When a new executive with experience in the East arrived at Schweitzer Mountain Resort almost a decade ago and started talking about making snow, people thought he was nuts. This is the Inland Northwest, they said – the snow falls from the sky. There’s no…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has formed a new political action committee, Otterpac, that can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, and plans to donate to GOP campaigns from the state level down to party precinct committee posts. It’s a move that could make Otter, long a...
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter said it was First Lady Lori Otter who brought him a graphic artist’s rendition of a cartoon otter logo for the couple’s new PAC, a symbol he’s never used before in any of his 25 campaigns, 24 of which he won....
Idaho's losing legal battle to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage has cost taxpayers roughly $715,000, making it one of the more expensive failed cases compared with similar losses in nearby states, the AP reports; the tally comes as the state’s Constitutional Defense Council…
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little joins the pundits panel on tonight’s “Idaho Reports,” to discuss the upcoming legislative session, education, tax cuts, health care, state revenue and more. I join Jim Weatherby and co-hosts Aaron Kunz and Melissa Davlin on the panel for the discussion;…
Former state Rep. Ken Roberts, now a state tax commissioner, was named chairman of the four-member commission today by Gov. Butch Otter, succeeding Commissioner Rich Jackson as chairman. Jackson remains a commissioner and will chair the nationwide Multistate Tax Commission in 2016. Otter said the…
The U.S. House has overwhelmingly passed an omnibus year-end spending bill on a vote of 316-113; Idaho 2nd District GOP Rep. Mike Simpson applauded it as including “many critical wins for Idaho and western states,” while Idaho 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador, who voted no,...
The Idaho Transportation Board today picked 17 road and bridge projects to be funded from state general fund surplus money, under a “surplus eliminator” that lawmakers approved during their 2015 legislative session. The projects, which total $54 million, are spread across all six districts of…
Ada County has a new magistrate judge: Boise attorney Jill Jurries, whose appointment was announced today by the 4th District Magistrate Commission. She’ll start in January. Idaho has 89 magistrate judges, 23 of them in the 4th District, which is centered in Ada County. Jurries,…
Boise State University announced a big new scholarship program today that will grant $2,000 a year for four years to any Idaho resident who meets financial need, grade and test score criteria and enrolls as a freshman next fall. The university has set aside enough to cover 400 students with the scholarship next fall - $800,000 - and fundraising...
An attorney for the state of Idaho says the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the wrong people over the state's allegedly unconstitutional public defense system – and they’d be better off suing county commissioners, magistrates or judges. In response to the arguments from Deputy…
Boise State University has named Peter Morrill, the former longtime general manager of Idaho Public Television, as the interim general manager for Boise State Public Radio. “Peter has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to public media and to the state Idaho, and his experience and expertise…
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, who has endorsed Marco Rubio for president, suggested on CNN today that rival GOP candidate Ted Cruz revealed classified information during last night’s Republican presidential debate. Cruz was talking about telephone surveillance programs aimed at detecting terrorism. After he said the…
The State Department of Education will pull the plug on the Schoolnet instructional management system on June 30, the department’s chief technology officer told lawmakers Wednesday. Idaho EdNews reports that the department has been looking for a path away from the Schoolnet mess since March,…
The IRS has set a new date to auction off the home of former Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, to offset his federal income tax debts: Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. The auction will take place at 501 Government Way in Coeur d’Alene, with...
Wayne Hoffman, head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, issued his own version of a state budget for the coming year today, calling for limiting state spending to a 2.6 percent increase and cutting taxes by $100 million to $200 million. “The budget we’re putting out...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: TAMARACK, Idaho (AP) — A Nampa man spent the night inside a snow cave after he skied out of bounds of Tamarack Resort and became lost. KIVI-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1MgR0uP ) that the Valley County Sheriff's Office received…
After hearing a report from Chris Campbell, technology director for the state Department of Education, on changes to Idaho’s K-12 longitudinal data system, known as ISEE, lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee today had high praise. “No questions, just thank you, thank you, thank…
Lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee heard an update today on their 2014 report on strengthening state contract management, which had called for significant changes. Staffer Amanda Bartlett reported that after proposed rule changes were defeated in the last legislative session, a legislative interim…
Idaho has made some small gains in the past three years on the percentage of state employees who are paid less than policy rates for their positions, according to a follow-up report from the Legislature’s office of Performance Evaluations, but the state still has a...
Idaho’s seven public health districts get 17 percent of their funding from the state general fund, according to a legislative performance audit released by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee today. That’s equal to the share they get from local county contributions. Other funding includes 45...
Two joint legislative committees are meeting at the Capitol this morning, the Public Defense Reform Interim Committee, which is meeting at 9:30 in Room WW55; and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, which is meeting at 9:30 in the Lincoln Auditorium. You can listen live here....
The board of the troubled West Ada School District voted unanimously last night to hire Mary Ann Ranells, former Lakeland School District superintendent and former deputy state superintendent, as the district’s next superintendent. Rannells will start the first week of January; she replaces former longtime…
Idaho’s state Land Board voted 5-0 today to boost the state's wildfire protection budget by 10 percent for the 2016 fire season, following one of the state's worst fire seasons on record in 2015. The additional $917,022 supplemental appropriation request, which also includes adding the…
Idaho’s graduation rate tied for 41st in the nation in 2013-14, according to new numbers released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education. Idaho EdNews reporter Kevin Richert writes that the report challenges the longtime conventional wisdom that Idaho boasts one of the nation’s highest…
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