The Connector: Idaho Daily News

Pride flags absent from Boise's Harrison Blvd this Pride Month, Boise pauses a much-touted recycled water project, Ada County passes its election audit with flying colors, and Meridian Mayor Robert Simison skewered state lawmakers during his 'state of the city' address.

Private business prepare to adapt to Idaho's anti-transgender bathroom law, Idaho AG Raul Labrador being sued over a planned abortion information ad campaign, The fate of Boise's Union Block Building is headed back to court(s), and Tamarack Resort forced to replace a lift tower after last week's wind storm.

Sparking utility lines are blamed for last week's fire in Mountain Home, which destroyed 15 homes and injured six, a new report shows Idaho has the fifth-highest rate of uninsured young children in the country, three cars have crashed into Idaho rivers in five days, and debating future expansion of the Boise Centre: more convention space or a youth sports facility?

Encouraging courtesy and cracking down on dangerous e-bikes on the Boise River Greenbelt, at least one person was reportedly swept down the Payette River after their truck crashed into the river from Highway 55 near Smith's Ferry, and the first post-election audits happen today in three Idaho counties with more to come this week.

Federal funding is finally about to arrive for rural healthcare providers in Idaho, plans to extract more gold, silver and other critical minerals in the Owyhee Mountains are moving forward, cleanup continues after Thursday's windstorm, and, where kids can get free meals this summer.

Far-right republicans in North Idaho are making a big cash gift to the state party before newly-elected central committee leadership takes over, Eagle Police say a cruiser hit a juvenile on an electric motorcycle who was fleeing a traffic stop, the investigation into a damaging brush fire in Mountain Home continues, as does the recovery of six police officers injured during the response, and BSU f...

Journalists at  The Idaho Statesman  walked off the job Tuesday, striking for better wages and AI content policies, a forecast for nearly two more years of tight memory chip supply sent Micron stock to new heights, a grassfire threatened homes near Mountain Home Tuesday, and Canyon County wants Caldwell to pay up for its citizen's bad behavior.

Idaho nonprofits hope to get their money back from a now-bankrupt payment services company which took donations and sales but didn't release those funds, it was a busy holiday weekend for first responders across the state, and many western communities are working to expand access to geothermal energy sources.

A lawsuit against Idaho's 2023 anti-trans bathroom bill is dropped, the city of Caldwell, its police chief and former mayor settle a lawsuit with an ex-Caldwell police officer, the Mountain West and Pac-12 Conferences, and the schools about to move between the two, are ready to settle a dispute over millions of dollars in exit fees, and record visitation and staffing shortages stretch Idaho's nati...

A new design for the historic Rainbow Bridge, with November a "foregone conclusion" in many political races, where some Republicans will focus during the general election, and a sizeable severance for a recently departed City of Boise administrator.

Boise State University political science professor, Jaclyn Kettler, breaks down Tuesday’s primary election results with political reporter James Dawson. 

It's election day in Idaho! Ada County predicts 40-50% turnout, with around 23,000 ballots already cast. We'll check in on ballot issues facing some voters, and the latest on a lawsuit the Trump Administration has filed against Idaho over voter records. Plus, Idaho's population growth and new housing growth rates are among the highest in the country the first half of the decade.

Four pilots are safe after two military planes collided in midair Sunday at the Gunfighter Skies '26 airshow at the Mountain Home Air Force Base, high fuel costs aren't putting the brakes on travel plans this Memorial Day weekend, repeat candidates have a value - and a cost, and a win to remember for AC Boise.

How Idahoans can participate in honoring the late former Governor Dirk Kempthorne, a new water curtailment order will affect some junior rights-holders on the East Snake River Plain, Stanley residents will be without power for several days next week, and the Ada County Clerk has denied a challenge to the registered address of County Commissioner and incumbent candidate Ryan Davidson.

Public school enrollment continues to drop among Boise-area districts. Wolves in Yellowstone got hit hard by disease last year, dropping their numbers to some of the lowest on-record. And the nation's Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol is coming from Idaho this year.

Officials are predicting a bad fire season this summer. Idaho Power is helping residents prepare for potential outages. Caldwell School trustees have sold the district's alternative high school. And a majority of Idahoans support harvesting renewable energy on public lands.

"Bench Bunnies" aren't just on the Boise Bench any more, a downtown church gets its plans for new parking denied, the case of a 'tiny home on wheels' evicted in Meridian reached the State Supreme Court, and, it's not spam - why the Idaho Tax Commission is calling 22,000 Idahoans.

Boise State celebrates its 118th commencement as it recovers from the effects of a hack of Canvas, its cloud classroom software provider, Nampa faces a tort claim from a family of a teen shot by police last Halloween,  and Central District Health has a new plan to resume oversight - now voluntary - of public pool facilities. 

Boise State cancels final exams on the last day of the semester, after a hack of the cloud computing company which provides classroom infrastructure affected schools across the country. Plus, today's the deadline to request an absentee ballot for the May 19 primary election, genetic diversity is another threat facing bighorn sheep populations, and headwinds to getting a new jail in Latah County.

Fewer than half of applications for Idaho's new 'parental choice tax credit' program came from families in the prioritized income bracket - but more families will soon be able to apply. Plus, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean focuses on affordability and housing in her annual 'state of the city' address, most of Idaho's constitutional officers have endorsed a candidate in a single state senate GOP primary...

What a Louisiana court's ruling banning the abortion medication mifepristone from distribution by mail could mean for women in Idaho, Hailey's mayor apologizes for inappropriate use of the city's monthly newsletter, free meals for children this summer in Meridian, and how 'kids' are helping prepare open spaces for the upcoming wildfire season.

How should Idaho spend opioid settlement funds? Public officials want your feedback, plus: capacity crowds at local downwinder compensation events, BSU will rename Cesar Chavez Lane, and the Trump Administration pushes forward with fighter jet training over the Owyhee Desert despite pollution risk.

Two teens face aggravated assault charges for allegedly firing shots at Ada County Sheriff's deputies and investigators at the scene of a suspected suicide Sunday morning, Boise is one of the fastest-warming urban areas in the United States, the 14th Idaho Gives fundraising campaign kicks off today, and a look at the community feedback guiding an update to Boise's historic preservation plan.

The ACLU of Idaho is suing the state for its latest anti-trans bathroom bill. Idahoans who’ve been affected by radiation from Cold War nuclear testing are now eligible for federal compensation. And tenants living in city-owned affordable housing complexes in Boise can get a free bus pass. 

Twin Falls Police shot a stabbing suspect to death Wednesday, McCall has declared a 'water conservation emergency,' Boise Music Fest celebrates 107 years, and how you can help researchers trying to preserve local trout populations as the climate changes.