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Rest well, Fred
Fred Riggers passed away suddenly on April 26, according to his obituary in the Idaho Statesman. Riggers, with his white cane and wide grin, was a regular at Idaho legislative meetings. He wasn’t a lobbyist, activist, or statehouse employee — just a citizen who loved public policy and a good debate. But it wasn’t just…
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DOJ requests to weigh in on public defense
The Legislature has weighed in on the need for indigent defense reform. So has the state. Now, the federal government wants a say. On April 15, US District Attorney Wendy Olson and the Department of Justice requested to file an amicus brief on behalf of the United States in support of the ACLU’s motion to…
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Judge David C. Nye nominated to US District Court judgeship
Idaho District Judge David C. Nye has been nominated to fill the US District court judgeship in Idaho. Here’s the joint press release from Senators Crapo and Risch. Crapo, Risch Statement on Federal Judge Nominee Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch today announced that Idaho District Judge David C. Nye…
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Full interview with Attorney General Lawrence Wasden
We’ve spent a lot of time on Idaho Reports discussing feuds between Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and just about every other elected official in Idaho — the Congressional delegation, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, lawmakers. Those fights include nuclear waste clean-up and research at Idaho National Laboratory, complex water fights, and, most recently, the Idaho Education Network…
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A deconsolidation discussion with roots in Idaho history
By Melissa Davlin, Idaho Reports It takes thirty seconds to walk between the offices of Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden on the second floor of the Idaho Statehouse. But tensions between the two have widened the gulf between the offices. Fights between Wasden and Otter have provided fodder for Idaho columnists…
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A legal technicality with big IEN implications
By Seth Ogilvie, Idaho Reports From one lawmaker’s proposal to kick him off the land board to discussion of decentralizing the office to delaying his budget, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden received a less-than-warm embrace from the 2016 Legislature. Wasden called those actions a “tactic of the political ambush” in an interview with Idaho Reports.…
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What we can learn about the Ada County caucus from the last man in line
Benjamin Johnson didn’t mean to be one of the last people in line. He, like other caucus-goers, knew the doors at the Democratic caucus were supposed to close at 7 pm, so he arrived downtown close to 6 pm. By then, the Boise Center and CenturyLink Arena — the side-by-side caucus sites for Ada County…
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Some quick thoughts as we wait for Idaho results
MELISSA: We’re hanging out at the Riverside Hotel at the Boise Republican Party election night party. As polls start to close around the state and we start to hit refresh on the Secretary of State’s page, what are you watching for, Seth? SETH: The campaigns are putting up signs, the local politicians are slowly trickling…
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Trump’s Idaho page appears to plagiarize 2012 KBSX story
Former Idaho Reports associate producer Brad Iverson-Long discovered nearly all the information on Donald Trump’s Idaho page is copied and pasted from a 2012 KBSX story, with no attribution for the station or reporter Samantha Wright. (Update, 4:55 pm: The site has now added attribution and a link to Wright’s story, but has not updated…
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Two rallies, two different messages, two reporters’ thoughts
By Melissa Davlin and Seth Ogilvie Two Republican presidential candidates visited Idaho within 24 hours of each other over the weekend. There was a lot to compare and contrast, so we put together a little discussion on our thoughts. MELISSA: Over the weekend, Seth and I covered the Cruz and Rubio rallies…
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What does the tax incentive for the ISU partnership look like?
On Thursday, the State Board of Education unanimously approved a request from Idaho State University to pursue a partnership with a private osteopathic school. The proposed Idaho School of Osteopathic Medicine would be based on ISU’s Meridian campus, and would employ an estimated 90 faculty members, said Megan Ronk, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce. The school…
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First OTTERPAC filing reveals solid support in Treasure Valley
By Melissa Davlin and Seth Ogilvie Remember all the commotion over OTTERPAC? The committee’s first campaign finance report is online. Some highlights: The committee raised $44,490.43 from 19 donors in 2015, and spent $2,478.99. Of that, about half went to a graphic designer for the OTTERPAC logo (which Gov. Otter has said looks nothing…