Idaho Matters

(Frankie Barnhill / Boise State Public Radio) State lawmakers are petitioning for a special session , some Idaho Republicans are calling out party censures, a library board official has been arrested for embezzlement, legislatures are pushing to increase PILT payments and there's been a spike in human caused fires . It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters...

(Ken Lund / Flickr) Boise State's football season gets underway Saturday, Sept. 2 on national television. The Broncos face off against #10 Washington State and you can watch the game locally on ABC at 1:30 p.m. Our All Things Considered host Troy Oppie joined Idaho Matters along with BJ Rains for a preview of this year on the "Smurf Turf."

Lead plaintiff Rikki Held listens to testimony during a hearing in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse on, June 20, 2023, in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge / Independent Record via AP) Earlier this month, a historic ruling was made in favor of 16 young activists who filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana for infringing on their constitutional ri...

Eviction filings are rising even as rents spike and inflation cuts deeper into household budgets. (tommy / Getty Images) There were at least 900 people facing eviction lawsuits last year in the Treasure Valley, according to the Idaho Statesman. Around 300 landlords who filed the lawsuits, which often happens after mediation or other attempts to fix the issue have failed. After a suit is filed, ten...

Water seeps across the floor in the boiler room at Valley View Elementary School in rural Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, Jan. 22, 2023. The Boundary County School District has attempted to pass a bond that would replace the aging, deteriorating school; however, the bond has never passed with the supermajority vote required by state law. (Sarah A. Miller/smiller@idahostatesman.com / Idaho Statesman) In Bon...

(El Barto Jr / Flickr) Movie stars, filmmakers and our resident movie critic George Prentice are all headed to the Toronto International Film Festival next week. TIFF, as it's affectionately known, is the place to find the movies and documentaries that will be making headlines in 2024. And George will spend several days watching movies non-stop to find the best ones to watch. He joined Idaho Matte...

A child wears a KN95 protective mask for kids in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images) As school districts across the country return from summer vacation health officials are reporting a COVID-19 surge, leading to temporary closures of schools in places like Texas, Kentucky and Alabama. Experts say they expect the cases to...

(FrankRamspott / Getty Images) Voters in 11 of Idaho's 44 counties went to the polls to vote on school bonds, levies and trustees on Tuesday. Nine school districts held votes in places like Bingham, Bonner, Jerome and Twin Falls counties. Six supplemental levies and one bond passed and two trustees from the Bonner County School Board were recalled , as the ongoing controversy over the hiring of su...

(courtesy Ed Cannady / www.edcannadyphotography.com) Idaho has inspired some of history’s greatest writers and an upcoming writing retreat in Central Idaho’s Dark Skies Reserve , featuring stargazing, hiking, fishing and face-time with bestselling authors, is bound to influence a new generation of creativity. Boise State professor and organizer Edward "Mac" Test sat down with Morning Edition host...

The moon moves in front of the sun in a rare "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse, as seen in the sky over Singapore on Thursday. (Louis Kwok / AFP via Getty Images) This fall, the moon, sun and earth will align for an annular solar eclipse , appearing to many onlookers like a a ring of fire in the sky. And though these eclipses happen ever other year or so, this one is special because it will be...

Growing cities in the West are having a harmful impact on sagebrush ecosystems. That's the result of a new Boise State study - and it seems like it would be fairly obvious - cities are naturally going to encroach on woodlands. But the study found that more urban growth negatively impacted the quality of the nearby rangeland, not just the size. However, there was a silver lining to this study and i...

(iStockphoto) Recycled water is growing in popularity in the water-short West. Colorado already has rules for taking water from toilet to tap, and California is poised to do the same. KUNC’s Alex Hager reports on roadblocks – like convincing consumers – for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(Still Epsilon / Flickr) Two trillion dollars over 10 years. That's about how much new spending congress has approved during the Biden Administration. Those numbers are so big that it can be hard to grasp the impact this money will have. The Mountain West News Bureau's Will Walked visited one project to see what some of that money is buying.

(iStockphoto.com) As thousands of students, teachers and staff head back to school in Blaine County this year, one thing that won’t be welcome in any classrooms: cellphones. Jim Foudy, the Blaine County School District Superintendent, says this was a very calculated decision and is liable to be controversial. School starts Wednesday, Sept. 30 for the county and Foudy sat down with Morning Edition...

(Thomas VanSelus / Flickr) As the summers get hotter and ultimately dryer, wildfires have become more common across the country, particularly here in Idaho. This means people are needing to take more precautions during the fire season especially when it comes to protecting their homes. However, figuring out how to do that and where to start can be intimidating, which is why plant ecologists Adrien...

(RACHEL COHEN/BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO) Each year, foreign workers are brought to Idaho through a federal program to help fill a shortage of agricultural laborers on farms and ranches in the state. Nearly 600 people that are part of this program take on positions as sheepherders, coming from places like Peru and Mexico, for an opportunity to make more money and build a better life back at home. He...

(Sengchoy Inthachack / Getty Images/EyeEm) The rise of artificial intelligence has created concerns across the globe as new chatbots and other uses for the technology have emerged, sometimes with less than positive results. The advantages of AI are being weighed against possible negatives, including the elimination of jobs and concerns about how AI will be used in places like higher education. Bra...

(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio) The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is pushing back on the results of an audit , a local woman is recovering after contracting a flesh-eating disease , the Kohberger trial has been delayed, Pocatello students are returning to the classroom after. a devastating fire, there will soon be a new spot to enjoy wine and we get an update on the AG's lawsuit...

(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/derekb/">derekb</a> / flickr) A new vaccine is designed to help protect babies from the RSV virus while in the womb – we find out why that's so important. Plus, another case of very rare "locally acquired" malaria in Washington D.C. What does it mean and should you be worried? Dr. David Pate , former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joins Idaho M...

(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/digimeister/">vinylmeister</a><br/> / Flickr) Tito Puente Jr. is on a world tour to highlight his father, who would have been 100 years old this year. Tito Puente Sr. was perhaps best known by the song Oye Como Va, which he wrote back in 1963 and rocketed to stardom when Santana picked up the tune. Tito Puente Jr ., a well-known musician in...

(Osher Lifelong Learning Institute / via Facebook) This month the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is kicking off their fall semester. The program is geared towards adults who are 50 years and older and offers courses that look at things like the next 20 years in space, what it's like to be a homicide detective, climate change, Idaho's Ice Age mammals and lost art, just to name a few of the many...

(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/etaiadam/">Etai Adam</a><br/> / flickr) Idaho may be known for its potatoes, but it's also known for its wheat, which is grown by local farmers and sent all over, including overseas. They often help feed the world; particularly countries hobbled by famine, a pandemic or the current war in Ukraine. Britany Hurst Marchant, Executive Director...

(Brandon Bell / Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump has now been indicted four times, twice in federal court and twice in county courts in Manhattan and Georgia. So far, there are over 90 counts for alleged crimes, including falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels case, keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, conspiracy charges related to Jan. 6 and for trying to change the o...

Donald Trump addresses a crowd in South Carolina. Trump has the clearest path to the GOP nomination, but Republicans opposed to him aren't giving up the fight. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) This week marks the first debate of candidates running for president in 2024. We know that Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie will likely be there, but it looks like Donald Trump won't be...

(Alan Krakauer / Flickr Creative Commons) Federal officials want to expand the protected range for sage grouse, but some in our region are skeptical about that plan. In Wyoming, for example, state officials want more say in the new protections – which could mean less land will be affected. Wyoming Public Radio’s Caitlin Tan reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.