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FILE - Jennifer Adkins and her husband, John, from Caldwell, Idaho talk to the media outside the Ada County Courthouse, Dec. 14, 2023, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)(Kyle Green/AP / FR171837 AP)A case involving Idaho's abortion laws has made national and international news, Idaho has seen four officer-involved shootings in two weeks, traffic tickets are down in Boise and fatal crashes are up, and a huge new subdivision gets the green light from the Boise City Council.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Carter Sherman, a reproductive health and justice reporter with The Guardian
Don Day, the founder and editor of BoiseDev.com
George Prentice, Morning Edition host and reporter with Boise State Public Radio

Taylor’s office doubles as the county morgue. The property is flanked by rental houses. Next to the building is a trailer-sized garage where Taylor parks the Chevrolet Suburban that he and his employees use to transport bodies.(Natalie Behring / ProPublica)It was a cold morning in February when mom Alexis Cooley woke up to find her newborn baby wasn’t breathing; he was pronounced dead a short while later at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

His parents wanted to know why Onyxx, who seemed to be a healthy baby, had died suddenly in the night, yet the Bonneville County Coroner did not order an autopsy.

Audrey Dutton is the Idaho-based reporter for ProPublica in the Northwest. She did a deep dive into this case and into Idaho’s coroner system.

She found that Idaho coroners are elected to office, do not have to have any medical or legal background, and have very few rules they have to follow in Idaho when it comes to investigating deaths like this. She also found that coroners’ responses to cases vary widely from county to county in the Gem State.

Dutton joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this story.

McArthur Lake Cultural Discovery project.( Idaho Transportation Department)It was a standard road project in Northern Idaho. Take US Highway 95 near McArthur Lake and straighten out the curves to make it safer, and also add a small bridge so animals could travel under the roadway instead of over the busy highway.

But when crews began digging on the project, they ran into something unexpected, hundreds of cultural artifacts that may change our idea of how long people have lived in this area of Idaho.

The Idaho Transportation Department brought in a team of experts and partnered with the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho to gather and catalog the artifacts, which can now be studied.

Jyl Wheaton-Abraham, an archaeologist and member of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Carrie Ann Hewitt, project manager with Idaho Transportation Department joined Idaho Matters to talk about the discovery.

(Talo Pinto / Flickr)Here in Boise there is no shortage of art—from traffic boxes to sculptures to murals, there is a splash of color on almost every corner of the community, and that’s not by mistake.

The Boise City Department of Arts and Culture has made it their mission to add value to our public spaces, and part of that includes planning for the future. Which is why they’re asking for your feedback in a new survey that will help to update the city's 2017 Cultural Master Plan.

Cultural planner Tilley Bubb, with the Boise City Department of Arts and History, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arrives before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Macomb Community College.(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP)With Robert F. Kennedy Junior on the short list for the next head of the Department of Health and Human Services, big changes could be coming to our our country’s health care system.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these possible changes along with other public health issues.

(Boise State Public Radio)It was six years ago when Idaho voters approved Medicaid expansion, which opened up health insurance to many who could not afford it.

Since then, advocates of expansion say the 100,000 or so people who are currently part of the program have benefited greatly from Medicaid, and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says Idaho hospitals have saved $42 million in charity care.

Some Idaho lawmakers have tried to curb or overturn Medicaid expansion as recently as the 2024 legislative session, and supporters of the program have been lobbying diligently to keep going.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Idaho Voices For Children have created a new short film called "Idaho Supports Medicaid: In Our Words," where Idahoans tell their stories, and the film premieres tonight in Boise.

Randy Johnson, the Idaho Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Ayla Birch with Idaho Supports Medicaid joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(Jeff T. Green / Getty Images)Idaho rivers were once home to one of the country’s largest salmon runs. Today, however, those same salmon are headed towards extinction.

For more than fifty years this decline has had far-reaching effects on the state's ecosystem and cultural identity, which is why many groups are fighting to bring these fish back to our waterways.

Mitch Cutter, a salmon and energy strategist with the Idaho Conservation League, and Dennis Daw, the fish and wildlife program director for the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation, will be talking more about this effort next week at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Boise, and they joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

Hundreds of volunteers from Utah and Idaho gathered recently to help the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation heal the site of the Bear River Massacre.

The Mountain West News Bureau, Clarissa Casper of the Salt Lake Tribune and Utah Public Radio has the story.

( Creative Commons CC0)How many people voted in Idaho on Election Day? How many people registered Nov. 5? Were there any issues at the voting booth?

Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

To answer the questions that have come up this election season, we asked Idaho’s Secretary of State, Phil McGrane, to join Idaho Matters for a breakdown.

Drone photo of the river channel restoration site.( Boise State University)Along the Boise River, between the Barber Dam and the Highway 21 bridge, sits 700 acres of land that supports more than 300 native species.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is hoping to restore some of the land at Barber Pool for fish, wildlife, water quality and people, and Boise State University is sponsoring a project to restore several side channels of the river.

Greg Kaltenecker, director of the Intermountain Bird Observatory at Boise State, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

If you start at Hawaii and travel 1,000 miles south, you’ll run into a cluster of tiny islands known as islets that make up the Palmyra Atoll.

There’s just around 600 acres of land above the sea, but below it there are 15,000 acres of some of the most diverse coral reef systems on the planet.

Palmyra was decimated during World War II by deforestation and rats , which ate pretty much everything — crabs, insects, seabird eggs, chicks ... even the trees.

For more than ten years, there’s been an effort to reclaim Palmyra, and it’s succeeding — restoring the landscape and the reef and providing a blueprint for other conservation efforts.

Matt Miller lives in Boise and is the editor of the Nature Conservancy’s online blog "Cool Green Science" and author of the book, "Fishing Through the Apocalypse." Three years ago, he got to go fishing on Palmyra Atoll as part of the Fishing for Science Research Program and he’s going to share his story at the Boise Public Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19. He joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

Fishing Through the Apocalypse: An Angler's Adventures in the 21st Century

The Colorado River is shrinking, and leaders from the states that use it are on the hook to come up with a new plan for managing its water. They have to submit that plan to the federal government by 2026, when the current rules for sharing water expire.

KUNC’s Alex Hager reports those state leaders do not think President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House will change their strategy.

The Idaho state flag hangs in the State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.(Kyle Green / AP)Idaho voters broke records this election, hundreds of students in eastern Idaho were turned away at the polls, legislators can now expect to see raises and state officials are preparing to head back to the capitol.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Andrea Olson with EastIdahoNews.com
Kyle Pfannenstiel, reporter for Idaho Capital Sun
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Mia Maldonado with the Idaho Capital Sun

The Capitol is framed by American flags at the Washington Monument.(J. Scott Applewhite / AP)After Tuesday’s election results, Boises Mayor Lauren McLean sent out a statement about the privilege we have in Idaho to vote in a “safe, free, and secure” election.

She said it was a tough election but that Boiseans should "move forward with the knowledge that we have each other."

The mayor sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about her statement and how she’s feeling after Tuesday.

A traffic camera points down at a road.(Dave Dugdale / Flickr)In today's world, cameras have become commonplace. They’re used in our stores, on our roadways, even in our parks.

And while this kind of monitoring may unsettle some, others say that it's an important part of our public safety.

Retired detective Mike Miraglia will be talking more about the role of surveillance in our lives this Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

A volcanic feature on Mars, left, and a spatter cone in Iceland.( Ian T.W. Flynn)You may remember the small volcanic eruption in Iceland three years ago when lava began burping its way out of a fissure. It created a few new craters while hot molten rock flowed around the rugged landscape.

Those craters caught the eye of Ian T.W. Flynn, who noticed they looked a little like a crater on the surface of Mars. As he looked closer, he found they were almost a perfect match.

Flynn was working at the University of Idaho at the time, and he realized that the similarity of these spatter cones meant Mars at one time had volcanoes like those found on Earth. To find out what this means for the red planet, Flynn joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Put a picture of the Grand Canyon next to one of Mars, and it’s easy to see some similarities. Red rock formations dominate both landscapes. But just how closely related are the places carved by the Colorado River and the surface of the red planet? KUNC’s Rae Solomon talked to scientists trying to figure that out.

(Kenny Simpson / Flickr)Spooky season may be over, but that doesn't mean we're done with scary movies!

Morning Edition host George Prentice joined Idaho Matters to give us some recommendations on What to Watch. And we take a look at how the world of entertainment is coping with election results.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally, July 31, 2024.(Alex Brandon / AP)Donald J. Trump has been named President-elect. Idaho Matters takes a look at what this win will mean for our state, as well as what voters had to say in local elections.

Our panel today:

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho

FILE - "I voted" stickers are seen in the Polk County Election Office during early voting, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)(Charlie Neibergall/AP / AP)More than 380,000 people in Idaho cast their votes before election day; that’s more than all the votes cast in the primary election last May.

So what are officials expecting in regard to turnout? How are things going this election day? And what happens after all the votes are in?

2024 marks an historic election year in November. Voters will decide the future of our country for the next four years as well as many key state and local races.

Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

To answer the questions that have come up this election season, we asked Idaho’s Secretary of State, Phil McGrane, to join Idaho Matters for a breakdown.

(Kevin Morris / Flickr Creative Commons)Think back to the last time you were in a hospital. How much plastic did you see? Doctors and nurses use a lot of plastic syringes, which are only used once and come in a plastic sleeve that is thrown away, and that’s just one example.

Hospitals produce 14,000 tons of trash every day, and up to a quarter of that is plastic—the same plastics that release harmful chemicals into our bodies and our environment.

Dr. Hilary Ong is an assistant professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and she’s on a mission to reduce plastic in hospitals. She joins Idaho Matters along with Dr. Campen to talk more about this issue.

(frankieleon / Flicr)In 1804, a young Shoshone woman joined the Lewis and Clark expedition across the U.S. and stepped into history.

Over the years, many myths and legends have grown up around Sacajawea, and many of her real-life experiences have been overlooked.

Randy'L Teton is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes of Fort Hall and has been researching Sacajawea. She’s written a children's book titled “It's Her Story: Sacajawea,” and she’s coming to the Idaho State Museum in Boise Saturday to talk about it.

She joined Idaho Matters along with Sarah Phillips, the director of the Idaho State Museum.

The text of Idaho's criminal abortion statute(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )In Idaho, women who become pregnant following a sexual assault are legally allowed to get an abortion under the law’s few exceptions. But, they first have to report their assault to a law enforcement agency and produce a police report to medical providers.

Those who do report to law enforcement and request copies of the document required by the statute may find barriers in authorities’ failure to understand their role in the process and lack of consistent protocols to assist victims.

“Most survivors opt out” Victims advocates say requiring women to report to law enforcement prevents many from seeking the help they need.

Kelly Miller, the former head of the Idaho Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence said rape and sexual assault are some of the most underreported crimes in the state.

“Sexual assault and its various manifestations happens at extraordinarily high numbers that are not captured in most of the national or state data,” she said. Fear of not being believed by authorities and retaliation from their aggressor who they may know are a few of the reasons women don't report their assault to the police, she added.

In 2023, law enforcement agencies in Idaho processed 594 cases of rapes, a figure she said does not reflect the reality of sexual violence in the state.

“Often, sexual assault survivors just want it to be over and so having to go through the trauma of reporting, the trauma of a forensic interview, most survivors opt out,” she said.

A woman who has been raped and wants an abortion in Idaho firsthas to report her assault to the authorities, then has to request a copy of her report from the police. Only then can a medical provider perform an abortion.

“Those barriers are just going to be too much for some of those victims,” said Dr. Samuel Dickman, an abortion provider in Montana. “And they will have to continue pregnancies as a result. I think that’s just incredibly tragic.”

Dickman co-authored a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that estimates in the 16 months following Idaho’s abortion ban, around 11,000 women were sexually assaulted in the state, a much higher number than what is reported to the authorities. Of those assaults, the study estimates more than a thousand resulted in a pregnancy.

“And the rape exceptions are doing virtually nothing to help those victims,” Dickman said, adding about 50% of rape survivors who become pregnant as a result of their assault look to terminate the pregnancy.

“What that means is that the vast majority of survivors of sexual assault who become pregnant are not able to get legal care in state in Idaho, despite the fact that technically it ought to be available to them,” he said.

Miller said the legal system is not centered around the needs of victims. No other type of medical intervention appears to require patients to interact with law enforcement as a precondition for care.

“This is a such a personal and deep and profound trauma when someone's sexually assaulted that asking them to report is taking away agency and choice, which was taken away from the first place in the sexual assault,” Miller said. “So it's retraumatizing to require anyone to have to report to anybody.”

The 72-hour amendmentIdaho banned abortions in 2022, with exceptions in cases of rape or incest, and when the life of the mother is threatened. Victim advocates quickly pointed out that police do not release copies of records during an ongoing investigation, potentially preventing women from receiving timely abortion care. In 2023, the legislature amended the law, entitling victims of rape to receive their police report within 72 hours of it being made.

More than a year after the updated amendment went into effect, a Boise State Public Radio investigation shows law enforcement agencies and public records departments in Idaho are unevenly complying with its requirements, which could prevent victims of rape or incest from easily accessing the documentation they need for a legal abortion.

“It doesn’t work that way.”“We're treating this notion of a police report like it's a receipt in a store,” Sen. Melissa Wintrow said while debating the amendment before it passed on the floor in 2023.

“You get raped, you experience trauma, you go to the police, you get your receipt, and you come back to the physician, and then you ask for the abortion. It doesn't work that way.”

“Police reports are intricate and complicated, and police just don't take that lightly,” she added.

Sergeant Bryan Lovell from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office explained the process once police receive a request for a record.

“If it's an active investigation, then, they're not going to give it to you. And chances are, we wouldn't even know if you're the victim or a witness to it, or just someone that's curious. Right?”

Idaho’s public records law says agencies can’t ask why people want a copy of a file, but under the amendment, a victim has to identify themselves as such to receive their report. Without specific protocols to differentiate requests from victims versus the general public, victims going through standard public records portals may be denied up front.

“It just runs through that same process and we wouldn't know,” Lovell said.

Police do not usually release files pertaining to an open investigation because they may contain sensitive information. When records are requested, they aren’t released immediately.

“We'll get the request in for a particular report, and then it'll go to the prosecutor's office for approval, and they'll come back and say, ‘this can be released or it can't be released, or it can be released with redactions,’” he added.

Lovell said an option for victims whose initial request is denied would be to directly contact their prosecuting attorney’s office, something they might not know to do.

Agencies across the state comply with the requirement unevenlyDepending on where they report their assault, victims of rape may have more or less difficulty getting the documentation they need.

Boise State Public Radio contacted 56 agencies across Idaho and asked about their protocols to help rape victims access their reports.

Many did not answer. Others did not mention the 72-hour amendment and said they’d follow public records law requirements. Some said they’d defer any special cases to their prosecuting attorney’s office.

Ada County’s Prosecutor’s Office, which works with the largest police department in the state, cited the ongoing litigation against Idaho’s abortion statute when declining to answer questions about its protocols.

Agencies like the Meridian Police Department, Garden City Police Department and Fremont County Sheriff said they comply with the 72-hour amendment and have in-house advocates to assist victims.

As a victim witness coordinator with the Caldwell Police Department, Liz Godina said if a victim needed help getting a copy of her report, she could walk them through the system step-by-step.

“I would talk to them and kind of explain to them like, ‘this is what you are able to do, if you need me to help you, I can go with you to the records department and do that with you,’” she said, adding she could then make sure records custodians know about the updated 72-hour amendment.

"When we're working with victims of crime, it's very important for them to feel heard, " Godina said. Accompanying them through that journey, she said, can make them feel respected and empowered.

Godina said she knew about the rape exemption’s 72-hour requirement because she read about it online and feels it’s important in her position to stay updated with law changes.

But not all victims across the state may be so lucky to have someone like Godina assisting them in getting a copy of their record.

Open investigation policies confuse the processSome agencies contacted by Boise State Public Radio didn't appear to have any streamlined way to provide victims their report, in particular during an open case. Others seemed unaware of the updated law altogether.

In July 2024, a year after the amendment went into effect, Rexburg’s Police Department wrote in an email that in order to get a copy of a report, victims had to go through the city’s website.

“There they can search for Public Records Request and fill out a form to obtain a copy of the report. It is then forwarded to our office and we proceed with the process of handling the request,” the email reads.

“If the investigation is complete and there are no pending charges or court action, the victim can receive a copy of the report. If the rape is still under investigation, a copy is not released until the investigation is complete, per our Madison County Prosecutor’s Office, and the victim is advised of this.”

Idaho’s amended abortion law says that if an act of rape or incest is reported to a law enforcement agency or child protective services, “then the person who made the report shall, upon request, be entitled to receive a copy of such report within seventy-two (72) hours of the report being made, provided that the report may be redacted as necessary to avoid interference with an investigation.”

In Clearwater County, Sheriff Chris Goetz also said his office generally only releases records when an investigation is complete.

“An example for this type of case would be a victim reporting a rape and wanting a report from us that she had reported a rape so that she could get an abortion,” he wrote in an email. “If we have not yet done an investigation how would we know if a rape had actually occurred or if she just wanted an abortion.”

Goetz wrote that if a preliminary investigation showed a rape occurred, the agency would provide the report to the victim.

“An example of that would be that we have done all of the interviews and collected the physical evidence but are waiting on results from a lab before we could actually complete the investigation. We may not yet be able to file charges because the case is not complete but I would support the victim any way possible,” he added.

Denied RequestsAt the Nampa Police, Detective Troy Hale, an investigator at their Office of Professional Standards, said their department realized it hadn’t been complying with the 72-hour requirement, and unknowingly denied records to rape victims in 2023.

“We found four that should have under the new law been released that weren't and it was kind of more of a training issue at that point for our records division,” he said. “So it was just an oversight,” he added.

“Since then we've changed that procedure obviously in our records department to where within that 72-hour time frame from when they want that report, then we supply that now.”

The four victims were not notified of the department’s mistake in handling their request.

“To my knowledge, I don't know that we contacted them at all,” Hale said. The reason for their initial request is unknown.

The Department of Health and Welfare reports five abortions were legally provided in 2023 in Idaho. There is no way of knowing if any were granted under the state’s rape exception.

(James Edmondson / Flickr)For years now, Treasure Valley cities have been among some of the fastest-growing urban areas in the country. And Idaho's not alone; since the late 1700s, there have been identifiable growth spurts in America's population that have sometimes lasted for decades.

However, have you ever wondered why population shifts like this suddenly take place?

That's a question that Tom Baerwald will be answering in his upcoming lecture with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He’s been studying how and why America's metropolitan regions have changed over time, and he's joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(Emilie Ritter Saunders / Boise State Public Radio)Election Day is just one day away, and while we have seen unprecedented early voting in Idaho to date, officials are expecting even bigger numbers on Tuesday.

We wanted to get a preview of tomorrow’s election, so we turned to Boise State political science professor Jaclyn Kettler. She sat down with our Morning Edition host, George Prentice, to break down what the election might look like in Idaho.

People incarcerated at the Jefferson County jail vote in the 2024 general election. All Colorado jails are holding at least six hours of in-person voting as a result of a new state law. (Rachel Cohen / KUNC )In a waiting room inside the Jefferson County Jail, in the foothills West of Denver, a few incarcerated people in gray uniforms are filling out paperwork to vote.

A sheriff’s deputy brings them to a neighboring room to check in with election volunteers. Behind a folding table, Kyle Giddings looks up their case history on a laptop and asks for their home addresses to determine what ballots they should get.

“He is good and eligible to vote,” said Giddings, the civic engagement coordinator at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, as he looks over one voter’s forms.

The laws about when people with felony convictions can vote again vary by state. In Colorado, they can vote after being released from jail or prison. So, Giddings makes sure the interested voters aren’t currently serving time for a felony.

However, most of the roughly half a million people in jails across the country have not lost the right to vote. They’re awaiting trial, meaning they haven’t been found guilty of a crime, or they're serving misdemeanor sentences. But very few people in jail cast ballots.

About 900 people in the Jefferson County Jail were allowed to vote in the 2022 midterms, yet only three actually did.

Nine years ago, Giddings was incarcerated in this very jail.

“I dealt with addiction for years and finally it all caught up to me,” he said.

It was the lead up to the 2016 election, and he was talking about it with others in his pod.

“They just assumed they could never vote again,” he said. “It was kind of in that moment that I realized that this is work that needs to be done.”

Kyle Giddings was formerly incarcerated at the Jefferson County Jail. Now he's helping the jail run its first-ever in-person polling place. (Rachel Cohen / KUNC )Aside from misinformation about eligibility, there are numerous other barriers to voting from jail. Often, you need to switch your home address to the jail to receive an absentee ballot, which can be further complicated if you’ve never registered to vote before. To fill out the ballot you might need to ask permission to use a pen – considered contraband. Then, you need to navigate the jail mail system to return your ballot on time. The rules and protocols can differ in each jail.

That’s why The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition helped pass a state law this year to reduce those obstacles. The law requires all county jails in the state to stand up in-person voting for at least six hours. This is the first election it’s in effect.

An election volunteer checks people in to vote at the Jefferson County Jail. (Rachel Cohen / KUNC )In his pod, Jesus Rodriguez studied Colorado’s information booklet on ballot measures. He even recited it to a neighbor who isn't able to read. But when he woke up on the morning of election day inside the jail, he wasn’t sure if he was going to vote. He didn’t know whether he was eligible to cast a ballot.

“Somebody was like, ‘Why don’t you just go check,?’” Rodriguez said.

It turned out he was eligible. Rodriguez had never voted before.

“I felt like my voice didn't matter because I've been incarcerated multiple times; I've lived a hectic lifestyle,” he said.

When Rodriguez entered the voting room, an election volunteer handed him a ballot. He sat down at a gray desk with partitions on both sides. When he was done, he stuffed the ballot in a yellow bag, and a deputy escorted him out of the room. He said he’s proud he voted.

Election volunteers facilitate the first in-person voting inside the Jefferson County Jail.(Rachel Cohen / KUNC )“It made me feel really good to know my opinion matters in this situation,” Rodriguez said.

Many consider jail-based polling places the best way to eliminate the hurdles people in jail face to voting. Yet just a handful of jails around the country offer in-person voting. Colorado is the first state to require it in all counties.

However, not everyone was initially on board. The state sheriffs’ association opposed the law in the legislature. Sam Zordel, the Prowers County Sheriff and the president of the association, said the group wasn’t trying to block anyone from voting, but it thought the old system was working and the new one could mean more work and money, especially for smaller counties.

“We felt that it may create undue stress on certain agencies that didn’t need it because they were probably already allowing inmates to vote,” he said.

Yet advocates say the extremely low voter participation in jails across the country leaves room for improvement. In Arizona, they’re working to help people navigate their eligibility and polling them on whether they’ve received accurate voting information from elections offices.

An election volunteer helps voters in the Jefferson County Jail submit their ballots. (Rachel Cohen / KUNC )In Nevada, a new state law requires jails to put into writing a plan to ensure that qualified inmates can register to vote and cast a ballot. As a result of the law, the Clark County Detention Center set up a polling place for the first time during the June primary. During the general election, it’s holding two days of early voting and election day voting inside the jail.

In Jefferson County, Colo., Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, who oversees elections, has already noticed a difference. More than 300 people incarcerated in the jail have voted so far in this election – a mix of those who cast ballots in-person and who voted as part of a separate initiative where elections officials drop off ballots and sheriff's deputies return them.

“This is just one more step in making sure that everyone who’s eligible to vote actually gets to vote,” said Gonzalez. “Our democracy is just so much stronger when we have everyone’s voices.”

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

( Boise Soul Food Organization)Are you hungry? Because BoiseDev Eats is serving up some great recommendations on where to get your next meal!

Whether you're looking for dinner, snacks or drinks, they've got a spot for you to try.

BoiseDev Eats editor Kara Jackson joined Idaho Matters to set the table for Idaho's local food scene.

(Christine Tanner / flickr )Micron recently made a donation that will have a big impact on the community, there was another wildfire in Southeast Boise, Ashton Jeanty is a front runner for the Heisman trophy and we get an update on the states legislative races.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Jay Tust, sports director at KTVB
Logan Finney, Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Don Day, the founder and editor of Boisedev.com
Nicole Blanchard with the Idaho Statesman
Carly Flandro, reporter with Idaho Ed News.

(Torfaen Corvine / Flickr)As people prepare for an evening of candy and frights, we thought we’d help set the mood with a look at one of America's most dark and melancholic writers, Edgar Allan Poe.

Known as the “father of horror,” Poe’s work not only evoked dread but also helped to pave the way for detective fiction, leaving a lasting impact on today's popular culture.

Steven Olsen-Smith is a professor of English literature, and he joined Idaho Matters for a look into this important figure's life.

(Marcus Kellis / Flickr)Haunted houses have been busy this month as they do their best to provide chills and thrills to the many people who pay to be scared this time of year.

But did you know there's lots of places here in Boise that don’t have to put on a production at all? That’s right, they're actually haunted.

We wanted to find out more about these spots, so we invited U.S. Ghost Adventures tour guide Hilarie Goodnight to tell us more.

(Madelyn Beck / Mountain West News Bureau)During its time of operation, the Old Idaho Penitentiary had thousands of people pass through its gates; however, not everyone who arrived got to leave.

This could be why the prison is now considered one of the most haunted spots in the Gem State, prompting visits from paranormal investigators and plenty of curious tourists.

Anthony Parry, historic sites administrator, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the eerie site.

A ghost town in Caribou County, Idaho.(Brent Watkins / Flickr)Idahoe has a large number of abandoned towns, many of which have grown from mining operations that went bust.

One local blog, The Traveling Spud, is a one-stop-shop for travel adventures, and it has a great list of Idaho ghost towns that you can visit — including one or two that might be haunted!

Katie Williams joined Idaho Matters to talk more about ghostly destinations.

Protestors stand in front of the Supreme Court while Idaho v. United States is argued.(Victoria Pickering / Flickr)A new study has found that in the wake of the recent Roe v. Wade decision infant mortality rates are on the rise in the U.S. as states implement stricter abortion bans.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this study along with other public health issues.

Israeli soldiers stand near trucks carrying humanitarian aid just before they cross into the Gaza Strip at Erez crossing in southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tsafrir Abayov / AP)On October 7, one year after Hamas attacked Israel, we had a conversation with the regional director of the American Jewish Committee. This individual gave her thoughts on the attack as well as the war that continues almost 13 months later.

Today we wanted to hear another perspective on the war and the humanitarian crisis still going on in Gaza.

Aisha Kayed, a Brazilian Palestinian American community leader and founder of Boise to Palestine, as well as Nathanial Hoffman, a former journalist and co-founder of IfNotNow, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(leonardo4it / Flickr)It’s no secret that climate change is impacting our landscapes, but did you know it’s also affecting our health?

As extreme weather events become more common, so do threats to our air, water and food quality — all of which create a domino effect.

Understanding the consequences of these stressors is more important than ever, which is why St. Luke's Director of Sustainability, Dr. Ethan Sims, will be hosting a lecture on the topic next week at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(La Luz / Wyndham Garrett )Create a word cloud from reviews of "News of the World" or the current world tour of La Luz, and you’ll see the larger-than-life words: “Solid,” “Sweet,” “Weighty,” and “Easy to Love.”

To be sure, "News of the World" songs, and particularly the lyrics, reflect how lead Shana Cleveland’s off-stage life was blown apart (spoiler alert: she’s doing amazing now).

“It was something that really caused a lot of changes in my life and caused me to have to come to a new sort of acceptance of the reality of change,” said Cleveland.

Meanwhile, La Luz has spent the better part of 2024 lighting up stages around the world; and come Halloween night, they’ll be coming to Boise to perform at the Knitting Factory.

“I want to have a costume contest. I want to do a ‘Soul Train line’ with everybody in their costume,” said Cleveland. “I do really enjoy Halloween … just the idea that everybody can just express themselves in way that they don’t feel comfortable normally.”

