Idaho State Police on Monday released its 2019 legislative report on sexual assault kit tracking and the agency’s progress in testing all new and previously unsubmitted kits in the state, writes Idaho Press reporter Olivia Heersink. Matthew Gamette, director of ISP’s Forensic Services, said …
Former University of Idaho athlete Mairin Jameson has settled her lawsuit against the school over its mishandling of a 2013 sexual assault complaint, and now will work alongside new UI athletic director Terry Gawlik to “further improve the culture” within the institution’s athletic departmen…
At her first budget hearing in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee today, new Boise State University President Marlene Tromp was asked about the impact of the governor’s 2% base budget reduction on the fast-growing university. “It’s never easy to face a budget cut,” she responded, “bu…
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning voted to approve legislation to carry out the governor’s recommendation to increase the cap on the state’s main rainy-day savings account, the Budget Stabilization Fund, from 10% of general fund revenues to 15%; and to transfer $20 million from the state general fund this year...
The director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on Thursday said there are an estimated 1,000 wolves in Idaho, the AP reports. Ed Schriever told the House Resources and Conservation Committee that the estimate made public for the first time is the first wolf population estimate in Idaho since 2015...
Police chiefs from across the state of Idaho joined with insurance interests, motorcycle groups, Sen. Chuck Winder and more today to back a new statewide handsfree law for drivers. The Senate Transportation Committee voted unanimously to introduce the bill, which was proposed by United Herit…
Legislative budget writers this morning reviewed proposed legislation from their co-chair, Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, to carry out the governor’s recommendation to increase the cap on the state’s main rainy-day savings account, the Budget Stabilization Fund, from 10% of general fund reven…
As state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra finished a fast-paced, detail-packed presentation to JFAC this morning that included lots of quotes from local district officials about what’s happening on the ground in Idaho schools, Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, JFAC co-chair, said, “Thank you…
State schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra said there were some “sobering findings” from the latest Idaho Youth Risk Behavior Survey, that the state Department of Education conducts every two years, conducted last spring. “Thirty-nine percent of students reported feeling sad and hopeless,” s…
“The investments you have made on behalf of Idaho’s citizens are making a difference for our students,” Idaho state Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra told the Legislature’s joint budget committee this morning. As she travels to schools around the state, she said, “I’m incred…
This morning in the Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra is up for the annual budget hearing on Idaho's K-12 public schools, the largest single piece of Idaho's state general fund budget. Ybarra is requesting almost $2 billion from …
More than a thousand Idaho inmates could be moved within months to a now-shuttered private prison in eastern Colorado, writes Idaho Press reporter Tommy Simmons, if the state corrections department enters into a new contract, as approved on Wednesday in a bid to alleviate prison and jail ove…
Boise State University has filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference over the league’s plans to end the school’s bonus money from future TV contracts, write Idaho Press reporters B.J. Rains and Tommy Simmons. However, both parties hope to reach a resolution outside of court, accor…
For the fourth year out of the last five, Idaho lawmakers held a divisive hearing into the state’s school science standards on Wednesday, with more than two dozen people testifying, the majority of them favoring the standards. The House Education Committee didn’t vote on the standards at the…
The College of Western Idaho already serves more than 30,000 students, from high school students taking dual-credit classes to full- and part-time students pursuing an associate’s degree, writes Idaho Education News reporter Kevin Richert. But CWI President Bert Glandon painted a picture Wed…
Emergency legislation was introduced on a party-line vote in the Senate Resources Committee this afternoon to allow any Idahoan with a hunting license and a wolf tag to shoot wolves year-round in designated “wolf-free zones” in the state.
Using an infusion of one-time taxpayer money, the state provided an additional 2,300 college scholarships this year. Now, it’s “imperative” that the Legislature fully and permanently fund the scholarship, State Board of Education Executive Director Matt Freeman told lawmakers this morning, w…
Four bills that would make big changes to sales and property taxes in Idaho were introduced this morning, writes Post Register report Nathan Brown, including one to impose a statewide freeze on property taxes and another to increase the grocery tax credit...
