It’s been four decades since the Equal Rights Amendment fell three states short of the 38 needed for ratification to amend the U.S. Constitution, but the amendment is back in the news. In 2017, Nevada ratified the measure to guarantee equal rights for women. In 2018, Illinois did the same. A…
A highly anticipated $450 million project to extend Highway 16, a major north-south connector in the Treasure Valley, may not get finished for another 20 years unless the state finds additional funding, writes Idaho Press reporter Erin Bamer. The Idaho Transportation Department is planning t…
The small nuclear reactors NuScale Power plans to build at the U.S. Department of Energy desert site west of Idaho Falls have cleared another regulatory hurdle, writes Post Register reporter Nathan Brown. NuScale’s plans for the small modular reactors recently completed Phase 4 of their revi…
Agriculture experts working in industries throughout Idaho presented a varied outlook on the state’s agriculture Thursday at the University of Idaho Extension’s Idaho Ag Outlook Seminar. writes Idaho Press reporter Rachel Spacek. The speakers were wary about a potential recession in 2020 and…
In a sharply worded ruling today, 4th District Judge Deborah Bail ruled in favor of the Idaho Press Club in its public records lawsuit against Ada County, finding that the county improperly withheld public records that Idaho reporters requested under the Idaho Public Records Act. "The Court …
Idaho Gov. Brad Little this week proclaimed Dec. 9 to 13 to be Computer Science Education Week in Idaho, before coding alongside students at Garfield Elementary. The governor visited the Boise school during its Hour of Code celebration.
Patrick Soulliere, an executive at Micron, will challenge Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, in next year’s election for District 20, Seat A, in the Idaho House of Representatives, writes Idaho Press reporter Ryan Suppe. On Thursday, Soulliere announced his candidacy for a position Palmer has held…
A Caldwell man's protest of his homeowners association is drawing complaints from neighbors and community members. Two Nazis flags have been hung out front of the house in north Caldwell, and a van parked in the house's driveway was covered in paper, with the words “HOAs are Nazis” and “don’…
Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, who authored a letter to new BSU President Marlene Tromp over the summer that was sharply critical of the university's diversity and inclusion programs, today issued a statement praising Tromp, the state Board of Education and other Idaho university presid…
Idaho's four public college and university presidents came together today to announce that they'll freeze undergraduate, in-state tuition and fees for next year at this year's level -- the first such statewide freeze in 43 years.
On the final day of filing for Idaho’s March 10 presidential primary yesterday, Idaho’s ballot picked up one more Republican (Joe Walsh), one more Constitution Party hopeful (Sheila “Samm” Tittle), and one more Democratic hopeful (Steve Burke), while two Democratic candidates, Kamala Harris …
Major immigration legislation dealing with the nation’s farm workforce that Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson has championed passed the House late Wednesday on a bipartisan, 260-165 vote. “We’re here today addressing agriculture’s No. 1 issue, their No. 1 issue, and that’s their labor force,” Simp…
The Hill reports today that Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo blocked consideration in the Senate on Tuesday of legislation meant to prevent Russia and other countries from interfering in elections. Crapo's move came after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., asked for consent to pass the Defending Elections f…
Idaho prison officials have changed their administrative rules to ensure secrecy surrounding the source of the state's lethal injection drugs, the AP reports, even as a court case over the issue is pending at the Idaho Supreme Court. The rule updated earlier this year forbids the Idaho Department of Correction from disclosing...
Former Vice President Joe Biden and author Marianne Williamson both filed for the Idaho presidential primary ballot on Tuesday, bringing the total number running on the Democratic ticket in Idaho to a whopping 18.
Idaho House Democrats held leadership elections today, and Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, was elected minority leader, while Rep. John McCrostie, D-Garden City, was elected assistant leader. Rubel, who had been assistant minority leader, replaces Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, who resigned from th…
After two articles of impeachment were introduced in the House Judiciary Committee today against President Donald Trump, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, we asked Idaho’s congressional delegation for their reactions. Here are their responses:
States need to work together to stop the spread of invasive species, Western governors say. The Western Governors' Association on Friday launched the Western Invasive Species Council, the AP reports, and named representatives from 13 states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands...
A popular sledding hill near Idaho City will be closed this winter, the Idaho Department of Lands announced today, for two reasons: 1) the foundation that operated it through a permit ran out of funding; and 2) when IDL allowed the hill to be open without an on-site operator last year, peopl…
The former chairman of the Idaho Republican Party on Monday left an Ada County courtroom in handcuffs after being sentenced to 14 days in jail and then five years of probation, following a guilty plea earlier this year to first-degree stalking and unlawful entry in two separate incidents, wr…
A biennial state survey of Idaho youth shows fewer teens say they are being bullied, smoking cigarettes or having sex, but the number of kids who have seriously considered suicide remains at a 10-year high, the AP reports. The State Department of Education released the 2019 Idaho Youth Risk Behavior Survey...
