The Idaho State Police have announced that a veteran state trooper who was sharply criticized in an Idaho Supreme Court decision issued Friday - for offering false testimony that helped land a North Idaho man a 25-year prison term for murder - has been placed…
It's not just that Idaho ranks 50th in the nation for per-pupil spending on schools, an area where the state long has ranked low. It's that Idaho's ranking for school spending per $1,000 in personal income in the state has dropped dramatically, from 15th in…
Over the holiday weekend, the Idaho Falls Post Register broke a story about House Speaker Lawerence Denney and House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, sidetracking and killing a bill regarding disputes over county roads, while Loertscher and former state Sen. Stan Hawkins were in…
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today; here's a photo of the two before the meeting. Afterward, Risch praised Netanyahu, saying, “Prime Minister Netanyahu provided a very thoughtful and convincing framework for acceptable borders between a safe and…
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a federal appeals court, saying former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft didn't violate the constitutional rights of a former University of Idaho football player who was arrested in 2003 and held as a possible witness in a terrorism case…
Gov. Butch Otter has sent out an op-ed piece this morning touting the "Hire One Act" he persuaded lawmakers to enact this year, offering a refundable income tax credit for employers who add workers. "Call it a bonus. Call it a reward. Call it whatever…
What if giant megaloads of oil field equipment didn't even have to enter the United States to get from Asia to the Alberta oil sands project in Canada, and what if avoiding the U.S. actually cost less? That's the prospect being floated by a railroad…
The Idaho Republican Party has named its redistricting commissioners: Lou Esposito, Evan Frasure and Lorna Finman. Click below for their full news release.
While I'm off enjoying time with family this week, the news marches on: The referendum on this year's school reform legislation has gathered enough signatures to make the November 2012 ballot - read a full report here from AP reporter John Miller - state Superintendent…
I'll be off the rest of this week, as my relatives arrive and we celebrate my son's graduation from Boise High this Thursday. Let me know what I miss - I'll be back next week.
The Meridian School District won't try again this summer on its failed supplemental tax levy request, the Boise Weekly reports, and instead is starting work on cuts including slashing the school year to 14 fewer days than it had two years ago and eliminating 100…
Idaho's current Democratic and Republican party chairmen shared a stage for the first time today at the Boise City Club, and some sparks did fly. The two started off with a shared experience: "We both lost to Bill Sali in 2006," said GOP Chairman Norm…
It wasn't just in Idaho that state lawmakers ventured onto unusual ground this year, attempting to unilaterally nullify a federal law, debating allowing guns on state college campuses and nearly cutting off unemployed Idahoans from receiving federal extended unemployment benefits on grounds that the benefits…
Here's how much in new property taxes Idahoans have voted on themselves so far this spring to shore up their local schools in the wake of state budget cuts: $77.32 million a year, with most of those levies stretching for two years. There's still another…
A preliminary report on supplemental levy elections in held in school districts around the state compiled by the Idaho State Department of Education shows that of 36 school districts holding supplemental levy votes on Tuesday, 27 won passage from local voters, while nine failed, including,…
Idaho political historian, author and pundit Randy Stapilus tried his hand at the new redistricting software, which is publicly available for anyone to use, to draw up a division between Idaho's two congressional districts that would put all of Ada and Canyon counties, the state's…
For the first time in four years, Idaho's jobless rate has fallen – in April, it dropped a tenth of a point from 9.7 percent to 9.6 percent, as more than 3,000 Idahoans went back to work. That means the state's economy generated more jobs…
Testimony at the third and final day of a court hearing in Montana on megaloads included questioning of Montana Department of Transportation chief engineer Dwane Kailey about an internal email in which he scolded staffers for using the term "high-wide corridor," writing, "Let's try not…
Yet another firm has contacted Idaho about sending a giant, oversized megaload across U.S. Highway 12 from Lewiston to Montana, the Lewiston Tribune reports today. Nickel Bros., a hauler, has applied to send one megaload across the route in early June, an evaporator for a…
The New York Times reports today that new research in Arizona and elsewhere shows private prisons don't save states money - they actually cost more. That's in part because the private lockups "cherry pick" the healthiest, least expensive inmates to house, leaving states to deal…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation is giving $25 million to Idaho to help better track student achievement and fulfill its cash commitment to the Idaho Education Network. The investment announced Wednesday includes…
Idaho Fish & Game has, for the first time, delegated authority to local law enforcement agents to kill wolves, to address a pack of about seven wolves that are suspected in attacks on dogs and livestock in Elk City, the Lewiston Tribune reports. Wolves are…
After voters in Idaho's largest school district - Meridian - rejected a two-year, $37 million property tax levy yesterday, the school district is saying it will have to lay off teachers and principals; drop dental and vision coverage for district employees unless they pay for…
In the second day of testimony at a court hearing in Missoula yesterday, an Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil official testified that delays in sending megaloads of oil field equipment through Montana and up to the Kearl oil sands project in Canada are proving problematic for the company.…
Idaho will start surveys and other groundwork in early June to prepare to sell off or trade away some or all of its 521 leased lakefront cabin sites, including more than 350 at Priest Lake. Top state officials warned, however, that it's not likely to…