Cleveland visits with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about their Halloween visit to Boise, how, post-"blown apart," her life changes informed some of her most inspired art, and even how she’s a bit of a “snake charmer” with her guitar cable.

Find reporter George Prentice here

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

(Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)It’s exactly one week until Election Day, but tens of thousands of people have already voted in Idaho, either in early voting or by mail with an absentee ballot.

We’ll find out more, plus how does the state test our voting system? And can you wear your campaign t-shirt to the polls next week?

Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

To answer the questions that have come up this election season, we asked Idaho’s Secretary of State, Phil McGrane, to join Idaho Matters for a breakdown.

Read the full transcript below:

GAUDETTE: From the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. This is Idaho Matters. It's exactly one week until Election Day, but tens of thousands of people have already voted here in Idaho, either in early voting or by mail with an absentee ballot. We'll find out more today. Plus, how does the state test our voting system? And here's another question. Can you wear your campaign t shirt to the polls next week? Well, because it is a presidential election year, there has been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected, but also on how our election system works, in particular the national and local level. So to answer those questions that have come up this election cycle, we asked Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane to join us every Tuesday to take a closer look at these issues. And he's joining us once again. Hi, Phil.

MCGRANE: Hey, Gemma.

GAUDETTE: Okay, so where are we with early and absentee voting? Are you seeing a historic turnout so far this year?

MCGRANE: We really are. Especially in person early voting. It's been awesome to see. Today happens to be vote early day. So it's just a national day to encourage people to vote in person and early. I took advantage of it myself today, but many, many other Idahoans have done the same. I know talking to Trent Tripple, the Ada County clerk, as well as other clerks throughout the state, they've seen huge numbers and lines at each of the early voting locations because so many people are turning out. And honestly, we're watching it closely today because we think we might eclipse the number of people who voted total in the primary election by today. So between absentee and early votes, we're already at 267,000 people having voted and seeing a lot more as we head into this final week of early voting.

GAUDETTE: Okay, that is a big number there. So I want to talk next Phil, about how you go about testing Idaho's election system. I mean, this is something where there has been such rhetoric about elections not being safe, not being secure, you know, all of that. So we want folks to understand and know that our election system is vetted, it is tested. So what kind of test do you do to make sure everything's working properly and that it is safe and secure?

MCGRANE: Yeah. You know, we've talked about security in the past, but it really is a timely question this week that all of the counties. So in addition to the testing and the safety measures we've put in place leading up to the election this week, the counties will be doing testing. It's their public logic and accuracy testing to make sure that the machines are all working properly, leading into Election Day. It gives the public and candidates an opportunity to see how the machines are working, and part of this process is just ensuring that, you know, a vote cast for President Trump goes to President Trump. A vote cast for Vice President Kamala Harris goes to Kamala Harris, and so on, really proving out that the systems are ready and working, and then they will zero out the machines, get everything set so that next Tuesday we're all ready to go for big Election Day.

GAUDETTE: So the next thing I want to discuss is electioneering very quickly. For maybe folks who aren't familiar, electioneering is basically like a it's called a kind of like a passive form of campaigning, right? Wearing, um, uh, you know, a shirt, something like that. However, my understanding, Phil, is we've got a new rule about, um, campaign signs or wearing, you know, a certain type of candidate's hat to the polls when you vote.

MCGRANE: You know, I think it really this all boils down to this is a major election. Obviously, we've got president on the ballot. We have proposition one, other things that have garnered attention and really everyone just being respectful of one another when it comes to actually voting at the polls. We know we're going to see a wide variety of opinions and thoughts in terms of voters headed there. And so part of it, our electioneering laws are really to just create a safe bubble for everybody to be able to go cast their vote without interruption. So this is what prevents people from handing out fliers or having big signs or anything else at any of the polling locations, and it really does extend all the way down to the individual voters. You know, I know for all of the clerks and the poll workers, we ask voters just to be mindful when they head to their polls not to bring their their campaign signs, their campaign literature, their shirts or other things with them. Um, if someone sees someone with a t shirt, most likely they're just going to be asked to vote and get in and get out quickly so that they don't disrupt other voters. Um, you can appreciate Gemma from all our conversations, we're not looking for conflict at any of the polls. We really are trying to help facilitate everyone having the opportunity to cast their ballot and have their voice heard, regardless of what their opinions are on any given issue. And so, you know, I'm really hoping that voters will be mindful and respectful of each other as we gear up, whether it's for early voting this week or for Election Day next week.

GAUDETTE: So you mentioned Trent Tripple and our Morning Edition George Prentice actually spoke with uh, with Trent recently. Again, he is the county clerk, and he said a lot of people actually don't even understand that electioneering is illegal. So let's take a listen to this.

TRIPPLE: It's just common sense approach to folks as they walk in. Most citizens, if not all of them, they're proud of who they are and what they represent and the parties. And they just want to be, you know, representing properly. Many of them don't know that they can't even do that. And so when they show up, we're not accosting them or calling the police. We want them to come in and vote. But we also want to maintain a safe space within the precinct for people to feel like they can vote without feeling pressure from from anybody else.

GAUDETTE: And bottom line, Phil, is that exactly it? Right? Is it? It is. You don't want anyone to feel intimidated about being able to vote.

MCGRANE: Yeah, that's exactly it. We don't we want everybody, regardless of their opinions, to be able to cast their ballot in peace. And you know, we did expand our electioneering space. It used to be 100ft from the polling location. Now it's 250ft from the door that voters enter. And really that's to create a space that, you know, anybody, whether it's you or me or our grandma, they can pull up, get out of their car, go vote and do so uninterrupted. And so hopefully we'll have a very peaceful election day. Everyone will get to have their voice heard, and then we'll all be watching closely when we see the news and see what the results are as they come in.

GAUDETTE: So have you heard of any electioneering concerns so far this campaign cycle?

MCGRANE: Um, we've seen, uh, little things. They always pop up a little bit. But so far, I think you've been talking to Trent and some of the other clerks. It's gone really smoothly for this election. You know, last about a year ago, we had some incidents in some local elections that really triggered us to update our laws. We haven't seen anything like that this cycle. I mean, every now and then you'll get someone pull up with a truck with a giant sign and try to park it near a early voting location. But we're pretty quick to remedy those situations, so I really expect most voters aren't going to see anything like this when they head to the polls, and hopefully it'll go smooth for everyone.

GAUDETTE: One other question that has come up in regards to voting. A Treasure Valley restaurant has put up a post on X that is offering a free beer for anyone who voted for Donald Trump. Um, is this legal?

MCGRANE: You know, I think it raises an important question for anybody is there are laws that prohibit, uh, incentives to either incentivize somebody to vote or to not vote. Doesn't really matter what direction. Um, you know, our country has had a long history going back to the 1800s of bribes and beer for voting. We've stopped that over the years. And so I want to encourage, whether it's a business owner or anybody else, not to incentivize voting for this election. I mean, we all want to encourage people. Of course, I've been doing that going around the state. Um, but there in offering somebody anything of value, it becomes problematic whenever we see situations. You know, our approach is really just to reach out to people, to let them know so that they don't find themselves in a position they don't intend to be, because I think most people are really trying to encourage voting. Um, but that doesn't mean they always understand the environment that they're doing it in. And we don't want anybody to face any issues, whether it's a business owner or, like you said, somebody wearing a shirt at the polls.

GAUDETTE: Mhm. Uh, a couple of other quick questions. Uh, early voting ends this week. Yes.

MCGRANE: Yes. It uh for Friday at five will be the end of early voting. So if you want to get in before Election Day, now is the time to do it.

GAUDETTE: Okay. And then what about absentee ballots? When are they due.

MCGRANE: Absentee ballots are due at 8 p.m. on Election Day. The polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee all voting stops in Idaho. Then there is no postmark or delays afterwards in terms of Idaho. So especially for people who've moved from other states, it's important to know now is the time to get your absentee ballot in if you have one, especially if you're going to be mailing it. I know the Postal Service is monitoring, but it takes time for many ballots to travel around the state. So I really encourage anybody who has an absentee ballot get it in now. Get it in the mail. There are drop boxes throughout the state, or you can drop it off at your local elections office or alternatively, visit early voting sites. I will caution the last day of early voting Friday is always the busiest day, so if you want to wait in line, Friday is probably the day to do it. Otherwise, go to your polling location on Election day. We don't expect huge lines on Election Day. I think we've got everything well in place for a huge turnout. I mean, really with early voting and absentee so far, we should have record setting turnout for the state of Idaho for this election.

GAUDETTE: Wow. So what about when ballots start being counted? Phil and I asked this question because we have two time zones in Idaho. So even though the polls close at 8 p.m., they close 8 p.m. local time. So in the Treasure Valley, you know, they close. They close at 8 p.m.. But if you're in North Idaho, it's 9 p.m. when the polls close up in Coeur d'Alene. I mean, here in Boise. So how does that work?

MCGRANE: There's so many layers to the question you asked. I think that you're right. All of the time, standards are applied wherever you live. So if you live in the Panhandle, it's an hour different than it is here down in Boise. Um, one of the things that voters will note is on Election day, we won't release results until 8 p.m. Pacific time. So 9 p.m. Mountain time, 8 p.m. Pacific time. And that's so that we wait until all voting is finished in the Panhandle. It's interesting doing this in a state that crosses 2 time zones. Um, so we've got all that in terms of, you know, really for the election, absentees are all still sealed up nicely in their envelopes. All the early voting votes have not been tallied at this point. All of that will be reserved for Election Day. And the first results will be known even to the election officials following 8 p.m. on Election Day. So there's a lot of processes in place that we're working on to make sure that everyone can vote, and no one's influenced by trying to know, like, who's ahead or how are things trending. Um, we make sure everything is level for everybody, no matter where you are in the state of Idaho.

GAUDETTE: And when do polls open? Next Tuesday. If folks have an absentee ballot or they haven't voted early?

MCGRANE: Yeah. One of the big things we are encouraging is visit Idaho Gov. So you can make a plan, see your sample ballot and then know when to vote. So early. Voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout this week until five on Friday, and then next Tuesday. Voting will begin at 8 a.m. and the polls close at 8 p.m. so if you need to find your polling place, vote Idaho is a great site to visit to get ready.

GAUDETTE: Well, as always, Phil, we so appreciate you coming on and talking with us about all of this. We've been talking with Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane on how our state is getting ready for the November election. He will, of course, be back next Tuesday to answer more questions about the process. Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.

In the past few weeks, we’ve been doing a lot of reporting on Proposition One - the citizens initiative that would open Idaho's primaries and establish a ranked choice voting system in Idaho.

But there’s another statewide question on the ballot this year and it has to do with whether non-citizens should be allowed to vote in Idaho.

You’ll see it on the ballot labeled as “Proposed Idaho Constitutional Amendment SJR 102” and here to help break it down for Idaho Matters is McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho.

Read the full transcript below.

GAUDETTE: More Idaho Matters now from the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. In the past few weeks, we've been doing a lot of reporting on proposition one. This is the citizen's initiative that would open Idaho's primaries and also establish a ranked choice voting system here in Idaho. However, there is another statewide question on the ballot this year. It has to do with whether non-citizens should be allowed to vote in Idaho. Now you will see it on the ballot labeled as proposed Idaho Constitutional Amendment, SJR 102. And here to help break it down for us today is McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho. Mckay. Nice to have you back on the program.

CUNNINGHAM: Hi, Gemma. Nice to be here.

GAUDETTE: So, McKay, tell us about the amendment. What exactly would it do?

CUNNINGHAM: It's a pretty simple amendment. It's just one sentence to be added to Idaho's constitution, and it would essentially make certain that non-citizens cannot vote in an election here in Idaho.

GAUDETTE: Okay. This is the part that that confuses me as to why this is even on the ballot. And that is. Isn't this already in Idaho's constitution? I mean, what's the difference between what's now in our state constitution and what is in this amendment?

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that's a great point. Yes. It's all I mean, non-citizens are already barred from voting in Idaho as our Constitution stands today without this proposed language. And so a lot of opponents are questioning why we need to do this. If the law, even in our Constitution, already prohibits non-citizens from voting. Um, one of the arguments that the proponents have put forward is that we need to clarify or to be extra direct, and making sure that everyone knows that non-citizens can't vote in Idaho's elections. But I'll read for you if you like what our current constitution states without this amendment as it relates to to non-citizens. It says every male or female citizen of the United States, 18 years old, who's resided in the state, etc., is a qualified elector. So yes, Gemma it's already prohibited in our Constitution already.

GAUDETTE: And to clarify, this is also federal law. I mean, non-citizens cannot vote.

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. I mean, I'm glad that you brought that up. Um, there's a federal statute that prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections, for example, for the president of the United States. Now that federal statute only prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. In other words, there's nothing in the US Constitution and there's nothing in the federal statutes that prohibits states or local governments from allowing non-citizens to vote. Now, to be clear, every state, all 50 of them, disallow non-citizens to vote in their state elections as well. But one of the things that not a lot of people know is that's not always been the case. I mean, during the 1800s and early 1900s, at least 40 states had provisions in their constitutions specifically allowing non-citizens to vote. Isn't that interesting? In Pennsylvania, for example, their constitution in the 1800s said this, quote, all free men. That's something there to all free men. I mean.

GAUDETTE: There there's that.

CUNNINGHAM: Mackay having a sufficient evident common interest with and attachment to the community, have a right to elect officers and be elected in office. Alabama had a constitutional provision like that. Massachusetts. Massachusetts. Illinois. Ohio. Lots of states before World War One had constitutional provisions that specifically allowed non-citizens to vote. It's really only since World War One that that has completely flipped. Mhm.

GAUDETTE: Okay. I want to look at what supporters and opponents are saying about this constitutional amendment. So according to the Idaho Secretary of State website. Supporters of the amendment say it's needed, quote, because the current language does not expressly prohibit non-citizens from voting, unquote. Can you speak on that a bit more? Because you literally read us the statute and it seems fairly clear.

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, I have trouble with that, quite frankly. Gemma. Um, I guess technically the the Idaho Constitution does not prohibit. It just says the same things, one in an affirmative way and one in a negative way. So what we currently have is an affirmative postulation. It says these people can vote and it says you have to be a citizen to vote. This this proposed constitutional amendment says the same thing but from a negative affect, saying, uh, non-citizens cannot vote in Idaho. So I guess technically, um, there is a difference there, but practically there's not one. The argument Gemma that they have, um, that proponents have forwarded that may have a little more, um, uh, um, uh, justification is that it is true that there are a small number of local governments of cities, typically, that have allowed non-citizens to vote in them, that definitely not in Idaho. Um, but that has occurred in other places in the United States. And so there is an argument that this provision would make it clear that no state here or no city, excuse me, no city or local government within Idaho could change their specific election provisions to allow non-citizens to vote. Um.

GAUDETTE: Well, in fact, um, as you mentioned, there are some places that do this. The Idaho Capital Sun actually reported and found that, uh, found that to actually be true in places like Maryland, Vermont and San Francisco. So with supporters wanting to make sure that doesn't happen here in Idaho. Um, again, for clarification, that doesn't happen in Idaho as right now, but is this a growing concern? Mckay.

CUNNINGHAM: Well, I don't know if it's a growing concern in Idaho. I mean, Secretary of State Phil McGrane has said it has never occurred in any municipality, any city, any local government, and that Idaho has never even considered allowing non-citizens to vote in any local elections. So I guess the argument is that this proposal would preemptively block any Idaho localities from potentially allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. I mean, you say, is this a trend? And I think a lot of it stems from the the immigration debate that we are having as a as a country right now. And some of the suggestions that immigrants are are flooding into the country. And so I think this kind of provision, even though practically it will have little consequence, is really, um, uh, forwarded for that kind of a purpose.

GAUDETTE: So I want to talk about what opponents of this constitutional amendment are saying. So one of their arguments is, is that, uh, in the state of Idaho, we already have to provide, quote, citizenship and proof of residency, unquote, to register to vote in Idaho. Opponents also say that this amendment would, quote, foreclose any opportunity in the future, unquote, to allow non-citizens to vote in certain elections. So, McKay, can you talk about those two issues as well, in particular, uh, needing to already show proof of citizenship and residency to vote?

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think opponents are, first of all, saying this is a solution in search of a problem. We already outlaw, um, non-citizens from voting. And to your point or your question about the processes that are put in place, such as voter registration, which requires, upon penalty of perjury, uh, attestation that you are, in fact, a citizen of the United States. Um, Senator McGrane has stressed that Idaho election officials have a lot of processes in place to make sure that only citizens can vote. These processes have been in place for a long time now. They are double checked with regard to the information that we have on individuals through the Department of Motor Vehicles, through Social Security Administration, through the Idaho State Police, and even with interactions with the United States Department of Homeland Security. So, yeah, we already have a prohibition against non-citizens voting, and we already have a very robust system to ensure that that doesn't take place. I mean, the next question is in my mind, like, does it happen? Do we have a lot of non-citizens voting historically, uh, in Idaho? And I haven't seen that data. Again, Secretary of State Phil McGrane and elected republic Republican, has suggested there is a handful of such instances. Um, but that's that's as far as I've been able to tell with regard to what has happened in Idaho. There are some nationwide surveys, one done by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that said that they found only 77 times that a non-citizen has voted over a four year span. That's from 1999 to 2023. And that was a study done by the Heritage Foundation, all of which to say, um, I don't think that there is a lot of proof or any proof really, that there's widespread voting by by non-citizens. And part of the reason is because you can go to jail and or be deported. Um.

GAUDETTE: So, right, right. And we should note that, um, that the Secretary of State did say that, um, in past elections in Idaho, 36 very likely non-citizens are being removed from the rolls this year. Uh, now, Secretary McCrane was on was on our program every Tuesday right now, I believe last week or the week before when this number came up, he did say, well, actually, one person was put back on the voter roll because they are a citizen. So even with that, that is a significantly small number, um, of non-citizens trying to vote in elections. Um, with that, said McKay, several states have a question like this on the ballot to ban non-citizens from voting. So is that a growing trend in the United States? I've got about two minutes left with you.

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, it is a growing trend. I mean, we've heard a lot, um, nationally about the vote being rigged or it cannot be trusted. And I think some of this trend that you're talking about is responsive to that rhetoric of, of our elections being insecure or rigged. Um, those eight states, including Idaho, that are currently considering ballot measures just like Idaho in each of those eight states, it's already illegal for non-citizens to vote. So it's a very similar process that these other eight states, which are Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin are going through right now.

GAUDETTE: So I want to ask you two more quick questions. This is a constitutional amendment, not a proposition. Does that require more votes to pass in the election or is it still a simple majority?

CUNNINGHAM: It's still a simple majority.

GAUDETTE: Okay. And finally, if this amendment fails, I want people to understand this. Will this allow non-citizens to vote.

CUNNINGHAM: No if this amendment fails? Non-citizens can still no can still not vote in Idaho, either a city or a local or state or federal election. Non-citizens can still not vote even if this proposition fails.

GAUDETTE: All right. Really appreciate the conversation about this because, um, you know, just having more understanding of what's on the ballot is always helpful for all of us. So appreciate your time.

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. It's also nice to get a break from proposition one.

GAUDETTE: Oh my goodness. Right. Thanks, McKay. We've been speaking with McKay. Cutting with McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho. Talking about the proposed constitutional amendment, which will be on the ballot. The amendment is to keep noncitizens from voting in Idaho. Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.

Morning Edition host George Prentice is joined by Todd Simis, Ella Houston and Carter Maness(Boise State Public Radio)In what has become a jaw-dropping election season, including more than a few inappropriate moments, what should America’s next generation of voters think of our electoral system?

“This [election] is more interesting,” said Todd Simis, veteran educator and teacher of American Government and Advanced Placement Government and Political at Boise’s Capital High School. “Yes, there’s a convergence this year. It’s exciting. I will say that elections have changed.”

But he’s quick to add how proud parents would be of the respectful nature of those classes.

“The decorum has been great,” said Simis. “The students have been awesome; and as we get closer, it’s exciting for sure.”

And while a good many voters may be targeted by agenda-driven social media, these students really don’t want any part of that.

“Recently I stopped using social media … purposely,” said Carter Maness, Capital High senior. “I don’t think anyone wants to really have a fight … or something.”

And these students also have more than a few ideas about how to engage more voters, particularly

“I think, at a base level, the Electoral College is unrepresented,” said Tessa Houston, Capital High junior. “I think it is furthered and empowered by the winner-take-all method. It can erase nearly half of a state population’s votes.”

With days before the marathon election season comes to a climax, the students and educator visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about what it’s like to consider the concepts of American politics in the shadow of a contest for the ages.

Find reporter George Prentice here

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

In the Mountain West battleground state of Nevada, the first votes of the 2024 general election have already been cast. Earlier this month, tribal members living in the state’s 28 tribal communities gained access to the state’s digital absentee voting system. It’s part of an effort to improve access to the ballot for indigenous voters across the state.

KNPR’s Paul Boger reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(Christine Barton-Holmes / Flickr)In the last five years, the Treasure Valley has seen a 26% increase in drunk driving, and 42% of fatal car crashes were related to someone driving while impaired.

Valley law enforcement agencies want to bring those numbers down, so they’ve created the new Treasure Valley DUI Task Force.

A similar task force in north Idaho has seen a big drop in fatal car crashes due to impaired driving, so now agencies from Garden City to Meridian to Canyon County are joining together to educate the public about the dangers of driving while intoxicated.

Lt. Crapo and Lt. Horst from the Idaho State Police joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(401(K) 2012 / Flickr)Did you know that Caldwell’s mayor makes $40 an hour? Or that Boise spent more last year on sewer and wastewater costs than it did for its police department? Or that you can make $17 an hour as a seasonal golf clubhouse worker in McCall?

Well, now you can know all that and more thanks to a new addition to the Transparent Idaho website, your one-stop-shop for how your state and local tax dollars are spent, that now includes financial data from Idaho’s 198 cities.

The website is the brainchild of Brandon Woolf, Idaho’s state controller, who has been making transparency in government a central theme of his administration. He joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

The U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021. (Jose Luis Magana / AP)A new podcast titled "A Good Guy" tells the story of active-duty marine sergeant, Joshua Abbott. He was part of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. What was he doing there? That’s the question the podcast wanted to answer.

It’s hosted by NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and reporter and co-host Lauren Hodges. The podcast dropped last week morning edition host George Prentice sat down with Bowman and Hodges to find out more about it.

The 2023 Timberline Wind Symphony Band. ( Timberline High School)Last spring, the Timberline Wind Symphony auditioned for the Music for All National Concert Band Festival, winning the chance to go to Indianapolis.

Now they’re trying to raise enough money for the trip. Band Director, José Rodríguez II, along with Timberline High students Matias Vidal-Russel and Grant Cardoza, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this opportunity.

A wooden gavel. (Paul and Kami McGuire / Flickr)A recent shift in Idaho's public defense system has caused some issues, candidates are being allowed to use campaign money for child care, a Rigby High School student was beaten at school, an affordable housing project is back on track in Boise and today is the last day to request an absentee ballot.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Sydney Kidd with BoiseDev
Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com
Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The tight housing market means many people struggle to find an affordable place to live, and that includes farmworkers. So the U.S. Department of Agriculture funds a national network of workforce housing, which sounds good. But, as Rae Solomon of KUNC and Harvest Public Media reports, the federal government blocks many farmworkers from using it.

RAE SOLOMON, BYLINE: A tidy apartment complex sits on the industrial edge of rural Fort Morgan, Colo. There are solar panels on the roof, a couple of playgrounds for the kids and a sign out front welcoming you to Sol Naciente, an agricultural labor housing community. Seems like the perfect place for meatpacker Abdoul Aziz Diallo, who's originally from the West African country of Mauritania.

ABDOUL AZIZ DIALLO: (Speaking French).

SOLOMON: Diallo says, he's been looking for a place to live since he moved to the area last spring. But when he approached Sol Naciente about an open unit, they said he might be an ag worker, but he couldn't live there because at $23 an hour, his income was too high. He says, apart from Sol Naciente, housing here is in short supply and very, very expensive. And according to Arturo Alvarado, who heads the nonprofit that manages Sol Naciente, Diallo's experience is common.

ARTURO ALVARADO: We're finding, in the Fort Morgan area, a lot of the agriculture workers are making over the income that qualifies to live in the properties.

SOLOMON: Sol Naciente is part of the USDA's Off-Farm Labor Housing Program that funds affordable rentals for very low- to moderate-income ag workers. That means the federal government dictates who can live there. Tenants have to work in agriculture. They need documentation, and there are strict caps on household income based on the area's median income, or AMI. At Sol Naciente, the cap is about $37,000 a year for one person. Alvarado says in practice, those restrictions disqualify most of the local ag workforce the program is designed to help.

ALVARADO: The income restrictions are making it hard for us to fill all the units.

SOLOMON: That's because the AMI-linked income restrictions have not kept pace with ag worker earnings. Richard Stup is an agricultural workforce specialist at Cornell University.

RICHARD STUP: We're definitely seeing an upward trend. Farm wages have been going up faster than non-farm wages.

SOLOMON: He says that trend is likely to continue, meaning more and more ag workers will lose eligibility for housing. The USDA did not respond to questions, but officials at other Off-Farm Labor Housing properties in Colorado and Minnesota say they can't find enough qualifying tenants for their vacancies. Marty Miller is executive director of the Washington state nonprofit Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing.

MARTY MILLER: When we're in the middle of a housing crisis, people can't afford places to live, there can be good-quality available units, but they have a hard time finding someone eligible to live there.

SOLOMON: He says ag workers in other states - like Washington, Oregon, California and Texas - have the same problem. He hopes the federal government will adjust the income rules so housing remains available for the ag workers who so desperately need it. Instead, last fall, the ag department gave Sol Naciente a waiver to accept non-farmworker tenants who do meet the income restrictions. That solved their vacancy problem, but it didn't help ag worker Abdoul Diallo, who never found a home in Fort Morgan. For months, he bounced around, staying with acquaintances and friends of friends.

DIALLO: (Speaking French).

SOLOMON: He says it's been too stressful, so he's leaving Fort Morgan, quitting the agriculture workforce for a restaurant job in Denver. It won't pay as well as the meatpacking gig, but at least he'll be able to find a home in the city. For NPR News, I'm Rae Solomon in Fort Morgan.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Bikes from the 2023 Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway.( Boise Bicycle Project)In anticipation of the holiday season, the Boise Bicycle Project is gearing up for one of their biggest events of the year, the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway.

For 18 years now, the nonprofit has been making wishes come true, creating dream bikes for kids all over the Treasure Valley.

In order to do this though, they need your help, which is why they're hosting a bike drive this weekend.

Boise Bicycle Project Program Director, Benton Smith, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

(Todd Barrow / Flickr)Seven storytellers from seven parts of Idaho are coming together next week to tell the intensely personal stories of their lives.

It's "Story Story Night’s" latest production, and it’s called Starry Story Night: The Big Dipper because there are seven major stars in the dipper, just like there are seven storytellers offering ‘a point of life’ from across Idaho.

We wanted to hear some of those stories, so we invited Jodi Eichelberger, the artistic director of Story Story Night; Michael Riley, a retired teacher who lives in Potlatch; Blair Williams, the owner of the Art Spirit Gallery; and Jessica Joy, a musician and creator of "Classical Queens: Our Time," to join Idaho Matters.

A nurse fills a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine. (Orlin Wagner / AP)Southwest District Health, which covers Adams, Gem, Payette, Canyon, and Washington counties, will no longer offer the COVID-19 vaccine at its offices.

After a board of directors meeting Tuesday with more than 300 public comments against the vaccine, as well as presentations from well-known doctors, including Dr. Ryan Cole, who spread misinformation about vaccines, the board voted 4-3 against administering the vaccine.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this decision.

A doctor shows what a 3D image of the breast using tomosynthesis (3D mammography) looks like on a screen.(South China Morning Post/South China Morning Post / Getty Images)When it comes to cancer diagnosis among women, breast cancer is the second most common.

