Idaho’s Supreme Court, in a divided 3-2 ruling, has launched the state’s court system on a new track in which most Idahoans who lose in court would have to pay the winning side’s attorney fees – even if they far exceed the amount at stake…
I will be off until the first of the year, the first time in years I’ve taken a whole two weeks off at once. I’ll still have some posts during this time, including links to several stories I’ve done that will come out in the paper over the next week, including one on Sunday...
Gov. Butch Otter, at a ribbon-cutting in Twin Falls today, confirmed that he’s being vetted as a possible nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, and told Times-News reporter Nathan Brown that he'd listed his favored positions in a Trump Administration as Interior, Ag, and heading the International Trade Administration. "We're at Door No. 2...
Two of Idaho’s four Republican presidential electors will be replaced prior to Monday’s vote of the Electoral College because they are constitutionally barred as federal employees from serving as electors, the Idaho Statesman reports. The substitutions aren’t expected to change the outcome, with all four…
Major flaws in a review that the state Department of Education commissioned of Idaho's teacher evaluation system drew attention from the state Board of Education today, as school district superintendents around the state remained concerned that the audit report unfairly cast doubt on the evaluation…
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and U.S. Bureau of Land Management are both claiming ownership of about 100 acres near the eastern Idaho city of Pocatello. The Idaho State Journal reports that both entities say Union Pacific Railroad relinquished a right of way to them. The tribes cited an 1888 agreement with the railroad and Congress...
A group of southwestern Idaho homeowners who say their mineral rights are being taken away is fighting a Texas company that is asking Idaho officials to settle the matter so a natural gas well can be drilled. An attorney representing five homeowners in a subdivision near Fruitland told Idaho Department of Lands officials...
Given the on-and-off announcements about various prospective Trump appointees in recent days, it’s with some hesitance that I pass along this maybe-news: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter now is supposedly among the candidates being vetted for Secretary of Agriculture. Otter is in San Diego at a Western Governors...
Eastern Idaho businessman Doug Sayer, who lobbied for two Idaho Fish & Game commissioners to lose their posts for not backing auction tags and set off a firestorm of protest against Senate Resources Chairman Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, for his support of auctioning off hunting tags,...
The Idaho Racing Commission broke the law when it distributed funds collected from now-defunct historical horse racing betting terminals, state auditors said. Legislative auditors said in a report released Tuesday that the commission gave two horse breeder associations about $286,000 in late 2015. However, the commission was supposed to give...
The Washington Post is now reporting that President-elect Donald Trump has decided on first-term Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke as his Secretary of the Interior – not Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador or Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. This isn’t the official word; the Post reports that…
Politico is reporting today that Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador is being considered for secretary of the interior in a new Trump Administration. Citing “multiple sources,” the news site says Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers still is the frontrunner, but that Trump has expanded his search…
House Republicans are looking to tax cuts “first thing out of the box” in the upcoming legislative session, House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told reporters today. Crane, who spoke at the Idaho Press Club’s “Legislative Bootcamp” for reporters who will be covering this…
The Northern Idaho Crisis Center is reporting a busy first year, with more than 1,000 client visits since the doors opened last December. The center provides help for people who are experiencing crises related to mental health issues and substance abuse. The state-funded crisis center…
Idaho's four Republican electors will meet next week to cast their ballots for the president of the United States. Gov. Butch Otter and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney say the electors will meet at noon on Dec. 19 in the Governor's Ceremonial Office. Several of Idaho's electors say they've been flooded with emails...
Many of the programs intended to help students in Idaho's public schools are not funded based on need or actual costs, state evaluators found in a new report released Monday. The state's nonpartisan Office of Performance Evaluations also found that the state lacks information on the total amount of money spent on these 22 programs...
Here's a link to my full, updated story at spokesman.com on the news today that Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador met with Donald Trump and may be up for a post in his administration, and the political dominoes that would cause to start falling in Idaho,...
If Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador were to accept a position in the Trump Administration, it would trigger something that’s never happened before in Idaho history: A special election for a U.S. House seat, with no primary election first. “It’s a single special election, so everybody...
Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador issued this statement this afternoon on his meeting today at Trump Tower with President-elect Donald Trump: “President-elect Trump and I had an excellent conversation this afternoon about issues critical to Idaho and the West. We discussed how we can work together…
Idaho 1st District GOP Rep. Raul Labrador met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York today, and hinted afterward to reporters there that they’d discussed a role for him in the new Trump Administration. “We talked about a lot of issues ......
Federal authorities should negate an Oregon law requiring fish passage as part of relicensing for a hydroelectric project on the Snake River where it forms the border between Idaho and Oregon, a utility company says. Boise-based Idaho Power in a is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to exempt the three-dam Hells Canyon...
After welcome new snow, Bogus Basin has changed course and announced that this weekend’s opening will be the start of seven-day operations – and it’s opening the No. 6 Pine Creek chair on the mountain’s backside. "Our season is off to a great start, and…
Bogus Basin has announced that it will open for limited skiing Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with the Coach, Deer Point and Showcase lifts operating, along with the Easy Rider magic carpet. A terrain park will be in place at Stewart’s...
Tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television includes an update on the events of the week, and a report from co-host Aaron Kunz on the environmental impact process for 14 federal dams in the Columbia Basin, including comments from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the…
Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is expected to be Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of the interior; you can read our full report here at spokesman.com. Meanwhile, Politico reports today that Trump plans to meet with Idaho 1st District GOP Rep. Raul Labrador on Monday,…
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