BOISE – Idaho Public Television’s budget was trimmed Tuesday, but the damage was far less than Gov. Butch Otter called for earlier. Otter not only supported the plan, he’ll appear on IPTV tonight to help with the network’s fundraising.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies are still searching late tonight for a suspect wanted for a fatally shooting another man at a Hayden apartment complex. The suspect, Chad Moore, 35, was last seen heading northbound on Government Way in a blue Toyota pickup with a white stripe, Idaho license plate K433586. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.

The Idaho Senate has voted 24-10 in favor of the “Idaho Health Freedom Act,” to ban the enforcement in Idaho of any federal requirement that all individuals and businesses purchase health insurance, and to require the state’s attorney general to go to court to fight any such requirement. The vote sends the House-passed bill to Gov. Butch Otter's desk.

A church pastor helped detectives identify a suspect today in a robbery Monday night at a North Idaho pharmacy.

Idaho Public Television got its budget trimmed Tuesday, but the damage was far less than Gov. Butch Otter called for earlier - and Otter not only supported the plan, he'll appear on IPTV tomorrow night to help with fundraising.

Read the Bonner County law enforcement log for March 2 to March 7, 2010.

National Weather Service forecasters have dropped the chance of snow flurries from today's forecast, and are calling for mostly sunny skies as drier air moves into the region.

A Spokane woman was killed on Sunday when she lost control of her vehicle on Idaho State Highway 162 near Kamiah, according to the Idaho State Police.

BOISE – Idaho lawmakers balked Monday at sweeping immigration legislation that sought to penalize employers who hire illegal workers and enact an array of other provisions, from penalizing “sanctuary cities” to requiring driver’s license tests to be in English. Senate Bill 1303 was killed in committee on a 7-2 vote, after a tense three-hour hearing that saw lots of testimony on both sides – but much more against the bill than for it.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is suggesting Washington businesses come over to his side of the border if taxes go up like they have in Oregon.

Idaho lawmakers balked Monday at sweeping immigration legislation proposed by state Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, that sought to penalize employers who hire illegal workers and enact an array of other provisions, from penalizing "sanctuary cities" to requiring driver’s license tests to be in English.

A Spokane woman was killed on Sunday when she lost control of her vehicle on Idaho State Highway 162 near Kamiah, according to state police.

One of two U.S. Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released Monday, but the group’s leader remained in custody.

National Weather Service forecasters this afternoon have changed a forecast that called for the chance of snow tonight and again Wednesday morning.

Spring-like temperatures today are going to give way to a shot of late winter weather with snow expected in all but the lowest elevations of the region this week.

LEWISTON – More wolves need to be killed in the Lolo area of the Clearwater River basin to stop the decline in elk populations, the director of Idaho Fish and Game says. Cal Groen said state wildlife managers will recommend significant changes to wolf seasons in the Lolo and other zones where elk numbers are not at management levels.

BOISE – Idaho lawmakers are gearing up to declare guns and ammunition made in the state exempt from all federal laws, including registration. “This is automatically going to end up in a court case, that was the object of this bill,” said the measure’s lead sponsor, Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries. “It’s not to control guns, it’s not to do anything, it’s to change. … To tell the state of Idaho we can run our own commerce, that’s what this bill is about.”

Evelyn DeLaughter hadn’t laid eyes on the treasures stored above her garage since she moved into her Priest River, Idaho, home in 2006. The steep wooden steps leading up to the second-level of the garage were rotten and too dangerous for the 71-year-old to use. DeLaughter, a widow who uses a ski pole as a walking stick, couldn’t afford the roughly $500 it would cost for materials and labor to build new steps, so she put the items — Christmas decorations, sewing materials, and memorabilia — out of her mind. Until Saturday, when North Idaho contractor Scott Whitman showed up to build her a new set of steps for free.

Los Angeles Times
Idaho's efforts hold off sage grouse listing
IdahoStatesman.com
The decision means that management control of the sage grouse remains in the states - and that allows Idaho to continue its limited hunting season. ...
In Idaho, grouse decision will mean some changesTwin Falls Times-News
FWS Greater Sage-Grouse Determination Is Wake-Up Call to Avoid ESA ListingPR Newswire (press release)
Endangered Listing for Greater Sage-Grouse Warrented But WithheldEnvironment News Service
New West -Las Vegas Review - Journal -Outdoor Life Magazine (blog)
all 538 news articles »

For the first time in its 72-year history, the largest electric cooperative in Idaho is planning to generate its own renewable energy. Hayden-based Kootenai Electric Cooperative will do so through an agreement with Kootenai County to burn the methane gas generated by the Fighting Creek landfill to produce power.