Idaho’s state Land Board today heard an extensive report from a consulting firm, Callan and Associates, on the asset allocation and governance of the state endowment’s assets, whose earnings largely benefit public schools. Among the findings: Timber land is an excellent investment for Idaho’s endowment,…
Lewiston has become the 9th Idaho city to pass an ordinance banning discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, the Lewiston Tribune reports today. The ordinance also bans discrimination based on familial status; it passed on a 5-2…
Today’s tally of last-minute campaign spending shows another big broadcast advertising push in favor of GOP Gov. Butch Otter, to the tune of $50,241 by the Idaho Republican Party, which already had launched a radio ad campaign. And another push against Otter’s Democratic challenger, A.J.…
Idaho Education News has posted profiles of the two candidates for state superintendent of schools – Republican Sherri Ybarra here and Democrat Jana Jones here – along with profiles of Gov. Butch Otter and Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff’s education stands, with Otter here and Balukoff…
Sherri Ybarra, GOP candidate for Idaho state schools superintendent, proudly lists among her educational accomplishments "Educator of the Year 2005" and "Educator of the Year 2006." But she's never been Idaho's Teacher of the Year, an honor that's been bestowed annually since 1959. Nor has…
The Republican Governors Association launched a new ad targeting A.J. Balukoff, Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, today, but it’s virtually identical to the group’s earlier anti-Balukoff ads. The main difference between the latest version and the previous one is that it’s dropped a video…
On the last-minute campaign cash front, A.J. Balukoff, the Democratic candidate for governor, had the biggest numbers today, not only collecting two more $1,000 contributions but also putting another $345,000 of his own money into his campaign. That brings him up above the $2 million…
Idaho’s legal bill for challenging a federal judge’s decision overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage has now topped $80,000, and that was before Gov. Butch Otter’s latest appeal to the 9th Circuit. In response to a public records request, Otter’s office has released an…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has launched a new TV ad striking back at Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff, and defending Otter’s handling of a prison scandal. It’s the first time that Otter’s campaign has directly mentioned Balukoff in one of its ads, though two outside groups…
House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, has decided against challenging House Speaker Scott Bedke for the House’s top leadership post, Idaho Reports co-host Melissa Davlin reports today on her blog; you can read her full report here. Crane had said earlier this year he…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, who said in two recent debates against challenger A.J. Balukoff that he “recused” himself from settlement talks with the Corrections Corporation of America over understaffing and falsified staffing records at an Idaho state prison because he’d received campaign contributions from the…
Two Idaho news outlets have been fact-checking GOP schools superintendent candidate Sherri Ybarra’s claim in a televised debate this week that she has the backing of the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Both found the claim false, documenting that just a few members of the…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho says it will not challenge a northern Idaho wedding chapel's refusal to conduct gay marriages because the chapel falls under a religious exemption. Interim Executive Director…
A.J. Balukoff, the Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, stopped in at the paper's Coeur d'Alene office for a quick Q-and-A with D.F. Oliveria, who writes the S-R’s Huckleberries Online blog. Among the questions he fielded: “What’s with the bow tie?” “I like bow ties,”…
It’s that time, the period shortly before the election when things happen quickly. Campaign contributions or independent expenditures of $1,000 or more now have to be disclosed within 48 hours. There are three independent expenditure notices thus far: The “American Comeback Committee Idaho PAC,” which…
More than 3,000 high school seniors are registered for the Idaho Student Mock Election, Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa announced today, and high school government teachers still can register their students through Oct. 30. The mock election, which has been held in even-numbered election…
Mitt Romney might have been the biggest name Wednesday at the inaugural Governor's Trade and Business Conference at the Boise Centre, reporter Zach Kyle writes in today’s Idaho Statesman, but Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman broke the biggest news: That H-P’s Boise campus will grow, not…
The Lewiston Tribune reports today that part of the footage in one of Gov. Butch Otter’s campaign ads came from an unlikely source – out-takes from the “Add the Words” documentary. Tribune reporter Joel Mills writes that the footage is an interior view of the…
Here’s a link to my full, updated story at spokesman.com on today’s news about state Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Sherri Ybarra, who claimed for months that she expected to get a doctorate in education in August, giving her a top educational credential when she’d…
Sherri Ybarra’s campaign spokeswoman, Melinda Nothern, said today that Ybarra had hoped to earn her doctorate in education by August, but instead changed her course of study and applied some of her credits toward an educational specialist degree, which she received in August. “She’s still…
Sherri Ybarra, the Republican candidate for Idaho state superintendent of schools, has claimed throughout her campaign that she was working on her doctorate in education at the University of Idaho and would receive it in August, but the university reports today that she instead received…
In an unusual move for an Idaho Secretary of State candidate, Holli Woodings is running a statewide TV commercial touting her candidacy and her commitment to making it easier to vote in Idaho; the ad is airing in the Boise, Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Spokane…
Today was the third time that 74-year-old Navy veteran Madelynn Lee Taylor visited the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery to make arrangements to be buried there together with the remains of her late wife, Jean Mixner, but today’s outcome was different – Taylor completed all the…
About 250 people, including educators, administrators and parents, packed the cafeteria at Meridian’s Mountain View High School last night for a raucous State Board of Education hearing on a tiered licensure plan for teachers – and no one testified in favor of the proposal, Idaho…
Well, here’s the answer about the over-length petition Idaho Gov. Butch Otter filed to the 9th Circuit late last night: He also filed a motion, which was unopposed by the plaintiffs, for permission to file an over-length brief of up to 35 pages, though court…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| Oct. 2014 | ||||
| 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 |
| 19 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 |
| 13 | 12 | 10 | 09 | 08 |
| 07 | 06 | 05 | 03 | 02 |
| 01 |
