At long last, we've come to the start of the 2016 political year here at Huckleberries Online. The 2016 Legislature is ready to get things going, with an eye to legislative primaries this spring. Gov. Butch Otter is dotting I's and crossing T's for his...
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter delivers his State of the State address inside the House chambers at the state Capitol building on Monday in Boise.
Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, the new Senate co-chair of the budget-setting Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, is welcoming Gov. Butch Otter’s revenue estimate that underlies his budget proposal for next year. Otter set his revenue projection at 4.9 percent growth in the general fund for fiscal year 2017.
A snake thief smuggled a 2-foot-long python from a Portland (Ore.) pet store by stuffing it down his pants. Sgt. Greg Stewart said no arrests have been made in Friday's theft. But Christin Bjugan, an owner of A to Z pet store, said video surveillance has helped viewers and police detectives identify a suspect.
The afternoon roundup of Scanner Traffic (12 items & counting + link to AM Scanner Traffic with 13 more items) includes a disabled school bus on Highway 95 in the Worley area ...
The Cutline Contest today features a handful of Powerball tickets and the dreams they conjure. Weekend Winner -- DFO.
Wayne Hoffman of Idaho Freedom Foundation was upset with the proposed 2016 budget unveiled today by Gov. Butch Otter at his State of the State message. Hoffman said: "The governor’s budget is a tax-and-spend bonanza. It disappointingly contains no tax relief, but rather offers stratospheric, unrealistic levels of state government expenditures."
I thoroughly enjoyed checking "watch a game at Gonzaga men's game at the McCarthey Center" off my bucket list. Walking partner Greg Lee and I saw the Zags best Portland Saturday. However, I ran into a problem prior to the game. What to wear? I don't own much Gonzaga stuff. Ultimately, I relied on a Zag cap and red shirt to get me by.
Bob Bingham, founder of the North West Property Owners Alliance, announced he will seek the District 3 seat on the Kootenai County commission board currently held by fellow Republican Dan Green. District 3 is in the north-central part of the county. Bingham lives in the Athol/Bayview area.
Reps. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, and Sage Dixon, R-Sandpoint, were part of a group of five out-of-state legislators who traveled with Ore. Rep. Dallas Heard to meet with armed men occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, near Burns, Ore., Saturday evening, according to the Oregonian.
In the Sunday Spokesman-Review, Betsy Russell previewed the 2016 Legislature. House Minority Leader John Rusche who hangs out here sometimes -- and plays a good Fantasy Football -- had this prediction for the session: " "I think it’ll be the typical guns, gays and gestation.” (Question: Do you have any predictions re: the 2016 Legislature?)
The daily roundup of posts from Huckleberries Online blog roll includes: I'm outraged/Bay Views, Cutting edges/Fort Boise, Your weekly planner/On Tap, Great expectations/Faithful Geek, Better than nothing?/Randy Stapilus, Ice art on a gloomy day/Slight Detour, War Bonds in Nostalgia mag/War Bonds & House for sale: $200 million/Simple Mind ...
Here's an Eye on Boise roundup of Gov. Butch Otter's State of the State message, presented today to a joint session of the Legislature in Boise today. The roundup begins with Gov. Otter proposing a new "tuition lock program," that would guarantee that would guarantee a flat tuition for good students.
In his State of the State message to a joint session of the Legislature today, Gov. Butch Otter said education should be the top priority for Idaho. Said Otter: “Frankly, I’m convinced that we would see this as our highest priority even if it wasn’t in our Constitution.
The latest Gallup poll on party identification, published Monday, found that the number of respondents who identify as Democrats reached a historical low of 29 percent in the past year. At the same time, 26 percent of respondents identified as Republicans, and 42 percent as independents – down one point from 2014, a record high year.
People walk past a sign advertising the Powerball lottery in New York Monday. The jackpot is so big that billboards around the country have to advertise the prize as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. The record Powerball lottery has increased to $1.4 billion today.
In the weekend poll, a A whopping 84% said Congressman Raul Labrador stepped across the line when he sympathized with the armed individuals who seized control of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge HQ near Burns, Ore. Today's Poll: Would you like to see Congress lift the ban that prevents the Center for Disease Control from studying gun violence.
In its Sunday editorial, the Coeur d'Alene Press called for a scientific study on why this country is so violent, with guns just one component of that study. Such a student could mean the end of the questionable congressional ban that prevents the Center from Disease Control research on gun violence.
Scanner Traffic for Monday AM (13 items & counting) including report of some goofball on a red snowmobile tearing up Sunshnie Meadows Park ...
The daily roundup of AM Headlines for Monday includes suspected arson in a haystack fire that occurred in Coeur d'Alene early Sunday morning. Also: Post Falls man charged w/killing uncle/PressBusiness Bits: Coeur d'Alene Taxi moving/Press,Washington, Spokane has shortage of cooks/SR,Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive crash trial set May 10/Press ...
Gov. Butch Otter will give his State of the State and budget address to a joint session of the Idaho Legislature starting at 1 p.m. today to lay out his agenda for the legislative session, speaking in the House chambers. Betsy Russell/Eye on Boise will be live-blogging the annual message. And Huckleberries will be compiling her posts.
The Seattle Seahawks and Seahawk Nation are pinching themselves today after the miraculous ending to their playoff game in subzero Minnesota Sunday. With seconds left, Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh shanked a short field goal that would have given the Vikings the win. (Question: Does this mean Lady Luck is smiling on Seattle this postseason?)
Chuck Malloy of Idaho Politics Weekly now understands why Butch Otter has formed a political action committee: Otter PAC. The governor is trying to prevent the Tea Party wing of the Idaho Republican Party from deciding important budget decisions and setting the agenda for the state.
The city of Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday plans to cut down 10 Norway maple trees along Northwest Boulevard in front of the Museum of North Idaho. "It's part of the flood-work certification," said Kim Harrington, an engineering department representative for the city. The Lake City…
Jury selection begins this morning for Eldon Gale Samuel III, who is accused of killing his father and brother two years ago in March in a small house behind the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. Now 16, Samuel will be tried as an adult in a trial this is expected to last four weeks. SReporter Scott Maben will cover the trial.
D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.
