It’s been a long day, but now, a bit after 10 p.m. Boise time, Gov. Butch Otter’s petition for an en banc review of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Idaho’s same-sex marriage case finally has been filed. You can read it here.…
Idaho’s current state superintendent of schools – the first non-educator ever to hold the position – loomed large in the debate Tuesday night between the two educators vying to succeed him. “If you liked Tom Luna, you’re going to love Sherri Ybarra,” Democratic candidate Jana…
In their closing comments: Jana Jones, Democratic candidate for state schools superintendent, said, “It’s been a great evening, and hopefully you understand the differences between the two of us.” She said. “The office shouldn’t be about politics and partisanship, it should be about doing what’s…
Asked about her statement at an earlier debate that running for state superintendent is one way she can “repay” Idaho for having not voted in a general election since she moved to the state in 1996, GOP candidate Sherri Ybarra repeated that statement, during the…
Asked about the budget for Idaho’s schools, GOP candidate for state schools superintendent Sherri Ybarra said, “Money has nothing to do with achievement, there’s a lot of research out there about that. It’s better to be low and steady than to be erratic and be…
In the “Idaho Debates” tonight on Idaho Public TV, Republican Sherri Ybarra and Democrat Jana Jones, the two candidates for Idaho state superintendent of public instruction, have debated questions about student achievement in reading, math and more. Among their responses: Both Ybarra and Jones, asked…
In her opening comments in their live debate tonight, Democratic candidate for state school superintendent Jana Jones said of her GOP opponent, Sherri Ybarra, “She has said that she will carry on and move forward Tom Luna’s recommended budget, as well as move into the…
A check of the 9th Circuit docket for Idaho’s same-sex marriage case doesn’t show Gov. Butch Otter’s petition for an en banc review yet, but it does show another filing: Attorney Monte Neil Stewart has withdrawn from representing Otter in the case. Stewart, who argued…
The Idaho Board of Health & Welfare met today, and unanimously approved updates to the state’s marriage license certificates, including giving both applicants for a license the option to identify themselves as “bride,” “groom” or “partner.” The form also collects information on the gender of…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter announced today that he's filing a petition with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for an en banc re-hearing of Idaho's same-sex marriage case; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. "I will continue defending Idahoans’ self-determination and…
A fundamentalist Christian organization in Mississippi is spearheading a protest that’s brought thousands of emails and phone calls to Gov. Butch Otter’s office and Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer’s office today, claiming the city is planning to arrest two ministers if they refuse to perform…
The Idaho Democratic Party is criticizing Gov. Butch Otter and other Republican leaders for sending out letters asking lobbyists for campaign donations to seven legislative races, the AP reports, including one in which the GOP candidate’s criminal record for domestic violence was revealed early in…
Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador is calling for a ban on commercial travel from West Africa, a call his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Shirley Ringo, criticized as “bordering on panic.” S-R reporter Jim Camden writes that Labrador, in his weekly newsletter late last week, said, “Halting…
The gloves have come off in Idaho’s governor’s race, with Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff launching a hard-hitting new ad faulting GOP Gov. Butch Otter’s handling of a scandal involving the state’s largest prison. You can read my full AdWatch story here at spokesman.com; and watch…
Sherri Ybarra, the Republican candidate for Idaho superintendent of public instruction, is clarifying her marital history after she told an Idaho Statesman reporter she and her husband came to Mountain Home in 1996; it’s the same story she told me in an interview in August.…
The candidates for state superintendent of schools, Democrat Jana Jones and Republican Sherri Ybarra, will face off tomorrow night at 7 as part of the “Idaho Debates,” co-sponsored by the Idaho Press Club and the League of Women Voters of Idaho and broadcast statewide on…
The Idaho State Bar has released the results of its survey of attorneys on the qualifications of judicial candidates who are on the ballot in November; there are two races, both runoff races for district judge. In the 4th Judicial District contest between Rebecca Arnold…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Public records show an Idaho State Police investigation into staffing problems at a private prison was handed over to the FBI after police detectives determined their agency could have a conflict of interest…
Here’s a link to my Sunday story on the governor’s race, which wraps up the series I’ve been doing over the past few months on Idaho’s top races in the November election. From the story: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s cowboy charm has long appealed to…
After Gov. Butch Otter said in two recent debates against Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff that the $1 million settlement the state signed with Corrections Corp. of America over fraudulent billing and understaffing at the state’s largest prison can be “set aside and then we can…
There’s little public polling in Idaho. So far, the few publicly released polls have shown GOP Gov. Butch Otter far ahead of Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff, like the CBS News/NYT/YouGov national online poll, which had Otter leading Balukoff 57 percent to 33 percent in its…
An Idaho school superintendent who is featured in an A.J. Balukoff ad saying he’s a lifelong Republican but will vote for Democrat Balukoff in this year’s gubernatorial election hasn’t voted in an Idaho election before, the AP reports, but voted Republican for many years in…
Anti-fracking activist Alma Hasse was released from the Payette County Jail yesterday after being held there for a week – because she refused to go through the booking process that would have allowed her to be cited and released. Hasse was arrested at a public…
The director of the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery says there’s no longer any reason to deny a request from an Idaho veteran to be buried there with the remains of her same-sex spouse. Maddelyn Lee Taylor, a Navy veteran, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit…
An ad paid for by the Idaho County Republicans now running in the Idaho County Free Press takes partisan rhetoric to a new level: It says, “Voting democrat will assure redistribution of your money, veterans and all military abandoned, unknown illnesses crossing our unsecured borders.…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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