The lawyer for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held prisoner for five years by the Taliban, is asking the Army to publicly release a transcript of Bergdahl's interview with military officials following his release in a controversial prisoner swap, saying it could help counteract negative...
The state of Idaho has lost a legal dispute with a ranching company over rights to sand and gravel on a parcel of land the state endowment sold back in 1941; the winning company happens to be the family company of Lt. Gov. Brad Little....
So much Idaho endowment timber land has burned this wildfire season that state officials have altered the salvage sale process to allow clearcuts of 100 acres or more to be approved faster, the AP reports. Idaho’s state Land Board voted 5-0 this morning, with no...
Idaho state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra has sent a guest opinion out to Idaho newspapers warning that as the state moves toward “mastery based education,” one of the recommendations of Gov. Butch Otter’s education task force, education will become more personalized for Idaho students, but...
Firefighting costs on state-protected lands in Idaho are up to $67 million for this year’s fire season, the state Land Board heard this morning, up from $59.7 million just two weeks ago. “We have had a lot of fire on the landscape here this year,”…
Idaho’s top state elected officials have approved payment of $70,000 for attorney fees to Madelynn Lee Taylor, the Navy veteran who went to court to fight for the right to have her ashes interred with those of her wife at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery....
If increasingly destructive wildfires in the Great Basin can't be stopped, the sage grouse population will be cut in half over the next three decades, scientists say. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey comes just ahead of a court-ordered Sept. 30 deadline…
When word came out recently that health insurance premiums for plans on Idaho’s insurance exchange would go up between 7 and 26 percent on average next year, that sounded like quite a jump. But Idaho Statesman reporter Audrey Dutton analyzed the changes, and found that…
Slot machine-like “instant racing” machines have stopped their whirring, flashing and dinging and gone silent across the state today, as Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney certified into law SB 1011, the bill that overwhelmingly passed the Legislature to repeal authorization for the gambling machines....
Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney certified the law banning slot machine-like “instant racing” machines first thing this morning, following yesterday’s Idaho Supreme Court ruling that the machines are illegal in Idaho. The court held that Gov. Butch Otter's belated attempt to veto the...
The Idaho Attorney General’s office is investigating a complaint of misuse of office against Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, according to both the Idaho Press-Tribune and KTVB-TV, involving the sheriff’s use of a private foundation that oversees his “Man Up Crusade.” Canyon County commissioners contacted…
Gov. Butch Otter has named two new members to the Idaho Fish & Game Commission: Derick Attebury of Idaho Falls, who succeeds Kenneth Anderson of Rigby, and Daniel Blanco of Moscow, to succeed Fred Trevey of Lewiston; both of the previous commissioners’ terms had expired.…
It’s not often that a police department news release has a headline like this: “Officers arrest man after a series of dangerous and bizarre events leaves one man hospitalized.” It happened in Boise yesterday, starting in the afternoon at Northview Street and Maple Grove, when…
In addition to ruling in favor of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in the instant racing veto case, a unanimous Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the tribe is entitled to attorney fees and costs in its lawsuit against Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, because Denney...
David Leroy, who argued on behalf of Coeur d’Alene Racing LLC in the instant racing veto case, called today’s Idaho Supreme Court ruling “a sweeping and significant precedent.” The court rejected arguments, from him and others, that the Coeur d’Alene Tribe didn’t have standing to...
There will be no appeal of today’s Idaho Supreme Court ruling overturning Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of legislation to ban slot machine-like “instant racing” machines, according to the Idaho Attorney General’s office. “It’s been clear from the get-go that the Secretary of State has said...
The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Butch Otter's belated attempt to veto legislation banning slot machine-like "instant racing" terminals in Idaho was invalid, because it came after the Idaho Constitution's required five-day deadline. That means the gambling machines are now illegal in Idaho;...
The Ada County Highway District has been ordered to pay more than $1 million to the owner of Brooke View, a retirement community west of Curtis Road and south of Franklin Road, after the agency spent years fighting with the owner over damage to the…
Work will begin in October on a massive upgrade to Clearwater Paper's Lewiston site, the Lewiston Tribune reports. The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley's largest employer announced this week that it is moving forward with a $160 million project to build a new chip pulp digester. They received…
Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A fireworks vendor in northern Idaho has filed a tort claim against seven cities for banning the sale of fireworks over the summer. The Lewiston Tribune (http://bit.ly/1EVhaGv ) reports that Teri Ann Krause…
Frank VanderSloot, eastern Idaho businessman and one of the GOP’s wealthiest donors, is being courted by GOP presidential candidates eager to benefit from VanderSloot’s fundraising reputation, which he brought to bear as a critical fundraiser for Mitt Romney in the last presidential race, the AP...
Cooler weather and precipitation, including snowstorms in the Central Idaho mountains, have slowed fire activity and allowed some fire restrictions to be lifted, Idaho Fish & Game reports, and more could be lifted by the weekend. Some fire closures remain, however, so hunters are being…
A local, private foundation is credited for improved test scores and go-on rates in a rural North Idaho school district, Idaho Education News reports. Over the past 13 years, the Panhandle Alliance for Education, an independent, community-based foundation, has strictly focused its funds on helping…
Idaho state tax revenues in August came in 3.4 percent above forecasts, largely due to strong collections in individual income and sales taxes, the two largest categories of state taxes. The state’s tax revenues for the month were 6.4 percent higher than the previous August.…
Backers of an initiative to raise cigarette taxes while cutting Idaho state college and university tuition and fees have announced a change in their proposal: They’re lowering the tuition cut from 25 percent over two years to 22 percent, and devoting a portion of the…