On tonight's "Idaho Reports," I join BSU political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby, Boise Weekly reporter George Prentice and host Greg Hahn to discuss the events of the week in the Legislature, from the anti-Occupy Boise bill hearing to Health & Welfare cuts; the hour-long program…
Bogus Basin has just announced that it will open its new Superior high-speed quad chairlift tomorrow for the season. In addition to the new lift, the resort also will open the Pine Creek and Bitterroot Basin areas of the mountain on Saturday; night skiing will…
In addition to House Speaker Lawerence Denney wanting to fire GOP redistricting commission Co-Chairwoman Dolores Crow, Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko also has been trying to oust his appointee to the bipartisan citizen commission, Randy Hansen of Twin Falls, reports AP reporter John Miller,…
After nine GOP senators issued a statement this afternoon saying they voted against Sen. John McGee keeping his leadership post during an earlier closed caucus, but were outvoted, McGee, R-Caldwell, issued this statement: "No one is more disappointed by the mistake I made last June…
Nine GOP senators have issued a statement saying they voted against allowing Sen. John McGee to keep his caucus chairman post, during a closed caucus last week. "Various news reports have led many of our constituents to mistakenly conclude that all members of the Senate…
The House Health & Welfare Committee has voted to introduce legislation from Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine to children. "The health districts around the state got together and talked about this issue, it's become quite a…
Redistricting commissioners can't be removed by those who appointed them, according to an Idaho Attorney General's opinion issued today in response to an inquiry from Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. "No mechanism exists for the removal of a Commissioner once appointed," Deputy Attorney General…
The House State Affairs Committee has wrapped up for the day after more than an hour of testimony; there were also quite a few called to testify who said they'll speak Monday instead. Those testifying covered a range of ages and occupations, from a 19-year-old…
House State Affairs Chairman told Idaho ACLU head Monica Hopkins that if she testifies today, she won't be allowed to testify on Monday, so she went ahead today. Several others have said they can be here Monday, so they won't testify today. K.C. Hunt, a…
Among testimony at this morning's hearing on legislation to evict the Occupy Boise encampment from state land across from the Capitol: Mike Despot of Boise, who had a supporter read his statement for him because he's legally blind, asked, "Is it truly an emergency to…
"Virtually everyone" who's signed up to testify on the anti-Occupy bill today has said they can't return on Monday, said House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, so they'll be allowed to testify this morning. First up was Dana Jablonski of Marsing. Asked who she represents,…
Occupy Boise released a statement this morning, saying it'll hold a march from the state Capitol to the federal courthouse this afternoon, with Boise Police officers as escorts. Click below to read their statement, which says the proposed anti-Occupy legislation "attempts to silence Idahoans who…
The House convened and read the new version of the anti-Occupy bill across the desk; it's HB 404. Rep. Tom Loertscher announced that the House State Affairs Committee will meet immediately upon adjournment, and the House adjourned.
Now there's a delay, and Occupy Boise supporters are milling around in the House State Affairs hearing room. Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, said the committee's report must be sent up to be read across the desk when the House reconvenes in a few minutes,…
Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, suggested that if the House State Affairs Committee wants to take any testimony this morning on legislation to ban camping on state property on the Capitol Mall, it should first vote to introduce the bill, so he made a motion…
Rep. Brent Crane told the House State Affairs Committee that he's concerned about putting off the hearing on the anti-Occupy bill when so many people are here to testify; the room is full. "My concern is there's folks here that want to testify today that…
House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, presenting the new version of his bill to forbid camping on state property in the Capitol Mall, told the House State Affairs Committee this morning, "If this law is passed, this would make our camping policy consistent with…
House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, just said that the committee could decide to hold its hearing on the new version of the no-camping bill for the Capitol Mall today, but "that would be a little unusual." The measure's sponsor, House Assistant Majority Leader…
This morning's planned hearing on legislation to evict the Occupy Boise encampment is being put off to Monday, due to a clerical error in the bill. "We have discovered a technical problem," said House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona. Loertscher said the committee will…
Unemployment figures for Idaho for December show that the state's jobless rate has dropped for the fifth straight month, falling to 8.4 percent. More than 698,000 Idahoans were working in December, the Idaho Department of Labor reports, 13,000 more than the previous December. You can…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