In recent years we’ve seen a spike in the disease, particularly in people 50 years and younger, which makes early detection critical. Luckily, that’s something that's becoming easier with technology like 3D mammograms.

Not everyone has the kind of health insurance to receive this kind of preventative care, though, which is why Idaho House Representative Brooke Green plans to bring forth legislation to expand breast imaging coverage.

She joined Idaho Matters along with breast radiologist Dr. Barbara White, founder of Lyra Total Breast Health, and Dr. Rhiana Menen, fellowship trained breast surgeon and medical director of Mountain State Breast and General Surgery.

Legos and other interlocking toys are only one kind of blocks that remain popular with kids.(iStockphoto.com)One in every 36 kids is on the autism spectrum, and the Centers for Disease Control says boys are four times more likely to be identified with autism spectrum disorder than girls.

The CDC has found that the earlier kids can be diagnosed, the sooner they can get the treatment they need to navigate their world.

A new PBS series called "Carl the Collector" features a young boy diagnosed with autism who likes to collect things, line them up neatly in his room, and count objects repeatedly, and it provides a bridge for both kids and parents to learn more about ASD.

Kari Wardle, the director of education at Idaho Public Television, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new series.

(Jens Alfke / Flickr)Early voting is underway in Idaho and will continue into November. Its a popular way to cast your ballot, but what are the rules?

Because it’s a presidential election year there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

To answer the questions that have come up this election season, particularly about early voting, we asked Idaho’s Secretary of State, Phil McGrane, to join Idaho Matters for a breakdown.

( Canva)In November, voters will be faced with Proposition 1. It’s a citizen initiative that will do two things if passed: it would open up all primaries in Idaho and it would create a new voting system known as ranked choice voting.

Last week, we looked at the open primary side of Prop 1, and this week we’ll tackle ranked choice voting, diving into how it works as well as the possible pros and cons.

Our panel today:

McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho
Dr. Stephanie Witt, Public Policy, Administration and Political Science Professor with Boise State University
Luke Mayville with the Idahoans for Open Primaries Coalition
Trent England, the founder and executive director of Save Our States
Jake Ball, Chairman of Idaho Fair Elections Political Action Committee

Read the full transcript here:

GAUDETTE: More Idaho Matters right now, I'm Gemma Gaudette. In November, voters will be faced with proposition one. It's a citizen's initiative that will do two things. If passed, it would open up all primaries in Idaho, and it would create a new voting system known as ranked choice voting. Now, last week if you joined us, we looked at the open primary side of prop one. This week we're going to tackle ranked choice voting. So here to explain how RVC would work if prop one passes are McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho, as well as Doctor Stephanie Witt in the School of Public Service with Boise State University. I want to welcome both of you to the program.

CUNNINGHAM: Hi, Gemma.

WITT: Hi, Gemma. Good to be here.

GAUDETTE: Really good to have both of you here. So who would like to tackle a very quick definition of what ranked choice voting is?

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. You know the silence. I like how I know.

GAUDETTE: I'm kind of like anyone, anyone.

CUNNINGHAM: I can give a very general description of it. And then maybe we can get into, like, a hypothetical because Gemma. Yeah. You know, I've been talking about ranked choice voting across Idaho in the past two weeks. Um, and what I found is, like, when you describe it just orally, um, it's a little difficult to get your mind around, but when the audience sees a sample ballot, the light bulbs go off. So I want to just put that as a disclaimer. It's kind of hard to do verbally, but very generally speaking.

GAUDETTE: Well, why don't we do this? McKay. Sorry to interrupt you. Why don't we just go then? Right to a, um, a try to do some ranked choice voting on the radio? Because we did send out a sample ballot on Facebook and Instagram, and it came from the Veterans for Veterans for Idaho and, and on this sample ballot. So if you want to if you're listening right now and you have access to social media folks, you can go on and find this sample ballot. But what it is is they have four candidates. They have apple pie, ice cream, berry cobbler and birthday cake. Okay, so my first question then how do I know if apple pie is a Republican or a Democrat?

( Veterans for Idaho Voters)CUNNINGHAM: Um, yeah. Well, um, the the candidates can identify as a Republican or a Democrat. Doctor Witt, what do you have on that?

WITT: Well, that's a great question. I actually don't don't know the answer for sure. I believe it would be marked next to their name, wouldn't it, on the ballot the same way it is now.

GAUDETTE: Just like it normally is right now you have the R or the D okay. So my next. So my next question Doctor Witt can all these candidates, um as I said the apple pie, the blueberry, the the ice cream, the berry cobbler, the birthday cake, can they all be from the same party? Let's say all of the desserts are Republican.

WITT: I believe that is the case. If those are the top vote getters in the open primary part that you talked about last week.

GAUDETTE: Okay. And so then if oh, go ahead. McKay.

CUNNINGHAM: Oh, sorry. Gemma. Yeah, I was just. I was just going to weigh in. So if we if we posit a hypothetical, maybe not with regard to desserts, but with regard to, like, a Senate seat next election, if prop one passes, let's say it's just one seat that six candidates are all vying for. Let's say that four of those candidates are Republican. One identifies as a Democrat and one identifies as an independent. The first thing we do, of course, is we go to the primaries. And you guys have already talked about this on Idaho Matters, but it bears repeating. And that is the primaries don't don't function to just identify one Republican and identify one Democrat for the general election. Instead, an open primary as it's envisioned by prop one, just whittles down the top four vote getters. And that's all it does.

So we go to the primary with this hypothetical again, four Republicans, one Democrat, one independent, all vying for the same seat. You go to the primary and it widows down to the four top vote getters. In this hypothetical, let's say that three are Republicans and one is independent. And that's it for the primary. Then we move to the general election. And it's just one vote, like always. It's not like voters have to come in two and three and four times. It's just one vote. And that's when ranked choice voting kicks in. Voters go into the general election and they can vote for their preferred candidate, or they can vote for their preferred candidate and then rank the remaining candidates. So after that, general election occurs instantaneously, that's why it's called an instant runoff. You will know whether or not one of those four candidates received a majority, 50% plus one vote. And if one of those four candidates does, then that's the winner and we're done. Um, but if none of the four candidates receives a majority, but the instant runoff kicks in such that the candidate who received the fewest amount of votes, the fourth placed candidate, that candidate is removed, and every voter who voted for that first place candidate.

If they then ranked their second and third preference, then those preferences, or at least their second preference, would be distributed among the remaining three candidates, and that process would continue until you have at least one candidate who has a majority. And that's at least descriptively, how ranked choice voting is is going to work if prop one succeeds.

GAUDETTE: So here's my question then. So let's say that you've got these three Republicans, one independent in a Senate race, and go into the general election. I'm at the ballot box and I'm like, you know what? I really only like Republican a and I don't want to. I don't want to rank anybody else. I can do that. Right?

WITT: Oh, absolutely. Okay. Yeah. There's no you do not have to rank all of the choices if you don't want to.

GAUDETTE: Okay. So then, doctor, let's say I'm like, all right, I'm going to rank them because I like Republican a best. But I like the independent second. And then I like Republican B but I really do not like Republican C but I decide to rank it. If Republicans C you know, gets a certain number of votes. Let let's say, you know, the independent got knocked out. Does that mean that even though I don't like Republican C but I ranked Republican C that that candidate may actually get my vote?

WITT: I guess it would in the way that you describe it. And um, it is a little hard to follow live on the radio, but I. Yeah, I think so. Unless I misunderstood what you were giving as an example, if you really don't want someone to get your vote ever under any circumstance, the solution, I think, would be to not include them in your ranking at all.

GAUDETTE: So. So vote for your number one if if that is really, truly who you want to get that position.

WITT: Yes. But and then, uh, don't don't rank the candidate you just can't stand. Now, I'm sure there's a mathematician out there getting ready to tell me I've just told you wrong, but I think that's the solution.

GAUDETTE: Look, I'm no mathematician, so this is difficult for me. Um, so. So, McKay, that's, I think, where sometimes I think this seems to get a little tricky for folks to wrap their brains around is it's not the ranking. Like, I understand the ranking. It's the part about the okay, let like that that bottom vote getter is thrown out. Okay, that makes sense. Then all of a sudden it's like, but we're going to take those votes and we're going to disperse them. How how do you disperse them? Like does candidate does the does the candidate with the the you know who right now maybe had like 38% of the vote. Let's say that's the highest vote getter. Do do they get all those votes that got that that that candidate that was thrown out got I mean, I don't even know if I'm making sense at this point.

CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm following back to our hypothetical. If we have those three Republicans and that one independent candidate all in the general election. In our hypothetical, we suggested that that one independent got the least amount of votes. So that candidate is eliminated. Now we focus on the voters who voted for that independent, that candidate who was eliminated. And we look at those voters to see whether or not they had a second place preference, and if they had a second place preference, um, then those second place preferences are distributed, um, accordingly to that, that voter's preference. So let's just use one, one voter who, who originally voted for the independent. And then they said, well, okay, if my independent, uh, favored candidate doesn't win, the second candidate that I would like would be Republican A and in that instance, the independent lost. And therefore that voter's second choice is then transferred to the Republican that they wanted as their second choice.

GAUDETTE: Okay. Before I let the two of you go, what is the best way to get educated about how ranked choice voting might work in Idaho?

WITT: Well, both sides have put out a lot of good information. Um, there are also third party, uh, groups that that you can look at. I before I Talk to you this morning I was looking at the Council of State Governments, a nonpartisan group that has some descriptions of how ranked choice voting works in different places there. There are those kinds of links that I can share with you. You can share it out to your audience.

GAUDETTE: What we'll do is we'll get those links from you and put them on our website. I want to thank both of you for chatting with us today about this. We've been talking with McKay Cunningham, constitutional scholar and graduate professor at the College of Idaho, as well as Doctor Stephanie Witt in the School of Public Service with Boise State Public University. Boise State University have a lot to say today. Anyway, we've been talking about ranked choice voting. We're going to continue that conversation next.

[Music Break]

GAUDETTE: Let's continue our discussion about proposition one and ranked choice voting with Luke Mayville with Idahoans for Open Primaries Coalition. This is the group that gathered enough signatures to put prop one on the ballot. Luke, welcome back to the show.

MAYVILLE: Thanks for having me. Gemma.

GAUDETTE: So why did you want to put ranked choice voting before Idaho voters?

MAYVILLE: Well, the core problem that we're taking on with this initiative is that Idaho currently has a closed primary system. The best possible way to counter that and open the primary system back up so that all voters, including unaffiliated voters, really have a voice. The best way to open the primary is to have a top four primary with ranked choice voting. These two reforms, the open primary and ranked choice voting, really fit together hand in glove, and we can talk more about why they go together so nicely.

GAUDETTE: So do you believe that ranked choice voting will make Idaho elections more fair?

MAYVILLE: Absolutely. Um, currently in our closed primary election system, candidates are winning elections and then making our laws for our state based on just winning support from about 9% of the public. That's not right. People, every citizen in Idaho should really have a voice, and we should have elected officials who are accountable to all of the voters, to the broader public, not just to one small group of about 9% of the voters. Opening up the primary makes our elected officials accountable to the broader community, including all the independents who will now get to vote in the primary. And ranked choice voting really does the same thing, because ranked choice voting guarantees that the winner of the election has broad support from the community.

GAUDETTE: So look, some critics of prop one have said that by putting both ranked choice voting and open primaries on the same ballot, it's really created confusion among voters. I don't know if you heard our last segment, I think we got a little bit in the weeds with it. It can. I think it really can be a little bit confusing once you get to that last part of, you know, when you're trying to whittle down who wins that race, but how do you respond to that potential confusion among voters?

MAYVILLE: Look, I listened to the last segment and I thought things got a little over complicated there. There's a really simple way to understand this. Imagine you're a voter and you there's four candidates on your ballot. You're voting for governor, say, and and you rank candidates one through four. My first choice, second choice. Third choice. Fourth choice. Um, all that happens when the votes are counted is the very first thing is that the first choices are counted up. If anyone gets a majority, then they're they're declared the winner. If no one gets a majority, the key thing you need to understand is that the last place candidate gets eliminated. If you voted for that candidate as your first choice, your vote now goes to your second choice. That's the that's it. That's the heart of it. So I'm going to repeat that. If you, the last place candidate, gets eliminated from the race, if that was your favorite candidate, your vote now goes to your second choice. That's the whole thing. If you understand that that that's the whole process of how the votes are tallied up. And once a candidate gets up over 50% support, they're declared the winner. And so the heart of it really is making sure that the winner of our elections has broad support from the community. Unlike now where we had we're choosing winners in restricted closed primaries where barely anyone votes. And we're getting leaders who really only represent about 9% of the public.

GAUDETTE: Well, we're getting we're and our elections because of this closed primary, is that we are basically being in a state that tends to be, you know, I mean, it's a Republican majority. I mean, we tend to make those decisions in the closed primary. I mean, for example, you can take former Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin. She won that her primary to become lieutenant governor with about 28% of the primary vote.

MAYVILLE: Yes. So that. So let's walk through that. The former lieutenant governor won the closed primary election with 20, 28% or whatever. That was just of the voters who participated in the closed primary. And that was only about 20% of the total voters. So when you really drill down, it turns out that the lieutenant governor won that election with support from probably something between 5 and 7% of the voters. And then, as you said, Gemma. She then went on to a general election where she's just head to head with a Democratic opponent. And because we are in an overwhelmingly Republican state, she sailed to victory. So it's a broken system. We're electing people who don't truly represent the broader community and aren't really in a position to solve the problems of the larger community, because they get elected and reelected with just a tiny sliver of the population supporting them.

GAUDETTE: Mhm. A recent Boise State University poll found support for an open for an open primary, but not for ranked choice voting. The poll found 34% of Idahoans in favor of ranked choice voting and 50% opposed to it. I mean, Luke, again, do you attribute this to that confusion over how this system would work?

MAYVILLE: I personally, I was very critical of the way that poll was designed, and we have not seen that same kind of opposition to ranked choice voting, either in the in the private polling that we've done for our own campaign or when we've knocked, we've now knocked over 150,000 doors across the state of Idaho. We have over 2000 volunteers working on this and generally it on on ranked choice voting. It's closer to 50 over 50 in terms of support and opposition. And and generally, once people hear a simple explanation of how it works, they really warm up to it. And they like the idea that this is a way of guaranteeing that the winner has broad support from the community, and doesn't just represent one small sliver of the of the community.

GAUDETTE: Luke, I only have about a minute and a half left with you, and I do want to quickly get to this question. The Secretary of State joined us earlier in the program today, and we did ask him about his estimate of what ranked choice voting would cost the state to switch over to new voting machines. He put it somewhere between 25 to $40 million. You told the Idaho Capital Sun, there's a cheaper way to do this with voting software. Um, what is your response to that?

MAYVILLE: Well, in the time since the Secretary of state did his analysis, uh, there's been some follow up research done by national experts, including a county clerk, a former county clerk in Utah who actually oversaw ranked choice voting in his county. So he really knows his stuff here. Um, and what they concluded was that it could be done in a very fiscally conservative way, um, by just using simple software upgrades. And that software has, in fact, the the Secretary of State has pointed to it not being certified by a certain federal agency, but in fact, that software has been approved in federally accredited labs. And therefore, what the what our experts in Utah and elsewhere have concluded is that it is ready for use in Idaho. And if we can make those basic software upgrades, the cost of this will be much closer to what it cost in the state of Maine, which was about $500,000 total, or which which amounts to about $0.50 per voter. And we think whether it's $0.50 per voter or whether it's a little more than that, that's a very worthwhile investment for making sure that we're securing the right of every Idaho citizen to participate in our elections.

GAUDETTE: Well, Luke, as always, appreciate you coming on the program and talking about this. We've been speaking with Luke Mayville. He is with the Idahoans for Open Primaries Coalition talking about proposition one, but in particular ranked choice voting. We're going to continue our discussion about ranked choice voting in Idaho right after this quick break.

[Music Break]

GAUDETTE: More Idaho Matters. Right now I'm Gemma Gaudette and we are continuing our discussion about proposition one and ranked choice voting with Trent England, the founder and Executive Director of Save Our States, as well as Jake Ball, chairman of Idaho Fair Elections political Action Committee. I want to welcome both of you to the program.

ENGLAND: Glad to be here. Thank you.

BALL: Yeah. Thanks.

GAUDETTE: Jake. Let me start with you. For folks who aren't familiar, what is the Idaho Fair Elections PAC?

BALL: Oh, we're just a little, uh, political action committee that was formed in July. And our purpose is to educate Idaho voters with regard to what prop one actually is. And our main thesis is that, um, prop one is bad for Republicans, Democrats. It's really bad for independents. And it is essentially a system that decreases voter choice and is not, uh, doesn't work in other parts of the country where it's been tried. And it's just a bad policy altogether.

GAUDETTE: And Trent, what is Save our States?

ENGLAND: Yeah. So we're an organization. We've been around about 15 years, originally created to defend the Electoral College. And we also have taken on this issue of ranked choice voting, because we think it's a real threat to just simple, fair, honest elections.

GAUDETTE: Um, Jake, you've called ranked choice voting confusing and expensive, Inexpensive and quote. Absolutely wrong for the state of Idaho end quote. Can you tell us a little bit more about why you you believe that?

BALL: Well, let me tell you, in Idaho, we have a really great electoral system. Right now, we have four legal political parties Republican, Democrat, Constitution and libertarian. All four political parties have a guaranteed slot on the general election ballot, which I believe is great for democracy and also helps all voters have a choice in the general election. Another thing that is important is that Idaho has direct ballot access for independent candidates, which means if you are an independent candidate not affiliated with a party, you don't have to compete in that primary election. You go directly to the general election ballot. So in any given Partisan election in the state of Idaho, there are slots for those four political parties and independent candidates with ranked choice voting you could end up in a scenario with some some places in the state of Idaho where you have all Democrats on the ballot and no Republicans, for example. Or on the converse, some areas where you have all Republicans and no Democrats to vote for. It's the same system that the jungle primary creates in California, where in many statewide races, you only have candidates from one political party to vote for. And in the end, that simply decreases voter choice. When I show up to to a general election, I'm a Partisan Republican, and I have no problem saying that. But I appreciate seeing, uh, candidates from the other other political parties and independent candidates on that ballot.

GAUDETTE: Jake, Can I can I just can I just push back a little bit on that, though? And that is that there is an argument out there, though, that when we have a closed primary, which the Republicans have a closed primary, we are a supermajority Republican state. It's nice to say, well, in the general election, everyone has a choice. You can have a Republican and a Democrat and and an independent, you know, on the ballot. You make your choice. In Idaho, a lot of times that choice has already been made in the primary. It's closed. It's closed.

BALL: I push back on that.

GAUDETTE: It's closed. No. Go ahead. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on that because it is a closed primary. So if we really want a democratic system, shouldn't we have our primaries open to anyone who is, who is, who has the ability, the legal ability to vote?

BALL: Yeah, well, the primary is open to anybody who has the legal ability to vote.

GAUDETTE: But, but, but but the Republican primary is not.

BALL: It is open to.

ENGLAND: Anybody who registers as a Republican.

GAUDETTE: True. Anyone who registers a Republican candidates.

ENGLAND: That's that's correct. Just like you can only vote in Boise if you live in Boise. You can only help choose the Republican candidates or the Democrat candidates if you actually affiliate with that party. That's a been a very basic democratic principle in the United States, going back for more than more than a century, going back beyond even the history of primaries where party members chose their own, their own candidates for the political party. I mean, people should get involved. I think what we're really you know, what you're really saying is that we need people to care enough to get involved with the political parties that nominate candidates. And, you know, maybe in states like Idaho, the Democrats need to nominate candidates that are more palatable to more Idaho voters.

GAUDETTE: And can I just say that Trent, I know your group says that that ranked choice voting does make it harder to vote and harder to count the votes. And you and you say it also makes it less transparent. Can you talk a little bit about that?

ENGLAND: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this this is really what struck me when I first started looking at ranked choice voting, is that it is. It's sort of relatively easy to describe in theory, right, when we're talking about ice cream flavors or, you know, animals or something. But when you talk to actual voters in the ranked choice voting experience, it is. It's simply a more demanding system. Right now, people might say, that's good. They might say that's bad, but it is a more demanding system because you're expected to know not just who you want to win, but who your second and third and fourth choice is, which is a lot more information about the candidates. It takes a lot more time to vote, but it's really a big challenge on the the sort of post voting side, right? The the counting of those votes, making sure that it's done in a transparent way, and then being able to prove to voters that the system is actually honest and fair because it's so dependent on technology. I mean, the only practical way to to run a ranked choice voting election at at large scale is to feed it all into a computer and then trust what the computer tells you. Uh, I just have real concerns that in 2024, in the United States of America, in Idaho, right, or anywhere else, this is not the direction we want to take our elections to make it harder for voters, and just a lot harder for everybody to understand and trust what the results are from that, that process.

GAUDETTE: Trent, do you think it would be more palatable for folks who might be on the side of voting no on this, if these two issues had been separated, if there had been something for open primaries, which in Idaho, when when you look at surveys in Idaho, the majority is is open to open primaries. The sticking point is this ranked choice voting. So is that, in your opinion, a larger issue than an open primary?

ENGLAND: I think that's I think that's right. I think it's very telling that as much as the folks pushing prop one want to talk about open primaries, that's not really what this is. It's not a closed primary. Right. But but when when we in the election policy space talk about open primaries, we typically mean a primary election that's open to all voters, not a top four. You know, people call this a. California style all candidate primary or a jungle primary. Um, this is not what Idaho used to have. And and I think you're right, Gemma. I mean, I understand the argument, even though I pushed back on it. Right? I get it that we have a lot of people who, for whatever reason, feel like they don't want to participate with the parties except to to help choose the party nominees. Um, I mean, I think it would be a lot better for Idaho voters and frankly, just a lot more honest if the folks pushing this were just pushing that an open primary, a return to the open primary system and having a debate about that, because, I mean, ranked choice voting is is a big election change, and it shouldn't be lost in the conversation about who gets to vote in the primary election. I mean, this is, you know, as the secretary of state talked about, I mean, this is a potential $40 million, very complex transformation. Uh, and it means that that voters have to learn to to think about their votes in a different way and try to understand what the process means in a, I think, a very different way.

GAUDETTE: So this is for either of you, Jake or Trent, because, you know, in Idaho we have a very large independent electorate. And and I have lived in Idaho for a very long time. And it is I think there is a pride in being an independent in Idaho. And there is an argument to be made that that independent voters don't want to to register Republican, but they do want to be able to vote in an open primary. So are we disenfranchising a large majority of our electorate when you know, the the issue is, will then go register as a Republican. And I hate to cut you off, but I only have about two minutes left.

BALL: Yeah. Gemma. I you know, I sympathize with that. And I think that if you were to if proposition one were to return, actually return Idaho primaries to they to the way they were prior to 2012, I think you would have broad support. What's happened here is that prop one does not return Idaho primaries to an open primary system like we used to have, that did not require pre-registration with a party to participate in all but the Democrat primary. And that's been kind of the, I guess you would call it even a bait and switch in terms of what this actually is, is that it is not an open primary, it's an all candidate. Jungle primary is what I call it. And if it were a system that did return us back to the prior to to to the prior, uh, electoral system, I think you would have broad support, but this is not the same thing, first of all. And when you put ranked choice voting on top of it, it just becomes it's it's confusing, it's overwhelming. And it is a radical change to our entire election system. It's not just an open primary initiative. It is a complete transformation of our entire election system from tip to tail.

GAUDETTE: I want to thank both of you so very much for a lively conversation. Thank you. We've been talking with Trent England, the founder and executive director of Save Our States, as well as Jake Ball, chairman of Idaho for Fair Elections political Action Committee. Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.

Antonio Espinoza, a supervisor with the Gras Lawn landscaping company, uses a gasoline-powered leaf blower to clean up around a housing development in Brick, N.J. on June 18, 2024. New Jersey is one of many states either considering or already having banned gasoline-powered leaf blowers on environmental and health grounds, but the landscaping industry says the battery-powered devices favored by environmentalists and some governments are costlier and less effective than the ones they currently use. (Wayne Parry / AP)It’s a catch-22: if we want to get away from fossil fuels and use more green energy, then we need more critical minerals, like copper and lithium. These minerals, however, have to be dug up from mines, which can threaten natural ecosystems, holy sites, and even where we go camping in Idaho.

Senior Reuters correspondent Ernest Scheyder has been asking the question, "What are the choices we're willing to make?” And that’s the focus of his new book, “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives."

He’s coming to Boise at the invitation of the James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho to talk about Idaho’s minerals and how they fit into this equation. He’ll sit down with leaders from Micron Technology, the Idaho National Laboratory, and the Nature Conservancy on Oct. 29.

Ernest along with McClure Center Director Dr. Katherine Himes joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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(Linda Owen / Flickr)For the past three years, the Center for Native American Youth has been offering kids the Brave Heart Fellowship. It’s a chance for native youth voices to be heard as they look for ways to help preserve our environment.

Ten kids in the Pacific Northwest will get grant money and support to make their own climate projects a reality. Katy Stewart with the Center for Native American Youth joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

One of the beaver ponds along Bear Creek, with signs of the 2020 Mullen Fire clear on the horizon.(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )Increasingly destructive wildfires are a major issue in the American West. However, some researchers say that land managers have an unlikely ally in their efforts to confront the crisis: the beaver.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Murphy Woodhouse traveled to a burn scar this summer to see the protective power of their wetland homes.

The MFA Reading Series presents renowned poet and translator Peter Cole, winner of a MacArthur Fellowship.( Boise State Creative Writing MFA Program)Honored as a “major poet-translator,” Peter Cole’s scholarship includes the translations of medieval and modern Hebrew and Arabic. His honors and awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, plus a genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

And Boise State’s acclaimed MFA Creative Writing Program will be hosting the world-class poet on Oct. 24 and 25. Prior to his visit, Cole spoke to Morning Edition host George Prentice from Yale University where he spends part of his year, splitting his time there with another home in Jerusalem. To that end, Cole views the “hell on earth” that is the Middle East crisis:

“I think one needs to face this extremely, extremely difficult, painful, brutal moment. And one has to just face it down right now,” said Cole. “It's a challenging time to do that for a lot of people across the spectrum here.”

Cole was also kind enough to read from two of his more recent works.

Read the full transcrip9t below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. One of our absolute pleasures is tapping into inspiration and thought provoking, often challenging works of ar;, and the Boise State MFA Creative Writing program continues to bring to the university… and to us… some of the finest poets on the planet. And this morning, we are honored to spend some time with one of the best. Peter Cole is a MacArthur winning poet and is affiliated with Yale University, where he joins us this morning from New Haven. He is the author of six collections of poems. His most recent, “Draw Me After,” has garnered wide acclaim. We are very happy to report that he is coming to Boise State this month, and for all of us, there will be a public event on Friday, October 25th at the Hemingway Center. Peter Cole, good morning.

PETER COLE: Good morning.

PRENTICE: You spend so much of your time with students… and I'm curious about the experience of when you do get the opportunity to visit a different campus - different than Yale. I'm curious about that experience… and what you look forward to in that engagement… and quite frankly, how you inspire those who someday will probably inspire us.

COLE: Interesting. Interesting way to frame...poetry. Period. I love teaching, I consider the occasion of teaching… the space of teaching… to be a kind of adjacent activity to poetry, a similar kind of concentrations involved. And I approach readings very much in the way with students, the same way I approach readings in the public. So it doesn't really matter where, where I'm teaching and maybe whether it's a place like Yale or Boise the I look forward to that, that the engagement with whoever happens to be in the room at a given time and try to turn that into something of a learning experience makes it sound a little too didactic, although didactic is not a not a bad word in relation to poetry in the way some people think it is. I suppose the difference is that when I'm teaching at a place like Yale, I'm building a relationship from week to week, and we're building a kind of collective relationship. And it has its own dynamic. Whereas when you're giving a reading, you come onto a campus that you've never been to before. The people are new. People wander in, sometimes randomly. That's kind of got its own set of constraints and dynamics and expectations and surprises. But I think structurally there are a lot of similarities and a lot of pleasures that they have in common.

