In last night’s heated debate between the three leading candidates for governor of Idaho, there was much back-and-forth over the Corrections Corporation of America and the state’s $1 million settlement with the firm for understaffing the state’s largest prison and over-billing the state. Here’s a…
Last-minute campaign money continues to fly ahead of Tuesday’s election; you can see all the latest independent expenditure reports here, and the statewide candidates’ 48-hour notices here. Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News tallied up the 48-hour reports, which are required for contributions or independent…
When the Idaho GOP campaign bus tour rolled into Gooding on Oct. 24, the students and staff at North Valley Academy Public Charter School were ready. The entire student body, in the colorful uniforms that are required at the patriotism-themed charter school, assembled on the…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has launched a new campaign ad in the final days before the election, featuring former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney endorsing him. Romney urges Idaho voters to “get out and vote,” and says, “What’s happening under Butch Otter ought to happen…
The full, 90-minute debate between Idaho GOP Gov. Butch Otter, Democratic challenger A.J. Balukoff and Libertarian challenger John Bujak can be viewed online here. It was a lively and often heated debate that saw the candidates clash on an array of issues as Tuesday's election…
A.J. Balukoff, the Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, has analyzed a year’s worth of incumbent GOP Gov. Butch Otter’s detailed calendars, and concluded that Otter is a “part-time governor,” working only 27 hours a week in 2013, or 32.8 if receptions and travel time…
Jana Jones, the Democratic candidate for state superintendent of schools, has been named in a guardianship dispute with her brother-in-law, Idaho Education News reports today. The brother-in-law, Michael Von Jones of Twin Falls, charges that Jones and her husband convinced his parents to write off…
Idaho's final gubernatorial debate showcased the most heated exchanges yet between the candidates seeking the seat, the AP reports. GOP Gov. Butch Otter faced off against Democratic candidate A.J. Balukoff and Libertarian candidate John Bujak. The three agreed on little, writes AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi,…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on tonight’s lieutenant governor debate, the only debate in the race between GOP Lt. Gov. Brad Little and Democratic challenger Bert Marley. In the polite but pointed televised debate, Little and Marley outlined sharply differing views…
Prior to the start of tonight's final debate in the governor's race, the candidates - Gov. Butch Otter, Libertarian John Bujak and Democrat A.J. Balukoff - drew to determine the order for their opening and closing remarks; Bruce Reichert, executive producer at Idaho Public TV,…
The final debate in Idaho’s governor’s race is tonight at 7 p.m. on Idaho Public Television. It’s part of the “Idaho Debates,” co-sponsored by the Idaho Press Club and the League of Women Voters of Idaho. Tonight’s debate will run for 90 minutes and feature…
Kochava, a high-tech company that launched in Sandpoint in 2011, how now been approved for the same type of state Tax Reimbursement Incentive that Amy’s Kitchen received yesterday for a new plant in Pocatello, the state of Idaho and city of Sandpoint announced today. The…
Bonner County is seeking disaffection and splits within its Republican Party, Bonner Bee correspondent David Gunter writes today, in an extensive piece examining the state of politics in the county and how they reflect the state. “I’ve heard the comment from some longtime Republicans that,…
The Idaho Statesman and Boise State Public Radio are running an extensive, five-part reporting project this week on Idaho’s mental health system, titled, “In Crisis.” Among the revelations so far: Involuntary mental commitment cases in the state rose from 2,337 in 2007 to 4,686 in…
Gov. Butch Otter was in Pocatello yesterday to announce that Amy’s Kitchen, a manufacturer of frozen vegetarian food, will move into the vacant H.J. Heinz plant there, lured in part by the state’s new Tax Reimbursement Incentive Act. Amy’s Kitchen will get rebates on 26…
There’s more skating and hockey-playing than political images in the latest ad in Idaho’s governor’s race, as Democratic candidate A.J. Balukoff dons an Idaho Steelheads hockey uniform for his final campaign commercial of the race. “In politics, taking shots at your opponent is just business…
Here’s an interesting tidbit: After reading in the Twin Falls Times-News today that A.J. Balukoff, Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, donated to Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns both in 2007 and in 2012, I searched FEC records for Balukoff’s donations in federal races. Both…
An analysis of the “politics of the pratfall” in this year’s race for Idaho state superintendent of schools, penned by Idaho Education News reporter Kevin Richert, examines how a series of high-profile blunders by the GOP candidate, Sherri Ybarra, could resonate in the race between…
Seven more people have come forward to say they were sexually abused by staffers at a state-run juvenile detention center in southwestern Idaho, the AP reports today. The new allegations were detailed in a tort claim filed with the state late Tuesday afternoon, and bring…
Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa is predicting 58 percent turnout in the Nov. 4 general election – that’s 58 percent of registered voters, and is equal to roughly 39 to 40 percent of Idaho’s voting-age population. “It’s not something to write home about,” he…
The Republican Governors Association has been touting a video of Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho A.J. Balukoff being asked by a cameraman who he voted for in the 2008 presidential race, a question Balukoff doesn’t answer, saying instead, “I’ll have to see if I…
Today’s independent expenditure reports – documenting big independent campaign spending in the final days before the election, which must be reported within 48 hours – include an IACI-linked group, the Idaho Prosperity Fund, spending another $50,000 today on literature attacking Democratic candidate for governor A.J.…
The 7-day pre-general election campaign finance reports were due by 5 p.m. today. Here’s what they show in the governor’s race: A.J. Balukoff, Democratic candidate for governor, reported more than $1.04 million in fundraising during the final reporting period, from Oct. 1-Oct. 19, with $995,000…
Idaho is paying another $10,000 to outside attorneys for its continued appeals of the federal court decision overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. According to records obtained pursuant to a public records request, Gov. Butch Otter’s office has agreed to pay Washington,…
Idaho’s state Land Board has approved a plan to auction off at least 60 cabin sites at Priest and Payette lakes each year for the next three years. That’s beyond an already-scheduled auction set at Payette Lake for January for 36 cabin sites, six of…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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