The state Board of Education, meeting late last week in Moscow, unanimously approved state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra’s request for a new one-year waiver from requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind law, Idaho Education News reports. Idaho’s existing waiver…
Driving on studded snow tires will become illegal for the season after April 30 in Idaho, and the Idaho Transportation Department is reminding people that violations carry a $67 fine. They’re also advising against driving on studded tires when roadways are bare to avoid severe...
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's health insurance exchange ranks fourth in the country for the number of people enrolled per capita. More than 85,000 Idahoans signed up for health insurance plans through the state's health insurance exchange,…
Parents, lawyers, and state and court officials are contemplating chaos in Idaho’s child-support enforcement system if lawmakers don’t reconvene and fix it, the Associated Press reports. AP reporter Rebecca Boone talked with the chairman of the Idaho Supreme Court's child support guidelines advisory committee, who…
Last night’s Boise sunset featured a sullenly glowing red sun, looking more like a Los Angeles sunset than an Idaho one. Here’s a news item from the Associated Press suggesting the cause was far-off fires in Khakassia, a region in southeastern Siberia: PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)...
By the end of this year's Idaho legislative session, lawmakers had reversed years of bitter dissension over school reform and passed a $125 million, five-year plan to boost teacher pay; increased funding for the state’s hard-hit schools; and raised the gas tax for the first...
One North Idaho senator got a surprise on the final night of the legislative session – she was honored for becoming the longest-serving female senator in the history of the state. Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who has served for 20 years, said, “I’m really honored,…
From a brief and sketchy first budget presentation that raised more questions than it answered, to, just a month later, staff work that impressed lawmakers, saved money and kept schools across the state connected to broadband, Idaho EdNews reporter Kevin Richert examines state...
On tonight’s “Idaho Reports,” I join Dr. Jim Weatherby, Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence and co-host Melissa Davlin to discuss the fallout from this year’s tumultuous legislative session. Also, Davlin talks with Post Register reporter Bryan Clark about the “surplus eliminator,” and interviews Sen. Grant…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent in March with 5,400 workers finding jobs in the largest one-month increase on record. The Idaho Department of Labor in a news release Friday says total…
Well, here’s the weirdest one of all. Like a number of other lawmakers on the House Judiciary & Rules Committee, Rep. Janet Trujillo, R-Idaho Falls, sent a guest opinion on the child support enforcement mess to her local newspaper this week; it was published on…
An array of state lawmakers involved in the 9-8 vote to table critical child support enforcement legislation on the final day of this year’s legislative session have now sent out guest opinion pieces, following the first from Rep. Lynn Luker of Boise. Here are the...
Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed SB 1146a, the bill that would have allowed parents of Idaho children with an intractable form of epilepsy to treat their kids with cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic oil that's an extract of cannabis and can halt the children's repeated, extended and…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Federal officials have reported a radiation accident six months after it happened at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. The Post Register reports (http://bit.ly/1D7FopH) that the U.S. Department of Energy reported…
Gov. Butch Otter has issued his first line-item veto of the year, on SB 1192, the Department of Labor appropriation bill. Otter sliced out a $3 million transfer from excess dedicated funds at the Industrial Commission to “industry sector grants” under the workforce development program,…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter this morning declared Idaho’s legislative session “incomplete,” and indicated he’s laying the groundwork to call lawmakers back for a special session before mid-June to address a crisis they created in Idaho’s child-support enforcement system; you can read my full story here...
The letters that are being prepared to go out to 155,000 Idaho households currently receiving child support payments will warn that “they could stop getting their payments,” Idaho Health & Welfare spokesman Tom Shanahan said, when asked about the letters at the conclusion of the...
Asked if he’ll call a special session to fix Idaho’s child support enforcement crisis, Gov. Butch Otter called on Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong to give some background. First, though, Otter said, “I think it's important that we understand the consequences of doing nothing.”...
Gov. Butch Otter said when assigning a grade to this year’s legislative session, he has to return to school days in giving grades by course. “Breaking it down, I would say education got an absolute A, excellent,” he said. “There’s a lot of incompletes. I…
Gov. Butch Otter has distributed a statement, moments before his press conference starts this morning, saying, “While some unanticipated challenges left it with a grade of ‘Incomplete,’ … the 2015 session of the Idaho Legislature should be remembered for achieving historic improvements for Idaho schools…
All eyes are on Gov. Butch Otter today, who holds his post-legislative session press conference at 10 a.m. Mountain time. Otter is expected to announce whether or not he’ll call lawmakers back to Boise for a special session; there’s background info here from my story...
What exactly is SB 1067, the rejected child support enforcement bill, how does it work, and why does it matter so much? Idaho Public TV reporter Melissa Davlin has been looking into these questions and more, and has some detailed answers on her blog today;…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the tuition and fee increases for Idaho state colleges and universities approved by the state Board of Education today, which range from 1.7 percent to 3.5 percent next year for resident undergraduates. The fees will…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The leader of Idaho's pro-business lobby has been reinstated after being placed on leave for sending a profanity-laced email about a state senator. The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry reinstated Alex LaBeau…
The Bonner County Republican Women has announced it will host a talk next week by the Rev. Shahram Hadian, an anti-Muslim Christian pastor from Chattaroy, Wash. who heads the “Truth in Love Project” and addressed Idaho lawmakers during this year’s legislative session at the invitation…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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