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While some states fight to restore Title X family planning funding, Idaho chooses to forfeit it

Updated 2:45 p.m.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly declined the entirety of its annual $1.5 million federal Title X funding, leaving patients statewide without free and low-cost contraception and reproductive health care services from a key family planning program.

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3 challengers bid against McEvers for Coeur d’Alene mayor race

Thu., Oct. 30, 2025

A year after he was appointed Coeur d’Alene mayor, Woody McEvers is running against three opponents who also want the seat.

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Judge rules on former Idaho senator’s lawsuit to get reimbursed for religious lessons

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 12, 2025

A court has dismissed a lawsuit by a former state senator against the Idaho Department of Education that accused the department of infringing on his family’s freedom of religious expression.

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Would Idahoans send an independent to the Senate? Todd Achilles kicks off campaign in North Idaho to find out

Tue., Aug. 12, 2025

LEWISTON – It’s been more than half a century since Idaho voters sent anyone other than a Republican to the U.S. Senate. Now, a former Democratic state lawmaker is launching an independent bid to unseat an incumbent GOP senator in 2026, hoping that Idahoans share his frustration with both parties.

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New Idaho law bans homeless encampments. What happens now in Boise?

UPDATED: Wed., June 25, 2025

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that cities could enforce bans on homeless encampments, Boise’s mayor pushed back. The city would continue to focus on increasing access to affordable housing, rather than on ticketing or fining people experiencing homelessness, she said.

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Little tells Idaho agencies, education leaders that spending cuts are possible

UPDATED: Wed., June 18, 2025

Gov. Brad Little’s office last month told state agency directors to make internal plans for budget “holdbacks,” or midyear cuts in spending. Little also placed limits on budget requests.

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SCOTUS upholds Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care setting precedent for Idaho

UPDATED: Wed., June 18, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors that likely sets a precedent for states with similar regulations like Idaho.

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In care facilities, Idaho kids are under less abuse oversight, watchdog government report finds

UPDATED: Fri., June 6, 2025

Idaho kids in residential treatment facilities are under less government oversight for abuse investigations than children in traditional foster homes, a new watchdog state government report finds.

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Idaho begins $900K remodel for the firing squad chamber

UPDATED: Tue., June 3, 2025

Idaho will spend more than $900,000 to renovate its execution chamber to accommodate a firing squad as its lead method, state prison officials told the Idaho Statesman.

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After DOGE staff cuts, Idaho’s renowned forest plans to cut summer office hours

UPDATED: Fri., May 23, 2025

One of Idaho’s most popular national forests plans to temporarily shutter two of its ranger stations before reopening them on a limited schedule during the busy summer season. The cuts come three months after President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, slashed jobs at the U.S. Forest Service. Officials with the Sawtooth National Forest, which ...

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Victoria Bauman wins Community Library Network seat

UPDATED: Wed., May 21, 2025

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee completed a takeover of the Community Library Network Tuesday when its preferred candidate won a fifth seat on the board of trustees.

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Idaho Republican Party names new executive director

UPDATED: Tue., May 20, 2025

BOISE – The Idaho Republican Party on Tuesday named an eastern Idaho Republican official as the state party’s new executive director.

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Congress weighs cuts to Medicaid, food stamps. In D.C., Gov. Little asks to spare Idaho

UPDATED: Thu., May 15, 2025

Idaho spends federal money more efficiently than most states, Gov. Brad Little told reporters Monday. In its administration of the federal food stamps, for example, Idaho has the highest rate of compliance and the lowest rate of fraud, he said.

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Idaho state revenues lag nearly $100 million behind Legislature’s projections

UPDATED: Wed., May 14, 2025

Through April, state revenues are $97.7 million below the Idaho Legislature’s forecast for the current 2025 fiscal year, according to a new monthly revenue report released by the Idaho Legislative Services Office.

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Idaho is telling health insurers to prepare for new enhanced breast cancer screening law

UPDATED: Wed., May 14, 2025

Months before a new Idaho law will require health insurance companies to expand breast cancer screening coverage, the Idaho Department of Insurance is guiding insurers on how to prepare.

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What does Idaho’s new law say about pro-police flags? This town found out

UPDATED: Wed., May 14, 2025

Idaho’s new flag law, which has been skirted by some cities, has affected a Treasure Valley town that traditionally flew a pro-police flag. The law, passed by the Idaho Legislature this year to limit which flags government entities may display, led the Parma Police Department to stop displaying its Thin Blue Line flag, which is a black-and-white American flag with one blue stripe. The name ...

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What West Ada is doing to its ‘content neutral’ policy after classroom-sign flap

UPDATED: Wed., May 14, 2025

The West Ada School District on Tuesday unveiled its proposed revised policy governing what teachers can display in their classrooms or wear at school. The proposal comes after months of scrutiny over the district’s decision to require a teacher in Meridian to remove inclusive signs from her classroom believed to violate existing policy on “content neutral classrooms.” The teacher, Sarah ...

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White South Africans given refugee status by Trump to resettle in Idaho, while other refugees remain barred from U.S.

UPDATED: Mon., May 12, 2025

WASHINGTON – Two families of white South Africans whom President Donald Trump has designated as refugees arrived in the United States on Monday, en route to their new homes in southern Idaho.

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Boise adds two official flags in latest jab at Legislature’s new law

UPDATED: Wed., May 7, 2025

The Boise City Council made the Pride flag a city flag Tuesday to get around a new state law. The Legislature earlier this year banned most flags from flying on government property, but left an exception for “the official flag of a governmental entity.” Cheers, boos and expletives erupted from the crowd during the rowdy meeting. Five of Boise’s council members voted yes on the resolution — ...

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Voters will select a new Community Library Network trustee while Post Falls waits for adults-only room to open

Sun., May 4, 2025

A former Post Falls School Board member and a former nonprofit communications director are running for an open seat on the Community Library Network Board of Trustees in North Idaho.

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Idaho lawmakers want to police immigration locally. Here’s what a judge said

UPDATED: Wed., April 30, 2025

A judge this week blocked part of an Idaho law creating new state-level immigration crimes. Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 83 in March, after the Republican-dominated Legislature passed the measure to allow local law enforcement to wade into an area reserved for the federal government. Police could have enforced the law if they first detained or investigated an undocumented immigrant for a ...

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