A three-day court hearing kicked off in Missoula yesterday on a possible injunction to block construction of numerous new turnouts and other roadwork to allow Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil megaloads to pass through Montana. Among those testifying was Steve Seninger, a University of Montana economist who said…
Idaho is starting a process to prepare for possible sale or exchange of its state-owned cabin sites at Priest and Payette lakes, and the state's top elected officials wrestled today with the implications. The state plans to spend about $1.48 million to survey and otherwise…
Idaho's permanent endowment fund gained 3 percent in April, endowment fund investment manager Larry Johnson reported to the state Land Board this morning, for a fiscal year-to-date gain of 26.8 percent. "April was a very good month," Johnson said. And year to date, "We have…
The Idaho Land Board, sitting as the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, voted unanimously today to start a negotiated rulemaking process on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." The initial notice matches a temporary rule the board's already adopted. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa asked about…
The Moscow City Council has voted to welcome megaloads to travel through town - and invite them to stop off to patronize the city's motels, stores and gas stations along the way. The vote Monday came after Mayor Nancy Chaney had submitted a draft resolution…
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna is warning Idaho teachers they could lose their certification if they participate in recall efforts against him or a referendum effort to repeal his school reform legislation or engage in other political activities on school grounds. Idaho Education Association…
It was an evening last June when an EMS crew from the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department was dispatched to a scene where a vehicle had crashed into a home. Firefighters Nathan Hyder and Dylan Clark found a truck crashed into the garage, its wheels still…
The fourth and last ConocoPhillips megaload has arrived at the Montana line, and is now parked at Lolo Hot Springs, the Idaho Transportation Department announced this morning. That means three - count 'em, three - giant megaloads are now parked at the hot springs resort…
There's even some snow mixed in this morning here in the Boise foothills, in this spring that still doesn't seem to have sprung. Here, the rain on my window yesterday afternoon turned the green Boise spring landscape into an impressionist painting. According to the Natural…
When Idaho passed landmark legislation two years ago to, for the first time, require state licensing of day-care operations that served fewer than 13 kids, the state's day-care wars didn't end. Instead, social conservatives in the Idaho House who opposed the whole idea of day-care…
Under much-debated legislation passed by the Idaho Legislature this year, youngsters 15 and younger who ride off-highway vehicles on U.S. Forest Service roads are required to be supervised by an adult who is riding within 300 fee; also, all riders who lack driver's licenses, including…
Though rumors are rife that the Idaho state Department of Education has added highly-paid staffers to implement the new "Students Come First" school reform plan, Luci Willits, chief of staff for state schools Supt. Tom Luna, says it's not true. "We're doing what we're asking…
Idaho is caught in a low-skill, low-wage jobs traps, according to a new analysis by retired University of Idaho agricultural economist Stephen C. Cooke. The professor, who retired in December, has studied the issue for the past decade, and reports that Idaho workers earn nearly…
KTVB-TV reporter Nishi Gupta broke a rather stunning story this week: An Idaho DEQ employee fraudulently secured a big-bucks DEQ contract in 2008 to install emission-reducing devices on school buses around the state through a federally funded program; three years later, school districts around the…
Gov. Butch Otter's "Capital for a Day" event in Mullan, postponed last month after an accident at the Lucky Friday Mine that prompted an urgent but ultimately unsuccessful rescue effort and left a miner dead, has been rescheduled for May 25. “The people of Mullan…
The Idaho AARP has issued a new report on campaign contributions in Idaho, concluding that corporations, businesses and PACS spent $2.7 million on Idaho's winning 2010 campaigns for governor, lieutenant governor and state Legislature; that 35 percent of those contributions came from outside Idaho; and…
North Idaho is aging faster than the rest of the state, numbers released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau show. The median age in each of Idaho’s five northern counties rose much more over the past 10 years than did the statewide average; in…
A business group backing megaloads on Highway 12 in Idaho is decrying the megaloads opponents' arguments as "littler more than unverifiable claims and personal opinions." Alex LaBeau, president of the Association of Commerce and Industry and a member of the group "Drive Our Economy," said…
Idaho ranks in the middle of the pack - one of 19 states with "mixed results" - in a new report out today from the Pew Center on the States and the Rockefeller Foundation on how states are measuring and managing their transportation investments. Washington,…
Here is the Idaho Transportation Department's statement on the contested case hearing over Highway 12 megaloads, in which testimony concluded today, though briefing still is continuing: "The contested case hearing gave those who are concerned about the shipments the opportunity to present their concerns," said…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the wrapup today of testimony in the megaloads contested-case hearing, after three weeks; a decision is due in June. Tonight, company and ITD officials will be in Moscow, Idaho for a public meeting on the…
Cynthia Bergman White, spokeswoman for ExxonMobil, issued this statement after the close of testimony in the megaloads hearing today: "The hearing process further demonstrated the years of careful planning and steps taken to ensure these loads can be transported safely and with minimal disruption to…
Dan Popkey of the Idaho Statesman has an interesting profile of Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian today, the new chairman of the House Transportation Committee who's been so low-key he's refused to even talk to reporters 'til now. You can read it here. Palmer was moved…
Testimony in the contested case hearing on megaloads on U.S. Highway 12 has wrapped up; in the final testimony, ITD called Jeff Miles, a materials expert for the department, to respond to testimony from Pat Dobie, a traffic engineer called by opponents of megaloads on…
The contested-case hearing on Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil's proposed megaloads on U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho has taken back up this morning, with the megaloads opponents recalling their expert witness, Boise traffic engineer Pat Dobie, as a rebuttal witness. Asked about testimony from ITD officials that…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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