Although the fire season seemed downright awful, with heavy smoke choking much of the state, Idaho is coming out of it without any pressing bills. Also, Ahlquist goes on tour; and Idaho group raises concerns about Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill; my full Sunday column
Wayne Hoffman, head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a lobbying and political action group, has sent out a column seeking to discredit my article on residency questions surrounding Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird. The facts in my article all came directly from public records: That…
CoxAn Idaho state prison inmate is dead and his cellmate has been sent to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution while the case is investigated; an autopsy is scheduled this afternoon on Glenn Arthur Cox, 52, who was serving one to eight years in prison on...
Idaho’s state lands department says it has a new mission: Increasing active management – and logging – on federal forests in the state. Far from the simmering and often bitter debate over whether states should take over federal lands, Idaho’s moved toward its new approach through a collaboration with federal forest managers and the communities...
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter says he had too many concerns about the latest GOP effort to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law to join other Republican governors in a letter backing the bill. Earlier this week, 15 GOP governors sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, writing that they...
Idaho will collect nearly half a million dollars as part of a multi-state settlement with Mylan for allegedly overcharging Medicaid for its EpiPen products. Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced today that the state is joining the federal government and other states in the settlement,…
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis has officially resigned from the Idaho Legislature following a recent confirmation by the U.S. Senate to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho. Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill announced Thursday he had accepted Davis' letter of resignation...
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist laid out his political agenda Thursday to hundreds of supporters in Meridian while kicking off his statewide tour to visit all of Idaho's 44 counties over 44 days. Ahlquist promised to improve Idaho's educational system, work to lower health care premiums for Idahoans and reform the state's tax...
A former employee at the Idaho State Controller's Office says she was sexually and racially harassed by a supervisor and that State Controller Brandon Woolf allowed the harassment to continue. In a tort claim filed Monday, the former employee says the agency's former chief of staff...
GOP gubernatorial hopeful Tommy Ahlquist plans to launch a 44-day tour of Idaho’s 44 counties on Thursday, with a 7 p.m. event at the Scentsy Commons Amphitheater in Meridian. The tour will move the next day to Payette and Emmett, continue around the state and…
The Idaho city of Pocatello raised a new flag in front of its city hall after its old one was described as the worst on the continent. The Idaho State Journal reports the new flag with three red mountain peaks set on a blue backdrop and a compass sun rising...
Idaho has joined 20 other states in an interstate communications network that allows public safety agencies to communicate across jurisdictions during emergencies. Gov. Butch Otter announced this week that he signed a letter for Idaho to participate in the First Responder Network Authority, known as FirstNet...
Five percent of Idaho’s wheat production is purchased by Taiwan, the Idaho Wheat Commission announced today at a signing ceremony in the governor’s office, at which Taiwanese officials signed an agreement supporting $576 million in U.S. wheat exports over the next two years. “The United...
The Boundary County Library in Bonners Ferry, Idaho has been named the “Best Small Library in America” for 2017 by Library Journal magazine – a mark of distinction for the busy small-town library that offers an array of innovative programs to its community. Library Director Craig Anderson said that when he learned about the award...
Idaho has been seeing success with using the “Good Neighbor Authority” it was granted under the 2014 federal Farm Bill to partner with the U.S. Forest Service and increase active management and timber harvests on national forests in the state – and it’s poised to…
The “Close the Gap Idaho” coalition is decrying the new GOP health care bill that’s now pending in the U.S. Senate, saying it contains catastrophic cuts for Idahoans with disabilities who rely on the state’s current Medicaid program, along with eliminating the subsidies that currently…
Although the fire season seemed downright awful, with heavy smoke choking much of the state, Idaho is coming out of it without any pressing bills. That’s because the state Legislature pre-funded its wildland firefighting costs two years ago with a $60 million appropriation. This year’s...
The Idaho Transportation Department is considering the construction of overpasses that would provide wildlife a safe crossing over a stretch of U.S. Highway 20 near the state's border with Montana. The Post Register reported that the department has outlined four options...
A dozen Idaho school districts wrestling with growth have approved emergency property tax levies adding up to $10.1 million statewide, Idaho Education News reports. Emergency levies run for just one year, to help schools handle unexpected additional students, and don’t require voter approval. This year’s...
A number of rural Idaho school districts are struggling to lure licensed teachers into classrooms causing the districts to hire more unlicensed educators. The Twin Falls School District recently hired 20 unlicensed teachers this year with more educators pursuing alternative routes to earning a state teaching certificate, The Times-News reported...
A controversial north-central Idaho legislator, who’s made her mark as an extreme stickler for the rules, may not have been qualified to run for the office because she still was claiming a homeowner’s exemption in southern Idaho. Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, had a homeowner’s exemption on a house she owns in Garden City...
A federal court has held Atlanta Gold in contempt of court for continuing to pollute a tributary of the Boise River at its mining site near Atlanta. While discharges from the site have improved, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ron Bush found that they still don’t meet...
Idaho Power wants to retire two coal-fired power plants it says won't be able to produce electricity at competitive prices as part of a 20-year plan to provide energy for Idaho and Oregon that has drawn concerns about cost, pollution and energy needs. Boise-based memory chipmaker Micron Technology, one of the state's largest employers, is among...
In more than 150 years, just three women have served on the Idaho Supreme Court, and the three have some interesting insights into why that is, and what could change it. Current Justice Robyn Brody, former Chief Justice Linda Copple Trout, and former Justice Cathy Silak spoke on a panel Thursday sponsored by the Idaho Legal History Society...
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter told Jerome County officials that they should not be swayed by possible legal challenges as they consider leasing space in the county's new jail to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In an Aug. 28 letter, Otter wrote to Captain George Oppedyk, law enforcement commander with the Jerome County Sheriff's office...