PRENTICE: With your permission, I have asked you to share something with us this morning. I'm not certain what it will be, but… can you tell us what it will be?

COLE: Sure. I'll read a poem or two. And I thought of first to read a poem called “Eden Songs,” which is the first poem in "Draw Me After." And it is very much a poem about this kind of sort of connectivity when we start talking about with teaching. It was born out of a commission, which is, you know, not the way we think of…. You mentioned inspiration early on. We think of inspiration maybe as something that comes spontaneously. And it does, of course, when it comes. But commissions sometimes can be helpful. And I was asked to write a libretto for an oratorio for a composer named Aaron Jay Kernis. And we decided to build this work around a notion of Eden, of Gardens of Eden, broadly construed. Eden, as I think of it, is a kind of place of first response and responsibility. The poem is a kind of Edenic situation. Emily Dickinson said that “Eden is always eligible.” She's writing to a friend one summer. She said “Eden is always eligible.” And so that kind of place in consciousness that is always available, but which we have locked ourselves out of in many cases a place of, as I say, first response and responsibility. So, “Eden Song” goes like this:

I should also say that one of the interesting things that part of the connectivity of poetry, the sort of essential valence of poetry, is that it's born in one situation and then wanders on its own without, you know, sort of uncontrollably, in a certain sense, to providential addressees, to other situations. So, when I wrote this poem, it was the height of the Covid….the first COVID outbreak. That was the kind of interconnectivity gone haywire, right? Starting from some wet market in China, and then reaching out and collapsing the lungs of the world in a certain sense. And now, as I think about it… October 7th, a year into this awful war, in the second part, the other part of the world where I live, Jerusalem, it seems to apply to this situation as much as to the situation that was born in. So… “Eden song” :

“Wanting song in the beginning, beginning to end.

Now we are falling through. What's to come. Needing Eden.

Now we are drifting Eden undone. As if from the ends of earth.

Hearing Eden's calling to tend and attend.

Now we are sprawling through what we've done.

Through what we're losing. As what we've won as we are.

Falling as Eden is calling.

Earth and heaven. Wanting.”.

PRENTICE: “Needing Eden. And we are drifting…”

COLE: Yeah. There's a sense here that I have of you know that,Eden is not a thing in the past. Eden is a thing in the present. Eden is a thing in the future. The fall, which is not necessarily a theological kind of position that I identify with, but sort of in terms of mythic consciousness. It is something I think we all feel. The fall is not behind us. The fall is now. The fall is ahead of us. It's always so. It was a kind of recuperation of that, that the power of, of the and the possibility of Eden that I was getting at. And there's a kind of catastrophe here, I think, that gave rise to the poem, the sense of that we all had in COVID, and certainly we have it now, whether it's climate change, whether it's these wars, um, whether it's the American election. It seems it seems to recur.

PRENTICE: Thank you for that. May I ask for another?

COLE: So, the other poem I thought I would share with our listeners is a poem called “Vav”. Vav is the sixth Hebrew letter.

PRENTICE: I'm sorry…Vav?

COLE: Vav. V A V. to spell it in English. And one of the challenges I set for myself in this book was you mentioned, um, translation as, as something I do. So, a lot of I deal with Arabic and I deal with Hebrew, and I get tremendous pleasure from both the literatures of both of those languages, but also just from the materiality of them, from the letters, from the sounds, but writing the letters in Hebrew is particularly potent. Well, so is Arabic. But on that material level, the sort of value that's seen, that's recognized in individual letters and then how they're strung together. And it's something I grew up with and, and I thought, mm. Can I, can I translate the pleasure, the richness that I get out of a foreign language. It could be any other language. And, and so I set myself that task over a couple of years to try to do that. And I wrote poems for each of the 22 Hebrew letters, which in Jewish mysticism, are considered the sort of building blocks of the world, the kind of DNA of the world. The world is built not in the beginning. God created the heaven and the earth that came. That's already a later story. The earlier story is out of the 22 letters and some other things. God made the universe. So, I tried to get some of that in and this poem that I'm going to read. Sometimes I would look at the letters, the Hebrew letter I've chosen and describe it visually. Sometimes I would just riff on some sort of associative thing that I had in mind, but the idea was that it should be accessible to an English, a reader of English, without knowing anything about the Hebrew or Hebrew culture or anything like that. So, this poem started out as the… I'll just say that the letter of Vav… when it's written out, looks a bit like an index finger held up in the air, with the top joint, maybe a little arthritic, just pointing down a little bit. So I'm describing that, but it really ended up being in the. This is the epigraph of the poem for Geoffrey Hartman. In Memoriam. Geoffrey Hartman was one of the great readers of the 20th century. It was a literary critic, a scholar of Wordsworth, and a man who could look at texts and see things that most of us didn't see and then sort of open worlds within it. So, it started out as being a portrait of the letter above the six letter Hebrew letter, and it ended up being a portrait of Geoffrey Hartman, much to my surprise, and really ended up being a portrait of, or an evocation of something much larger than either one of them.

“Above this upright letter bows its head ever so slightly

out of humility, much like Geoffrey toward the page it's fixed itself to

as though by a hook or being hooked, really a summoning from within it, or him

to listen hard to what's barely there

and maybe not quite yet between the lines

to sit, taking a stand and read.

Learning straightness and when to bend.

So, we come not to the end, but once again and again to end.”

PRENTICE: My takeaway there is..."...to listen hard to what is barely there."

COLE: Exactly. Which is one of the things that poetry is very good for. It focuses you, it brings you. It takes us into a kind of another level of listening. And that's what Geoffrey did. Geoffrey Hartman did. As a reader, I think that's what poems help us do, is to hear things that are barely there. And where they there before we heard them, is one of the questions that comes up.

PRENTICE: Peter Cole, your work… your extensive work in translation of medieval and modern Hebrew and Arabic work, I'd be remiss if I did not note… and I think you referred to it earlier… that you do spend time between New Haven and Jerusalem. So, I. I be remiss if I did not ask about the lens…that very particular lens that you look through when you see the hell on Earth that is currently the Middle East?

COLE: Hell on Earth is…if you wanted to make a portrait of hell on Earth, that would certainly give you the images right now. It’s a catastrophe. It's a disaster. It's not a surprise. People who have been paying attention… who've been listening to the text of what that place, the various texts that place has to offer, could see this coming for a long time. I'm speaking as someone who is both a very proud Jew and someone who is deep into Arabic culture and loves Arabic literature and has friends all around the ethnic spectrum in Israel-Palestine. But it is a disaster. It's a disaster. It's crushing. It's crushing in terms of buildings and places and the people being crushed. It's crushing for the cultures and for the cultural legacies and just the existential possibilities. And it's hard to be optimistic. I mean, I think one needs to face this extremely, extremely difficult, painful, brutal moment. And one has to just face it down right now. To, in terms of literature, one tries to do what one does best and put it to the extent that seems right and seems natural to one in the service of the things you believe in, the values you hold dearest, It's a challenging time to do that for a lot of people across the spectrum here. We people have stopped listening to each other. We talked about that already, about listening to what's barely there. That's one of the real victims here is and one of the greatest tragedies here and the war that's just seems to kind of mushroom keeps on mushrooming in the south…in the north… threatening to go all over the Middle East. These are very, very, very tough times.

PRENTICE: I wish you safe journey always…in particular, and probably more recently to Idaho. Peter Cole will visit Boise State University on October 24th and 25th. Safe journey to you. Great good luck. It has been an honor to spend some time with you this morning. Thank you so very much.

COLE: Likewise, George. Thank you. And I look forward to being in Boise.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

A prison officer patrols near the entrance to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Kuna, Idaho on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (Kyle Green / Associated Press)An update on the Thomas Creech case, how Proposition 1 would change Idaho's elections, the District 15 race could have a statewide impact and a proposed expressway has received disapproval from hundreds of east Idaho residents.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Ian Max Stevenson with the Idaho Statesman
Ruth Brown with Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

(PAULA RHODES / Flickr)Are you hungry? Because Boisedev Eats is serving up some great recommendations on where to get your next meal!

Whether you're looking for dinner, snacks or drinks, they've got a spot for you to try.

Boisedev Eats editor Kara Jackson joins Idaho Matters to set the table for Idaho's local food scene.

(MarkCoffeyPhoto / Getty Images)October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time dedicated to the issue of abuse and creating change. Which is something that the Ada County Victim Services Center is focused on all year round.

The center offers 24/7 assistance to those impacted by interpersonal violence, providing access to crucial resources like forensic medical exams, safety planning, counseling and more—all in one place.

Trina Allen, executive director of the Ada County Victim Services Center, as well as Anne Wardle, supervising nurse manager with the Ada County Community Safe Team at St. Luke's, and Molly Kaczmarek, practice manager with St. Luke's Cares/DVSA Clinics, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the center and the important work they are doing.

( Kelsey Thomson)As the weather turns colder, it's the perfect time to curl up with a good film or TV show.

Resident movie critic George Prentice joins Idaho Matters to give us some recommendations on what to watch this fall. Plus, we take a look at some of the best scary movies to watch on Halloween.

This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Alex Brandon / AP)With just 20 days to go until this year’s presidential election, questions are swirling about the candidates’ health.

Over the weekend, the White House released the medical records for Vice President Kamala Harris, with her physicians describing her health as excellent.

In the meantime, former president Donald Trump has not released his medical records in spite of promising numerous times to do so.

However, how important or newsworthy are these medical reports, and what information can we actually gather from them?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and co-author of the book "Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak," joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Gem State Joggers and the Pace for Peace team.( Pace for Peace)Many of the refugees who have come to Idaho in the past few years came from the Congo, a war-torn African country facing a humanitarian crisis caused by violence and natural disasters that have forced millions of people out of their homes.

After fleeing their home country, these refugees still face challenges as they adjust to a very different life in Idaho, and a group of dedicated people are hoping a new 5-k run in Boise will help build bridges between our community and its newest members.

Samuel Bisoka is the founder of "Gem State Joggers" and is an organizer of this Saturday's Pace for Peace 5k, but he says it’s more than just a run or a fundraiser. He calls it a "powerful call to action for solidarity, understanding, and community building."

He joined Idaho Matters along with Pace for Peace organizer Sayed Mirbacha.

( Samantha Wright)Bees are all around us during the summer months, but we don’t always pay much attention to them.

However, as pollinators, they’re essential when it comes to the food we eat. They’re in trouble though, both in Idaho and around the world, and everyone from scientists to backyard gardeners are trying to help them.

Idaho Public Television is taking a close-up look at bees in their new Outdoor Idaho episode called "Beyond the Buzz," which premieres Thursday, Oct. 17.

Producer and director, Forrest Burger, and bee expert Dr. Ron Bitner joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

The Shared Stories bookstore. (Michael Martin / George Decker)We’ve done a lot of stories at Boise State Public Radio about local bookstores closing down. Independent bookstores have struggled in recent years and had to close their doors, including three in Nampa and one in Caldwell.

And as each store closed, local authors lost another space where they could find new readers, making it harder to continue to write what they love.

But a new bookstore has opened in Caldwell, and it’s trying to create a home for area writers with its “local authors showcase." George Decker, manager of the Shared Stories Bookstore, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Ada County Elections)For more than 20 years, when a Florida recount full of hanging chads led a U.S. Supreme Court battle over who would be president, questions have been raised about the security of our election system.

Since then, accusations of Russian interference and computer hacking have not increased confidence in the security of how we vote, and according to Boise State’s Public Policy survey, 23% of Idahoans have concerns about the security of Idaho’s elections.

2024 marks a historic election year in November. Voters will decide the future of our country for the next four years, as well as many key state and local races.

Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

To answer the questions that have come up this election season and to discuss how secure our ballot system really is, we asked Idaho’s Secretary of State, Phil McGrane, to join Idaho Matters to take a closer look at these issues.

(Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)Since 2011, political parties in Idaho have been able to choose to close their primary to voters who are not affiliated with their party. For example, only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. The Constitution Party and libertarian primaries are also closed; only the Democratic primary is open to any voter.

Some say that disenfranchises a lot of people. About one million Idahoans are registered to vote, but almost 300,000 of them are not affiliated with any political party, which means right now they can only vote in the democratic primary.

In November, voters will be faced with Proposition 1. It’s a citizen initiative that will do two things if passed: it would open up all primaries in Idaho, and it would create a new voting system known as ranked choice voting.

This week, we’re looking at the open primary side of Prop 1. Next week we’ll tackle ranked choice voting.

Luke Mayville with the Idahoans for Open Primaries Coalition and Jason Mercier, the Vice President and Director of Research at the Mountain States Policy Center, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about Proposition 1.

Read the full transcript below

GAUDETTE: More Idaho Matters now from the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. Since 2011, political parties in Idaho can choose to close their primary to voters who are not affiliated with their party. For example, only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. The Constitution Party and the libertarian primaries are also closed. Only the Democratic primary is open to any voter. Now, some say this disenfranchizes a lot of people, about 1 million Idahoans are registered to vote, but almost 300,000 of them are not affiliated with any political party. Which means right now they can only vote in the Democratic primary. In November, though, voters will be faced with proposition one. It's a citizen's initiative that will do two things. If passed, it would open up all primaries in Idaho, and it would create a new voting system known as ranked choice voting. So this week we're going to only look at one part of proposition one. We are going to look at the open primary side of proposition one. Next week we will tackle ranked choice voting. So be sure you tune in then. So here to talk about prop one is Luke Mayville with the Idahoans for Open Primaries Coalition. This is the group that gathered enough signatures to put proposition one on the ballot. Welcome back to the show, Luke.

MAYVILLE: So good to be with you, Gemma.

GAUDETTE: So, Luke, how did the idea to open up Idaho's primaries come to pass in your organization?

MAYVILLE: Well, it's important to understand that we've only had closed primaries for the last 12 years. Prior to 2011, Idaho had an open primary system for over 40 years, and really, ever since the system was closed back in 2011, a lot of people have been very dissatisfied with it all across the political spectrum. And the idea for this current initiative really bubbled up when a number of community leaders around the state came together across the political spectrum, including the former speaker of the House, Republican Bruce Newcomb, who was, you know, one of the founders of this campaign, who really who came together with me and others and really started thinking about how could we restore everyone's right to vote in primaries, how can we open up the system and make sure that everyone has a voice?

GAUDETTE: So as I mentioned, Luke, right now since 2011, we have closed primaries. So if you are a registered Democrat, um, you can you vote in the Democratic primary. If you are a registered Republican, you you vote in the primary as a Republican, you cannot vote. Only Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. And as I said, we have hundreds of thousands of Idahoans who don't affiliate with any party. So therefore, the only primary they can vote in is is the Democrat primary. So under proposition one, how would our state's close primary system change?

MAYVILLE: Proposition one would create a nonpartisan, open primary where all voters have a right to participate. So anyone who is legally eligible to vote would be free to participate, no matter how you're registered. Uh, all candidates would appear on the same ballot. So it would no longer be separate party primaries, where you have to figure out which party to register for in advance of the election. You just show up. And if you are legally eligible to vote, uh, you can and you can make sure that you're registered to vote and you vote in the primary and that's it. And, um, all candidates would appear on on that same ballot. Uh, and, and we'll talk more about this, uh, in the future. But, but the, uh, the top four candidates from that primary would go on to the general election. And it doesn't matter what party they come from, it's just whichever four candidates receive the most votes will go on to the general election.

GAUDETTE: So basically, the primary ballot would look the same as the general election ballot looks currently if proposition one were to pass.

MAYVILLE: Not quite, because, uh, there could be there won't just be, you know, one Republican running and one Democrat running. Um, a typical primary election ballot, say, if you're voting for governor, could be four Republicans, two Democrats, two independents. All on the same ballot as a as a voter. And this is really important because we talk a lot about ranked choice voting in the primary. There's no ranking in the proposal. In this proposal, in the primary, you just show up and choose your favorite candidate. So say you're voting for governor. There might be several Republicans, a few Democrats, a few independents. You just choose. You just show up and you and you pick your favorite candidate. It's really about the simplest type of primary election that you could imagine.

GAUDETTE: So I want to talk about being disenfranchized, because you have said that a quarter of Idaho's registered voters are being left out of three of our left out of our primaries, at least three of our primaries. Because because they're closed. Why can't folks just register for whatever primary they want to vote in?

MAYVILLE: What we're hearing from voters all across the state is that it is just not right. That if you're an independent voter, you're an independent minded citizen, and, uh, and you want to be an independent, you should not be forced to join a political party just to exercise your right to vote. You should be free to participate in that primary election. And now I know opponents will come back and say, well, if they don't want to vote in the primary, they can still just come back and vote in the general election. Well, that's really not good enough for for people across the state who have this complaint, because we all know that it is the primary elections that really matter in Idaho. Um, because in Idaho we are, you know, mostly a one party state where where one party dominates. And that means that whoever wins the primary and in this case, the Republican primary, uh, almost always wins the general election. So we have a situation where there are these 270,000 independent voters who are being shut out from voting in the election. That really matters, which is the primary election. And it's not good enough to tell them, oh, you can just come back and vote in November. They want they want to be able to freely participate in the election that really matters.

GAUDETTE: So, Luke, there has been concern by some that proposition one might be unconstitutional because some say it puts two different issues on one ballot. You have open primaries and you have ranked choice voting. We are going to talk more in our next segment with another guest about that. But I'm curious about how you respond to those concerns about this being unconstitutional, because given there could be deemed two separate issues on the ballot. I mean, on this initiative.

MAYVILLE: Well, there are a number of there are a number of different claims that are made of how proposition one could be unconstitutional. We're not we're not concerned about those claims, because the fact is that in both federal courts and state courts around the country, those claims have been taken up and rejected by the courts. And these reforms have been upheld over and over again in court. When it comes to the single subject rule and the claim that proposition one is two separate subjects and therefore might be unconstitutional. There's a long history in Idaho of the Idaho Supreme Court looking closely at cases like this and finding as long as there's one broad, unifying subject, a proposal is perfectly constitutional. So in this case, whether it's open primaries or ranked choice voting, everything falls under the subject of elections. So the broad subject of elections is the single subject. And it's perfectly okay to have two different reforms of elections in one initiative. The courts have made that very clear. So we are 100% confident that if the voters passed proposition one in November, it will be upheld by the Idaho Supreme Court.

GAUDETTE: So, Luke, um, for folks who may not be familiar, you helped lead a successful citizen campaign to put the question of Medicaid expansion on the ballot. You have a history with Idaho Citizen Initiative process. What are you hearing? What have you seen on the ground from folks about Idaho's closed primaries? Because I will just anecdotally say this. When I walk around my neighborhood, I see vote yes and I see vote no signs.

MAYVILLE: We're seeing more excitement and engagement around this initiative than any of the previous initiatives. I think people believe strongly that the stakes are high, that that this initiative really matters. And it's not that. Previous campaigns. Previous campaigns we did that were about really important issues as well. Um, but one way to think about proposition one and this whole issue of open primaries, it's really getting all the way to the root of the problem. Uh, other issues we've taken on have been, you know, you could you could talk about them more as like, you know, we're we're trying to hack away at some of the rotten branches in the system. With this initiative, we're really going to the root and we're going to the root cause of so many problems in Idaho, because the root of the problem is that so many voters do not have a voice in our current political process because of the closed primary elections that shut out so many independent voters. And it's not just that voters are denied a voice. It's that when so many people are shut out, we end up electing officials who don't represent the broader community and don't respond to the needs of a broader group of voters in the state. And that means we end up with politicians getting elected who aren't accountable to every voter. Instead, they're only accountable to a small slice of the population that participates in one closed primary election. That's part of why people are so excited about this opportunity to vote yes on proposition one.

GAUDETTE: Well, I want to thank you for taking time to talk with us, Luke. We've been speaking with Luke Mayville with Idahoans for Open primaries coalition about proposition one and open primaries. And we're continuing our discussion about proposition one and open primaries with Jason Mercier. He is the vice president and director of research at the Mountain States Policy Center. Jason, welcome to the program.

MERCIER: Good afternoon. Thank you for having me on.

GAUDETTE: So for folks who aren't familiar, can you briefly tell us what the Mountain States Policy Center is?

MERCIER: Yes. Mountain States Policy Center is a nonpartisan public policy research organization were headquartered in Idaho. We have a regional focus. We cover Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Washington and providing analysis on legislation and in this case, ballot measures in those states.

GAUDETTE: So you said you're a nonpartisan organization. So does that mean you do or do not take a stand or a side on initiatives like proposition one?

MERCIER: Yeah. We are not in the business of telling voters how they should vote. That's up to them to do after doing their research and analysis. Well, the role that we play in this example of proposition one is we reviewed the review, the ballot language. We looked at how primaries and ranked choice voting occurs nationally, dug into some of the case law, and then looked at some of the fiscal thing and then tried to put all that information in one resource for voters. So as they go through it, they can decide what's best for them.

GAUDETTE: So I want to talk about open primaries specifically. Right now, all primaries in Idaho are closed with the exception of the Democratic primary. Does that system work right now?

MERCIER: Every state is a little bit different. So Idaho is one of nine states right now with those closed primaries. And I was actually partially closed because it's up to the private parties if they want to accept those nonaffiliated ballots, as you indicated, the Democrats do. The Republicans don't. There are states with open primaries that are Partizan, and then there are just a handful of states, examples being Washington, California, Alaska, Nebraska, and Maine that have what are truly open primaries. They're nonpartisan multi party primaries. And those are kind of the options you have across the country.

GAUDETTE: So according to Boise State's Public Policy survey, 57% of people either somewhat or strongly favor a top four primary system. However, many members of political parties say the parties should be able to decide who votes in their primary. And I know that your policy center has a discussion online about proposition one and how it covers two issues. Open primaries and ranked choice. Ranked choice voting. In your center's opinion, are those two distinct issues?

MERCIER: They are. And in fact, the ballot summary itself indicates that when you look at the official ballot summary for proposition one, it says the measure is to replace voter selection of party nominees with a top four primary. Number two require ranked choice voting for general elections. And then it says this measure proposes two distinct changes. So the summary itself already kind of tips the hat that these are two different issues that are being combined into one proposal. And I think that's somewhat of a frustration as we analyze this, because there's a lot of arguments to be made for open primaries, in our opinion. There's a lot of arguments against ranked choice voting, but Idaho voters don't get an option with them being combined into one. And I think when you look across the country, there's a similar debate happening right now in Montana. They're also having a debate about top four primaries and what happens if you enact that type of system. But they have two separate ballot measures. They have one ballot measure for a top four, and then they have one ballot measure about requiring 50% to win an election. And I think the reason why they've done that is because Montana's Supreme Court has consistently struck down ballot measures for single subject violations.

GAUDETTE: Okay, so with that said, though, our Supreme Court here in Idaho did not strike that down. And as Luke Mayville mentioned in our last segment, you know, our Supreme Court has basically said it's it's it's about voting. So it's it's one issue.

MERCIER: Yeah. So the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year was not on the merits of single section. It was on it being a pre-election challenge. And in my opinion, the court got it right. Three election challenges before the voters get to weigh in on something are disfavored nationally. And the reason being you don't stop the legislature from voting on a bill that might be unconstitutional. You let them go through their process, and then if they're standing, the court weighs in. So I don't disagree at all that the court had earlier this year dismissing the pre-election challenge. But that opinion made it very clear that if this were to pass, then it would be right for legal review to see if it violates single subject.

GAUDETTE: So do you think there are concerns about the constitutionality, constitutionality, then, of prop one. And because. Can you talk a little bit about Idaho's single subject rule?

MERCIER: Yes. So single subject restrictions are in almost every state constitution across the country, because they're supposed to keep from what's called the log rule, where you combine different issues, maybe a really popular issue with something that's unpopular. And they're supposed to apply both to legislation passed by lawmakers and to ballot measures. Sometimes, however, we've seen courts treat ballot measures a little more stringently than they do legislation passed by the legislature. And we have some examples. Recently I mentioned the Montana one and why I think those are two separate ballot measures right now in Montana, because Montana Supreme Court has struck down tax. Ballot measures. There was a property tax, one that would have restricted property tax increases. But the court struck it down because it also capped the taxable value. Now that seemed related. But the court said they were two different deals. Same thing happens in South Dakota a few years ago on on marijuana legalization court struck that down because it dealt with recreational marijuana, medical marijuana and hemp. And in the court's determination that was three different subjects. And to the West in Washington, they consistently have tax restriction ballot measures struck down. Most recently, there was one on transportation fees because they had to do with local transportation fees and state transportation fees. And the court said those were two separate subjects. So when you look at proposition one and the ballot summary itself is saying these are two distinct policies. I think that's a kind of a red flag for the court that you're combining two different issues into one proposal.

GAUDETTE: Mhm. So if proposition one passes, um, what does your center think will happen in regards to lawsuits over its constitutionality? Could we see that happen even though, you know, our Supreme Court made the decision that they made?

MERCIER: Yeah. Again, if you go back to the decisions they made, they were not ruling on the single subject. They were ruling on the pre-election challenge. And they said that, okay, this is not right for legal review until after the election, but after the election, then those arguments can be made. And based upon the fact that the attorney general did a pre-election challenge, I think it's 100% certainty he would do a post-election challenge if it were to pass. And at that point, it is ripe for review because then you actually have a passed proposal. So I think we just need to be careful that what the court did earlier was not on the merits of single subject. It was on the procedural pre-election challenge.

GAUDETTE: Okay. So then if proposition one were to pass and let's say there is a lawsuit that is brought forward saying it is unconstitutional because of Idaho single subject rule, do you think there is a possibility then, that even though proposition one passed, it could be overturned by by the courts?

MERCIER: Most definitely. That's a possibility. And because again, we have those examples from across the country of how courts look at ballot measures, they're supposed to do the same thing with legislation. You know, we had another example earlier this year on the state's transportation budget. And the court didn't quite get to the single subject ruling because they said nobody had standing to bring that lawsuit. But, you know, those apply both for ballot measures and legislation. If you got two different topics in there, it's a possibility they could be struck down.

GAUDETTE: Do you think there's confusion out there among voters about what a vote for proposition one will do?

MERCIER: Well, when we started hearing about proposition one, it sounded like it was geared toward restoring Idaho back to the the open primary that had been in existence a decade ago. When you start digging into the text, though, you realize this is a different type of primary being proposed. The top four. And you combine it with ranked choice voting. So I don't know if you could be confused if you've actually read the ballot packs and read the ballot measure, and that's incumbent upon a voter to do to actually know what they're voting on. But it does feel like a little bit differently of a proposal than what was initially advertised.

GAUDETTE: So with that said, Jason, if, um, if proposition one had been put on the ballot, but there were or it was separated. So you have open primary, you have ranked choice voting, or maybe you just have open primary on the ballot. There couldn't be. I mean, you can always bring a lawsuit. However, it would seem to me that it would be more difficult to say to argue this single subject rule.

MERCIER: Yeah, 100%. These were two separate ballot measures. There would be no single subject argument, because then you'd have two different proposals before you, just like you have in Montana. And I think that when it comes back to the issue of the open primaries, was a little bit of a surprise to me in looking at this. It it. Modeled this after the brand new proposal in Alaska that just went into effect in 2022, which was a top four ranked choice voting. Alaska is the only state in the country that has a top four. I think that the safer route. The opponents of an open primary could have done is to use the Washington top two, because that already has the stamp of approval from the US Supreme Court. When this passed in the early 2000, the top two in Washington, the Republicans and the Democratic Party sued, saying it violated the First Amendment rights, went to the US Supreme Court. And in a 7 to 2 opinion opinion, Justice Thomas upheld that top two primary because, he said, the political parties can still do whatever they want as far as communicating who their, uh, advocate for their number one position is. But in doing a top two, this is no longer a party nominating process. This is a process of determining who has the most support and moving them forward to the general election. So I think it's just a little bit of surprise that the opponents of this didn't go that tried and true route, and instead with the new novel Alaska approach that arguably could be repealed by voters this year in Alaska.

