Idaho Matters

FILE - Bison awaiting transfer to Native American tribes walk in a herd inside a corral at Badlands National Park, on Oct. 13, 2022, near Wall, S.D. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday is expected to announce a secretarial order that's meant to help more tribes establish bison herds, along with $25 million in federal spending for such efforts. (Matthew Brown / Associated Press) At one ti...

The Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River, flows on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Green River, Utah. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) (Brittany Peterson/AP / AP) The Colorado River is shrinking due to climate change. And states that use it are at odds about how to share its water. The current rules for managing the river expire in 2026 and need to be replaced. States are on deadline to submit a...

FILE - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 23, 2019. Meta's Oversight Board said Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, that it is urging the company to clarify its approach to manipulated media so its platforms can better beat back the expected flood of online election disinformation this year. The recommendations come afte...

(Sun Valley Museum of Art) Have you ever wondered if there's a connection between vintage signs and death masks? Perhaps not, but that's exactly the kind of question that the Sun Valley Museum of Art is encouraging you to ask in their upcoming Mashup . The special lecture series is a partnership between the museum and Boise State's College of Innovation and Design . Jen Schneider, Boise State's As...

FILE - The Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho, is seen on June 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File) (Keith Ridler/AP / AP) The Idaho Legislature has more to do this year and won’t go home on time, folks turned out this week to testify before a senate committee about state funding for school buildings , there’s new research “shaking” up what we knew about a 2020 earthquake and a big road projec...

Jessica Guthrie wheels her mother, Constance, back to her bedroom after dinner in Fredericksburg, Va., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. “To be a caregiver of someone living with Alzheimer’s is that you watch your loved one die every day. I’ve been grieving my mom for seven years,” Jessica says. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) (Wong Maye-E/AP / AP) One out of every four people in Idaho is a family caregiver. That...

Everyone knows if you’re looking for advice on wine, you’ll want to ask a sommelier, but if you’re wondering about cider, that’s a job for a pommelier. Now, if you’re not familiar with this term, you’re not alone. There are only 97 certified pommeliers in the United States, and now, thanks to Molly Leadbetter, Idaho is home to one of them. She’s the owner of Meriwether Cider Company and recently p...

A souvenir Oscar statue is pictured in the window of a Hollywood souvenir shop on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. The 96th Academy Awards will be held Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) (Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP / Invision) It's that time of year again - Oscar time! We’ve got some predictions about who might go home with a golden statue...

(National Cancer Institute / Unsplash) A cyberattack two weeks ago has paralyzed the largest U.S. health care payment system, and the impact of that is affecting Idahoans. Dr. David Pate , former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this as well as other public health concerns.

A view shows the Copco 1 Dam in Hornbrook. The dam is one of a series of four dams along the Klamath River which are part of the largest dam removal project in United States history. Now underway along the Oregon border, the process won't conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives. (Haven Daley / AP) While debate continues over whether or not to remove the...

( Consumer Reports) Take a look around you. What do you see? Is anything made of plastic? Water bottles, food wrap, your mayo bottle - what kind of container holds your milk? What about your orange juice, butter, bread and frozen veggies? Plastic is everywhere, and it’s leaking into our favorite foods. According to Consumer Reports, the newest issue of the magazine says we’re eating too much plast...

( Berkley) Jane Austen's classic second change romance novel, "Persuasion" is getting a modern twist in author Melodie Edwards new novel, " Once Persuaded, Twice Shy ." She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new release.

Visitors stand at the base of the Washington Monument as the dome of the Capitol is seen in the distance on a rainy morning. (Mark Schiefelbein / AP) The U.S. Supreme Court released a unanimous decision this week that said Colorado could not keep former President Donald Trump off of the state’s primary ballot. Meanwhile, the court has not yet ruled on a case that will decide if Trump has immunity...

(Richard Drury / Getty Images) Climate change has many effects on our world, from extreme heat to drought to floods, which in turn affect people, businesses and governments. But climate change also has a profound effect on our kids, especially when it comes to their mental health. Dr. Elizabeth Pinsky is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Associate Direct...

Art is a powerful medium, possessing the ability to impact many areas of our lives, including our health and the way we cope with illness . A concept that the Sun Valley Museum of Art is exploring in their latest exhibition , featuring the medical experiences of six artists and the role that art played in their healing. Artists Heather Watkins and Katherine Shaughnessy, as well as exhibit curator...

Beto Yarce Regional Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration. ( U.S. Small Business Administration) Idaho has a new Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Beto Yarce has taken on the job of overseeing region 10, which includes Idaho, Oregon, Alaska and Washington. Yarce launched his own business in 2003 and says he knows the "struggles that small businesses go t...

( Canva) Cities, counties and even states have been working harder on land conservation. Organizations like the American Farmland Trust often work at the national level, while locally, groups like the Ada Soil and Water Conservation District also strive to protect the land. But conservation is often most effective on an individual level, even though it can seem like a daunting task, leaving many w...

(PhotoAlto/Antoine Arraou / Getty Images) Washington County in Utah, home to the city of St. George, has recently been one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation. And all that growth is on a collision course with the country's limited supply of water, but now area leaders have a plan to get more water. David Condos of KUER reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Disney Hyperion) New York Times bestselling author Ridley Pearson is back with his latest installation of the Kingdom Keepers series and he joined Idaho Matters to talk about his newest book.

The Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho. (Keith Ridler / AP) A look ahead at the Idaho GOP's presidential caucus , the Pocatello community is coming together to support a local veteran , lawmakers are working to restructure the ACHD , western voters are in favor of conservation and an update on University of Idaho's Phoenix purchase with response from the U of I president. Plus firefighting beaver...

The execution of Thomas Creech , Idaho's longest-serving inmate on death row, was canceled on Wednesday after officials were unable to establish an IV line to inject the chemicals that would end his life. It was a dramatic scene as reporters and officials watched medical technicians try eight separate times to find a vein in the arms and legs of the 73-year-old convicted murderer. With his latest...

Earlier this month, 700 scientists and experts gathered in Guatemala to talk about volcanoes. It was the 12th version of the Cities on Volcanoes Conference , and this one had several firsts. It was held for the first time in Central America, and it was the first time it was fully bilingual. For Jeff Johnson, this conference was four years in the making. He's a Boise State geosciences professor, an...

( Jessica Harrold) This is year four for the Treasure Valley Pollinator Project , the brainchild of the Ada Soil and Water Conservation District . Their goal is to increase pollinator habitat and the number of pollinators in the Treasure Valley by having people plant flowers and learn how to be better stewards of our environment. This year’s focus is on birds and bumblebees and conservation, espec...

(iStockphoto.com) Nearly four years ago, the Doctors Roundtable was created to help keep people up-to-date on the latest COVID-19 news. Since then, however, the Roundtable has expanded, covering everything from dengue fever to monkey pox to polio. Despite the addition of these new topics though, Dr. David Pate has continued to stay well informed on the issue of COVID, and he recently provided an u...

University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene doctoral student and Project Evergreen principal researcher Garrett Wells will build and test an automated weed detection and eradication system for U.S. Forest Service’s tree nurseries. The device, known as Amiga, will begin field tests in summer 2024. (University of Idaho Coeur d'Alene) Anyone who has ever weeded their backyard garden knows what a pain it can be...