The criminal complaint unsealed today in the University Place case charges former UI financial vice president Jerry Wallace with two counts of misuse of public money by officers, a felony. The complaint charged that Wallace falsified accounts and loaned or appropriated UI money “on behalf…
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican who may run for president in 2008 and would become the first LDS president if elected, stopped off in Boise this morning for a rally for Republican candidate for governor Butch Otter. Romney gave a stirring, patriotic talk to…
In the final debate between the candidates for governor last night in Twin Falls (read the full story here), it was Democrat Jerry Brady – not GOP Congressman Butch Otter – who garnered the sole outburst of applause from an audience of 250. Otter continually…
Retired Coeur d’Alene High School principal Steve Casey, who lost to businessman Tom Luna in the GOP primary election for school superintendent in May, endorsed Luna today despite earlier expressing misgivings about Luna’s qualifications for the job. “We did have some spirited debates along the…
Apparently when congressional candidate Bill Sali made that reference to people seemingly claiming he has a position on Proposition 2 when he maintains he doesn’t (an interesting boast), those claims he was referring to came from his own campaign. “No matter what anyone else claims,…
Education is the single largest piece of Idaho’s state budget, and the Idaho Constitution makes it a top priority for the state. Yet Idaho ranks near the bottom of states in per-pupil expenditures for schools, and last winter, the state’s Supreme Court declared the system…
Ignoring the elephant in the room – or, more accurately, the elephant NOT in the room – two candidates for governor focused on issues as they faced off in the League of Women Voters-Idaho Press Club debate on Idaho Public TV on Sunday night. Democrat…
Republican Butch Otter rails against regulations. Democrat Jerry Brady declares that growth must pay for itself. Libertarian Ted Dunlap says there’s no reason to make changes when growth will “fix itself” as the economy cools and people stop moving here. Constitution Party candidate Marvin “Pro-Life”…
It turns out that Vice President Dick Cheney’s second campaign visit to Idaho in three months will be different from the first – it won’t be a fundraiser, and it won’t be for any particular candidate. Instead, Cheney will fly briefly into the Coeur d’Alene…
The two candidates for Idaho superintendent of schools debated some hot topics during their live debate tonight on Idaho Public Television. Among the highlights: Republican Tom Luna called for separate charter elementary schools for children who are struggling to learn English. “In my district in…
Republican candidate for governor Butch Otter won’t release his own campaign polls, but he says they differ from Democratic opponent Jerry Brady’s newly released poll showing Brady taking the lead in the race. “The numbers are different, and we feel very confident that on Election…
Bill Sali came out fighting at tonight’s live League of Women Voters-Idaho Press Club debate on Idaho Public TV, ignoring repeated admonishments from the moderator and ripping into opponent Larry Grant. The initial question to Sali from AP reporter John Miller was about one of…
Having checked the FEC independent expenditure reports daily for the past week, I was darn surprised to see a new anti-Larry Grant TV ad yesterday – this one sponsored by the Club for Growth PAC. That group hadn’t reported any spending against Grant. But on…
Forty-one attorneys from throughout the state have signed a statement opposing HJR 2, the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships in Idaho. Among the concerns cited are that the measure, as written, could hamper legal protections for some battered women…
Interesting story in the LA Times today suggests that Idaho’s a glaring example of national political swings that are making this a fast-changing and very interesting election season. “America does not get much more Republican than Idaho,” wrote Times reporter Janet Hook. “President Bush pulled…
Today, the Idaho Statesman newspaper endorsed Larry LaRocco for lieutenant governor, saying it liked the plan LaRocco outlined to use the lieutenant governor’s office to lead a fight against methamphetamine use and its effects throughout the state. Republican Jim Risch, the newspaper said, lists his…
In researching my article in today’s paper on HJR 2, the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment that’s on the November ballot, I ran across some startling history. Here it is: The Idaho Constitution prohibited people of Asian ancestry from voting, serving as jurors or holding office…
Here’s an odd note: GOP congressional candidate Bill Sali’s biggest contributions on his latest campaign finance report were from two PACs: The Association of Trial Lawyers of America PAC (Sali is a lawyer, as is Democratic opponent Larry Grant), and the Washington, D.C.-based Freedom Project,…
Automated phone calls have gone out across the 1st Congressional District, and folks whose dinners are interrupted, when they first pick up the phone, are getting the impression the pesky, aggressive calls are coming from Larry Grant’s campaign. But they’re not – they’re from the…
Idaho Gov. Jim Risch has collected nearly $130,000 in campaign contributions for his run for lieutenant governor this year but has spent little of it campaigning, so he has $119,953 in campaign cash – and a $360,000 campaign debt to himself that he's carried over…
A deputy Idaho attorney general, Stephanie Altig, has been reprimanded by the Idaho State Bar in a case stretching clear back to 1997, for reading privileged letters between Idaho prison inmates and their attorneys – who at the time were suing the state over retaliating…
A political ad on the radio statewide that claims the “Centennial Baptist Church” may be bulldozed for a shopping center – but doesn’t explain that the church in question is in Oklahoma – has upset parishioners at the Centennial Baptist Church in Caldwell, Idaho. “I…
The fact that the Washington Farm Bureau is a main sponsor of that state’s regulatory takings initiative has sparked rumors that the Idaho Farm Bureau has something to do with Idaho’s Proposition 2 – but the farm bureau says the rumors are false.“That rumor’s been…
Butch Otter was still undecided on Proposition 2 on Monday, at which time he said in a debate, “I’ve listened time and time again to both sides, and quite frankly I’m still confused because I don’t know exactly what it says.”On Tuesday morning, when I…
OK, it makes a little more sense now that Butch Otter’s campaign says he’s hit the $2 million mark since the close of the last campaign finance filing period on Sept. 30. It’s not that Otter has made up the entire half-million-dollar difference between the…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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