GAUDETTE: So I only have a minute left with you because of how this proposition is written. It sounds to me that there is a concern from your end, from your center that we're going to we are inevitably going to see a lawsuit if prop one passes.

MERCIER: Yeah, I think it's a certainty. If this passes, you'll see a lawsuit, whether it comes from the attorney general or it comes from private political parties. I think that going back to the Washington example and the other examples across the country of an open primary, when they when the proponents decided to go with the top four and combine it with RCP and put those together to where the voters couldn't pick and choose, I think it set it up for this, this frustrating debate that we're having right now.

GAUDETTE: I really appreciate you taking time to talk with us about this and to really go through this process. We've been speaking with Jason Mercier. He is the vice president and director of research at the Mountain States Policy Center. We've been discussing proposition one and open primaries in Idaho. Don't forget, next Tuesday, we will be talking about the other half of proposition one, which is known as ranked choice voting. So make sure you tune in then as we break that down as well. Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.

(Pauline / Flickr)For years, Meridian Canine Rescue has been working to help at-risk dogs, providing important community education and resources to caregivers.

Like many animal nonprofits though they're in need of support, which is why they've partnered with the Boise Bully Breed Rescue to host an evening of music bingo that will not only help to make a difference but also be a lot of fun.

Karinna Lozano, the Board President of Meridian Canine Rescue, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

(DT / Flickr)A new community radio station recently joined Boise's airwaves.

It is Tropico FM and their mission is to uplift diverse voices through music, where you can find everything from salsa, samba, disco and Tejano music on the dial.

Kyle Scheffler is the founder and president of Tropico FM and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Boise Contemporary Theater)In 2019, a new play opened in New York called "What the Constitution Means to Me," and it was a hit. Now it’s coming to Boise Contemporary Theater.

Jessica Morris is the star of the show, and she sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice for a preview.

An artist rendering of the Ponderosa Center(The Ponderosa Center)McCall, like the rest of Idaho, has seen skyrocketing growth, and open parcels of land are being snapped up at record prices for future development.

But one piece of lakefront real estate remains undeveloped between the marina and hotel McCall. The property is potentially worth millions, and a group of residents is hoping to turn the land into a combination community space and arts center.

But first they have to raise enough money to buy the property.

Hayley Johnson, the Executive Director of the Ponderosa Center, and David Carey, the owner of Hotel McCall, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Roadsidepictures / Flickr)Community is important, particularly when it comes to our neighborhoods.

Which is why each year the Boise Neighborhood Interactive Conference brings people together to connect and discuss the future of our home.

Nicole Carr, Energize Program Manager with the city of Boise, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the conference.

( Canva)A break down of the Proposition 1 ballot initiative, people will vote on whether or not to amend Idaho's constitution, schools are still dealing with staffing shortages, we get an update on how officials are managing quagga mussels in the Snake River and a look at how legislative races could impact education in the state.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Emma Epperly with Idaho Ed News
Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Carly Flandro, Reporter with Idaho Ed News
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Kyle Pfannenstiel, reporter for Idaho Capital Sun

The new education building covers 6,000 square feet and cost $6.4 million to build.( The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights)Nestled between the Anne Frank Memorial and the library in downtown Boise sits the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. It was founded 22 years ago to build the only memorial on U.S. soil dedicated to Anne Frank.

Since then, the Memorial has continued to expand, and Thursday it opened a new 6,000 square foot education center.

Our Julie Luchetta took a tour of the new building ahead of the grand opening and Idaho Matters tagged along.

The mural "Defenders of Dignity" by Addie Boswell is one of the artwork featured at the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. In the center, with arm raised, is the late Marilyn Schuler, a prominent human rights activist in Idaho. (Julie Luchetta / Boise State Public Radio)The education nonprofit behind Boise’s Anne Frank Memorial is getting its own building in downtown Boise. The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights will now reside in a brand new space downtown.

The center was first founded 22 years ago to build the only monument on U.S. soil dedicated to the young victim of the Holocaust. Since then, the center has been offering classes, lectures and trainings in the community.

“As the demand for programming grew, it really became apparent that having a space ideally adjacent to the memorial was kind of the dream,” said Director Christina Bruce-Bennion ahead of the grand opening on Thursday. “And here we are.”

(Wassmuth Center for Human Rights / Boise)Bruce-Bennion said the center’s goal is to promote human dignity through education. The new space will be a place for the public — both adults and children — to engage with local artists, attend classes and reflect on Idaho’s history of human rights. It offers access to a library collection, an interactive display featuring testimonies of holocaust survivors and various reflective art pieces.

But the center does not focus on particular human violations, Bruce-Bennion added.

“It's really more about, 'how do we give people the information, how do we learn from history and connect it to today? How can that lead to informed action?'” she said. Instead the center offers programming to identify what it calls the “Spiral of Injustice.”

“That spiral looks like a tornado,” Bruce-Bennion explained. “The top level is language. And that's where it starts, right? It's how we begin with othering, how we talk about other groups. And then if we don't interrupt the spiral at that point, it can continue to avoidance, discrimination, violence and elimination.”

The center was funded by roughly 650 donors and cost $6.4 million. It opens its doors to the public on Thursday.

Students at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs show their IDs and their phones inside Yondr pouches to security guard Lonny Barrett. The school district started a new policy this year banning cell phones for middle and high schoolers.(Rachel Cohen / KUNC )It's the third day of school at Doherty High in Colorado Springs. 1,700 teenagers file through the doors as security guard Lonny Barrett checks IDs.

This year, he’s also inspecting cell phones. According to a new policy, students need to put their phones away all day inside special pouches.

Barrett checks each one. Only a few minutes into the morning rush, he’s found a pouch that’s suspicious.

“What is this?” Barrett asks a student. “This isn't a phone. This is a box of Extra gum.”

He hands the student the gum stuffed inside in place of a phone. Barrett said this happens a few times each morning.

"They'll put like empty cases, or even like an old broken phone that doesn't even work anymore, they'll try to put that in there and sneak it past us,” he said. “It's been entertaining."

Many kids simply tell him they left their phones at home. He has his doubts. He reminds them there are consequences if they're caught with their phones – starting with getting them confiscated, up through suspension.

Standing near the entrance is the principal, Hillary Hienton.

At the end of the school day, administrative staff rolls out carts of Yondr magnets to unlock the phone pouches.(Rachel Cohen / KUNC )She explains how the system works. The gray fabric pouches are designed by a company called Yondr. Buying one for each middle and high school student cost the district more than $300,000. The pouches magnetically lock so the phones are trapped all day. At the end of the day, students pass through special magnet stations by the front office to unlock their pouches.

Hienton said after students returned from learning at home during the pandemic, rampant cell phone use in schools reached a new level. Doing something felt necessary.

"They’ve just been so glued to them,” she said. “In classrooms, it turned into a lot of power struggles. Students didn't want to put their phones away or give up their phones."

A Pew survey last year found 72% of high school teachers nationwide said students being distracted by cell phones was a major problem in their classes.

When making the decision to implement a cell phone policy this summer, district leaders in Colorado Springs also cited a plethora of research showing phones and social media can be harmful for young people’s mental health, and can lead to cyberbullying and poor sleep.

Principal Hillary Hienton said the Colorado Springs district felt it necessary to address cell phone use in schools. “In classrooms, it turned into a lot of power struggles," she said.(Rachel Cohen / KUNC )Lots of districts around the region arrived at a similar conclusion. This year, schools in the Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Boise areas are declaring campuses or classrooms phone-free.

Others ditched them last year.

"This is the best policy change we've ever made in my career of 28 years," said Jim Foudy, a superintendent of the Blaine County School District in Idaho, which banned cell phones in classrooms last year, though without the pouches.

He said the first year went smoothly. The district didn’t have to confiscate as many phones as expected and situations where the schools had to get involved in cyberbullying issues declined. Teachers reported higher classroom engagement.

“We actually had hired a teacher who had a few different job offers and said that he chose to work for Blaine County because this policy was in place,” Foudy said.

At Doherty High, students in Erin Ahnfeld's English class passed around a ball of yarn for a lesson about connections -— between each other and books they'll read.

Ahnfeld said he feels like he did when he began teaching, before smartphones were everywhere.

"I think it's a courageous move,” he said.

In the first week, he said he’s already noticed a difference. Last year, when he gave students a break between lessons, they'd pick up their phones. This year, it’s different.

“They just talk to each other,” he said. “That makes the feel and community in a classroom way more powerful."

District 11 in Colorado Springs is one of several school districts in the region implementing no-cell phone policies for the first time this school year.(Rachel Cohen / KUNC )Some students feel differently.

"I hate this new phone system a lot,” said Eli Howard, a junior. He doesn’t think the policy will prompt students to pay more attention in class — those who were distracted by phones before are putting their heads down on their desks.

Howard also worries about safety. Earlier in the morning, the school was put on a "hold" during a potential emergency. That means students are asked to stay in their classrooms and clear the halls to limit commotion, typically during a medical situation. It turned out to be fine, but in the moment, Howard was scared.

"I was like, ‘Dude what if there's someone in here and I can’t — my mom and dad — I can't talk to them,” he said.

Many parents opposed to cell phone bans say they have similar concerns about reaching their kids in an emergency. Doherty High said staff are extensively trained in emergency protocols and that the district will continue to communicate with parents via mass communication systems.

On the other hand, some students, such as Dante Click, say they understand where the school is coming from by limiting cell phone use.

"I don't think adults are crazy for this one. Kids are definitely on their phone too much,” Click said. “But I think it's going to backfire on them."

Click said some kids are frustrated and are breaking the pouches.

Many ask Principal Hienton why the school is doing this.

"I say, ‘I care about you, and I care about your education, and I want to make sure that you have the tools and the skills and the competencies that are going to make you successful in life,’" she said.

Hienton said phones are a distraction from that success, so, for now, the solution is to remove them from the equation.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Since the atomic bomb program began during WWII, countless Americans have been exposed to radiation — either from mining uranium or from the tests themselves.

But compensation for the cancers caused by this exposure has been limited, and this summer, Congress allowed the main way of paying for treatment to expire that’s been especially harmful to Native Americans and Mexican Americans living in the southwest.

Late last month, members of several tribes and others affected by exposure went by bus to Washington -- to persuade lawmakers to revive and expand the cancer treatment program.

The Mountain West News Bureau's Yvette Fernandez met up with them and has this report.

( Berkley)Author Emma Noyes is back with her latest novel, "How to Hide in Plain Sight."

It's a story about Eliot, a 21-year-old woman who's spent years building up walls, separating herself from her family, so she can try and control her struggle with OCD.

However, when she returns home for a wedding, the reappearance of her childhood love threatens to bring down the barriers she's so carefully constructed.

Noyes joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her newest book.

(albussan / Flickr)The Boise Foothills trail system sees a lot of traffic throughout the year. Which is why the folks over at Ridge to Rivers are constantly working to improve people's experience.

In order to do that, though, they need feedback. So they're asking you to share your experience on the trails in an annual survey.

Lisa Duplessie, Foothills and Open Space Superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Lisa Marie Cannon / Flickr)As Mpox continues to hit African nations hard, here at home we are dealing with bird flu and a rise whooping cough.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues.

Acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo is the author of 'What My Bones Know'( Penguin Random House, Stephanie Foo)By the time she was a teenager, Stephanie Foo had been abused and abandoned by both parents. She spiraled into trauma, and the feeling of, ‘‘Why didn’t anybody want me?’

Diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, years later, Foo was able to look at that teenager and think, "Oh my God, the strength that you have … the power that you have … to have gone through all of that and to keep going and to succeed."

“I have a lot of love and empathy for that girl now,” she said.

Prior to her being the keynote at the Idaho Office for Refugees’ Northwest Conference on Resettlement, Foo, author of "What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma" visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about CPTSD and how she went from victim to survivor to understanding that “along with the losses are the triumphs.”

Read the full transcript below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning, I'm George Prentice. Because we will be talking about PTSD and more specifically, CPTSD, you should know that yes, we will be considering trauma for the next few minutes; but you should also know that our guest reminds us that while a life can be full of anger and pain, at the same time, it is very possible to have that life also include peace and exquisite beauty. And these are some of her words in her amazing book. She is Stephanie Foo, an acclaimed radio producer for This American Life and Snap Judgment. Most of us know her New York Times bestseller, “What My Bones Know: a Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma.” And we are thrilled to report that she is to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Northwest Conference on Resettlement, put together by the Idaho Office for Refugees. Stephanie Foo, good morning.

STEPHANIE FOO: Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. Good morning.

PRENTICE: With your permission, I'm going to ask you to share with us a couple of passages from your book. By the way, how do you best explain to most of us what is CPTSD?

FOO: Yeah, I think we're all familiar with PTSD. You can get PTSD from a single traumatic event. Let's say you're in a car accident. You can get PTSD from that. Complex PTSD occurs when the trauma happens over and over and over again for an extended period of time. So that could be survivors of war, of domestic violence, of child abuse. That's very frequent. My CPTSD comes from child abuse. It's kind of like if you were in a car accident every week for several years. The toll that takes on your brain is very different than Complex PTSD. And it's more complex to heal.

PRENTICE: On social media, pretty early on you threw a question out: “Do I know anybody who was diagnosed with CPTSD? And one of the responses came back from someone that you call Lacey. And in chapter 11 of your book….could you read a bit beginning with…beginning with the words “Lacey said the road…” Could you share that with us?

FOO: Sure.

“Lacey said the road would be long and difficult. That sounded about right, considering I was endeavoring to relearn how to be a person. I wanted to learn to be happy and strong and independent so I could support others instead of letting my own depression always take center stage. I wanted to learn how to be a better friend, partner, family member to invest in permanent relationships. I wanted to be the kind of woman people didn't leave. I had to find out what was salvageable. If I had good qualities underneath all of those layers of trauma and hurt and workaholism.”

PRENTICE: And you do caution us early on that the first part of your book is detailed about trauma… the trauma that you grew up with. And I have to tell you… and my guess is that this is not the first time a reader has told you this: I had to wince as I was reading …more than a few times. I also had to decide whether I needed to put the book down for a few minutes, or whether it would be better to power through. Because you do promise us a happy ending.

FOO: And I do say in the beginning too…that it's totally okay if you need to just skip a few pages. I recognize that books on trauma are really difficult… and I really wanted to make sure that survivors were protected in reading this book. And so, I tried to keep the real ugly, nasty trauma stuff from my childhood to 50 pages or less.

PRENTICE: With the success of this book, you have been asked…as I'm asking today…probably countless times in interviews or events that you're speaking at… about these horrible, visceral memories. And I truly want to know: How you do that without this not being triggering.

FOO: Well, see, CPTSD is sort of a curse and a blessing. One of the advantages, or what I kind of call superhero talents of having CPTSD, is that it makes us excellent at dissociation. I sort of leave my body and shut off all of my sadness and anxiety and all of that, whenever I talk about my childhood and I just don't feel anything. So, I it's pretty easy for me to talk about some of the hardest things that have ever happened to me. That can happen in moments of crisis. It happened during the pandemic. I wrote this book during the pandemic which pretty much completely dissociated in one of the most traumatizing moments for our society, I guess living with CPTSD is kind of like being used to always feeling like you're going to die at any moment. And so, at a certain point, you do kind of get dulled to it, and it can be both a terrible thing and a wonderful thing.

PRENTICE: Is it learned? Is it through professional help?

FOO: My dissociation?

PRENTICE: Yeah.

FOO: It's actually a symptom of how people who are very traumatized. I think that they sometimes have a hard time accessing their feelings… particularly difficult feelings. But all feelings, like when you numb the sadness, you can also numb the happiness. I think that it can be pathologized as something that's really debilitating for some people. And it certainly exists on a spectrum, But in moments of extreme distress, in moments of where you really need to stay calm in order to survive, we can be the calmest ones in the room. You know, it is a survival mechanism from having to stay calm in dangerous moments where our lives were threatened. You know, if you have a tiger… if a tiger ate your wife, you can't just, like, sit there and freak out about it and grieve. You have to feed your children. If you're living in a jungle, you have to find a way to survive. And so, you have to shut down all of those feelings and keep going. And I think the harder thing has been to tap into some of those rough feelings and feel grief and sadness and anger over what happened to me as a child.

PRENTICE: Can I assume that when you are invited for readings or a speaking engagement… do countless people come up to you when you're done and want to share their stories? I'm wondering what that experience has been like.

FOO: I feel like the language around trauma has actually been improving a lot with the help of social media and awareness and books. So, I think people understand more about the concept of trauma dumping. And the toll that it can take on people. So, I don't frequently get people coming up and dumping all their trauma on me. But what I do get a lot of is people coming to me and saying, ‘My story is your story.” And I always say, thank you so much. And I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry that you have to be part of this club. But I always say, “This is the crappiest club with the best people in it.” Because I feel like survivors… when they come up to me, they're always so empathetic. They're so kind, they're so gracious, they're so thoughtful. And it's really taught me that survivors of CPTSD are really powerful and loving… and lovable individuals.

PRENTICE: As a point of personal privilege, I have to tell you that my connection was that I worked with foster kids… pretty high risk foster kids…close to 100 before I returned to journalism. And I found your story to be their story. What I learned from your book, and what you've reminded me of more than a few times, is that you never know that you are learning to survive, But only on the other side, where there's any amount of daylight do you consider yourself a survivor. Because the process of surviving is so… just… awful sometimes… even though you are surviving.

FOO: It's all encompassing. And I think a lot of times the process of surviving is so sad that there is a lot of self-hatred in there. For me, being abused and abandoned by both of my parents by the time I was a teenager, there was a lot of self-loathing and feeling like, “Why didn't anybody want me? Why must I be unlovable?” And only years later, really, was I able to look at that teenage girl and think, “Oh my God, the strength that you have, the power that you have to have gone through all of that and to keep going and to succeed. I mean,” I have a lot of love and empathy for that girl now.

PRENTICE: I'm next going to ask you to read from your book again: Chapter 43, if it's okay? Beginning with the words, “But there are two main differences…”

FOO: Okay.

“But there are two main differences. Now I have hope, and I have agency. I know my feelings, no matter how disconsolate they are, they are temporary. I know that regardless of how unruly it is, I am the Beast's master, and at the end of each battle I stand strong and plant my flag. I am alive, I am proud, I am joyful still. So, this is healing, then. The opposite of the ambiguous dread fullness. I am full of anger, pain, peace, love of horrible shards and exquisite beauty and the lifelong challenge will be to balance all of those things while keeping them in the circle. Healing is never final. It is never perfection. But along with the losses are the triumphs. I accept the lifelong battle and its limitations now, even though I must always carry the weight of grief on my back. I have become strong. My legs and shoulders are long, hard bundles of muscle. The burden is lighter than it was. I no longer cower and crawl my way through this world. Now I hitch my pack up. And as I wait for the beast to come, I dance.”

PRENTICE: Stephanie Foo will be the much-anticipated keynote speaker at the upcoming Northwest Conference on Resettlement, sponsored by the Idaho Office for Refugees. Stephanie, great good luck to you. Safe journey. I can't thank you enough for giving me some time today.

FOO: Thank you. So excited to see you there.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

(Idaho Transportation Department)Contests to name a snowplow are becoming more common around Idaho. It’s a great way to involve and educate kids about what road departments do each year to get ready for winter weather.

For the past two years we’ve told you about Nampa's name that plow contest where elementary school kids came up with names like "Darth Blader" and "Frosty the Snowplow."

Now the Idaho Transportation Department is joining in with its first name a snowplow contest targeted at eighth grade students who are just about the right age to start drivers training.

Ellen Mattila, public information officer with the Idaho Transportation Department, and transportation program manager Vincent Trimboli join Idaho Matters to talk more about the contest and how ITD prepares for winter road conditions.

(Matt McClintock / Flickr)The partisan division in national politics in recent years has also come to define much of local politics. Candidates up and down the ballot regularly tap into fears that their opponents threaten the way people live their lives.

In Colorado, that political schism has split one rural country in half. KUNC's Lucas Brady Woods reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(Otto Kitsinger / AP Images)What happens when you go to vote and you don’t have a driver’s license? Can you still vote? What kind of identification do you need, and how do you get one?

Voters will decide the future of our country for the next four years as well as many key state and local races in the upcoming November election. Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

Idaho's Secretary of State Phil McGrane joined Idaho Matters to take a closer look at these issues and answer the questions that have come up this election season.

(Frankie Barnhill / Boise State Public Radio)One of the things that seems to be missing from the upcoming November election is civility on all sides, and we wanted to find out more about the tenor of the campaigns.

Dr. Sam Martin is a professor and political scientist at Boise State University. She sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the reliability of polls and whether there truly are uncommitted voters.

(Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )Excitement was in the air as people spent one of the last Saturdays of summer lined up in a coffee shop parking lot in Teton Valley in Eastern Idaho. They were there for fresh Alaskan salmon — 10-, 20- and 40-pound boxes of fillets and ground sockeye.

“This is it right here,” said Carlen Hervig, standing at the front of the line under a blue tent “So, see. It just looks so beautiful.”

Hervig pointed to the vacuum-sealed bag of bright red-orange ground-up salmon.

She was picking up for a neighbor and getting herself some foot-long fillets to serve at dinner parties.

“It's a pretty big piece, so once you're going to thaw one out you kind of want to know, 'OK, I'm having friends over. I can serve this many portions,'” she explained.

( Courtesy of Kirstyn Sterling)Hervig has been coming back for this wild salmon for years. It comes from Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. Fed by six major rivers, the bay is home to the largest wild salmon run on the planet, and it’s sustainably managed.

Hervig said the fish from there just tastes better than the farm-raised stuff you find in the grocery store. Plus, wild salmon is hard to come by in this part of Idaho since many varieties are endangered and illegal to fish.

“I think the first year we delivered seven boxes and we thought that was a huge deal,” said Amanda Wlaysewski with Kvichak Fish Company. “And, now, it's grown into, what, 70 people.”

That’s 3,600 pounds of salmon today.

(Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )Wlaysewski first got hooked on Alaskan salmon after spending a summer at a cannery in Naknek, Alaska after high school.

Now, she and a friend from the cannery run this company, working with fishermen on the Kvichak River in Bristol Bay.

“When we first were starting out we just assumed that we were gonna be a company that put fish in a box and shipped it all over the country, and right away, we stopped doing that,” she said.

Instead, they opted to keep operations small. They now ship the salmon by barge and truck to Bozeman, Montana — where Wlaysewski lives — and load it all into a bright blue freezer-cold trailer. Then, once a year, Wlaysewski, her sister and her business partner haul it to different pickup spots in Montana and Idaho.

(Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )They started serving this small community in Driggs, Idaho, in 2016. Wlaysewski was friends with a fisherman who used to deliver here, and when he retired, she helped locals continue to have access to wild fish.

“They care about knowing where it comes from because the economy around here is focused around agriculture and food,” said Wlaysewski, “and just a desire to support small producers because a lot of them are small producers themselves.”

In recent years, at least three other companies have started bringing wild salmon here and across the state line in Jackson Hole.

(Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )In Salt Lake City, Kirstyn Sterling runs a similar company.

“We all started out with this because it was like, ‘Oh, you're a fisherman in Alaska. So how do we get fish?’” Sterling said.

She fishes every summer in Bristol Bay, living in a 700-square-foot cabin with her husband and two kids. For the rest of the year, she sells salmon in the Mountain West.

“If you're an expecting mother, this is like the most perfect food for you ever,” she said. ‘If you are a little baby that’s just starting out eating, this is the most perfect food for you ever. If you're a dog, this is the most perfect food for you ever.”

(Courtesy of Kirstyn Sterling)Sterling’s business has been growing, but part of her job is still convincing people that wild sockeye is healthier than fish raised on farms, which are fed pellets, antibiotics and dyes. But her fish is ruby red from eating plankton and krill in the open ocean.

“You're paying a little bit more, but it's so much better for you and it tastes so much better,” she said.

A single piece of wild salmon can be about $18 a pound — about twice as much as the farm-raised grocery stuff. But the Alaskan fish can be cheaper if you buy in bulk or ahead of the season, like folks in Teton Valley, Idaho.

Back at the pick-up, local resident Kyle Barrus is cramming 15 boxes into his Subaru Outback. He works at a nearby ranch. Some of the fish is for him, but he’s also picking up for family and neighbors.

(Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media)“I've come to just really like these guys,” Barrus said. “I like supporting Amanda [Wlaysewski], and I like supporting small business.”

And just like having a deer or elk in the freezer, Barrus said he’s excited to have all this wild salmon stored up for the long winter ahead.

Can he taste the difference from grocery store salmon?

“I don’t know,” Barrus said. “It’s delicious. I know that.”

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

(iStockphoto)Doctors prescribe a lot of things every day, like medications and advice to help their patients feel better.

Now some doctors are prescribing electricity to their patients. They believe not having access to reliable power can have a direct impact on the health of their patients.

Dr. Anna Goldman is the medical director of climate and sustainability at Boston Medical Center, which has adopted a clean power prescription program, and she’ll be talking about how it works as part of St. Luke's lecture series on climate and health.

People carry flags as members of the Jewish community gather at a park in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)(Rick Rycroft/AP / AP)Today marks one year since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel, the deadliest attack ever on Israeli soil, taking 1,200 lives.

Since then Israel has responded by declaring war against Hamas. In the aftermath of the growing conflict, Gaza has been left in a humanitarian crisis, and thousands more have been killed.

Shockwaves of the war have been felt across the nation, and according to the Anti-Defamation League, there have been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States since the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, making it the highest number of incidents ever recorded in any single year since the ADL started tracking in 1979.

American Jewish Committee regional director for the region that include Idaho Regina Sassoon Friedland joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Boise City)Many Boise homeowners have three trash cans: a gray one for trash, a blue one for recycling and a green one for compost.

The compost program started in 2017 and has been very successful, turning one-third of the waste that used to go into the landfill into compost. Now, Boise is expanding that program for people who live in apartments and condos who might not have the green compost cart.

Lisa Knapp, who runs Boise's compost program, and Catherine Milner, who runs the reduce and reuse programs, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Raymond Lines / Flickr)October is a great month to look up into the night sky and see some of the wonders of the universe including “the comet of the century,” the northern lights and a second moon.

Dr. Irwin Horowitz is a mathematics professor at the College of Western Idaho and past president of the Boise Astronomical Society and he sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to take a look at the night sky.

The 2021 Memorial Day commemoration will be a full in-person ceremony.( Idaho State Veterans Cemetery / Facebook)Every December, wreaths are placed at each headstone at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery. The program was recently taken over by the Idaho Veterans Network, and they need community support to ensure that every grave gets a wreath this year.

Ron Bowers and Jake Faulkner, State Veterans Cemetery Bureau Chief, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Smoke from the Valley Fire in southeast Boise.( Michael Martin)The Valley Fire threatens homes in southeast Boise, Boise State's decision to forfeit a women's volleyball game continues to make the news and it's political debate season but some candidates aren't taking part.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Samantha Wright, senior producer of Idaho Matters on Boise State Public Radio

The Missouri Capitol is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)(David A. Lieb/AP / AP)After months of gathering signatures, filing petitions, and navigating lawsuits, constitutional amendments that will protect or expand abortion rights will appear on the ballot in ten states in November.

These states include blue-leaning, red-leaning, even swing states as voters go to the polls and cast their ballot for reproductive rights. But what could these outcomes mean for Idaho?

Joining us now to talk more are Melanie Folwell, lead organizer for Idahoans United for Women and Families, McKay Cunningham, a constitutional scholar and a graduate professor at College of Idaho and Dr. Loren Colson, a Boise-based family physician and president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare.

FILE - Actor Alec Baldwin, center, reacts as he sits between his attorneys Alex Spiro, left, and Luke Nikas after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a movie armorer has asked a judge to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter conviction, Tuesday, July 16, 2024 or offer her a new trial in the shooting death of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin. (Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP, File)(RAMSAY DE GIVE/AP / Pool AFP)If you thought award shows were a little dull, have we got a story for you! There was a big shocker at a recent British awards show and we have the update. Plus we have all the latest TV and movie news.

