The legislative task force looking for funding for state parks and ISP has wrapped up its meeting for the day and tentatively set its next meeting for Aug. 11; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, warned, "Right now…
If the Idaho State Parks & Recreation Department got no replacement for the gas tax money it's now receiving for off-road recreation, it'd lay off 10 people and endanger programs that now result in grants to local government entities - $32 million over the last…
Idaho now has its first case of West Nile Virus of the season, a Bonneville County man in his 70s, who has been hospitalized. It's a big year for mosquitoes, which carry the virus, and state Health & Welfare officials are advising Idahoans to take…
Dick Rush and Wally Hedrick have been confirmed by the Obama Administration as Idaho's new USDA farm service agency director and state director for rural development, respectively. Both were nominated for those posts by Congressman Walt Minnick, Idaho's highest-ranking official who is of the same…
The Idaho State Police has some suggestions for how to make up the loss of roughly $20 million from its budget when gas tax funds the ISP now receives shift to highways in a year: Raise vehicle registration fees by $5, to generate $8 million;…
If the Idaho State Police had to just absorb the funding cut when it loses gas tax funds a year from tomorrow, ISP would have to lay off 204 people, Lt. Col. Kevin Johnson just told a legislative task force. "On the patrol side we…
The hole that looms to be filled in the Idaho State Police budget is actually larger than some may think, a legislative panel heard this morning. The fiscal year 2010 budget gives the ISP $15.7 million from the state highway fund, which largely comes from…
When the legislative task force ended up with time for some comments from the public this morning, off-road enthusiast Tom Crimmins of Hayden Lake was the first to step to the podium. "I recognize that you have a difficult task and challenge ahead of you…
Recreationists were there in force at today's legislative task force meeting, many wearing specially printed-up name tags that said in bright red above their names, "Hello," and below their names, "I WANT MY GAS TAX BACK." The Idaho Recreation Council printed them up, said Wendy…
Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, spoke out sharply after Sen. Dean Cameron's opening remarks at a legislative task force meeting this morning, objecting to Cameron's statements that the task force can't simply shift funding for state parks and the Idaho State Police to the general fund…
As the Legislative Task Force that's charged with finding new funding sources for state parks and the Idaho State Police to replace gas taxes they'll lose one year from tomorrow began its first meeting this morning, Co-Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told the joint House-Senate panel…
Idaho unemployment claims are running at high volume, with 45,000 active claims as of June 12, thanks to the economic downturn and widespread layoffs, including those in the high-tech sector. Here's an oddity, though: 60 percent of jobless claims in the first quarter of this…
It pretty much doesn't get more wild than this when it comes to a press release from Fish & Game: There could be a wounded grizzly on the loose near Harriman State Park, where early Sunday morning, three Idaho black-bear hunters "were unpleasantly surprised after…
Young Idaho mom Amanda Buchanan picked up an old copy of "Consumer Reports" in her local library in Weiser and began leafing through it last year, and saw a call for health care stories that people wanted to share. She had just the thing. Now,…
Gov. Butch Otter says there are some bright spots in Idaho's current economic downturn, including an Idaho Air National Guard project at Gowen Field that's restoring 57 jobs, a 16-employee manufacturing firm moving from Spokane to Post Falls, and an expansion in ammunition manufacturing in…
Idaho wants to know whether owners of heavy trucks and cars are paying their fair share for roads. A previous study on the subject suggested heavy trucks underpay and owners of cars and pickups pay too much in transportation fees and taxes. But problems with…
Idaho pollster Greg Smith today released results of a new poll, conducted June 15-18 of 400 randomly selected Idahoans 18 or older, and found that U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressmen Walt Minnick and Mike Simpson all are seen much more favorably…
Longtime Idaho political observer Jim Weatherby says Gov. Butch Otter's decision to have his transportation funding task force present its recommendations in December 2010 - a year and a half from now - could lead to a rerun of this year's difficult legislative session in…
Gov. Butch Otter today named his task force to find solutions for transportation funding in Idaho - but said they'll bring their recommendations forward in December of 2010. That means nothing for the next legislative session - the election-year session that starts in January of…
Idaho pollster Greg Smith today released results of a new statewide poll that showed that Idahoans are less favorable toward President Barack Obama than the nation, but they don't feel all that strongly about it. The poll, which queried randomly selected 400 Idahoans 18 and…
As Idaho prepares to consider raising car or truck fees to address a huge shortfall in road funding, a 2007 state study that showed car and pickup owners pay more than their share and subsidize heavy trucks has languished, unfinalized. A copy of the study,…
Idaho's Department of Correction says it's now brought back another 68 inmates who had been housed out of state, in Sayre, Okla., bringing the state down to 120 out-of-state inmates, all of whom are now scheduled to be returned to Idaho by the end of…
Idaho is saving tens of millions because construction bids on its big federal stimulus-funded highway projects - including the Dover Bridge in North Idaho and the Vista Interchange in Boise - are coming in so far under budget. The result: Instead of just the eight…
The unsettled weather that's marked June in Boise so far this year has led to some dramatic sunsets, like this one on Friday night.
When the big Garwood-to-Sagle freeway project on Highway 95 in North Idaho is completed, it may have a two-mile, two-lane bottleneck at its southern end before it reaches an existing four-lane highway at Hayden. The Idaho Transportation Board today reviewed an Idaho Attorney General's opinion…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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