Sen. Larry Craig and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter had a “lengthy” phone conversation today, according to Otter’s office, and Otter’s not saying much more than that. Last week, Otter finished interviewing more than two dozen candidates to replace Craig should Craig resign from the Senate,…
The other three members of Idaho’s all-Republican congressional delegation all have issued statements supporting Sen. Larry Craig in his decision to remain in office rather than resign. Here are their statements:Sen. Mike Crapo: “Senator Craig has the right to pursue his legal options as does…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has just issued this statement:"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options."I will continue to serve Idaho in…
Democrat Larry LaRocco, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat now held by GOP Sen. Larry Craig, today called on the 29 Idahoans whom Gov. Butch Otter has identified as wanting an appointment to Craig’s seat to declare their candidacy and start reaching out…
A Minnesota judge has denied Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges in a restroom sex-solicitation sting.Hennepin County District Judge Charles A. Porter also denied prosecutors’ bid to block arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union in support of…
Just as Gov. Butch Otter has been speaking out this week in favor of nuclear power, comes the announcement that Dr. Helen Caldicott, co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and author of “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer,” is coming to speak in Boise. It’s…
With a rapt audience of nearly two dozen lobbyists listening closely, a legislative interim committee made history this week – recommending repeal of four existing tax breaks and re-evaluation of a long list of others. A similar committee spent months studying the same issues four…
Wondering which tax breaks are on the chopping block? The four that the legislative interim committee on tax exemptions voted to recommend repealing are: The Investment Tax Credit ($41 million a year); the sales tax exemption for broadcast equipment and supplies ($2.575 million a year);…
It’s long been known that Idaho’s state employee pay lags far below the private sector for similar jobs, but that the state’s benefits are better. Many state workers could make far more in the private sector, but stay on because of a public service commitment…
The idea that investments from Idaho’s state retirement fund are helping support genocide in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region is so repugnant to many members of the state’s 118,000-member retirement system that they’ve been calling for change. As a result, PERSI is setting up a new…
If you read through the transcript of Sen. Larry Craig’s Minnesota court hearing, one thing stands out: Judge Charles Porter doesn’t appear to be buying Craig’s attorneys’ arguments at all. That news was somewhat eclipsed on Wednesday by the Idaho senator's startling announcement that afternoon…
Greg Smith, an Idaho pollster and political consultant who once served as Craig’s regional director, said, “He technically is not breaking his word, but it is kind of strange that Sept. 30 will have come and gone and he’s going to stay put. I’m a…
Idaho Senator Larry Craig just issued the following statement, in response to today’s legal proceedings in Minnesota: "Today was a major step in the legal effort to clear my name. The court has not issued a ruling on my motion to withdraw my guilty plea.…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s hearing in a Minnesota courtroom has wrapped up after about 45 minutes of arguments from attorneys on both sides. At the close of the hearing, Judge Charles Porter indicated that he won’t have a decision until the end of next week…
Boise State University political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby, who has observed Idaho Sen. Larry Craig since both were students at the University of Idaho in the 1960s, said this week that that the court hearing taking place in Minnesota today may not be what really…
General Wesley Clark, retired four-star general and former commander of allied forces in Kosovo, has endorsed Idaho’s Larry LaRocco for the U.S. Senate. Clark, who was briefly a Democratic candidate for president in 2004, said today, “Larry’s campaign of working in jobs all across Idaho…
For all those who’ve been talking about how climate change has contributed to more devastating wildfires – the topic of a Senate committee hearing yesterday – Idaho Sen. Larry Craig put out a press release late yesterday offering the opposite argument. “As a member of…
Prosecutors in Minnesota say Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is seeking special treatment by trying to withdraw his guilty plea in a sex solicitation sting, and “playing games” with the state’s court system by first pleading guilty, then trying to withdraw the plea because of political…
Not only did Minnesota prosecutors file objections yesterday to the ACLU of Minnesota’s brief in support of Sen. Larry Craig, they also went into great detail about the restroom sex solicitation sting that ensnared the senator and exactly what he’s accused of doing. The sting,…
For 2008, Idaho’s maximum homeowner’s exemption from property taxes will rise to $100,938, from the current $89,325, the state Tax Commission announced today. The homeowner’s exemption exempts from tax 50 percent of the value of a homeowner’s primary residence, up to a maximum set by…
District Judge Charles Porter in Hennepin County, Minnesota, has ruled in favor of allowing the ACLU of Minnesota’s arguments to be considered in the case of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. The ACLU argues that the restroom sex solicitation sting that ensnared Craig at the Minneapolis-St.…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is back at work in Washington, D.C. today, for the first time since news broke in late August of his June arrest and guilty plea in a bathroom sex solicitation sting. “He needed to be back there to represent Idaho’s interests…
Sen. Larry Craig’s lead attorney, Billy Martin, has issued this statement on behalf of his defense team:“We welcome the ACLU’s filing today and their involvement in this case. We have argued to the court that the facts which Senator Craig admits happened on that day…
With funding for the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, due to expire at the end of September if Congress doesn’t act to reauthorize it, calls have been coming from around the state – including from GOP Gov. Butch Otter – for Idaho’s…
OK, this is just weird. Gov. Butch Otter today released a list as long as my arm of names of people “who so far have expressed an interest in being appointed to the U.S. Senate if a vacancy occurs with the resignation of Senator Larry…
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