Our resident movie critic and Morning Edition host George Prentice is here with another edition of "What to Watch" on Idaho Matters.

(Indiana Public Media / Flickr)The number of children dying from influenza in the 2023-2024 flu season has unfortunately set a new record - 200 children have lost their lives to flu this year - according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and co-author of the book "Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak," joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this report along with other public health issues.

Boise Police Chief Chris Dennison( City of Boise)A greater focus on mental health. More transparency. Gaining trust. Those are just a few items on Boise Police Chief Chris Dennison’s to-do list. It has only been a matter of days since he officially took the job, after the city hired Dennison, a 20-plus veteran of the Tucson, Arizona police department.

“There were three things, growing up, I wanted to be: a baseball player, an astronaut, and a cop,” said Dennison. “It ended up being a copy. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Dennison sat down with Morning Edition host George Prentice for a wide-ranging conversation, where they discussed some specifics on how Dennison hopes to earn the community’s trust. Plus Dennison recounted the first time he had to fire a weapon in the line of duty … and how something called “Struggle Well” helped him and might help his fellow officers.

Read the full transcript below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: Chief, is being in law enforcement… is this in your family? Is this in your DNA? Where does this come from?

CHRISTOPHER DENNISON: Oh, it's not my family. I'm the first in my family to join law enforcement. It is in my DNA. There were three things growing up I wanted to be: a baseball player, an astronaut and a cop and ended up as a cop. So it has been a little over 20 years in law enforcement, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

PRENTICE: Where'd you grow up?

DENNISON: In Tucson, Arizona.

PRENTICE: Brothers? Sisters?

DENNISON: I am the oldest of five. I have three brothers and a sister.

PRENTICE: And are they scattered?

DENNISON: No. We all stayed pretty close to Tucson, around the surrounding communities there. So, I'm the first one to have moved away.

PRENTICE: Uh, tell me when this is none of my business. Did you bring family with you?

DENNISON: My wife and daughter will be joining me. So, we're in the final stages of looking for a home. I'm definitely excited to get them up here.

PRENTICE: What did the mayor tell you that we needed in a police chief?

DENNISON: Looking for stability for the agency. Focus on employee wellness officer wellness. Making sure we're taking care of the officers to take care of the community. Transparency is obviously important to make sure that the community trusts the police department. We need the community to actually be effective at doing the job. Uh, some of the other conversations talked about is, you know, City of Boise is growing, and we're going to have to make sure that the department is prepared to grow with it and building the infrastructure around the department to be able to sustain that growth and move with it.

PRENTICE: So, let's talk about trust. I'm certain this is no surprise to you that our community has struggled with trust in general, but with this department in particular for a couple of reasons. That said, have you ever had an experience where you had to win or gain someone's trust? I'm wondering what works to gain someone's trust, because it's hard.

DENNISON: Yeah, just being authentic. I wanted to be authentic in all my interviews here. This is the person I am. This is who I'm going to be. This is how I'm going to lead. This is how I'm going to manage. I didn't want to pretend to be somebody else. I think that goes a long way to where you can just sit down with somebody, you can have a conversation, and you don't feel like they're playing games with you. They're just upfront with their answers and upfront with their views. And I think that that's what needs to build trust and being able to put yourself out there a little bit. You know, for me, putting myself out there and not necessarily expecting that to be reciprocated and that's okay. I mean.

PRENTICE: Some of this comes with the job, but do you expect to be quite visible?

DENNISON: I don't think there's a way around not being visible. That's just part of the job.

PRENTICE: But you can also be a little bit more visible too. In other words, through neighborhood engagement, right?

DENNISON: It's important. As a patrol captain, when I worked on our West Side Patrol division, it was during Covid. It was coming out of Covid and during the George Floyd protests in 2020. And I went from being responsible for the significant parts of the Tucson Police Department's response to those riots and protests, to having to actively engage with communities who didn't trust the police. So, it was being visible. It was going to neighborhood events, bringing officers with me, engaging with parents and kids. And then, you know, eventually, for one, one community in particular had a pretty significant history of not trusting the police and didn't really want us in their community to before I had left that division and was promoted, we were actually doing neighborhood parties on weekends at the substation. You know, they were kind enough to let us come into their home and be a part of their community there. We wanted them to come and be a part of us. So we invited them to the, you know, to the substation. We opened up to them. They had live music. Um, they always fed us so well. I was so excited to go to any of those events, but that was part of it is just building that trust. Sounds like a good idea.

PRENTICE: We have the “Night Out’s,” and things like that that are a little bit more formal, but maybe a little bit more of that. Sounds like a pretty good idea too.

DENNISON: Yeah. You know, that's how you build trust. It's the, you know, going out and just meeting with people. And, you know, police departments do this. You know, it's coffee with a cop coming. Come and talk to your officers, going to the neighborhood meetings, you know, National Night Out thing, those things. But it's also being willing to be out in the community and engage with folks as much as possible. And that is something I absolutely will do.

PRENTICE: Every department is different when a new chief comes in. Certainly not right away. Maybe years and years go by. Do you have a hope for how you might make this department a little different….or certainly a little better?

DENNISON: You know, obviously employee wellness is going to incredibly important to me. And making sure that we're taking care of those who are tasked to take care of the community. So, you know, looking at what's already been done in wellness and how to expand that infrastructure for the department and the ability to grow. Everything I read about the city of Boise is it's a growing city. It's expected to grow pretty rapidly over the next several years.

PRENTICE: Do you like the idea of precincts?

DENNISON: Yeah, we called them substations in Tucson. But yes, absolutely. Having forward facing locations that the that the community members could go to in their area to engage with the police, I think is helpful. Um, so building out some of those, especially on the east side of the city where that is definitely lacking, and we want to see expansion there. Yeah. So, I think, you know, looking at over the next several years, how do we increase that footprint and that, um, access for police services and ability to come to the, to the police station if they need to file a report or seek services or help.

PRENTICE: Every presentation I've heard for the last couple of years is that we need more cops. Your predecessor says, hey, we need something like 129 new officers sooner than later based on our growth.

DENNISON: Yeah, I think absolutely. The department's going to going to have to, uh, it's going to have to grow. We're going to need more officers to just for the resources that are needed to ensure that we're providing effective police services for the city.

PRENTICE: You think that you can make that happen?

DENNISON: Absolutely. I think the city is in a great place for it. Uh, the discussions I've had with the mayor and some of the council members, uh, definitely lend to that. Absolutely. For the infrastructure, the expansion of the agency, um, as needed and required to make sure that it continues to be an effective police department.

PRENTICE: And how do we get a force that is truly reflective of our community? Demographics-wise? Now, obviously you want the best of the best, right? And that's priority number one. That said, there's something to be said for a reflection of our community.

DENNISON: Yeah, that goes just to recruiting efforts and officers. Officers being out in the community, being out in the community. There's a lot of folks who live in and around the city of Boise who may have never considered a career in law enforcement. It just, you know, it never it never occurred to them. And I think our officers are great ambassadors for the profession. I in my short time here, I've received numerous compliments coming in from the community about just how engaging the officers were and how appreciative just them being there and the energy that they, um, that they were showing toward the community at different events. So I think that's how you do, you know. Absolutely. You want the best. Um, you know, don't want to decrease the standards for what we accept as a police officer, but within the within communities that haven't considered it, those people exist. Absolutely. And how do you reach them? How do you reach them? Is being out in the community at different events, talking to them and letting them see that police officers are people, too? We have, you know, yeah, you know, hopes and fears like everybody else. We have worries like everybody else and, you know, seeing themselves in the uniform so they can see themselves in the uniform because it's not foreign to them.

PRENTICE: Chief, have you ever had to fire your weapon in the line of duty?

DENNISON: I have.

PRENTICE: And at what point in your career did that happen?

DENNISON: I believe that was in 2014. I was a supervisor for a plainclothes street squad. We did a lot of work in the area of prostitution… narcotics. A lot of it was significant. A lot of narcotics work.

PRENTICE: Night or day?

DENNISON: This was during the day that this occurred. So, it's kind of a kind of an involved story, but a gentleman… a vehicle parks… a gentleman gets out and he looks down the road at the toward the officers where I'm at with some other officers. And he looks at my officer, who, like I said, he's in a plainclothes car and he pulls out a gun, waves around and says, “I'm a cop killer.” We were getting information. He was basically terrorizing this small apartment complex, And we also had info from the FBI at that time that he had been tasked to do a hit on a rival gang member. While SWAT was getting their equipment in place and prepping to get briefed. We were still on surveillance. The suspect left on foot, obviously with a lot of the info we had, the propensity for the threats to violence and the fact that he was supposed to potentially kill a rival gang member. We had absolute belief he was armed. Um, an officer myself and I was a sergeant at the time, so I was supervising the squad. We stopped. We stopped to make contact with him. Ended in a foot chase. As we were chasing, he turned and fired at myself and another officer. We returned fire, striking him. We rendered medical aid, got him to the hospital. He's still alive today. He's sitting in prison. When he was interviewed by detectives, he had told him he believed it was his chance to kill a cop. And then he pled guilty to two counts of attempted murder.

PRENTICE: So how do you train a young man or woman for the psychological after-effect of something like that.

DENNISON: It is…. It's a terrible position to be in. I remember that night…the emotions that were going through me, just how I felt about the incident, um, struggling with my faith and how that was at conflict with what had just happened. But what I've learned and, you know, and to some, we had done such a tremendous job of engaging our officers and working on, on ways to give them tools to deal with it. And whether it's, you know, sometimes the littlest things, it's keeping a journal. It's, uh, doing a gratitude. What are you thankful for? It's disclosure. It's talking to people about things that you've been through. You know, you’re 3 to 5 trusted people that you can talk to and, and, uh, and work through things. Um, there's other things that I had gone through that helped me at you know, Whether, you know, it's, you know, having a better diet. It's consistent exercise, meditation, just things that you can, you can do to, to build your, to build some resiliency. So when you know, if something, God forbid, like this happens, that you have some of those tools to fall back on to help walk you through that.

PRENTICE: I have to assume that you bring that with you when you come into this job.

DENNISON: Yes. I have been very fortunate. I got to go through a great program. Tucson police allowed me to go through a nonprofit program. And it was super helpful. And the department actually brought elements from that nonprofit into the department to work on. It’s called “Struggle Well.” And really, it is just working with folks who, you know, we all go through things in our life. It doesn't mean just law enforcement or not. And it's building those mechanisms, those tools that you have to help unload some of that baggage so you can be more present and engaged.

PRENTICE: Again, tell me if it's none of my business, but where do you find peace in your life?

DENNISON: I find peace in my life with my wife and my daughter and my family… my parents, my brothers, my sister. And…..you know, I find peace in my life driving my Jeep. I just… I enjoy getting in my Jeep. So, you know, things like that are important. But my family.

PRENTICE: The last question I'll ask is about the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders. To the person, every public official that I talked to at the council level and also at ACHD uses the word “crisis.” Way too many people have been hit and way too many people have been killed. We've got a problem. We have a significant problem of vehicles versus pedestrian versus cyclist. How do you get your arms around that? Are there things we can change sooner than later?

DENNISON: Yeah. I wish to say this was a super easy answer. This is not something…

PRENTICE: This may be the issue of our times, right?

DENNISON: Absolutely. It's not unique to the city of Boise. We've seen this across the country. The city I just came from last year, I believe we touched 100 vehicle related fatalities from collisions, both vehicle versus vehicle, vehicle versus motorcycle, single vehicle collision, pedestrians. All the things that the city of Boise is seeing. And it's okay. How do you how do you fix it?

PRENTICE: Because there's a good many people who say enforcement, that's the first thing out of their mouth is enforcement of the law. But it's got to be bigger than that.

DENNISON: Yeah, I think it's going to be technological. They're distracted. Driving is definitely an issue. How many people you drive by where you look around at a streetlight and their heads buried in their phone, that is, you know, it's paying attention when you're on the road, realizing it's not just you in the car by yourself. You have people who have families and loved ones that are also using these streets. So, education is a component of it. It's technology. It's infrastructure. What can we design? Can we make, can we design things within the city and with the infrastructure that makes it safer and enforcement is a part of it, but it's not the answer for everything. It needs to be a real holistic look at what we can do through education, technology, infrastructure and enforcement to drive those numbers down and make it safer to be on the street. I drive these streets, my family's going to be driving these streets. We you know, a good.

PRENTICE: Part of it is what's going on between our ears, right? I mean, obviously it's awareness. But it's just the fact that there's a lot of vulnerable people out there.

DENNISON: There is a lot of people driving that distracted driving is a is a concern. So, it's, you know, like again, education I think is an important part of that. You have a lot of young drivers on the road and people are easily distracted. Um, I would like to say I'm impervious to that. I'm not. There's a lot of things occurring in our world. Um, so it's understanding when we just need to put the phone down and focus on getting from point A to point B and making sure we get there safely for not just ourselves and our family, but for everybody else's family.

PRENTICE: Chief, great good luck to you.

DENNISON: Thank you, I appreciate it.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

(Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman)Former President Donald Trump has a plan to bring water to thirsty parts of the West by turning on a ‘big faucet’ out of the Columbia River.

Rocky Barker, who covered environmental issues for the Idaho Statesman for decades, and who now publishes his blog “Letters from the West,” recently wrote an article about the ‘faucet’ and he joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(Katie Kloppenburg / Boise State Public Radio )How does absentee voting work in Idaho? What do candidates have to report when it comes to how they spend their money? And in the age of social media, where can we find trusted sources of information?

These are just some of the questions we’re looking at today. Because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

Idaho's Secretary of State Phil McGrane joined Idaho Matters again to talk more about the absentee ballots, campaign finance laws and answer more questions about the upcoming election.

In this combination of photos taken in Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event, Aug. 18, 2024, in Rochester, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Aug. 19, 2024, in York. (AP Photo)(AP / AP)We are a few weeks away from what many political scholars are calling an historic election. On November 5, our country will elect a new president - either former president Donald Trump or current vice president Kamala Harris - with some scholars and pundits saying Democracy is on the line.

We wanted to dive deeper into these questions, so we asked Dr. David Adler, a constitutional scholar and the president of the Alturas Institute, to join Idaho Matters.

He’ll dive into these issues at his next Constitutional Conversation “Countdown to the Historic Election of 2024 - Implications for Democracy and the Rule of Law” Oct. 3 at the Yanke Center in Boise.

(Christian Franco / Flickr)Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a piece of art?

Well, this weekend the Boise Open Studios Collective Organization is inviting you to find out as they kick off their 21st annual Open Studios Tour.

The event gives people a behind-the-scenes look at how local artists make their pieces and the inspiration that goes into them.

Deborra Marshall Bohrer, president of Bosco, and events chair Cindi Walton joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

Ammon Bundy speaks to the media in front of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters on Jan. 6 near Burns, Ore. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)Brian Kohberger has his first hearing in Boise in the case of four murdered University of Idaho students, Ammon Bundy files for bankruptcy, Japan still doesn’t want our fresh taters, public defender policy changes spark shake-ups, more quagga mussels hit Idaho waterways, and it’s been a very busy week for the Pac-12.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Mia Maldonado with the Idaho Capital Sun
Ruth Brown with Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Troy Oppie, All Things Considered Host on Boise State Public Radio
Jay Tust, KTVB Sports Director

Scandalized hosts Charlie Hunt and Jaci Kettler. ( James Dawson)Political scandals are nothing new, some memorable others not, yet many have had a significant impact on the United States.

Which is exactly what the new podcast "Scandalized" is looking at as political scientists Charles Hunt and Jaci Kettler dive into moments in history that have changed our political landscape.

(Nancy Arehart / California Condor Reproduction Program )On Saturday in Arizona, four California condors that were born and raised in captivity will take their first flight into the wild.

Since the 1980s, when there were only 22 of the birds left in the world, the Peregrine Fund has been working to restore condor populations.

One of the birds to be released is Milagra, Spanish for miracle, because she was just an egg when her mother died of bird flu and biologists rescued her from her cliffside nest. She wasn’t expected to live, but she did and she grew up at the Peregrine Fund’s Boise facility.

Jessica Schlarbaum, public information officer with the Peregrine Fund and propagation director Leah Esquivel, joined Idaho Matters to tell us more about the birds.

The Idaho Renaissance Faire.(Bob Minton / Flickr)Every year at the Idaho Renaissance Faire, hundreds of people gather for some unforgettable dancing, jousting and sword fighting.

This year is not different, and along with having lots of fun, people will also get to learn a little bit about history.

Kathlean Danes, president of the Idaho Renaissance Faire; Tyson Stuki, vice president of human resources; and Denice King, who plays the Duchess of Milan, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

False-color transmission electron micrograph of a field of whooping cough bacteria, Bordetella pertussis.(A. Barry Dowsett / Science Source)According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pertussis is on the rise.

Here in the Gem State, we're seeing an outbreak in North Idaho and the Boise State Broncos almost had the home opener against Portland State canceled due to the disease.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this report along with other public health issues.

(Rasande Tyskar / Flickr)More than 50 years ago, Terry Reilly was sent to Nampa by the Catholic Church to help the farmworker community. He started a small health clinic, which over the years grew exponentially.

Today, Terry Reilly Health Services operates clinics across southwest Idaho that do all they can to provide medical, dental, and behavioral health care to anyone who needs it regardless of their ability to pay.

We want to learn more about Terry Reilly because they have clinics in a lot of rural areas like Marsing, which is where Boise State Public Radio is holding our second panel on mental health Thursday night. Our goal is to help build connections between teens, families, and their support networks.

Britney Journee, the assistant director of behavioral health for Terry Reilly, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media)Summer is wrapping up, so we’re taking a look back at something that was likely a part of many of our childhoods: summer camp. But this one is a little different. It's a partnership between a ranch in Bondurant, a wildlife non-profit and the state of Wyoming geared toward kids across the country who wouldn’t otherwise have these kinds of outdoor opportunities. The ‘Inspire a Kid’ camp attempts to live out the state’s vision for teaching youth about the outdoors.

Ice cold showers and hot coffee

It was mid-summer at the base of Bondurant’s Gros Ventre Mountains. And 17 boys were living their best lives – reeling in fish, playing in the mud and running through the willows and pine trees.

Colten Christianson, a 13-year-old of Kinnear, Wyoming, had dirt on his cheeks. He took a break from helping restore a nearby beaver pond to explain a typical morning.

“We wake up, some of us get hot chocolate,” he said, adding they wake up at 6 a.m. “You can also go to the sluice box.”

Sluice boxes were used over a 150 years ago to separate gold from water. But here at camp, they funnel ice cold, mountain stream water off a hillside.

Zach Cortez, a 12-year-old of Riverton, explained it’s a shower.

“I do it in the morning to get waked up. It’s way better than coffee,” Cortez said. When questioned about drinking coffee at his age, Cortez pointed to his buddies and said frankly, “Yeah. Because somebody decided to drink all the hot cocoa.”

Hooking and reeling them in

The weeklong camp is spent fully outside. Working. Playing. And learning about future outdoor careers.

Which is the whole point, said Chris McBarnes. He runs the Wyoming Wyldlife Fund, the non-profit arm for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), and helped get the camp off the ground for its first summer in 2022.

“The hook are the mountains, the fly fishing and the horseback riding,” McBarnes said, gesturing to the camp’s nearby mountains, river and forest. “That's what gets the kids here.”

And once they’re hooked, McBarnes hopes that excitement reels some of these kids back one day.

“If we don't do this, we won't have the future conservationists and leaders that will continue to make Wyoming all it is today,” he said.

It’s out of a larger WGFD and Gov. Mark Gordon initiative also called ‘Inspire a Kid’, along with a partnership with the Little Jennie Ranch in Bondurant.

The campers write thank you letters on one of the last days of camp.(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming public media)McBarnes added that the influence is tangible – even just in a few years. He recently heard from a camper from last summer.

“This young man has completely changed his career goals,” he said proudly. “He wants to be a conservation officer. That is his dream. That is his passion now.”

McBarnes sees this kid’s experience as proof of concept for the camp. He’d like to see it replicated across the state.

It’s part of a multipronged effort to attract and keep more young people in Wyoming, which has seen the majority of people born in the state leave by their 30s.

“It’s up to you”

It's a lofty goal for a little camp. But McBarnes and instructor Chris Story said starting down a career path and appreciation of the outdoors begins with learning basic skills, like how to feed the camp's horses.

The boys try to move the 90-pound bales by each taking an end.(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming public media)“There's enough hay on this truck that we needed to unload and stack that everybody's responsible for one bale,” Story said to the group of boys.

Green, square hay bales on the truck towered over the kiddos. One bale probably weighed more than each boy. Story pointed to an area about 40 feet away where they needed to move the hay to.

“It's up to you guys how you want to come up with the strategy,” Story said, emphasizing the need to work together.

He pitched a few bales off the truck for the kids to start on.

“It's gonna bounce guys, so you gotta stay back,” Story said, as a 90-pound bale thumped to the ground.

The boys partnered in pairs of two and each took an end of a bale. They awkwardly shuffled along, breathing heavily.

And sure – not all these kids need to know how to move hay bales in the future. But it’s more than that. It’s problem solving. Teamwork. Leadership. Physical movement. A sense of accomplishment. And, of course, a love of Wyoming’s outdoors.

Campers sit around a campfire morning and night while eating their meals.(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming public media)“I think I've kind of fallen in love with the mountains here,” said 15-year-old William Johnston of New Jersey. “That's the biggest thing, is that I want to try to come back.”

Johnston lives in a city, and this is the first time he’s really been in the mountains. He sat on a stump by a campfire.

It was the second to last morning, and Johnston reflected on the week of camp. Learning to fly-fish was his favorite. But his other takeaway? Bring layers.

“Sleeping is pretty cold,” said Johnston, adorning a wool balaclava on his head.

Because in Wyoming, even during summer camp, winter is always coming.

Campers tromp around by the beaver pond they’re helping restore.(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming public media) Copyright 2024 Wyoming Public Radio

Christina Rose Hall stars in 'Always... Patsy Cline' at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.(Idaho Shakespeare Festival)Where do you begin with Patsy Cline? Well, for one, you go a bit “Crazy,” as in the 1961 song that turned pop and country music on its proverbial ear. It is likely that there are not many people in the Western World who don’t sing along when they hear the four-bar piano introduction.

The original record rocketed up the Billboard charts and before the year was out, Patsy Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall.

Sad to say, Cline’s legend was also solidified in her way-too-early passing when she died in a plane crash at the age of 30.

Which brings us to ‘Always… Patsy Cline,” the season-ending showstopper at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, which ends on Sept. 29.

Its star, Christina Rose Hall visits with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the legend … and much more.

Read the full transcript below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Hi. I'm George Prentice. It is a given that the voice and style of Patsy Cline was among the very best. It is also fair to say that she quickly became a legend. She did leave this world too soon. She was only 30 when she was killed in a plane crash. “Walkin After Midnight.” “I Fall to Pieces.” “Crazy.” She is certainly, more than just part of the American songbook. She was the first female to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry. And here comes the show, “Always… Patsy Cline,” a theatrical event about Patsy Cline and her close friendship with Louise Seeger. Christina Rose Hall is here, and she has toured in the national company of Les Miserables, and her theatrical resume includes the classics Wonderful Town, Kinky Boots, The Little Mermaid, Sweeney Todd, and so much more, and now this is her first season with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Hi.

CHRISTINA ROSE HALL: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

PRENTICE: Um, and I want to make sure I get this right, because, as you say on social media.

“Dear everyone. My first name has an A on the end of it. It has three syllables, the last of which is pronounced, ‘ah” like Miss Ricci, as in Christina Ricci. Miss Applegate as Christina or Miss Aguilera. Christina. . Has that been.an issue?

HALL: My whole life. You know, and no shade to anybody, because there's so many of us around my age who are named Christina, Christine, Kristen, Kirsten, Christian, my little brother's name. So, I have sympathy for it, but it also is, you know, my brand as an actor. So, getting that last little letter in there matters.

PRENTICE: I see a lot of your work in and around Chicago, but where did you grow up?

HALL: I grew up in, the Houston area. In Texas.

PRENTICE: Was this always your dream? Were you always going to do this?

HALL: Yes. I really wish I, you know, I consider myself a creative. I've wanted to be a performer, a singer, since I was 2 or 3. I started singing before I really regularly spoke, so it's kind of always been there. That drive and just desire to share with people and delight people. And you know, I got the bug early and she just keeps, you know, you got to keep scratching.

PRENTICE: Let's talk about Patsy Cline.

HALL: Mhm.

PRENTICE: This is not your first relationship with this production.

HALL: This is actually my fourth time.

PRENTICE: Oh, my goodness. Do you grow into Patsy Cline?

HALL: Yeah. I mean, something that is really remarkable about Patsy in general is the emotional availability in her voice. She taps into something really special and haunting, and it just touches people in a way. And she. She died so young at 30 years old., I started playing the part at that age. Now, more than a decade later, the amount of living I have done and life experience, particularly heartbreak that has, uh, I guess would, I would say, enriched my overall human experience, I think has actually opened up a lot more in terms of the storytelling. I feel able to tell the heartbreak that I'm trying to convey. Like, I actually really know what that feels like now

PRENTICE: In life and so personal and professional?

HALL; Yes. Yeah. Yes.

PRENTICE: Wow. And so, it is amazing that these particular songs were a reflection of her life. And I think if I remember someone asked her about how she sings or what she sings, and I think she once said something like, “I…, I sing what's inside me or what I'm feeling.” When I hear “Crazy,”. I mean…who doesn't go there?

HALL: There is nobody who I've ever heard…and I grew up in the 90s where this was a big thing in vocalizing…, but nobody can work a vocal break like Patsy Cline. I mean, she just knows how to make it. That vocal break will break your heart. It's really incredible. You know, I do feel in this production, especially having done the show so many times now, that I really have kind of allowed myself to surrender thinking about that. I do think I've just sort of been able to find it in my body, and I just kind of drop into it. And so, I do very much try to honor her vocal mannerisms. I very much try to honor the spirit of her being someone who… while she made it in country music… she really is like the original crossover star, you know? And so, I feel like as long as I'm tapping into the roots of country music, which I have, in my background, just growing up in the South, I try to honor that and, just really try to like…there are tones that people are looking for. There are sounds. Luckily, she does have more of, like, a classical kind of crooner sound. And as someone who grew up listening to her and Judy Garland …there's actually a lot of vocal space that is similar. So, yeah, just accessing that sort of back of the vocal chambers.

PRENTICE: And when are you, Christina? And when are you Christina Rose?

HALL: Ah, my middle name that I never had in my name professionally up until I went through some pretty tremendous hardship. I had always thought of it in a wonderful way of this homage to my great grandmother, Mama Rosa. My niece: her middle name is Rose. My dear friend named her child. I just have loved like the blooming thought of it. But when coming out of some tremendous hardship, I actually started to hear it differently, as though, like “Christina rose up,” “Christina got back up.” And so, I put Rose in my professional name as a way to forever imbue myself in a “dust yourself off, girl. Get back up. Get back out there.”

PRENTICE: Yeah. That's working.

HALL: Thank you. Okay.

PRENTICE: I am so glad I asked. She is Christina Rose Hall, and the show is, “:Always… Patsy Cline.” And at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival until the end of September, specifically September 29th. Thank you so very much. And all the best to you and to your costar and safe journey.

HALL: Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

(katbaro / Flickr)You may have seen it in your mailbox in the last few days: a bright, red, white and blue little newspaper called the Vote Idaho Voter Pamphlet, and it’s full of everything you need to know to vote before the November election.

We wanted to know more, and because it’s a presidential election year, there’s been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level.

Idaho's Secretary of State Phil McGrane joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the pamphlet, sample ballots, and answer questions about the upcoming election.

