Federal authorities may be laying the groundwork for criminal charges against tax-protesting former Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart. In bankruptcy court documents, federal officials are charging that Hart lied under oath, concealed or destroyed records and attempted to “hinder, delay or defraud his creditors, including…
A bipartisan group of Western U.S. senators, including Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, on Friday urged the Obama administration to focus more on preventing wildfires rather than taking money from programs that clear potentially hazardous dead trees and brush to fund efforts to fight the increasingly…
It’s happening again – a salvage order lifting all bag, possession and size limits on a specified water to allow people to catch all the fish there before they die, due to drought and poor runoff. This time, it’s for the Big Wood River below…
There’s some sad news on the peregrine falcon front downtown: One of the four fledglings, all of whom had successfully fledged and were trying their wings and learning hunting skills in downtown Boise, has died after crashing into a window. Idaho Fish & Game reported…
Idaho’s total personal income for the first quarter of 2013 was down from the previous quarter, even though business profits and farm income both were up. The Idaho Department of Labor says the 0.9 percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2012 came because of…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Health coverage policies sold via Idaho's insurance exchange will cost an average of $240 per month, a figure based on the price tag of proposed policies submitted to the state Department of Insurance…
Idaho's dairy industry is applauding the Senate passage of bipartisan immigration reform legislation - and scolding Idaho's two senators for voting against it. “This legislation, should it become law, will greatly assist the largest industry in Idaho with the ability to grow and increase productivity,”…
The U.S. Senate has voted 68-32 in favor of the bipartisan immigration reform bill, sending the measure to the House. Both Idaho Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo were among the 32 Republicans who voted no; Risch tweeted, “Our country needs immigration reform. But, this…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: RENO, Nev. (AP) — Sally Jewell made an emotional pledge in her first address to Indian Country as the 51st U.S. Interior secretary, saying she'll help right past wrongs against Native Americans and work with tribes "nation-to-nation"…
Gov. Butch Otter announced today that cleanup of radioactive and hazardous waste buried in unlined pits and trenches at the Idaho National Laboratory will restart in the coming months, after federal officials informed the state last fall that budget restrictions would force a halt to…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The head of a House panel that helps set the Environmental Protection Agency's budget plans to do everything in his power to thwart President Barack Obama's proposed new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.…
Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch both voted against ending debate and moving to a final vote on the immigration reform legislation in the Senate today. “The triggers in this bill with regard to border security are not strong enough,” Crapo said. Risch said…
Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith is shooting high in his first run for public office: He’s running against 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson. “Our country has gotten off on the wrong track,” Smith declared at an announcement in Boise this morning, the first of four…
After just a year in the post, Idaho Republican Party Executive Director Joshua Whitworth is moving on to take a job working for state Controller Brandon Woolf. Trevor Thorpe, who has served as the party’s political director for the past year and a half and…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho is getting more than $675,000 to help retrain workers who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks. The U.S. Department of Labor announced the grant this week — part…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the impact in Idaho of this morning’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage; Idaho’s sweeping ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions won’t change. However, same-sex couples living in Idaho who were married…
Here’s the latest from the ACLU on how this morning’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings could affect same-sex couples living in Idaho who were legally married in other states: It depends. For some federal programs, the ACLU, which brought the case that resulted in the federal…
Idaho ACLU Executive Director Monica Hopkins says the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, leaves open one question that could affect Idaho: What about same-sex couples who legally married in another state, but now reside in Idaho?…
Here’s what Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden had to say this morning on the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage: “There really isn’t a direct impact on Idaho law. It’s still in effect. … so there really isn’t a lot of change there.” He…
I am still awaiting word from the experts, but it appears that today’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage won’t change anything in Idaho. That’s because the decisions defer to states to regulate marriage, even while striking down the federal Defense of Marriage…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Federal prosecutors are seeking to delay the trial for an Uzbek national arrested in May on terrorism-related charges, calling the case too complex to argue it in court on the scheduled date early…
The Kootenai County Republican Party central committee dropped its effort last night to censure four local GOP legislators for voting in favor of a state-based health insurance exchange, after discovering it actually can’t do that, the Coeur d’Alene Press reports. Plus, central committee members said…
After Grover Norquist’s immigration reform talk to the City Club of Boise today, I asked him if he’d been to Idaho before. His answer: Many times. He recalled the first, back in 1978 when he was about 21 years old, when he came to help…
Grover Norquist is best known as an anti-tax activist – he wrote the no-tax-hikes pledge that’s now been signed by nearly every Republican member of Congress – but he’s also a big backer of reforming the nation’s immigration laws, a cause he’s been pushing for…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has a Republican primary challenger for Idaho's 2nd Congressional District seat with still 11 months to go until the election. Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith filed paperwork with the…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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