Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart paid $1,000 in campaign funds in 2011 to Coeur d'Alene attorney Starr Kelso, who's representing him in his ongoing fight against back state income taxes; Hart lost his tax appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court last week. But Hart said…
Tax-protesting state Rep. Phil Hart may be the most controversial lawmaker in North Idaho, and his re-election bid for a fifth term in the state House has drawn a bevy of challengers in the May 15 GOP primary. It’s a far cry from the last…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter today joined the governors of Utah, Wyoming and Nevada for a "Rocky Mountain Roundtable" discussion of common concernss that focused heavily on federal land management issues. "The Western states need to bind together and unite their voices," said Utah Gov. Gary…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The Idaho Supreme Court ordered a 3-year-old girl in state custody be delivered to her father, a Mexican citizen who has never met his daughter because he's legally barred from entering the United…
Here's an obituary from the Idaho Mountain Express/AP: KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) ― Robert Earl "Bob" Smith, an orthodontist whose passion for skiing powder snow helped turn him into a goggle and sunglasses pioneer, died last week of complications related to heart surgery. Smith's family confirmed…
Idaho Rep. Phil Hart tonight issued a defiant press release after the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously rejected his state income tax appeal, saying he plans to continue to fight. "It is but another phase of my quest for justice," Hart wrote in the release he…
A unanimous Idaho Supreme Court has rejected state Rep. Phil Hart's appeal of an order to pay more than $53,000 in back state income taxes, penalties and interest on grounds of legislative privilege; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. In a seven-page…
Idaho's state Department of Administration has published new rules for use of the Capitol Mall grounds, as authorized by last-minute legislation that passed on the final day of this year's legislative session. The new rules, which take effect immediately but still will be reviewed by…
Here are some signs of economic recovery, courtesy of the Idaho Department of Labor: Thirty-seven of Idaho's 44 counties saw total personal income rise in 2010, vs. just five in 2009, according to new estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Meanwhile, business profits…
The Occupy Boise group says there's no emergency requiring evicting their 24/7 vigil to allow lawnmowing, sprinkling and the start of a construction project inside the vacant Capitol Annex. In its response filed this week to a state motion asking a federal judge to reconsider…
The upcoming May primary election will be Idaho's first under the state's new closed-primary and party registration law, and the new rules are causing lots of confusion. Idaho Statesman reporter Cynthia Sewell has a nice how-to article about it here. The upshot: To vote in…
1st District congressional candidate Cynthia Clinkingbeard, who filed to run in the Democratic primary but then was arrested for aggravated assault on March 16 after pulling a gun on employees at a Staples store, has termed her legal case “a fly in the ointment” to…
Utah elections director Mark Thomas confirmed today that his office has received a $500 cashier's check from the Newt Gingrich campaign, in time to make an April 20 deadline to replace an earlier bounced check and qualify Gingrich for the state's June 26 presidential primary…
Payette County is being sued for approving a proposed nuclear power plant that critics say was actually just a stock-fraud scheme. “Payette County failed to prudently represent the public interest and directly injured the hardworking neighbors of the purported power plant site,” a group of…
In addition to a series of changes on the University of Idaho campus, the settlement of a $3 million tort claim that the family of slain grad student Katy Benoit reached with the university calls for the university to pay the family $375,000 in exchange…
Newly elected Idaho State Board of Education President Ken Edmunds has issued the following statement on behalf of the board, regarding the settlement reached with the family of slain UI grad student Katy Benoit: “The settlement announced yesterday between the Benoit family and the University…
Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped below 8 percent in March for the first time in two and a half years, the Idaho Department of Labor reports. The drop to 7.9 percent was the eight straight month that the state's jobless rate fell; more Idahoans…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The University of Idaho and the family of a graduate student who was killed by a professor she had previously dated have reached a settlement. School officials and Katy Benoit's family issued a…
Idaho's state Board of Education has signed off on a new five-year, $11.7 million contract for Boise State football coach Chris Petersen, the Associated Press reports; the board unanimously approved the new contract at its meeting today in Moscow. Petersen's new package includes a bump…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Faculty governance at Idaho State University will again be revamped under a plan endorsed by the state Board of Education. The board voted Thursday to approve the recommendation from school President Arthur Vailas,…
Idaho GOP Congressman Raul Labrador's work to bring together tea party-backed freshmen and get their voices into the news through the new monthly “Conversations with Conservatives” event – the second event was this week – is chronicled in an article today by McClatchy reporter Sean…
Times-News reporter Melissa Davlin today profiles the race between two Senate incumbents from the Magic Valley: Sens. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, and Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home. The two, thrown into the same district by redistricting, say they vote together 95 percent of the time, but there…
The State Board of Education has approved tuition and fee increases proposed by the state's colleges and universities for next year as requested by each institution: 4 percent for Lewis-Clark State College; 6.1 percent for the University of Idaho; 5.7 percent for Boise State University;…
Idaho's most-popular baby names in 2010, according to the newly published state vital statistics report: Olivia and William. Placing second: Emma and Samuel, with Sophia and Logan right on their chubby little heels in third place. Rounding out the top names for girls, in order:…
Possible changes to Idaho's field-burning regulations still are up in the air after an advisory panel of farmers, health advocates and regulators agreed today that some weekend burning could be considered, but couldn't reach a consensus on whether to allow more burning when ozone pollution…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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