Read the full transcript below:

GAUDETTE: From the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. This is Idaho Matters. You may have seen it in your mailbox in the last few days. A bright red, white and blue little newspaper called The Vote idaho Voter pamphlet, and it is full of everything you need to know to vote before the November election. So we wanted to know more. And because it is a presidential election year, there's been a lot of focus on not just who gets elected, but also on how our election system works at both a national and local level. So to answer those questions that have come up this election season and to talk about the pamphlet and about sample ballots, we asked Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane to join us each Tuesday leading up to the election to take a look at these issues. And he is joining us now. Hi, Phil.

McGRANE: Hey, Gemma. It's great to be with you again.

GAUDETTE: Okay, so let's talk about the voter pamphlet. It's sitting on my kitchen counter right now. Nice. First off, I write, I know. What is it and what's in it?

McGRANE: Uh, as you can probably appreciate, this is a really exciting week for our office as we're gearing up for the election. Really, the election is underway, and the voter pamphlet is a key part of that process. We our office mailed out 850,000 copies. Um, roughly 17 million pages, but who's counting? And this is headed out to all Idahoans to give them, just like you had said in the introduction, all of the information they need to know about voting here in Idaho for the November election coming up. So touching on things like voter registration, how to do that, touching on what the voting process is in terms of our options between absentee voting, early voting in person voting, some of the key dates, and then I think most notably, and what really why we send this out is it contains the text of the constitutional amendment that's being proposed, as well as arguments for and against it, and the text of Proposition 1 and arguments for and against it. So trying to get out as much information as we can so that voters not only know that they need to vote, but that they have the tools they need to go do that.

GAUDETTE: So who actually puts the pamphlet together? McGRANE: It's a team of folks here in the Secretary of State's office. We've been working on it since July, getting all the information in terms of the submissions for the pamphlet, really combining the resources. You and I have talked about the VoteIdaho.Gov website in the past. That's really become our one stop shop and a resource for voters. And so we compiled all the information and put it together. The office has been doing it for a while. We just kind of took a new twist on it, providing more tools and more information. And I think you noted one of the big things is the introduction of the sample ballots that are now available online. That's one of the things we're really excited to highlight for voters.

GAUDETTE: I want to before we go to the sample ballot, I do want to talk a little bit more about the constitutional amendment. As you mentioned, you have the whole text of it, but then you also have, as you said, arguments for and against this amendment. Why do you do it this way? And really making it more of a bipartisan look at this issue?

McGRANE: Um, really, it's because that's the task the legislature has given our office is we're responsible for election information. So we will be sending out publications highlighting that there's a constitutional amendment. It's noteworthy that any time you actually go in and amend the Constitution, that's a big thing. It requires a two thirds vote of the legislature to put this amendment on the ballot. And now it's up to voters in order to determine its passage. Um, the legislature, it is interesting, Legislative Council, uh, which is bipartisan. It's made up by both the majority and the minority. They're the ones who wrote the the arguments in the constitutional amendment case. So they just tried to provide kind of a, a factual look at here's, you know, what people are saying this why they're doing it, and here's why people say you shouldn't vote for it, but really giving voters the tools to make an informed decision and most noteworthy, to see it themselves. So any voter interested this is a great resource.

GAUDETTE: So go back again and tell us who writes the pro and con arguments. And this is, I would assume, for any constitutional amendment this this committee does this.

McGRANE: Yeah. It's worth noting there's two different processes when we look at the voter pamphlet. So a constitutional amendment, the arguments for and against are provided by legislative counsel. That is made up of leadership members from both the majority and the minority parties in the legislature. So it's actually the legislature that both put the text on the ballot. And they're also the ones that provided the arguments for and against, whereas proposition one is a citizen's initiative. You guys have talked about that over the course of the last year. Yeah. It was put on the ballot by citizens circulating petitions, getting signatures. They put it on the ballot. And then once that was on the ballot, we accepted submissions back in July for arguments for and against proposition one. And we had to select what are by statute. What are the best arguments provided? And so we have two different looks. We have both the group Idahoans for open primaries who provided they're the ones who circulated the petitions. They provided the pro argument. And then interestingly enough, it was the Republican caucus from the legislature that provided the con arguments. We got multiple submissions on both sides, but we're tasked with selecting the best one.

GAUDETTE: So with that, um, do you then at your office put a committee together to figure out which which pro and which con argument will go into this pamphlet? Because, as you said, you got quite a few submissions.

McGRANE: Uh, we do we have our leadership team as well as our communications team read through all of the submissions. Many of them were pretty easy to filter through because people would put one line comments. And, uh, certainly the legislature has given more word space and just really the articulation. And thankfully, in this case, I don't think it was too difficult for us to discern kind of which ones had both put the argument together best and made it cleanest. The legislature also gave us a hierarchy, so the petitioner certainly deserved a right to have their voice heard in the process. They did all the work to put it on the ballot, so we knew that they would be selected. It was really the con argument that we had to filter through a couple. Um, but I think, you know, from what we've heard from voters who've gotten their voter pamphlets, we've had a lot of positive feedback. It's been a really nice boost for the elections team in our office because we, you know, aren't frequently getting lots of really positive emails and calls and other things. But people seeing this as a great resource headed to the election. It's really been a hit for our team.

GAUDETTE: And as we mentioned at the top of our conversation, you do have a new sample ballot tool on your website. Um, so let's talk about that. What exactly does this do?

McGRANE: You know, one of the things I've been a strong advocate for ever since stepping into this role is just getting more information to voters. The pamphlet is a great example of that. It's why it's why we did the new Look and Feel for the Vote Idaho website and tried to put more information there. It's also where we tried to pack more information into the voter pamphlet. And it really kind of culminated with the introduction of the sample ballots. In the past, there have been very generic sample ballots available that the counties produce. But this election is the first time statewide everywhere from Clark County to Camas County. And in between that you can actually go to vote Idaho. Gov. Look up your voter records so you can confirm your registered. See your information and see the actual ballot you'll be voting on. So anybody who wants to do their research at home, you know, Google the candidates, people who know that they're going to vote for president but aren't really sure what else is going to appear on their ballot, whether that's, you know, looking at the constitutional amendment and the proposition or like local school levies, county candidates, those kind of things, they can now actually go through and see the actual image of the ballot they'll be voting on, do their research, and then make a plan for where they're going to vote on Election Day.

GAUDETTE: Okay, so I'm on the website right now and right on the home page. It I mean, it literally says, you know, find your sample ballot. So you go in there, you put your name in, as you said, and then it should really pop up the ballot that you'll see at the polls on Election Day.

McGRANE: Yep. It'll it'll down to the granular level most voters don't even know about. We call it ballot rotation, but the candidate, the order of the candidates names appear differently on different ballots depending on what precinct you're in. That's just to give candidates a fair shake in the election, and you'll see it exactly the same way. You'll see it on Election Day on this tool. And you'll notice, too, when you look yourself up right below it. In addition to seeing the sample ballot, you can also see where your polling location is and you know your district information and all the other information you might need to be prepared for when you vote.

GAUDETTE: And why is it important? Do you, Phil, do you think, to actually let people see a sample ballot? Because I'm thinking about this election in particular. I mean, a presidential Election is always a big election, but we also have every legislative district up for election. So this is a big ballot. I mean, there's a lot to to digest. Was that part of it too to start it this year because of that?

McGRANE: I'll give you a really concrete example of it. The we need more information out there because local government impacts our lives every day in a variety of ways, whether that's your school district, the city, others. And as I've talked about a couple of times, when we have an election like this, everyone's focused on the presidential election. We see that in the news. We see all the coverage, but it's harder to really connect with that. If we look back to the 2020 election, there's a lot of focus on the presidential election. But here locally, we had a race for Ada County Highway District commissioner that was razor thin. It was two votes apart out of 40,000 ballots Cast. So that's less than five thousandths of a percent difference. And not only was it close and we went through the recount and thankfully the process confirmed the results. All the things that we would expect in an election and how the process should work. But what was really interesting was when we went through that recount, despite, you know, I'm sure Gemma on your show, you've talked about plowing the roads or you've talked about road construction from time to time. ACHD is kind of ever present throughout the Treasure Valley. Um, in this case, of the 40,000 ballots cast, 10,000 voters skipped that race. They didn't know probably that race was going to be on their ballot. They didn't really know who the candidates were. And so those candidates worked really hard. And it was a razor thin race. But there was a whole bunch of people in a voting booth with a pen and a ballot, and they just didn't know. And so I'm hopeful that by providing the new sample ballot tool, this really will give the resources to voters who are interested to be informed and to find out some of that information so that when they do get to the ballot box, they can vote not just on president, but vote on the legislature, on the county candidates, on the local issues that they're going to see.

GAUDETTE: And I would assume that during a presidential election cycle, we also see more people come out to the polls and vote in Idaho. So again, who does having that sample ballot maybe help with people being more informed before Election Day?

McGRANE: We'll definitely see way more people vote in this presidential election. President drives out more people than any other issue possible. We are really anticipating record turnout for this election. We're gearing up for it. The county clerks are gearing up for it. I mean this while it may not always feel as competitive in Idaho, it's still a very important election, and we see that it motivates people to show up. So we want to give them the tools to make sure they can look at it. You know, we hear stories from time to time where people will request an absentee ballot, not because they want to vote absentee. They just wanted to get the ballot in advance so they could do their research. And so rather than have to go through all that work to get a ballot you didn't necessarily want, instead you can just visit, VoteIdaho.Gov And find the information you need.

GAUDETTE: Before I let you go, what other online voter resources are out there for folks right now?

McGRANE: Yeah, leading up to this election, there are a lot of great tools on our website. If you're not registered to vote. You and I have talked about this right now is a great time to register. You can go to VoteIdaho.Gov and do that also for anybody who's not going to be around on election day. November is often a time some people snowbirds will head south. Um, you can request your absentee ballot to be mailed to you on the website. Beyond that, we're working on getting some of the results and other information up there. And for the people who are election nerds like me, I want to point out one awesome resource that we have, and that's under the election info and results. There's our Data and dashboards page for the election nerds who want to see how much money is traveling through Idaho elections or see the makeup of our voters. We have some cool maps and other cool tools that voters can check out.

GAUDETTE: You know, I'm on this website right now and I went right to that site. I have to say, this is pretty cool. I mean, you have something on here. Voters moving to Idaho. I mean, it's demographics on on voters new to Idaho. Um, you know, of course, you have campaign finance data. I mean, this whether you're an election nerd or not. I mean, this is just really good information.

McGRANE: I think we've really tried just to consolidate things and make it easy for everybody. So it doesn't matter if you're a candidate and a campaign, you know, really intimately involved in the process, or you're just a casual voter or someone who's turning 18 for the first time. Um, this really is a great resource I should note to, just as we kind of wrap up, one of the cool things, we will be at the Boise State game this weekend, uh, doing a voter registration drive, trying to get all the local students registered to vote, and hopefully get all the Bronco fans out there to participate in the November 5th election.

GAUDETTE: Well, as always, we really appreciate you taking time to come on our program as we are. According to your website, I think 41 days to to to Election day. You have it down to the hour here, Phil. 41 days, 20 hours, 39 minutes and 27 seconds to Election Day. So we know how busy.

McGRANE: I'm feeling all of those.

GAUDETTE: Yeah, right. I was going to say we know how busy you are. So we really appreciate you taking time to talk with us.

McGRANE: Thank you, Gemma.

GAUDETTE: Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.

Earlier this year, renovations on Boise's historic Assay Office began.

However, as the construction crew broke ground, they discovered they were digging up more than just dirt. Artifacts were buried around the building, some dating back more than 100 years.

Archeologist Chris Shaver and outreach historian Dan Everhart, both with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this exciting discovery.

(Troy Oppie / Boise State Public Radio )There are nearly 100 active craft breweries in Idaho — about four times as many as in 2012. But the industry is facing challenges. Changing tastes, discerning drinkers and rising costs have many local breweries on a financial razor’s edge — and tough times are spilling into Idaho’s hop fields, too.

Empty Skies and Full Creeks (South Fork of the Palouse River), Gouache & casein, 2024 by Aaron Cordell Johnson.( Aaron Cordell Johnson)Throughout Idaho flows over 100,000 miles of river.

It's a resource that helps to shape our economy, communities and most recently the latest exhibit at the Sun Valley Museum of Art, where artists are sharing their experiences with some of the state's most important waterways.

Courtney Gilbert, assistant director and curator at the Sun Valley Museum of Art, as well as artists Aaron Cordell Johnson and Jill Lear, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A photo from the stage play, "The Nisei Paradox." ( Idaho Public Television)We’ve heard many stories of what happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, when more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to what were known then as relocation centers, including the Minidoka camp in eastern Idaho.

However, one story you may not have heard is how many of the men sent to Minidoka were later drafted to serve in World War II and how many of them resisted the draft, refusing to fight for the country that had put them and their families behind barbed wire.

That’s the story behind a stage play traveling the state, written and performed by Idaho lawyers 80 years after the anniversary of those cases going to trial. It’s also being told in a new documentary on Idaho Public Television.

Bill Manny, executive producer with Idaho Public Television; Jeff Thomson the writer, director and actor of the Nisei Paradox; and Robyn Achilles, executive director of the Friends of Minidoka, join Idaho Matters to talk more.

A recent wish list delivery made to CATCH.( CATCH)Last year, more than 200 families experiencing homelessness were able to find stable housing through CATCH.

This year, the nonprofit is aiming to make the same impact, and part of that impact includes providing things like bedding, towels and dishes. Small things that make a house feel like home, and many of these items Catch is in desperate need of.

Jeremy Blades, director of the organizations housing services, and Amanda Fields, a CATCH housing manager, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this need.

(Boise Art Museum / Facebook)If you're looking for art in downtown Boise, you won't have to search very hard. From murals to sculptures to traffic boxes—it's everywhere.

This weekend there will be even more of it as Art in the Park kicks off its 70th year.

Melanie Fales, Boise Art Museum's executive director, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the popular event.

An orange sky descended on Stanley on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, as the Wapiti Fire burns west of town.(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio )A look at the fire near Stanley and how it's affecting the small mountain town, AG Raúl Labrador is being investigated by the Idaho State Bar, a possible black market hunting scheme has been uncovered in Twin Falls and an update on the Thomas Creech case.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Ian Max Stevenson with the Idaho Statesman
Ruth Brown with Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

Saalt Menstrual Cup & Saalt Period Underwear(Ampersand Studios / Saalt )When it comes to period products, tampons are one of the most popular, being used by up to 80% of women here in the United States. Which should mean their safe, right? Following a recent study, the answer may be no.

According to researchers, toxic metals, including lead and arsenic, have been found in 14 major brands of tampons.

As a result, many women are making the switch to menstrual cups, a shift that Saalt, a local business specializing in reusable period products, has seen firsthand.

Cherie Hoeger, CEO of Saalt, and Bridget Laye, the director of customer experience, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this issue.

Storm clouds build above a corn field.(Charlie Riedel / AP)This October, the annual Idaho Women's Charitable Foundation Symposium will be taking a look at Idaho's environment and its impacts on our everyday lives.

Dr. Jonathan Foley will join the event as a keynote speaker, and he sat down with Idaho Matters for a preview..

( Connection is the Cure)When it comes to our well-being, maintaining good mental health is crucial.

Across the nation though millions of people are struggling with this very thing, which can put them at greater risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and even suicide.

That's why one nonprofit is working to make a difference through impactful connections, not just to helpful resources but to one another.

September Frogley, founder of Connection is the Cure, and event director, Jennifer Butikofer, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the group.

( Osher Lifelong Learning Institute)When it comes to learning, there is no age limit. Which is why the programs designed by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute are so important.

Intended for adults 50 years and older, Osher offers courses that look at everything from the Union Pacific Railroad to the growth of urban parks, inviting students to stay curious at every stage of life.

Dana Thorp Patterson, the director of the Osher Institute, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the program.

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient. (AP / CDC)Earlier this month, the World Health Organization declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern.

Now, WHO has a six-month plan to try and contain the outbreak.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about what we need to know about this virus.

People watch the Boise Baroque Orchestra at the Château des Fleurs.(Jonathan Collins / Boise Baroque Orchestra)This weekend the Boise Baroque Orchestra will be performing their last concert of the summer.

Wrapping up their four-week festival with an evening of music you won't want to miss.

Robert Franz, artistic director of the orchestra, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

( Berkley)Love can find you in the most unexpected of places, even in the afterlife, wearing embarrassing pajamas after joking on a very questionable burger.

It may not be the meet-cute every girl dreams of, but, hey, who said romance was easy?

Certainly not Kirsty Greenwood, author of July's GMA book club pick, "The Love of My Afterlife." She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her newest release.

The Boise State Adaptive Athletics Tennis team: Steve Baxter, Kevin Falk, Randy Corbett and Tommy Schroeder( Steve Baxter / Boise State University)Globally, more than one billion people live with a disability, which can create barriers in everyday life. A fact that coach Steve Baxter is very aware of.

That's why he's heading up an adaptive sports program at Boise State University, giving athletes with physical disabilities the chance to compete in the sports they love.

Baxter joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

(Boise State University )Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places, but when you're working from the Idaho mountains, there's sure to be an abundance. Which is why an upcoming retreat will be taking writers into nature for three days to help hone their craft and spark imagination.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Boise State University professor Edward "Mac" Test to talk more about the Sawtooth Writing Retreat and the unique opportunities it provides.

The deadline to apply for the retreat is on Friday, Sept. 6 and the retreat is Thursday, Sept. 19-22. Featured authors at the retreat are Kim Cross and Paul Bogard.

( Harper)In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, the small town of Moscow, Idaho, was forever changed when four University of Idaho students were killed.

Today, one man sits in the Latah County Jail accused of the killings as he awaits trial next June. This story has garnered world-wide attention, spawning numerous podcasts and books.

New York Times best-selling true crime author and former New York Times investigative reporter Howard Blum has also followed this story, and his new book "When the Night Comes Falling" takes us behind the scenes of this horrific crime.

Blum joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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( W. W. Norton & Company)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 14, 2024.

Imagine a minor character in the classic novel Moby Dick getting her own voice and her own story. That's exactly what happens in Idaho author Tara Karr Roberts debut novel, "Wild and Distant Seas."

She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her recent release.

(Alan Yoo / Flickr)The Democratic National Convention wrapped up last night, a cyber attack has hit the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, the state is working to update high school graduation requirements, sections of Eagle road will be closing this fall and an update on the Wapiti fire.

Our journalist panel today:

Sydney Kidd with BoiseDev
Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

(Alan Yoo / Flickr)The Democratic National Convention wrapped up last night, a cyber attack has hit the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, the state is working to update high school graduation requirements, sections of Eagle road will be closing this fall and an update on the Wapiti fire.

Our journalist panel today:

Sydney Kidd with BoiseDev
Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

(Holcombe of Hidalgo / Flickr)Your favorite Albertsons could be changing hands.

Ten Albertsons stores will be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers if the merger with Kroger finally goes through. This includes six stores in Boise and one in Meridian.

Don Day, the founder and editor of BoiseDev.com, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about what this would mean for local shoppers.

Farmer Melissa Gilbert (left) and therapist Caitlyn Wallace lead climate cafes in Reno, Nev., where people can share their feelings about the effects of human-caused climate change.(Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau )It’s a Saturday morning on a small urban farm tucked into a residential neighborhood in Reno, Nev., and Melissa Gilbert, holding a dark gray meditation bowl, is standing in front of a small group of people.

She taps the bowl with a small rod, sending a soft ringing sound into the air.

“Let the bells bring your attention back to your breath, back to your body, and let's enjoy the vegetables that are planted in the ground,” Gilbert says with an encouraging smile.

She leads the small group on a meditation walk through a section of the Reno Food Systems farm. They crunch along a gravel path past rows of carrots, kale, garlic, and even chickens, who add to the ambience with incessant clucking.

“Bring your attention to your feet on the earth,” Gilbert says as she rings the bowl once more. “Your connection – the earth supporting you.”

This is the start of the third climate cafe Gilbert has helped host along with group leader Caitlyn Wallace, a certified therapist based in Reno. Wallace was trained by the Climate Psychology Alliance North America, a nonprofit that teaches therapists how to run climate cafes.

“The need in my practice came from working with new moms, who are feeling a lot of guilt around bringing kids into the world,” Wallace says. “This was specifically during wildfires, and smoke seasons.”

Her goal is to provide a safe space for all people – not just mothers – to share their feelings about the effects of human-caused climate change, such as extreme heat waves and intensifying wildfire seasons.

That’s what brought Jaline Castell to this free climate cafe.

“The Caldor Fire impacted me a lot,” Castell says, her voice catching and eyes welling up with tears.

Firefighters battle flames approaching a major highway during the 2021 Caldor Fire, which scorched over 200,000 acres south of Lake Tahoe in California. (Kara Capaldo / Adobe Stock)That fire in 2021 scorched over 200,000 acres south of Reno and Lake Tahoe. The blaze forced thousands to evacuate, and blanketed the region in wildfire smoke for weeks.

“Being in it is so different,” Castell says. “To be in the smoke for that amount of time, and to look straight at the sun without having the glow of it.”

Castell was one of four participants in this climate cafe in Reno.

Another was Nikki Raffail, who says climate change has caused her to wrestle with big questions like “do I want to bring a child into this world?”

Raffail has put her energy into babysitting and connecting to nature by growing a garden on her patio.

“When everything else is spiraling out of control, and you feel like the world is on fire and you can’t do anything about it, it's really nice to just go outside and tend to your little sunflower,” Raffail says with a smile. “So, that’s been nice because I have been riddled with anger.”

Sherry Lugone, a retired school teacher, says that was her reaction to the climate crisis for many years. Now, she works on reducing her carbon footprint.

“I use cloth napkins and I try not to drive unless I need to,” Lugone says. “And I try to eat an environmentally conscious diet.”

Climate cafe participants are not required to translate their feelings into actions. But that naturally happens, says Barbara Easterlin, co-president of the Climate Psychology Alliance North America.

She says people may leave climate cafes feeling empowered, “and some sense of like, ‘Oh, I'm actually doing something here and I can actually be an example to other people.’ ”

Easterlin, who lives in western Wyoming, says the alliance is creating a program to research how often climate cafes lead to people taking action. In addition, the nonprofit plans to bring these support groups to marginalized communities, which often face the brunt of climate change.

“We’re seeing more of that feeling of feeling betrayed, by the government or the global system, the capitalist system,” Easterlin says.

Climate cafes are being held at the Reno Food Systems Farm, where participants take mindful walks and discuss their anxiety and fears about the climate crisis.(Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau)Back in Reno, the mood at this climate cafe has shifted from somber to hopeful. Attendees share warm smiles and laughter as they end their time together.

Therapist Caitlyn Wallace says that shows why support groups for people dealing with climate anxiety are more important than ever.

“It’s going to be us that saves ourselves, at the end of the day,” Wallace says. “We’re going to show up and feed each other and help each other and take care of each other when the larger systems around us are no longer able to because they're defending corporations.”

Wallace and Gilbert are leading their next climate cafe at 9 a.m. on Aug. 18 at the Reno Food Systems farm. Participation is free.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

(ciaraanicolee / Flickr)If you're looking for something to do this weekend, you may not need to search beyond the small screen.

Idaho Matters sits down with resident movie critic George Prentice for a preview of a popular series that will soon be returning, as well as a look back at two television legends.

( nayara_msc)As a new, more dangerous strain of the Mpox virus continues to spread, the disease has now been detected in individuals in both Sweden and Thailand.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about what we need to know about this virus as well as answer your listener questions.

( City of Boise)This Saturday, the Boise Comic Arts Festival is returning for a weekend full of cosplay, workshops and creativity. And with more than 30 guest creators joining the fun, it's sure to be one of the festival's best years yet!

Event organizer Josh Shapel and Muriel Fahrion, whom you may know as the original designer of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise and one of the featured guest creators, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Safe Passage Press LLC)In her newest book, "When Knowing Comes," author Kelly Green tackles a disturbing, but necessary topic, that of child sexual abuse.

Green joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this legal drama.

Vandal Healing Garden outside the Physical Education Building.(Garrett Britton / University of Idaho Visual Productions)As students head back to school for the fall semester, the University of Idaho is preparing for a special ceremony.

After nearly two years of work, the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial is finished. The project began shortly after the tragic loss of four of the school's students and is now being dedicated as a space to honor the memories of all who died while enrolled at the university.

Blain Eckles, U of I's Dean of Students, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming ceremony.

St Michael's Episcopal Cathedral( St Michael's Episcopal Cathedral Facebook)In 1864, Reverend Saint Michael Fackler arrived in Boise, performing the first episcopal service in the region.

Now, more than a century later, St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral has become an important part of the community, helping to shape the city we know and love today.

Missy Swajkoski with St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral and Beth Toal, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the church's history.

(Darren Youden / Flickr)In the late 19th century, Yellowstone became the first national park in America.

Visitation started out slow, but the railroad soon changed that, making travel and therefore the park more accessible. Years later, Yellowstone would become one of the most popular destinations in the country.

Thornton Waite, author and retired project manager with Idaho National Laboratory, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this history.

( G.P. Putnam's Sons)If you're looking for a smart emotional love story that packs a big punch, then grab a copy of "Four Weekends and a Funeral" by Ellie Palmer.

The author joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her latest release.

Leslie Hagenstein indicates where the New Fork River flows through her property on Mar. 27, 2024. She signed up for a program that pays her to pause irrigation on her land in order to save Colorado River water. Some experts say the System Conservation Pilot Program, or SCPP, is costly and may not be the most effective way to save Colorado River water.(Alex Hager / KUNC )Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy.

The cottonwood-lined property, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains south of Pinedale, is not only home to Hagenstein, her older sister and their dogs, but to bald eagles and moose. But this summer, for the second year in a row, water from Pine Creek will not turn 600 acres of grass and alfalfa a lush green.

On a blustery day in late March, Hagenstein stood in her fields, now brown and weed-choked, and explained why she cried after she chose to participate in a program that pays ranchers in the Upper Colorado River basin to leave their water in the river.

“You have these very lush grasses, and you have a canal or a ditch that's full of this beautiful clear, gorgeous water that comes out of these beautiful mountains. It’s nirvana,” Hagenstein said. “And then last year, it looks like Armageddon. I mean, it's nothing, it's very sad, there's just no growth at all. There's no green.”

The Colorado River basin has endured decades of drier-than-normal conditions, and steady demand. That imbalance is draining its largest reservoirs, and making it nearly impossible for them to recover, putting the region’s water security in jeopardy. Reining in demand throughout the vast western watershed has become a drumbeat among policymakers at both the state and federal level. Hagenstein’s ranch is an example of what that intentional reduction in water use looks like.

In Sublette County, Hagenstein said it’s rare for people to make a living solely on raising livestock and growing hay anymore. In addition to ranching, she worked as a nurse practitioner for more than 40 years before retiring. And when she looked at her bank accounts, she realized she needed a better way to meet expenses if she was going to keep the ranch afloat in the future. Hagenstein said it was a no-brainer. She signed up for the System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP) in 2023. Through the federally funded program, she was able to make 13 times more than she would have by leasing it out to grow hay.

Since its inception as a mass experiment in water use reduction, the program has divided farmers and ranchers. Concerns over the high cost, the limited water savings, the difficulty in measuring and tracking conserved water, and the potential damage to local agricultural economies still linger. But without fully overhauling the West’s water rights system, few tools exist to get farmers and ranchers — the Colorado River’s majority users — to conserve voluntarily.

“I’m a Wyoming native,” Hagenstein said. “I don’t want to push our water downstream. I don’t want to disregard it. But I also have to survive in this landscape. And to survive in this landscape, you have to get creative.”

SCPP participation doubles in 2024Driven by overuse, drought and climate change, water levels in Lake Powell fell to their lowest point ever in 2022. The nation’s second-largest reservoir provided a stark visual indicator of the Colorado River’s supply-demand imbalance. Those falling levels also threatened the ability to produce hydroelectric power and prompted officials from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to call on states for an unprecedented level of water conservation. The agency gave the seven states that use the Colorado River a tight deadline to save an additional 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water. (An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to fill 1 acre of land to a height of 1 foot. One acre-foot generally provides enough water for one to two households for a year.)

