April is National Safe Digging Month, and Avista and Papa Murphy’s have teamed up to remind you to be aware of buried utilities. Call 811 or visit www.call811.com at least two business days before you dig—it’s the law. It allows a crew to locate and mark your underground lines ahead of time.…

Everyone’s heard it, now the numbers confirm it. Gem State population saw growth in every county from 2020 to 2021, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, with those increases due to migration from other states.

BOISE – House Bill 775, a piece of legislation that would have required all Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that facilitates the resettlement of refugees to report their age, sex, and country of origin, died in the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee on Monday, March 21.

BOISE - Idaho’s legislative session wraps up on Friday, and lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives aim to get their votes out on budget bills.

GRANGEVILLE — “Education is facing many complex issues. I am not afraid of complex issues,” Debbie Critchfield told a crowd of about 25 people at Grangeville Elementary Middle School March 10.

BOISE — Idaho’s legislature recently tackled education bills regarding all-day kindergarten, higher education budgets, and some concern about indoctrination.

BOISE – “We have a long-standing American tradition of serving as a place of safe harbor in a complicated world for refugees fleeing violence and persecution,” said Rep. Lauren Neochea, in opposition to House Bill 775.

BOISE — Governor Brad Little submitted his Declaration of Candidacy on March 11 to the Idaho Secretary of State and announced his intent to run for re-election and appear on the May 17 ballot in the Republican primary.

GRANGEVILLE – Senator Carl Crabtree has officially filed for his re-election bid to represent District 7 in the Idaho State Senate. Crabtree, a Grangeville rancher, stated he brings an effective, conservative, and logical voice to the capitol.

BOISE — As Idahoans make travel plans, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) encourages drivers to prepare with the new Idaho 511. Recently, the streamlined low bandwidth Idaho 511 website, lb.511.idaho.gov, officially retired, and the transition to the newest Idaho 511 traveler informat…

BOISE – A bill to prevent Idaho officials from revealing where they obtained lethal injection drugs failed to advance out of the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee earlier this week. House Bill 658 would have provided legal protection from discovery or disclosure for those supplying and …

BOISE – This week Idaho’s Legislature brings several bills to the Senate and House floor addressing abortion, transgender youth, Tobacco 21, lethal injection supplier discretion, and criminalizing librarians who distribute explicit content to minors.

BOISE — Two House Bills were introduced to the State Affairs Committee on Wednesday, March 2, which would affect current voting procedures right before Idaho’s upcoming primary elections in May.

Do you qualify for property tax reduction?

BOISE — Wrapping up the week’s legislative work, Sen. Carl Crabtree (R, Grangeville) noted progress in several issues he is promoting, including helping early dyslexia detection, broadband infrastructure and all-day kindergarten.

BOISE – Idaho’s Senate passed S 1309 which would amend the Fetal Heartbeat Preborn Child Protection act to allow lawsuits directed against medical providers who performed an abortion considered unlawful. S 1309 states abortion is unlawful once there is a detectable heartbeat from the fetus.

BOISE – The Idaho Office of Refugees hosted their 14th annual conference, a two-day, hybrid event dedicated to the theme “Belonging Begins with Us.” This conference allows people to come together and discuss refugee resettlement as well as community building.

BOISE – House Bill 620 “protects the identity of people who have not gone through the due process yet and puts their mugshots out there before the time is right,” said Rep. Marco Erickson from District 33, when leading off the discussion on the bill.

BOISE — Idaho’s House heard two bills focusing on COVID-19 related issues, including the privacy of COVID-19 vaccination status at the work place to prevent discrimination, and prohibiting face-mask mandates throughout the state.

BOISE - The Idaho House Legislation passed House Bill 547, with 53 in favor and 15 against, after a long debate Monday morning, Feb. 21. House Bill 547, sponsored by House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, aims to stop “ballot harvesting”, a practice where an individual or group collects absentee …

BOISE — New legislation is rolling in at the Statehouse, especially from education committees, including the Senate Bill 1291, which would make changes to teacher certification qualifications.

BOISE – House Bill 658, which would allow non-disclosure protections for entities to carry out the death penalty, such as lethal injections, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee this week after making its way through the committee process.

BOSIE – The Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) has concluded budget hearings and begins setting budgets for the new fiscal year on Monday, Feb. 21.

Last Friday, Feb. 11, Idaho House Republicans passed House Bill 481, which raises the threshold for the homestead exemption to property taxes.

Good schools are an important factor parents consider when choosing where to take jobs and settle down, and pre-K education is included in those choices.

BOISE - Idaho’s Senate passes SB 1241, also known as the Circuit-breaker relief bill, that helps protect elderly, disabled, and widowed homeowners from losing their houses to rising property values.

BOISE - “It’s a really cool part of Idaho’s history that we've been able to be a place where refugees can find hope and rebuild after their own homes are no longer feasible to stay in,” said Holly Beech, Communication Specialist & Media Contact, for the Idaho Office for Refugees.

BOISE - House Bill 464, on workers compensation, was presented in front of the House Commerce & Human Resources Committee in the hopes to incorporate COVID-19 vaccination-related accidents and injuries into the Bill.

BOISE - Senate Bill 1238, addressing self-directed learning, and House Bill 443, providing State Insurance Coverage to Idaho teachers, were both approved by the Senate this week.

“The mental health stigma must end.”

BOISE – There was a lot of discussion about agricultural issues at the Idaho State Legislature this week.

Tonight is the night for the Point In Time (PIT) homeless count for 2022.

BOISE — District 7 Senator Carl Crabtree is highlighting his top priorities for the 2022 legislative session. As co-vice chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, Sen. Crabtree is highly focused on the proper utilization of tax dollars.

The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill to provide $600 million in income tax relief, Thursday, Jan. 20.

Sherri Ybarra, Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction pitched her public-school budgeting request to the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee by addressing students' learning setbacks through the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The Idaho STEM Action Center presented their agenda for the fiscal years of 2022- 2025 to the January Board Meeting by advancing innovative opportunities for educators, students, communities, and industries in order to help build a more competitive workforce and economy through Science, Tech…

BOISE — This week starts the nuts and bolts of lawmaking, but leading into this was approval of $5 billion revenue forecasts that will help direct legislatures in shaping the fiscal year 2023 state budget.

New data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in early December showed a continued rise in inflation, with consumer prices in November rising 6.8 percent above the prior year. One of the main categories driving inflation overall has been energy, where prices now are up a total of 33.…

Governor Brad Little delivered the State of the State and Budget Address to Idahoans this Monday, Jan. 10, signaling the beginning of the 2022 legislative session.

Governor Brad Little kicked off the 2022 Legislation session at the State of the State and Budget Address by wanting to put more money back in the pockets of Idahoans as well as to make strategic investments in education, broadband, maintenance, taxes and transportation.

BOISE — Rental prices throughout Idaho continue to exceed renter wages, according to the 2021 Out of Reach report released recently by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Idaho’s housing affordability challenge affects many of the state’s small towns and rural communities, forcing hou…

BOISE — The Idaho State Senate Finance Committee is undergoing changes at the leadership level.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed many stresses on low- and middle-income families, and one of the most noteworthy is housing affordability.