Idaho Matters

(Boise State Public Radio) For 180 years, the  Society of St. Vincent de Paul  has worked with low income and homeless people across the country, trying to provide avenues to head off homelessness before it occurs. Nearly 700 people volunteer with  St. Vincent de Paul Southwest Idaho  to serve tens of thousands of Idahoans. We talk with executive director Ralph May about the society's service and...

(Boise State University/Patrick Sweeny) The  Boise State Geophysics Club  is taking part in a truly unusual school activity: They are looking for dead bodies. Dead prisoners, to be exact, 55 buried on the grounds of the  Old Idaho Penitentiary .  Idaho Matters  talks with Amber Beierle, Historic Sites Administrator with the Idaho State Historical Society and Dylan Mikesell, a Boise State geoscienc...

(Idaho Statesman) Last summer, cities throughout Idaho and the nation saw people protesting the Trump administration's immigration policies. In April, Ryan Devereaux, reporting for The Intercept, wrote about a private cyber security company in Virginia gleaned data from social media about protests in more than 600 cities and gave the information to the Department of Homeland Security.  This includ...

(credits: invasivespecies.idaho.gov) Summer is approaching and owners of boats of all types are preparing to go on the water. This is perfect for zebra and quagga mussels , bivalves that travel between bodies of water by adhering to boat hulls. Idaho Matters  talks with Nick Zurfluh, Invasive Species Section Manager with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, about why these invasive species a...

(www.makingsense-film.com) Two Idaho filmmakers sought to make a film that bridges the divide between the way people with disabilities are portrayed in film and who they are in real life. Gregory Bayne and Doug Cole created  Making Sense ,  a film that moves actors with disabilities into starring roles. We talk with Bayne about this film and using the senses to explore the fears and triumphs that...

(visitidaho.org) Epic Idaho is a video series showcasing all the Gem State has to offer - from hiking the Cascade Mountains to dining in BoDo, filmmakers Jonathan Conti and Chad Case captured the essence of Idaho for the state's Visit Idaho! campaign. Idaho Matters talks with Conti and Case about filming the series. Episode 1 of Epic Idaho. (visitidaho.org)

(Rick Ardinger/Courtesy of Red House Records) Boise-born  Rosalie Sorrels  made a name for herself on the folk singer circuit of the late 1950s. Her first major gig was at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival and she has been featured on more than 30 albums. Sorrels passed away in 2017 and today, Rosalie's son, Kevin, is  crowdsourcing funds  to put on The First Rosalie Sorrels Annual Memorial Festival....

(U.S. Pacific Fleet / Flickr) Bariatric surgery allows people to lose weight by altering the size and shape of their stomach. On Tuesday's  Idaho Matters , we talk to  St. Luke's bariatric  surgeon, Dr. Robert Korn and patients Andrea Dadsetan and Cody Morrison.

(Idaho State Police) A Colorado company is fighting  drug trafficking charges in Idaho  after one of its drivers was caught transporting nearly 7,000 pounds of non-pyschoactive hemp. A petition is currently making the rounds to drop the charges against the shipping company and the driver of the truck.  Idaho Matters  looks into this case and efforts to absolve some of the players with Idaho State...

(boise co-op) The  Boise Co-Op  has hired Chef Jin Yang to serve as its culinary director. Yang comes from Portland with nearly 10 years experience as a corporate executive chef, a 2015 Portland Iron Chef win and the distinction of being named one of  the country's most sustainable chefs . Jin Yang joins  Idaho Matters  to talk about upcoming food trends and what we can expect to see at the Boise...

(images: Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau) The  Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau  would like to increase the number of visitors to the City of Trees this summer.  Idaho Matters  speaks with Carrie Westergard, executive director of the Bureau about the difference between courting visitors and attracting residents. 

In each year since 2007, the  Davis Project for Peace  awards funds to college students around the world who propose "peace projects" that facilitate education, clean resources, agricultural assistance and medical aid for developing communities. Students from the College of Idaho have won this honor 12 years in a row. This year's recipient is  Anniella Kabitso , who will be returning to her home c...

