two online courses, one of them asynchronous - meaning the teacher isn't present in the classroom and students and teachers participate in…
The subcommittee of the Idaho State Board of Education working on the online course requirement for high school graduation is meeting this morning by videoconference, with a couple of members at the state Department of Education in Boise and the rest linked in from Coeur…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho prison officials say they have leveled a tribal sweat lodge and reconfigured a patch of ground that has served the religious needs of Native American inmates for more than 25 years at…
Reports released today by the Canyon County Sheriff's Department reveal new details about state Sen. John McGee's Father's Day arrest for drunken driving and taking and jacknifing a stranger's vehicle, reports Dan Popkey; read his full report here in the Idaho Statesman. Among the new…
Idaho's three GOP redistricting commissioners have sent out a guest opinion accusing their Democratic counterparts of "raw partisanship" and a "hardball, union-style negotiating tactic," and giving something of the impression that the moves toward compromise between the two sides that marked the commission's last two…
Gov. Butch Otter has penned a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in defense of Jeremy Hill, the Boundary County man who shot a grizzly bear that had entered his yard while his young children were out playing, and now faces federal charges. "I recognize…
Idaho homeowners are being targeted in a scam in which notices that look like government forms are mailed to them or posted on their doors, inviting them to join lawsuits against their mortgage lenders and claiming they can get large principal reductions or other monetary…
David Hahn, a senior financial management analyst in the state's Division of Financial Management, has been awarded the George A. Bell Award from the National Association of State Budget Officers for "outstanding contributions and service to public budgeting and management in state government." The award,…
Here's a link to our full story in today's paper on the prosecution of a Boundary County man who shot and killed a grizzly bear that had appeared in his yard with its mother and another two-year-old cub on May 8, while his six children…
Idaho's new state lands director has lots of experience in Montana managing oil and gas revenues from state trust lands, reports Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker, which should come in handy as Idaho begins to look at potential revenues from natural gas on its state…
A new non-partisan fiscal policy center is being launched in Idaho, with Mike Ferguson, former longtime state chief economist, chosen to head it. The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy will be housed at the Mountain States Group, and is funded by a grant from the…
Idaho now has the lowest rate of breast cancer screening of all states plus the District of Columbia, the state Department of Health & Welfare reports, with more than 122,000 Idaho women over age 40 reporting they've not had a mammogram in the previous two…
Wild news day today, what with the Moscow shooting (psych professor at UI kills 22-year-old female grad student, then shoots self) and the D.C. earthquake (5.9 magnitude, centered in Virginia, felt along east coast, some damage, widespread evacuations). Meanwhile, Idaho has a new state lands…
Idaho's state Land Board has voted unanimously to hire Tom Schultz, current administrator of trust land management for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, as Idaho's new state lands director. Schultz, 42, replaces George Bacon, a longtime department employee and the director from…
Gov. Butch Otter is winning praise today for his pitch to lawmakers yesterday about the importance of setting up a state-run health insurance exchange, rather than letting the federal government come in and set up and run an exchange for Idaho. Jim Wordelman, state director…
Idahoans increasingly are being targeted in a "phishing" scam in which people receive calls that claim to come from their bank, suggest that their account has been compromised, and ask the victim to provide information to reactivate the card. The Idaho Attorney General's office today…
You can read my full story here at spokesman.com on Gov. Butch Otter's pitch to state lawmakers today for the state to apply for a $40 million federal grant to set up its own health insurance exchange - to avoid the feds stepping in and…
Lawmakers on the joint Health Care Task Force say they're supportive of Gov. Butch Otter's strong pitch to them this morning for Idaho to apply for a $40 million grant to set up its own state health insurance exchange; if Idaho doesn't create an exchange,…
If Idaho went with a federal health insurance exchange, rather than starting its own, state Insurance Director Bill Deal said as many as 2,500 Idaho insurance agents who are licensed for health and life insurance only could go out of business. "I think there would…
Idaho Department of Insurance Director Bill Deal said Idaho is one of 12 states that have had no legislative action to date to establish a health insurance exchange. Meanwhile, 13 states have enacted such legislation, including Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, California, Colorado and California. There's…
In Idaho in 2010, 31 percent of people age 18 to 34 had no health insurance, state Department of Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers this morning. Overall 17 percent of Idahoans lack insurance, but years of rising costs have pushed the healthiest…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter told the Legislature's Health Care Task Force this morning that Idaho has been working on the idea of a health insurance exchange since 2007, and "That idea I believe was co-opted by Obamacare." In fact, he said, "We find that many…
Idaho’s citizen redistricting commission appeared to move toward compromise last week, but after weeks of partisan impasse, it’s worth asking: What happens if the commission fails to agree by its September deadline? “My personal opinion is the Supreme Court would recognize the constitutional duty of…
Longtime secretary of the Idaho Senate Jeannine Wood has retired; she held the position for 21 years and has worked for the state Senate since 1976. Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey writes, "For me, Wood’s equanimity embodied the majesty of representative government. After a contentious,…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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