U.S. Sen. Jim Risch introduced legislation Thursday to protect the Idaho portion of the craggy, scenic Scotchman Peaks as a federal wilderness area. The action follows a decade of grassroots efforts to gain wilderness status for the peaks northeast of Lake Pend Oreille, writes S-R…
Despite the best efforts of Idaho’s two senators, the lame-duck session of Congress is wrapping up without any confirmation votes on judges – including U.S. District judge nominee David Nye of Idaho; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. The House already had adjourned Thursday afternoon, and the Senate...
First Lady Lori Otter made two presentations to lawmakers on the Joint Millennium Fund Committee today, one as board president and interim executive director off the Idaho Meth Project, and the other as the head of “Truth 208,” a related project that seeks to prevent…
Fallout is continuing from the Idaho EdNews report earlier this week that a previously unreleased audit of Idaho teacher evaluations – which the state received in July – found 99 percent were inaccurate or incomplete. First, state Board of Education President Emma Atchley announced that…
Henry Atencio, the current deputy director, has been named the new director of Idaho’s state prison system, succeeding Kevin Kempf, who will depart Dec. 16 to head the Association of State Correctional Administrators. Atencio, a 26-year veteran of the department, will be the first Hispanic…
The latest General Fund Budget Monitor from the legislative budget office, which tracks budget implications of monthly changes in state tax revenues, puts Idaho’s forecasted year-end balance at the end of the current fiscal year at $139 million – $92 million more than the Legislature...
Idaho’s congressional delegation, in a joint news release yesterday afternoon, welcomed the announcement that Gowen Field in Boise is among five finalists for an F-35 mission that could make Boise the home of a new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter squadron, the Air Force’s next-generation fighter…
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, a member of the Senate foreign relations and intelligence committees, was adamant on CNN yesterday that he doesn’t believe Russia successfully interfered in the U.S. election in November. “It is a fact that no one can deny that the Russians attempt…
Idaho’s state tax revenues in November came in below forecast for the first time this fiscal year, off by $7 million or 3 percent, but year-to-date collections remain $28.1 million ahead of forecasts, according to the state Division of Financial Management. The monthly general fund…
The Idaho Department of Labor not only didn’t listen to a purchasing agent and longtime department employee who raised concerns about purchasing and personnel law violations in one of its divisions, a whistleblower lawsuit alleges – it fired him for sending anonymous emails to state...
Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are once again preparing to push a plan to raise hunting and fishing fees, despite previous resistance from state lawmakers who have refused to advance similar proposals. Director Virgil Moore announced earlier this week that his department has had to cut services because of a drop in funding...
Idaho state employee pay remains more than 20 percent below market rates, according to a new state report, despite the 3 percent merit raises that lawmakers granted state workers this year; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. “It was a lot of money,”...
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says he's supporting the Navy’s plans for a new waste facility for nuclear waste from warships at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho, and the plan is consistent with the 1995 agreement between Idaho and the federal government requiring…
Here’s a bit of an oddity: The Legislature’s Joint Millennium Fund Committee has scheduled a full day and a half of hearings later this week to hear from 23 groups seeking funding for next year. But the Legislature’s interim working group on the alternatives for…
Idaho’s supplemental levy tax bill for has hit an all-time record this year, Idaho EdNews reports. Property taxpayers will shell out $188.8 million in voter-approved supplemental levies in 2016-17, up from $186.6 million in 2015-16; the previous high-water mark was $188.1 million in 2013-14. Supplemental…
A 40-acre grove of cedar trees near Lake Pend Oreille could be logged next summer to generate cash for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, reports S-R reporter Becky Kramer. With western red cedar prices trending near all-time highs, Fish and Game expects to…
The Navy and U.S. Department of Energy have announced that they'll build a $1.65 billion facility at a nuclear site in eastern Idaho that will handle fuel waste from the nation's fleet of nuclear-powered warships. Officials on Tuesday said the new facility is needed at keeping nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines deployed...
An audit by an independent education research group found that 99 percent of Idaho teacher evaluations reviewed were completed incorrectly, reports Idaho Education News; the audit turned up hundreds of errors. The teacher evaluations are key to the state’s new career ladder, for which state...
Idaho’s unemployment tax rate is dropping for the second straight year, with the 2017 decrease set at 6 percent, the state Department of Labor announced this week. That drops the standard rate to 1.395 percent, down from 1.488 percent in 2016. All rate classes will…
A new building for an old carousel has risen in downtown Coeur d’Alene, but the ponies won’t be spinning until next spring, writes S-R reporter Scott Maben. The historic carnival carousel once operated at Playland Pier on the city’s lakefront, but it has sat in…
The Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline is expanding its services by adding an additional phone line for people to call in crisis. The Idaho Statesman reports that the new phone number will also accept text messages Mondays through Fridays, between 3 p.m. and midnight...
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo has again been selected by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to chair the Senate’s Committee on Committees, meaning he’ll lead negotiations about which senators get which committee assignments. This is the seventh consecutive two-year congressional term that Crapo’s been tapped for…
Nancy Baskin, longtime staff attorney for U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, has been appointed as a 4th District Court judge by Gov. Butch Otter. Baskin will succeed 4th District Judge Timothy Hansen when he retires in February. “Nancy brings to the state bench a wealth…
Idaho Department of Correction Director Kevin Kempf is resigning to take a job as the executive director of the Association of State Correctional Administrators. Kempf gave the state Board of Correction his resignation on Monday, he said in an email, calling the decision "bittersweet."
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the former prisoner of war who's accused of endangering comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan, is asking President Barack Obama to pardon him before leaving office. White House and Justice Department officials said Saturday that Bergdahl had submitted copies of the clemency request seeking leniency...
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