Idaho State Police Lt. Col. Kedrick “Ked” Wills has been named the next director of the Idaho State Police, to succeed Col. Ralph Powell when he retires July 2 after 34 years with the ISP. Gov. Butch Otter announced the decision today; Wills will be…
Gov. Butch Otter has named Russ Barron, currently deputy director of the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, to be the next director when longtime head Dick Armstrong retires June 30. Barron has been deputy director since 2014, also overseeing the divisions of welfare and...
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo has sent an op-ed piece out to Idaho newspapers urging support for legislation that he and fellow Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, along with a bipartisan group of senators, have introduced to extend the Secure Rural Schools program, which makes payments to…
Raul Labrador launched his campaign for governor of Idaho on Tuesday, declaring that he’s proven in his four terms in Congress that “I could be a leader for conservative change.” “Idahoans don’t care what your title is, or they don’t care how many terms you have served in office, what committees you are on or how many earmarks you’ve secured...
When Idaho’s legislative and executive branches face off in court on June 15, much will be at stake. First, there’s the fate of the state’s unpopular 6 percent sales tax on groceries. And then there’s the role of the courts as well as the balance of powers between Idaho’s legislative and executive branches...
Four Republican candidates are vying to be Idaho's next governor, a race that's expected to be one of the state's most competitive in 2018. According to voter participation records requested by The Associated Press, three of the candidates have a strong history of casting votes on Election Day. The fourth voted, but not as often...
Epidiolex, a drug derived from the marijuana plant that’s been tested in research involving children with a severe form of epilepsy – including two dozen children in Idaho who are receiving the drug under a “compassionate use” program – is sharply reducing violent seizures suffered…
Raul Labrador’s choice of venues for his campaign kickoff tour this week gave rise to some speculation that he had landed the support of major GOP campaign funder Frank VanderSloot, owner of Melaleuca in Idaho Falls – but he hasn’t. Labrador's Boise announcement this afternoon…
A year out from the primary election in the 2018 race for governor of Idaho, the campaign is heating up. 1st District GOP Congressman Raul Labrador, one of the hopefuls, has announced he’ll go on a three-day tour of the state to formally announce his candidacy, with stops Tuesday in Boise, Wednesday in Post Falls and Thursday in Idaho Falls...
On tonight’s “Idaho Reports” on Idaho Public Television, co-host Melissa Davlin interviews BSU professors Justin Vaughn and John Freemuth about federal issues from Craters of the Moon to the federal budget and debt ceiling; and producer Seth Ogilvie speaks with Idaho Education News reporter Kevin…
Federal officials have released a cattle grazing plan for central Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve that immediately came under fire from an environmental group. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Final Environmental Impact Statement released Friday allows cattle grazing on nearly all of the roughly 275,000 acres...
An Idaho judge has thrown out evidence against a man accused of having loads of marijuana in his car during a traffic stop. The Idaho Press-Tribune reports he evidence against 56-year-old Huu V. Tran had been thrown out this week because police "unlawfully prolonged the detention of the defendant to ask for consent to search the vehicle...
An Idaho county's taxpayers will need to cough up about $2.7 million to cover a lawsuit its officials lost against a former employee who had been fired. The Idaho Statesman reports Ada County's last-ditch effort Wednesday to not pay $664,527 of the former employee's legal fees had been denied. The former employee, Rich Wright...
People flying out of the Boise airport are increasingly bringing loaded guns with them in their purses or carry-ons, the Idaho Statesman reports, and that’s not legal. In 2016, a record 18 guns were confiscated at the Boise airport security checkpoint; this year, it’s on...
An Uzbek refugee serving 25 years behind bars for a plot to kill U.S. military personnel or civilians has been charged with stabbing the warden at the California federal prison where he was serving his sentence, prosecutors said Thursday. Fazliddin Kurbanov, 34, was indicted Wednesday on charges that included attempted murder of a federal officer.
Idaho Senate leaders from both parties have confirmed to the Idaho Supreme Court that they won’t be filing arguments in the grocery tax case, now that the court has narrowed the issues to preclude arguments about whether or not the bill was constitutional. After Gov.…
Attorneys for state Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, and 29 other lawmakers who are suing to overturn Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of legislation to repeal the state’s 6 percent sales tax on groceries, filed their reply brief with the Idaho Supreme Court today, in advance of…
Officials with the University of Idaho say they have identified 14 recommendations to improve safety and emergency response policies as part of a review of an explosion in a school parking lot that injured four students. In April, an explosion occurred when students had gathered to test a fuel system for an experimental rocket...
Raul Labrador announced today that he’ll go on a three-day tour of the state to formally announce his candidacy for governor in 2018, with stops Tuesday May 30 in Boise, Wednesday May 31 in Post Falls and Thursday, June 1 in Idaho Falls. Labrador also...
Idaho 1st District GOP Rep. Raul Labrador’s immigration enforcement crackdown bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee today on a party-line vote, with 19 Republicans supporting it and 13 Democrats opposing it. The bill would add 12,500 additional armed federal immigration officers, penalize sanctuary cities, enlist...
A free presentation of the short play “Letters from Anne and Martin,” based on excerpts from the Diary of Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letters from a Birmingham Jail, will take place at Boise State University’s Special Events Center this evening, hosted by...
Idaho lawmakers have billed state taxpayers roughly $107,000 so far this year for travel expenses accrued during the 2017 legislative session. The Associated Press obtained the information through a public records request for this year's travel reimbursements for the 105 state lawmakers...
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden today announced a $33 million multi-state settlement with Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson regarding misrepresentations in marketing drugs including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Sudafed between 2009 and 2011. Idaho will receive just over $430,000 from the...
In Idaho, the Trump budget proposal unveiled today, if enacted, would mean big hits to the state budget, from health care to education, according to an analysis by the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy. Lauren Necochea, director of the center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that…
Idaho state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra, a Republican and longtime Trump backer, ripped President Trump’s education budget proposal today, Idaho Education News reports, and invited Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to Idaho to see the potential impacts of the budget cuts firsthand. “I cannot and will…