Little-known fact: When a school bus is decommissioned, state law requires that all school bus markings be “obliterated” and its paint color be changed, before it can run on state highways. A state trooper in Coeur d’Alene recently ticketed someone for not doing that. “It…
Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik has filed paperwork with the state to challenge Lt. Gov. Brad Little in the GOP primary, Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence reports; you can see his full post here. Chmelik, 53, is a second-term county commissioner and an outspoken advocate…
Not only does Idaho rank 49th in the nation for its number of doctors per capita, many of the state’s current doctors are expected to retire in the next few years, and the state, which has no medical school, is lagging on training new ones.…
Idaho is looking to raise resident hunting and fishing license fees for the first time since 2005, but the plan in the works from the Department of Fish & Game would give loyal hunters or anglers who buy a license every year a break: They…
Here's news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho insurance exchange officials don't know if the 20,000 people signed up for coverage effective Jan. 1 come from the ranks of the uninsured, or if they previously had insurance but switched to exchange…
House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, shared some of his thought process and how he approaches the Legislature when he spoke at the Andrus Center today. “One thing that was drummed into us at my father’s table was that 99 percent of people - I can…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said he has more than $700,000 in cash to wage a campaign against his Republican primary challenger, state Sen. Russ Fulcher. Otter filed his latest campaign report Tuesday, outlining…
Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Burdick congratulated the Legislature today for “wisely identifying two of the chronic problems that impact Idahoans and the judicial system,” by launching interim committees both to examine public defender reform and to conduct a criminal justice reinvestment project in…
A solid majority of teachers support the new Idaho Core Standards, according to a survey commissioned by a conservative group opposing the standards, reports Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News; you can read his full report here. The December survey of 402 teachers conducted by…
Idaho ranks 49th in the nation for its number of physicians per 100,000 residents, Dr. Mary Barinaga of the Idaho WWAMI program told legislative budget writers this morning. And Idaho’s doctors are aging: 25 percent are over age 60, and 86 percent are over age…
The fourth-floor rotunda smells like bacon this morning, as the University of Idaho hosts a breakfast and displays on many of their programs; crowds of UI faculty, officials and students are here to talk about their programs. The event is scheduled to run until 10…
“Idaho has a workforce imbalance,” University of Idaho interim President Don Burnett told lawmakers this morning, “an oversupply of workers with high school educations or less, and an undersupply of workers with post-secondary educations.” The oversupply attracts companies that offer minimum-wage jobs, he said. The…
A major challenge for the U of I and for all of Idaho’s college and universities, interim U of I President Don Burnett told lawmakers, is the need to replace nearly 14 percent of its workforce every year, and to do so in a competitive…
Don Burnett, interim president of the University of Idaho, is making the university’s budget presentation to lawmakers this morning in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, where he drew on recent years’ flap over the designation of the U of I as the state’s “flagship” university to…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