(Emilie Ritter Saunders / Boise State Public Radio) Shingles are painful rashes that can be accompanied by fevers, headaches and nausea. It is virally transmitted with the chicken pox virus and can lie dormant in the body for years. The latest CDC-approved  shingles vaccine is in short supply  throughout the nation and on Idaho Matters , we speak with Laura McGeorge, a doctor of internal medicine...

(Teton High/Facebook) Host Gemma Gaudette leads a round table discussion of the week's headlines with the region's top journalists. Melissa Davlin of  IPTV 's  Idaho Reports  about the state's maternal mortality rate and the re-naming of two city parks in Boise. Rebecca Boone of the  Associated Press  joins the roundtable to parse out Idaho's new abortion reporting requirements and a lawsuit invol...

(Disney/Marvel Studios/Disney/Disney) Boise Weekly  film critic George Prentice  joins  Idaho Matters  to talk about this summer's fare at the movie theater and how the Disney juggernaut is dominating in both the theater and online. The Lion King Aladdin Toy Story 4

(Vic Brincat/flickr) Idaho ranks behind only Florida in the number of child drownings.  Idaho Matters  talks with West Valley Medical Center 's medical director and Lifeguards Without Borders executive director, Dr. Justin Sempsrott, about the importance of swim lessons, making your backyard pool safe and enjoying Idaho's rivers, lakes and ponds safely.

(Jim Goodson, M.P.H./Wikimedia) Measles outbreaks are popping up all over the country and they could have all been avoided with childhood vaccines.  Idaho Matters  looks at why this is happening with St. Luke's pediatrician Dr. Alicia Lachiondo.

(Dllu/wikimedia) Idaho Statesman reporter Kate Talerico recently uncovered the ways in which  Airbnb is squeezing  the rental market in the Treasure Valley. Talerico joins  Idaho Matters  on Thursday with local renter Brittany O'Meara to parse out the ways the online homestay industry is creating havoc for renters.

(Amherst College) The  City of Boise's Fettucine Forum  is bringing Amherst College associate professor  Robert Hayashi  to city council chambers on Tuesday, May 9 to talk about the Asian American civil rights movement and how it grew from oppressive immigration policies from the turn of the 20th Century and the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

(Valley Regional Transit) Valley Regional Transit  is unveiling a mobile app that allows people to purchase bus tickets anytime, anywhere. This is one of the many programs launching this month as VRT begins " May in Motion ." We talk with VRT Principal Planner Stephan Hunt and Kaite Justice, Program Director with the Downtown Mobility Collaborative.

(IMLA/Facebook) The  Idaho Military Legal Alliance  is a project of the Idaho Law Foundation providing free legal services to Gem State military personnel, veterans and their family members.  Idaho Matters  looks at the legal needs of our nation's service members with Matthew Wolfe and Alexis Baker of the Idaho Military Legal Alliance and Josh Bode, the veteran's justice outreach coordinator with...

(file) Mental health and substance abuse impacts 18,000 youths and 54,000 adults in Idaho. Dr. Ron Larson, Medical Director for Optum Health , joins Idaho Matters to discuss removing the stigmas attached to these disorders.

Before WWII, street trolleys were once a ubiquitous feature in all medium-to-large cities in America. You can still see the tracks embedded in streets from Philadelphia to Fresno. Boise celebrates its streetcar heritage with the  Traveling Trolley Time Capsule  - a mobile exhibit of trolleys from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that will travel to several Treasure Valley neighborhoods. We t...

Rotary International  provides global professionals with the opportunity to study at one of six  Peace Centers  located around the world. This year, Rotary International District 5400 in Boise will host its first ever  Peace Conference  with Rotary Peace Fellows in attendance. We talk with Ashley Orme, associate director for the Conflict Management Program at Boise State, about the conference.

(defense.gov) The state legislatures in  Washington  and  Oregon  are working on bills that would expand daylight saving to 12 months. The  agrarian tradition  of changing our clocks twice a year has its roots in the early 20th century and was codified by Congress in 1966.  Idaho Matters  speaks with Coeur d'Alene Press reporter Craig Northrup and Idaho State Senator Steve Vick of Dalton Gardens a...