At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, a giant sugar beet will descend from the sky on the Rupert Square as part of the city’s newest community holiday party, writes Times-News reporter Laurie Welch. The giant beet is under construction and will be dropped by a crane on Dec. 31 to ring…
After three studies by the state’s Office of Performance Evaluations highlighted major problems in the states’ child protection system, lawmakers in 2018 enacted significant reforms, including creating citizen-review panels in each of the state’s seven health districts to review all child pr…
When Michael Orr and his family planned to move back to California roughly five years ago, he drove until he found where it felt like home. He, his wife and son ended up in Paradise, Calif., writes Idaho Press reporter Emily Lowe. Last year, all of their belongings were destroyed in the dead…
Parents traveling through Boise Airport have a new vending machine just for them, writes Idaho Press reporter Margaret Carmel. Located next to the food court, a special vending machine installed by Wild Hare Vending sells products specifically for parents with children under 5 years old.
As one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, Idaho faces the challenge of how to keep up with its population growth yet also protect its farmers and farmland, writes Idaho Press reporter Rachel Spacek. Idaho’s total farmland acreage is decreasing, according to the 2017 Census of Agric…
Idaho 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson has joined three of his colleagues in forming a task force to keep minor league baseball in small markets such as Idaho Falls, writes Post Register reporter Nathan Brown. Simpson, Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass.; David McKinley, R-W.V.; and Max Rose, D-…
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation delegates reaffirmed their support for industrial hemp during the origination's 80th annual meeting Dec. 3-5 in Coeur d'Alene, writes Idaho Press reporter Rachel Spacek. The bureau has been supportive of industrial hemp production for more than two decades.
A lawsuit attempting to oust Idaho's treasurer from the first floor of the Idaho State Capitol can move forward, a 4th District judge has ruled. Judge Nancy Baskin denied a motion from state Treasurer Julie Ellsworth to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her by House Speaker Scott Bedke and Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill, writes Idaho Press reporter Tommy Simmons...
November state tax revenues came in 4.8% — 12.5 million — ahead of the revised forecasts; that brings collections for the fiscal year to date to 1.1% above forecasts. Each category of state revenue — individual income taxes, sales taxes, corporate income tax, product taxes, and miscellaneous…
The third supercomputer arrived at Idaho National Laboratory’s Collaborative Computing Center this week, writes Post Register reporter Nathan Brown; the $19.2 million system, with almost 100,000 processors, is named Sawtooth after the Idaho mountain range. It ranks 37th on the 2019 Top 500 f…
Two inmates who walked away from the Idaho Department of Correction’s South Boise Women’s Correctional Center near Kuna Wednesday evening are back in custody. At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Kesha Kandler, 22, of Caldwell and Whitney Wickwire, 19, of Missoula, Montana, were reported missing from the…
A Boise telemarketer has been permanently banned from the telemarketing industry in Idaho after repeatedly making hundreds telephone solicitations without registering with the Idaho Attorney General, and falsely implying that the calls were affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Idaho Public Charter School Commission Director Tamara Baysinger will resign at the end of the month, writes Idaho Education News reporter Devin Bodkin. “It has been an honor to serve alongside so many fine people over many years,” Baysinger wrote in an email to charter school leaders across…
The University of North Dakota on Tuesday selected Andrew Armacost, the dean of students and chief academic officer for the U.S. Air Force Academy, to be its next president, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports. Former University of Idaho President Chuck Staben was among six finalists being…
The University of Idaho is planning to make its 1% budget cut in the current year — which Gov. Brad Little has asked all state agencies except K-12 public schools to do — through voluntary staff furloughs, the Lewiston Tribune reports. The savings target is $1 million. “While volunteering fo…
A bipartisan legislative committee voted Thursday to endorse reforms to Idaho’s occupational licensing laws designed to ease them, including:
After a six-month search, Gov. Brad Little has an eighth member of the State Board of Education: Boise businessman Kurt Liebich, writes Idaho EdNews reporter Kevin Richert. Little announced the appointment to the influential and far-reaching policymaking board Thursday, saying his new appoin…
Hundreds of Idaho Power customers who installed solar panels at their homes are protesting the company's proposal to cut their reimbursements in half for the power they generate, writes Idaho Press reporter Thomas Plank. In a hot and packed room Tuesday night, more than 100 people spoke out …
Wow, that was quite a news day! Good thing I got cleared yesterday to type with both hands (after my shoulder surgery), or this would’ve been impossible. Here are links to my full stories on House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding’s resignation from the Legislature, and the related House Dem lea…
