Three legislative interim committees or working groups are holding their first meetings this week, with the most controversial one, on faith healing and children at risk, set for Thursday at 9 a.m. Over the weekend, Idaho Statesman reporter Bill Dentzer dug into the history of...
My Sunday column examines Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador's ranking as the sixth-poorest member of Congress, based on his federal financial disclosures; the latest lure Idaho's trying to entice tourists - virtual reality videos; and new data on Idaho college grads...
Today marks my 25th anniversary with The Spokesman-Review. Though things have changed quite a bit since I joined the newspaper as its Idaho editor in 1991, we’re still in the same business – reporting the news. I’m proud to still be carrying on this important…
Both federal and state authorities announced this morning that no criminal charges will be filed against the two Adams County Sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed rancher Jack Yantis in November as he was preparing to shoot his injured bull after it was hit by...
Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador is the sixth-poorest member of Congress, according to a comparison by InsideGov.com, with an average net worth, based on his federal financial disclosures, of minus $216,000. That’s far eclipsed by the poorest member, Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., whose $25 million-plus in...
Idaho’s state tourism office has launched a series of “virtual reality” videos to give viewers a chance to virtually raft the Payette River, zip-line in the Snake River Canyon, go paddle-boarding and BASE-jumping, bike the Boise Greenbelt, and experience a whitewater kayak competition, among others.…
A southwest Idaho wildfire burning timber in rugged terrain on Thursday crossed a state highway fire officials had hoped to use as a firebreak. Officials say the 20-square-mile blaze burning west to east crossed state Highway 21 about 5 miles south of Lowman. About 23 miles of the highway are closed from north of Idaho City to south of Lowman...
Ada County has become the fifth county in southwestern Idaho where West Nile virus has been identified in local mosquitoes. No human cases have been reported so far this year, but last year Idaho had 13 human cases of the virus, with five of those...
A pilot project that launched nationwide Monday is intended to prevent hobby drones from interfering with planes and helicopters fighting wildfires, the AP reports. The project, announced by the U.S. Interior Department, uses a smartphone app and real-time wildfire information to create virtual boundaries, or…
Idaho officials have announced workshops throughout the state to help telephone customers transition to a second area code and the resulting need for 10-digit dialing. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission says voluntary 10-digit dialing begins in November and mandatory 10-digit dialing starts in August 2017...
Smoke from wildfires is seriously impacting air quality in some parts of southern and central Idaho, the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare reports, including intermittently “unhealthy” and “very unhealthy” pollution levels in Idaho City and nearby communities. That’s due to the nearly 10,000-acre Pioneer…
Seventy-seven percent of Idaho residents who graduated from in-state public colleges or universities from 2010 to 2014 were employed in Idaho a year later, according to a new research report from the Idaho Department of Labor and the Office of the State Board of Education;…
1st District Congressman Raul Labrador has launched a “Conversations with the Congressman” tour that he says will hit all 19 counties in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District; he’s in Wallace at the Books Hotel this morning, and started out in McCall yesterday at Moxie Java. “My…
The Idaho Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Mark Lankford in a 33-year-old murder case, ruling that prosecutors violated Lankford’s right to a fair trial. “As this court has noted many times, the right to a fair trial before an impartial jury is…
The Idaho Lottery turned over $49.5 million in proceeds – a record – to the state this week, to be split between schools and public buildings. The amount exceeds the previous high in 2014 of $49 million. "The lottery is the purest form of voluntary...
This week, it’s the Democratic Party’s turn in the national spotlight, as the party holds its national convention in Philadelphia and nominates Hillary Clinton, the first ever female major-party presidential nominee. Idaho’s delegation to the convention includes 27 delegates and three alternates and is chaired...
Smoke is affecting air quality in Boise, as multiple wildfires burn. The Mile Marker 14 fire near Lucky Peak was declared 100 percent controlled on Monday, but a new fire, the Mile Marker 52 fire near Avimor on Highway 55, ignited on Tuesday, and as…
I’ll be off for the next few days, and will be back and blogging again next Wednesday. Let me know what I miss, and I’ll catch up then…
Both Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, and Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, came away heartened from today’s first meeting of the Legislature’s interim working group on the state’s health coverage gap. The two are co-chairing the joint committee, which is charged with bringing solutions to the problem...
The Mile Marker 14 fire, which started yesterday near Lucky Peak, is up to 4,446 acres and is burning in grass and sage in steep and rocky terrain, the BLM reports today. Highway 21 has reopened, but motorists are asked to use caution. Rocky Canyon...
A subset of Idaho’s health coverage gap population is of particular concern to the state’s Justice Reinvestment project, state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers today: Those just emerging from prison, on probation or parole. Eighty percent of that population has a diagnosable…
Rep. John VanderWoude, R-Nampa, asked state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong why the governor’s PCAP primary care proposal died last year. Amid some laughter – Armstrong was the plan’s chief architect and proponent – he told the Legislature’s joint interim working group on the...
The Legislature’s joint working group on Idaho’s health coverage gap has convened its first meeting. Co-Chair Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, talked about “the resistance that we’re having among members” in the House. “I think mistakenly or otherwise, we thought that we were talking about a pure Medicaid expansion." That was never intended, he said...
As the national GOP convention runs through its formal roll call of states to nominate Donald Trump, state Treasurer Ron Crane, who’s chairing Idaho’s delegation, made the announcement for Idaho. Here’s what he said: “My name is Ron Crane, and I’m from the state of…
Less than three weeks ago, the Table Rock fire on Boise’s eastern edge charred 1,500 acres of tinder-dry hillsides, destroyed one home and threatened hundreds more. Now, it’s happening again. The Mile Marker 14 fire was first reported near Hilltop Station this afternoon; it quickly...
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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