Gov. Brad Little this morning announced he's issued an executive order guaranteeing eight weeks of paid parental leave for state employees in the executive branch. That's a major change in policy for the state, which previously offered no paid parental leave other than use of existing sick l…
The hearing on science standards has now adjourned, even as a woman in the audience begged for a chance to speak, saying she'd signed up and had prepared remarks. Rep. Ryan Kerby said the committee won't meet tomorrow, but will meet on Friday. In all, 25 people testfied, 15 of them in favor …
Among those speaking in continuing testimony on school science standards at this morning’s hearing: Carrie Andelin said common core is teaching her kids that “George Washington is a bigot.” Jay Larsen of the Idaho Technology Council spoke in support of science standards and said they “help i…
Michelle VanBeek said graduating students with science and STEM skills is important to their success and the success of Idaho’s economy. “If we want to graduate Idaho students who are actual contributors to society, then we need to teach them to think, reason, take stances … and demonstrate …
Eric Theis, a high school physics teacher, talked about the physics behind the movement of the planets, the sun and moon, and how alignment results in an eclipse. When education is in alignment, he said, that means all 5th graders learn the same, though “not in the same way.” As a high schoo…
Janae Wilkerson of the Idaho Freedom Foundation read a letter from Rigby Mayor Jason Richardson, a teacher who said he objects to common core standards and found himself just teaching to a test. “We bend to the form just to have a better shot at passing the test,” Wilkerson read. Richardson …
Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, a member of the committee, was the lead-off speaker against school science standards today. “I’ve been a lifelong educator before I was a legislator. .. I was a science teacher.” Moon said. “What I want to talk about today is that science is not political scienc…
“There will be four presenters that we’ve identified as pro and con for the science standards,” House Education Chairman Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, announced this morning. “And they will each be given 5 minutes. After they’ve completed, we’re going to take a quick 5-minute break. After that, …
It hasn't started yet, but there's already an overflow crowd for this morning's House Education Committee hearing on school science standards; seats in the committee's regular meeting room are full, and an overflow room has been set up in the State Affairs meeting room, EW 40.
It's a busy, busy day at the Statehouse today, with the House Education Committee holding its hearing on school science standards; House GOP leaders introducing major tax legislation, including a bill from Speaker Scott Bedke on the grocery tax credit and a proposal from Majority Leader Mike…
Growing hemp would be legal in Idaho under proposed legislation introduced Tuesday, the AP reports. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to clear the way for a hearing on the bill brought forward by Republican Rep. Dorothy Moon. The legislation aims to align state law with federal law...
Three years into an ambitious 10-year plan to reduce Idaho’s physician shortage by increasing residencies for newly trained doctors in the state, Idaho’s risen from 49th in the nation for primary care doctors per capita to 45th. And for the number of graduate medical residents per capita, th…
Bond elections that fail wouldn’t be allowed before voters again for a minimum of 11 months under proposed legislation introduced Tuesday, the AP reports. The House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce the legislation brought forward by Republican Rep. Heather Scott, clearing the way for a full hearing...
Cynthia Pemberton, president of Lewis-Clark State College, donned an LC-logo hard hat at the beginning of her budget presentation to lawmakers this morning, as she highlighted the construction of a new career-technical education center in Lewiston that’s a joint project of LCSC, the state, t…
A “home run team” of college and university presidents offered lawmakers a positive and unified picture of the benefits of higher education Monday. Then the discussion shifted to the governor’s 2021 budget recommendation, and the picture changed markedly, writes Lewiston Tribune reporter Bill Spence. In a first-of-its-kind session, Idaho’s eight public college...
At Idaho State University, President Kevin Satterlee told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning, almost 90% of the students are from Idaho and almost a quarter are first-generation college students. “This is their shot,” Satterlee said. “This is their one opportunity. This …
Legislation granting an emergency water right when crews are trying to clean up spills in Idaho waterways headed to lawmakers in the House on Monday, the AP reports. The Senate voted 35-0 to approve the legislation that the state Department of Environmental Quality said is needed...
Growth should pay for growth, Rep. Scott Syme, R-Caldwell, said Monday, as he pitched a new proposal to charge a $100 fee on all vehicles newly registered to drive on Idaho roads. The fee wouldn’t apply to existing vehicles, or to anyone who replaces a vehicle and transfers the registration …
The House Transportation Committee this afternoon introduced a concurrent resolution from Rep. Scott Syme, R-Caldwell, and sent it directly to the full House without a hearing – to honor the historic nature of “Chicken Dinner Road” in Caldwell and declare that the Legislature considers the n…
Voters will have about two weeks to choose a political party if they want to vote in Idaho's Democratic and Republican presidential primaries in March following action by a House panel on Monday, the AP reports. The State Affairs Committee sent to the full House legislation that will take effect immediately should it pass as expected and be signed into law by Republican Gov. Brad Little in roughly two weeks...
Gov. Brad Little today signed a proclamation recognizing the 125th anniversary of Idaho’s Jewish community, first established in 1895 by Moses Alexander, who later became mayor of Boise and then governor of Idaho. “In the years since, the Jewish men and women of Idaho have contributed to the…
In her keynote speech at today’s official Idaho state commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, Boise State University President Marlene Tromp focused on King’s concept of “beloved community.” She said she has seen beloved community in action since her arrival in Idaho,…
