Idaho Matters

Warming waters and large dams make it hard for many fish species to migrate and spawn. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel looks at the impact in our region – and efforts to help threatened and endangered species.

On Friday the Idaho Shakespeare Festival will premiere the musical Ain’t Misbehavin. This Tony Award-Winning show focuses on the big band jazz music of Thomas “Fats” Waller. Our Morning Edition host George Prentice got a chance to sit down with Murray Horwitz, who created the musical.

(Courtesy Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ) As summer approaches and we all start to make plans for our favorite outdoor activities, there’s one more thing we should be preparing for and that's wildfires. Protecting your health through the smoky months can be a lifesaver and that's why each year the Northwest Air Quality Communicators Group hosts a Smoke Ready Week during June. This week wi...

Hibernating Myotis bat (Rita Dixon / Idaho Fish and Game) Idaho Fish and Game reports six bats have been found with a nasty fungus in a cave in the eastern part of the state . The fungus can lead to White-nose syndrome , a deadly disease that has killed millions of bats in North America over the last 16 years. This is the first time the fungus has been found in Idaho , though it has been found in...

(Umami / Flickr) There is one thing that everyone has in common, we’re all going to die sometime. The other thing that most of us have in common is that it’s not a comfortable topic to talk about. Death Cafes were invented to help people talk about all the aspects of death. It's a gathering of people, usually strangers, who drink a cup of tea, eat a piece of cake and bring up anything about death...

A classroom of empty chairs and desks. (Emory Maiden / Flickr) A teacher shortage , changes in the housing market , banned books in Nampa and an investigation into an incident at the ExtraMile Arena . It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week. Our journalist panel today: Kevin Richert, se...

Nancy Martini gives a tour of her saddle making workshop, Challis, ID, October 6, 2021 (Arlie Sommer/Photo by Arlie Sommer for Expres / Arlie Sommer) Saddle-maker Nancy Martiny is known for her detailed flower leather carvings. She ranches and builds saddles at her home in the high mountain desert of the Pahsimeroi Valley, near May, Idaho. In 2021, she received the Idaho governor’s award in the ar...

A classroom of empty chairs and desks. (Emory Maiden / Flickr) A teacher shortage , changes in the housing market , banned books in Nampa and an investigation into an incident at the ExtraMile Arena . It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week. Our journalist panel today: Kevin Richert, se...

( Idaho Statesman) According to the Idaho Alliance for Ukrainian Immigrants and Refugees Idaho is now home to nearly 200 Ukrainians who have been displaced by the war. Despite this new safety many families do not have access to resources normally offered to refugees. This has significantly limited the help they are able to receive for things like transportation, housing and education. However, a n...

Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region. Major Storage Reservoirs in the Boise & Payette River Basins...also known informally as the "Teacup" map. ( Bureau of Reclamation) Idaho remains in a drought, despite all the wet, cold weather this spring. So, we’re taking a look at our water supply , how recent storms have made a difference in drought conditions and whether we’ll have enough wa...

Another snap from New York City. This is Broadway and 54th near Colbert Studios. (Shutter Runner / Flickr) Our resident movie critic, George Prentice takes us down memory lane, looking back at some of his favorite moments at the Tony's and how the award show saved Broadway.

( Catherine Slaughter) Last fall , we told you about the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve Stem Network , which uses a grant from NASA to support stem engagement in the Gem State. As part of that outreach, Idaho's Central Dark Sky Reserve will host the first astronomer-in-residence, starting this month. Catherine Slaughter is a proto-astrophysicist who is coming to the reserve next week and she joine...

(Tim Reckmann / Flickr) While test positivity rates for COVID-19 have been going up in Idaho, including the eastern part of the state, Idaho Public Television reports that hospitals appear to be handling the surge. It’s hard to know how many people have been getting COVID lately since at-home rapid tests are not counted by most public health districts and are often not reported to any agency. Howe...

State Hospital South in Blackfoot, Idaho. ( Madelyn Beck / Mountain West News Bureau) The pandemic has wreaked havoc in many nursing homes and prisons. State psychiatric hospitals say they controlled COVID-19 a lot better, though there are some notable exceptions . Mountain West News Bureau reporter, Madelyn Beck, joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

The theme of the 25th annual Sun Valley Wellness Festival is “Coming Home” and the festival returns in person this year to explore our social health, well-being and how they define our collective wellness. The keynote speaker is Dr. Rick Doblin, Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. He sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to...

What just happened to Boise's hot housing market? That’s the headline from a recent Idaho Statesman story about how Boise's crazy market for homes may, perhaps be slowing down. We wanted to know more so we asked Paul Schwedelson, the growth and development reporter at the Idaho Statesman.

(Michael Kappel / Flickr) Yesterday gas in Idaho was $4.90 cents a gallon, on average, and $5 dollars is rapidly approaching. The cost of gas in the Gem State went up 18 cents over the last week, 43 cents over the last month and stands at $1.62 more than one year ago. Matthew Conde, the Public and Government Affairs Director of AAA Idaho, Joined Idaho Matters to talk more about increasing gas pric...

A vicuna family unit grazing in Pampa Galeras, Puru, 2009. (Emily Wakild) In the last 500 years, more than 1,000 animals and plants have gone extinct. Many scientists say we’re in earth’s sixth mass extinction. Many species, such as the passenger pigeon, can no longer be found on our planet and more are on the brink of going extinct every day. Two researchers wanted to know what lessons could be l...

America is waiting for a much-anticipated ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the future of Roe v. Wade and soon the Idaho Supreme Court will hear arguments on an Idaho abortion law. The head of Idaho’s Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates says she’s furious and she’s not backing down when it comes to abortion. She sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the current...

In 1972 a group of concerned citizens gathered together to form a group, whose goal was to preserve the architectural heritage of Boise from bulldozers. For the past 50 years, Preservation Idaho has worked to save the state’s historic character, while adapting to population growth, and changes in how we have approached historic preservation over time. Joining Idaho Matters to talk about its 50th a...

File photo (Denali National Park and Preserve) Last month, two wolves spooked a herd of sheep in the Boise foothills. The frightened sheep jumped into a deep gully to try and escape the wolves, piled on top of each other in the gully and 143 of them died. This incident has sparked a new conversation about wolves and livestock in Idaho. However, a group of kids from Timberline High School have been...

( Creative Commons CC0) According to the National Council on Aging , one in ten Americans 60 and over experience some form of elder abuse. This issue affects nearly five million people each year, yet statistics on elder abuse are often limited and underreported. This month the Nampa Family Justice Center is hosting a walk to help raise awareness of elder abuse. Joining Idaho Matters today to talk...

(Will Hastings / Flickr) We had some big news this week, including an update on a lawsuit against one of Idaho’s abortion laws , the results of the May election are certified …but that doesn’t mean it’s all over , we look at a war over wineries and the contraversy over ESG investing makes a comeback - it’s Friday - which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to...

With the final observation of the distant galaxy cluster Abell 370 — some five billion light-years away — the Frontier Fields program came to an end. Abell 370 is one of the very first galaxy clusters in which astronomers observed the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, the warping of spacetime by the cluster’s gravitational field that distorts the light from galaxies lying far behind it. This ma...

(Troy Maben / AP Photo) After 13 years with the Idaho Senate, Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D-Ketchum) will be retiring. She sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about her decision to step away from the legislature , the experiences that brought her to where she is now and how grateful she is to have served in the Idaho Statehouse.