States gave the federal government no plans to save that much water in one fell swoop, instead proposing a patchwork of smaller conservation measures aimed at boosting the reservoirs and avoiding infrastructural damage.

The Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), an agency that brings together water leaders from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, offered up the “5-Point Plan," one arm of which was restarting the SCPP.

In 2023, after the federal government announced it would spend $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on Colorado River programs, the Upper Colorado River Commission decided to reboot the SCPP, which was first tested from 2015 to 2018. The program pays eligible water users in the four Upper Basin states to leave their fields dry for the irrigation season and let that water flow downstream.

But a hasty rollout to the SCPP in 2023 meant low participation numbers. Only 64 water-saving projects were approved, and about 38,000 acre-feet of water was conserved across the four states, which cost nearly $16 million. Water users complained about not having enough time to plan for the upcoming growing season and said an initial lowball offer from the UCRC of $150 per acre-foot was insulting and came with a complicated haggling process to get a higher payment. UCRC officials said the short notice and challenges with getting the word out about the program contributed to low participation numbers in 2023.

A University of Wyoming study surveyed the region’s growers about water conservation between November 2022 and March 2023. Eighty-eight percent of respondents in the Upper Basin were not even aware that the SCPP existed.

UCRC commissioners voted to run the program again in 2024, but said this time projects should focus on local drought resiliency on a longer-term basis. UCRC officials tweaked the program based on lessons learned in 2023, and the 2024 program had nearly double the participation, with 109 projects and nearly 64,000 acre-feet of water expected to be conserved.

“I view the doubling of interest and participation from one year to the next as a significant success,” UCRC Executive Director Chuck Cullom said.

What happens to conserved water?Despite one of its stated intentions — protecting critical reservoir levels — water being left in streams by SCPP-participating irrigators is not tracked to Lake Powell, the storage bucket for the Upper Basin.

In total, across 2023 and 2024, the program spent $45 million to save a little more than 1% of the Colorado River water allocated to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

Although engineers have calculated how much water is saved by individual projects, known as conserved consumptive use, officials are not measuring how much of that conserved water ends up in Lake Powell. And the laws that govern water rights allow downstream users to simply take the water that an upstream user participating in the SCPP leaves in the river, potentially canceling out the attempt at banking that water.

These types of temporary, voluntary and compensated conservation programs aren’t new to the Upper Basin. In addition to the pilot program from 2015 to 2018, the state of Colorado undertook a two-year study of the idea of a demand management program by convening nine work groups to examine the issue.

System conservation and demand management, while conceptually the same, have one big difference: A demand management program would track the water so that downstream users don’t grab it and create a special pool to store the conserved water in Lake Powell. With system conservation, the water simply becomes part of the Colorado River system, with no certainty about where it ends up.

This lack of accounting for the water has some asking whether the SCPP is accomplishing what it set out to do and whether it is worth the high cost to taxpayers.

Even if all the roughly 64,000 acre-feet from the SCPP in 2024 makes it to Lake Powell, it’s still a drop in the bucket for the reservoir; last year, 13.4 million acre-feet flowed into Lake Powell. The reservoir currently holds about 8.2 million acre-feet and has a capacity of about 25 million acre-feet.

“I still haven’t really seen evidence of total water savings or anything like that,” said Elizabeth Koebele, a professor of political science and director of the graduate program of hydrologic sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. Koebele wrote her doctoral dissertation on the first iteration of the SCPP. “As far as getting water to reservoirs, I’m not sure that we’ve seen a lot of success from the System Conservation Pilot Program so far.”

And the program has been expensive. For the 2024 iteration of the program, UCRC officials offered a fixed price per acre-foot that applicants could take or leave — no haggling this time. Colorado, Utah and Wyoming paid agricultural water users about $500 an acre-foot; the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, New Mexico’s sole participant in 2023 and 2024, received $300 an acre-foot. Projects that involved municipal or industrial water use were compensated on a case-by-case basis, and those that involved leaving water in reservoirs were paid $150 an acre-foot. The majority of projects in both years involved taking water off fields for the whole season or part of the season, known as fallowing.

The UCRC doled out nearly $29 million in payments to water users in 2024. The program paid about $45 million to participants in 2023 and 2024 combined. Some participants are using these payments to upgrade their irrigation systems, Cullom said, which helps maintain the vitality of local agriculture.

But even with this amount of money spent, Koebele said it may still not cover the costs to participants for things such as long term impacts to soil health that come with taking water off fields for a season or two. After the infusion of IRA money runs out, it’s unclear how such a program would be funded in the future.

“I also worry that we don’t have an endless supply of money to compensate users for conservation in the basin,” Koebele said. “And perhaps we need to be thinking about — rather than doing temporary conservation — investments in longer-term conservation beyond what we’re already doing.”

Western Slope water managers critical of SCPPSome groups have concerns with the SCPP beyond its issues with accounting for how much water ends up in Lake Powell.

The Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District represents 15 counties on Colorado’s Western Slope. Their mission is to protect, conserve, use and develop the water within its boundaries, which has often meant fighting Front Range entities that want to take more from the headwaters of the Colorado River in the form of transmountain diversions. Sometimes, that means voicing concerns about conservation programs that it thinks have the potential to harm Western Slope water users.

River District officials have been vocal critics of the SCPP, pointing out the ways that it could, if not done carefully, harm certain water users and rural agricultural communities. Because of the way water left in the stream by participants in the SCPP can be picked up by the next water user in line, some of which are Front Range cities, at least two of the projects this year could result in less — not more — water in the Colorado River, according to comments that the River District submitted to the state of Colorado. (One of these projects dropped out in 2024.)

“Without significant improvements, it would be hard for the River District to support additional expenditures on system conservation,” said Peter Fleming, the district’s general counsel.

The River District had also wanted a say in the SCPP process in 2023, going as far as creating their own checklist for deciding project approval, but UCRC officials said the commission had sole authority to approve projects.

Water users from all sectors — including agriculture, cities and industry — are allowed to participate in the program, but, in practice, all of the 2023 and 2024 projects in Colorado involve Western Slope agricultural water users. That’s partly because the price that the SCPP offered was less than the market value of water on the Front Range.

“If you’re simply basing it on a set dollar value per acre-foot, you’re going to result in disproportionate impacts to areas of the state where the economic value of water is not as high as others,” Fleming said. “You’re going to end up with all the water coming from the Western Slope. … You shouldn’t create sacrificial lambs.”

Upper Basin facing increased pressureThe Upper Basin’s conservation program is playing out against the backdrop of watershedwide negotiations with the Lower Basin states (California, Arizona and Nevada) about how to share the river after the current guidelines governing river operations expire in 2026.

After failing to come to an agreement, the Upper and Lower basins submitted competing proposals to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Lower Basin officials committed to a baseline of 1.5 million acre-feet in cuts, plus more when conditions warrant. They also called for the Upper Basin to share in those additional cuts when reservoirs dip below a certain level.

Upper Basin officials have balked at the notion that their water users should share in any cuts, saying they already suffer shortages in dry years. The source of the problem, they say, is overuse by the Lower Basin.

Plus, without ever having violated the 1922 Colorado River Compact by using more than the 7.5 million acre-feet allotted to them, they say there’s no way to enforce mandatory cuts on the Upper Basin.

But under increased pressure from the Lower Basin, and facing a drier future as climate change continues to rob the Colorado River of flows, Upper Basin water managers have made one small concession. In their proposal, they have offered to continue “parallel activities” like the SCPP, but said these programs will be separate from any post-2026 agreement with the Lower Basin. The congressional authorization for the SCPP expires at the end of 2024, and it’s unclear whether water managers will implement a program in 2025 or beyond.

Inherent in the Upper Basin’s stance is a contradiction: Why maintain that both the source of the problem and responsibility for a solution rest with the Lower Basin, but then agree to do the SCPP or a conservation program like it?

“I think that they're basically saying that the Lower Basin needs to get their act together before we actually really need to come to the table in a realistic way,” said Drew Bennett, a University of Wyoming professor of private-lands stewardship. “I think they feel like, ‘We don't actually really need to do anything.’ That the SCPP is actually above and beyond what they need to be doing. Is that reality? I don't know. But I think that’s sort of the message they're trying to send in negotiations.”

Grower attitudes key to program successSome experts say the program’s real value is not getting water into depleted reservoirs. It is testing out a potential tool to help farmers and ranchers adapt to a future with less water. They frame it as an experiment that provides crucial information and lessons on how an Upper Basin conservation program could be scaled up. It also continues to ease water users into the concept of using less should a more permanent water conservation program come to pass.

“This program kind of, I think, helps grease the skids for that process that gets people comfortable for how it operates,” said Alex Funk, who worked for the Colorado Water Conservation Board in 2019 and helped to guide the state’s demand management study with regard to agricultural impacts. “Just seeing the doubling of the amount of acre-feet conserved under the second year and then the interest shows that, yeah, I think there could be some longevity to the program. … I think one has to be optimistic because I don’t see how the Upper Basin navigates a post-2026 future without such a program.”

Funk now works as senior counsel and director of water resources at the nonprofit Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The group receives funding from the Walton Family Foundation, which also funds a portion of Colorado River coverage from KUNC and The Water Desk.

Cullom, executive director of the agency that runs the SCPP, pushed back on the idea that it is intended to help correct the supply/demand imbalance on the river, which he said is the fault of the Lower Basin.

“The intent of the program is to develop new tools for the upper division water users to adapt to a drier future,” he said. “We’re trying to develop tools that benefit the local communities and producers and water users in the four upper division states through drought resiliency, new tools, the ability to explore crop switching and irrigation efficiencies.”

Of all the challenges in setting up a program such as this — funding, pricing, calculating water saved, getting the word out — the biggest may be the attitudes of water users themselves, some of whom have a deep-seated mistrust of the federal government. Like Hagenstein, all of the water users that Aspen Journalism and KUNC interviewed for this story said financial reasons were the biggest driver behind their participation in the SCPP.

Bennett’s research also explained some of the reasons why growers may be hesitant to enroll in conservation programs such as the SCPP. It found that farmers and ranchers trusted local organizations to administer conservation programs significantly more than state or federal ones.

If demand management strategies were deployed, 74% of survey respondents said they’d prefer to have a local agency manage the program, as opposed to a state or federal agency. Only about 14% of growers said there is a high level of trust between water users and water management agencies in their states. The same percentage said their state’s planning process was adequate for dealing with water supply issues.

These findings point to a stumbling block that the UCRC and other agencies must overcome if they hope to create a longer-term conservation program.

Hagenstein, the Wyoming rancher, has experienced those attitudes firsthand. She has been on the receiving end of insults and name-calling because of her participation in the SCPP.

But Hagenstein says the SCPP has allowed her to have money in her pocket to continue ranching long term.

“I didn't anticipate it would be so beneficial,” she said. “It bought us time to stay in ranching is the long and the short of it. So, I’m most grateful for the abundance that the federal government offered us. … You know, some would call it a golden goose.”

This story was reported and produced collaboratively by Aspen Journalism, a nonprofit, investigative news organization, and Northern Colorado-based public radio station KUNC, and is a part of KUNC’s ongoing coverage of the Colorado River supported by the Walton Family Foundation. Additional editing resources and other support for this story came from The Water Desk, an independent initiative of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

The Idaho Supreme Court building.(Rebecca Boone / AP)A new initiative could give Idahoans the chance to reinstate access to abortion care, the lawsuit over ITD's campus has been dismissed, some big deals are being made by Gem State companies and the Idahoans for Open Primaries ballot initiative moves forward.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Nicole Blanchard, outdoors reporter for the Idaho Statesman

(Jafar Ahmed / Unsplash)Idaho healthcare providers are facing critical challenges, from threats to Medicaid to workforce shortages to cyberattacks.

So what does that mean for your healthcare? These issues will be discussed during a City Club of Boise forum on August 22.

Dr. Patrice Burgess, the Chief Medical Officer with Saint Alphonsus, and Toni Lawson, Vice President of Government Relations for the Idaho Hospital Association, join Idaho Matters for a preview.

(Helen Saarinen / Flickr)One Idaho nonprofit is using the power of yoga and movement to help those in marginalized communities improve crucial aspects of their health and wellbeing.

Kaelyn Rogers is the executive director and program developer of Upward Inertia and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Idaho's Jewish Festival Facebook)It's been seven years since the last "Deli Days" in Boise, where people got together to promote awareness and celebrate Jewish culture.

Well, the beloved event is back with a new name, "Idaho's Jewish Festival," and will take place this year on Sunday, Sept. 1.

Oliver Thompson, the director of Idaho's Jewish Festival, and singer-songwriter Nani Vazanaone, who will be headlining at the festival, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Acre Books)In a new memoir, award-winning author Jessica E. Johnson is delving into her past as she experiences one of life's biggest transitions, becoming a parent.

Johnson joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her latest novel, "Mettlework: A Mining Daughter on Making Home."

An electron microscope image of Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. Health officials have announced a recall of liverwurst and deli meat products in connection with a national listeria outbreak.(Elizabeth White/AP / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)Africa has declared a public health emergency as a new strain of the Mpox virus hits the continent.

So what does this mean for the rest of the world? Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to help answer that question.

Paper family in hands(Igor Yaruta/Sunny studio - Fotolia / Flickr)Parenting is one of the hardest jobs there is, and the stress can feel overwhelming, so where can parents turn to get advice?

Idaho Children's Trust Fund has partnered with long-time radio personality Ken Bass and his wife Michelle, a licensed clinical social worker, to create a podcast that dives into these issues.

Ken and Michelle, along with Roger Sherman, the executive director of the Idaho Children's Trust Fund, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the Resilient Parenting Podcast.

( City of Boise)After a months-long search, Mayor Lauren McLean has selected Chris Dennison as the next chief of police for the Boise Police Department.

Our Morning Edition host, George Prentice, sat down with the mayor to talk more about this decision and what made Dennison the right choice for our city.

A wildfire burning in Utah in 2021. (Madelyn Beck / Mountain West News Bureau)According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 77 large active wildfires are burning in the United States today. A fact that is very apparent due to the amount of smoke in the air.

And this smoke can have a big impact on our health. Which is why St. Luke's is holding a Climate and Health session focused on wildfires.

Dr. Ethan Sims, Medical Director for Sustainability and an E.R. doctor with St. Luke's, and Dr. Alexander Rabin, Clinical Associate Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Stewart Gulch Park in Boise recently finished a series of improvements, including accessible pathways, seating, turf and more. ( Boise Parks and Recreation)As our cities continue to grow, so too does our need for green spaces.

Areas like public parks play an important role in our communities, providing both urban and environmental benefits. These benefits, however, can be easy to overlook.

Which is why environmental and urban historian Quinn Anderson will be exploring the impact of these spaces, as well as how they've changed, in an upcoming lecture with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

(Self Publishing)In 1997, everything was falling into place for Peter Young. He'd landed his dream broadcasting job, married his wife and started a family. From the outside, life was picture perfect, but behind closed doors, things couldn't be farther from the truth.

In his new memoir, "Stop The Tall Man, Save The Tiger," Young chronicles his experience being brainwashed into a cult and how he found his way out. He joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his latest release.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA(Austin Kirk / Flickr)It can be hard to focus on an empty stomach, which is why, starting in the fall, the Boise School District will be offering free breakfast to its students.

This new initiative comes after the approval of a $2.1 million budget for the upcoming year, and as the program gets started, officials are hopeful that it will not only help feed kids but also decrease the stigma around free meals.

Christy Smith, the Boise District Food and Nutrition Services supervisor, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Seniors play basketball. (Hans Kolster/Muscateer Photography / Flickr)Last month, the Caldwell School Board approved a $100 pay-to-play athletic fee. And this isn't a new issue. The West Ada School District also has a pay-to-play policy, as do numerous school districts around the country.

But does this policy price certain students out of being able to participate in athletics?

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger for Idaho Education News, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Dr. Bill Smith is a clinical professor and director of the Martin Institute at the University of Idaho. (University of Idaho, 123rf)Much like a couple billion people across the planet, Dr. Bill Smith is glued to the Summer Olympic Games In Paris. But it’s a big part of his scholarship. He’s a clinical professor at the University of Idaho whose courses include Advanced UN Studies, Diplomatic History and Sports and International Affairs. He’s also the director of the U of I’s Martin Institute.

“I just gave a lecture for my class on Sports and International Affairs that reminds us that there are more nations in the Olympics than there are in the United Nations,” said Martin.

Martin, who has lived in Mexico, Spain and Portugal, looks at the planet’s most-famous athletic event, not just through a global lens, but as he puts it, “a romantic realist.”

“Yeah, essentially, I consider myself as passionately dispassionate,” said Smith. “I understand all the complexities and problems that are going on. But I’m also thrilled for my friends in Guatemala who just won their first-ever gold medal.”

In his visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice, Smith talked about some of his favorite off-the-radar competitions at this summer’s games. But they also take a deep dive in the long shadow that doping casts across the competition, plus the so-called “Olympic Truce,” particularly at a time when there are so many corners of the world in conflict.

Read the full transcript below.

GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Hi. I'm George Prentice. Let's talk Olympics. We're now into a second week of the Summer Games in Paris, and something tells us that the best may be yet to come. We are fortunate to have an expert in international sport to join us this morning. Doctor Bill Smith is a clinical professor and director of the University of Idaho's Martin Institute, so this should be fun. Hi, Doctor Smith, good morning. This is your scholarship. You've lived around the world. But how do you see the Olympics?

BILL SMITH: Yeah. You know, I'm a product of my childhoods during the Cold War, and it was really difficult to consume any media, much less sporting media, and not be exposed to the greater themes beyond sport that the Olympics provided, that the Wide World of sports program and ABC provided. It was always there. So to me it was a natural extension and was a way not to have a particular lens, but to have all the lenses. Right. Uh, and so in this case, if you understand sports and the sporting, uh, environment and the rhythm of international sport, you can come to know almost everything else that's happening in the world.

PRENTICE: More nations in the Olympics than there are in the United Nations, right?

SMITH: Yeah. Just recorded a lecture for my class on sports and national affairs that starts with that point and looks at how that works and why that works.

PRENTICE: We need to talk about doping and the anti-doping movement. Us lawmakers, as recently as just the other day, are threatening funding for WADA, the world Anti-Doping agency, for they're basically saying that they look the other way often. But now the IOC has told the US to back off a little. They could jeopardize the recently announced Salt Lake City Olympics. Uh, we have some of our top athletes, beginning with Michael Phelps voicing anger and distrust over WADA. Where are we with this? Uh, is it, uh, something that everyone knows but not everyone chooses to recognize?

SMITH: So WADA, to me is one of the great examples of partnership politics that comes out of the 1990s, when countries are embarrassed to talk about, uh, you know, the idea of national pride in an Olympics. Canada, among others, suffered national shame when they had, you know, the fastest man in the world, then test positive for anabolic steroids and be stripped of his medal. And so they become active in the movement. And a lot of Canadian sporting officials become active in the movement to get something going. The IOC wanted to control this, but it ended up being more a partnership between, uh, sporting federations, the IOC, governments and scientists. So when water comes out of the Treaty of Lausanne in the late 1990s, it's this example of what's possible when different kinds of entities work together. But once you have that complex organization, there's lots of levers one can pull to to manipulate it in your own favor. It relies on the honesty of member, uh, federations or member offices. So like the US, Ada or the Chinese Anti-Doping agency. And that's where our complaint really lies, is with the Ada and its relationship with WADA.

PRENTICE: Well, we do know that there are athletes in Paris that have tested positive for doping previously. Yes.

SMITH: Yes. Uh, and some, uh, are rehabilitated, meaning they endured their punishment. They've come back. And so they're not under active suspicion. The ones that are, uh, the swimmers and others are objecting to are the swimmers who we know had some sort of positive result that was covered up. And so they haven't served a penance. They aren't back and clean. They're still under suspicion.

PRENTICE: Could you remind our listeners a little bit about the IOC and how they do not like anyone's fingers wagging in front of them?

SMITH: So the IOC is a non-governmental organization. It just has a different focus. We think of NGOs and non-profits. We usually think of the Red cross, or we might think of Amnesty International or something like that. The IOC is an NGO. And so in that case, nominally they're less powerful than states, but they haven't have a product, an event that states want to participate in, they find value in. And so they can ask states to adjust things in their favor, just like FIFA can for soccer, and ask for concessions that you otherwise wouldn't make for a non non-governmental or nonprofit organization. So they have that event that we're interested in that we're interested in hosting. Uh, so Salt Lake signed on that agreement uh, last week that has the clause that says if you mess with with water and with our testing system, we can pull the games. Now, I don't think that would happen, but it's certainly there and they can get away with it. And and other non-governmental organizations cannot.

PRENTICE: Let's talk about an Olympic truce. I as a matter of fact, I don't think many people know about the Olympic truce, even though it dates back to BC. There indeed are conflicts on so many sides, and so remind us of what that is. It's a resolution, right? It's about what, a few days before and a few days after the games. Right.

SMITH: Supported by the IOC, but comes typically from the United Nations. This was a concept resurrected in the 1990s, when we were pretty optimistic in the post Cold War era. There were a lot of exciting things happening around the world in terms of providing humanitarian assistance and conceptualizing conflict differently because we didn't have that big interstate, uh, threat facing us after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. So it does capture the ideal that many of the ancient games did. Not all of them, but many of the ancient Olympiads did. But I think it's important to keep in mind the concept of a truce, because in conflict studies, there's a ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities, and they are kind of ranked in that way. And what you expect in a truce is typically an informal, short term, non-binding agreement. And that is what comes from the UN is also a statement intended to be non-binding statement of intent, a statement of aspiration, if you will. Uh, so we we we pass that we as a global community every two years in advance of the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics, uh, and try to emphasize the ideal of what we hope will be embodied in the Olympics.

PRENTICE: But to be clear, you and I could actually list nations that are currently at war if not at conflict with one another.

SMITH: And the ones who are most famously at war were not invited to the Olympics. That would be Belarus. So you may remember the last time we were talking about Russia not participating. It was because of their violations in the drug regime, because they had state sponsored doping and they were not becoming forthcoming. But the IOC is interesting. The Olympics are interesting because they actually are an event that has no sports of their own. They permit access to the sporting federations like the swimming federation, track and field, soccer, etc. and so what the Olympics did was say we weren't going to allow the Russian Olympic Committee to come, but you sports are allowed to invite Russian athletes if you want to. Uh, and they didn't compete under the flag, etc. but that was when it was just, uh, the, the drug regime that was under question. Uh, when they invaded, uh, invaded Ukraine this last time. Then there's a cessation of all membership and sporting organizations. There is no access point.

PRENTICE: I am fascinated, I'm certain you are too, by the athletes who march under the flag of the refugee flag. I think 30 some athletes this time, and what I'm fascinated by that is that it has served as a bridge. Many previous athletes have found home countries and but there just happened to be without a home in this moment, in spite of the fact that they are among some of the best in the world.

SMITH: So there have been even 2016 was the first year we had the unaffiliated, the the refugee team, but there had been, uh, refugees who had been resettled, uh, in the games before that, uh, famously, United States had a flagbearer named Lopez Lomong, a track and field, track and field athlete who had been one of the Sudanese Lost Boys of the early 2000. But he had been resettled to the United States and had become a US citizen. Uh, so he was a refugee at one point, was a US citizen, uh, then became our flag bearer. So these are for folks who have not yet been resettled, uh, and or are without citizenship. They're stateless peoples. And so you're right. There could be an attraction from a state. Could say we want to have them come, uh, be with us. But it is, um, I should say, a reflection of our time. Now, one of the things I like to do is, uh. And I've enjoyed Peacock's coverage because they have all the feeds of all the events, not just the stuff we would get in the evening, but to watch, for example, the the early heats of the 100 meter free, uh, same thing will happen next week at Track and field, where you allow athletes countries access who might not otherwise qualify based on their times. And so you can see ten heats of the 100 meter free. And the athletes from all these places who are competing, who are really hoping for a medal but are thrilled at the opportunity to participate and be seen.

PRENTICE: And even though some of them may be up to 10s behind the world record. That's right. It is a thrill, to be sure. So I'm glad you brought up Peacock, because, boy, they're doing a lot of things right technically. But when you put your scholarship aside, what are you watching a little bit more than the others?

SMITH: Yeah, essentially, because I consider myself in the sense, uh, passionately dispassionate, uh, or uh, because, you know, I'm a, I'm a romantic realist. I understand all the complexities and all sometimes the problems that are going on. But the, the lure of the sporting event itself also occupies equal space. Uh, maybe I have a heart in it and a mind in it, but I sure I thrilled for my friends from Guatemala when Adriana Ruano won the first ever gold medal for Guatemala in the women's trap. Pretty cool. I love seeing Alex Cedric's face as she sprinted towards the the winning points or the tying points in the gold medal women's rugby game. That grin. Just imagine that you're in the last second, the last play sprinting the full field to to score to win your country's first, uh, medal in an event in more than 100 years. I love the complexity of what Northern Irish athletes go through, where they have to decide because there is no Northern Ireland in the Olympics, there's a Great Britain and there's an Ireland, and they have to choose. For a guy like Rory McIlroy, who was the top golfer in the world from Northern Ireland, who had to navigate that, it was very tricky. Uh, Daniel Wiffen winning for Ireland. He's a Northern Irish runner. It means he is British, but he's not from Great Britain. He's from Northern Ireland, but competing for Ireland. Neat moment and complex stories. And then I love the eyes of Jess Fox, the, uh, canoe slalom racer for Australia. Watching her eyes as she navigates the slalom is really neat.

PRENTICE: Those two year point, those up close moments of those athletes.

SMITH: Yeah, watching hat they do and the incredible core strength and, uh, stuff that has to be, uh, for them. Seated, uh, with their legs prone, uh, to be able to, to make those maneuvers, especially back upstream. Uh, I'm really enjoying that.

PRENTICE: Well, we are off to the races this week because track and field. Wow. It is really ramping up. And, uh, doctor Bill Smith, I look forward to more conversations. And let's not, uh, let's not wait for the next Olympics to talk again. Thank you so very much for giving me some time.

SMITH: Welcome. Cheers.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

Successful prosecutions will lead to some key sentencings in the coming months. ( U.S. Department of Justice, 123rf)The effort to cripple one of the most notorious gangs in Idaho history is heading where law enforcement had hoped: a federal courtroom. And the man in charge at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Idaho know the case all-to-well.

“I was the lead prosecutor on the case before I became U.S. Attorney, and it has been making its way through the system since then,” said Josh Hurwit, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho. “It’s been a complex investigation.”

Hurwit visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the case against the Aryan Knights, the infamous white supremacist gang operating inside the walls of Idaho prisons. Hurwit also updates listeners on one of his office’s other high priorities: finding and convicting those targeting Idaho’s elderly. The most recent case uncovered a plot by an Idaho couple that kicked an elderly woman out of her own house.

Read the transcript below:

PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. Law and order will frame our conversation for the next several minutes, because we are honored to spend some time again with Josh Hurwitt, the United States Attorney for the District of Idaho. U.S. attorney Hurwitt, welcome back to the broadcast.

HURWIT: Hey, George. Thank you. It's my honor to be with you.

PRENTICE: Absolutely. Up top. I'd like to spend some time talking about a rather grim topic, but we probably need to talk about elder abuse in Idaho and the many forms of abuse that some of our most vulnerable neighbors may be victim to. And this is something that you, your office, and your colleagues have been trying to elevate in our consciousness. So talk to me about elder abuse and the many forms it takes.

HURWIT: Yes. Thank you George. And you're absolutely right. As generally in this country, the population ages Criminals are targeting our older Americans more commonly, more often and more viciously as well. And I would tell you that in terms of the forms of elder abuse that we're seeing, it largely falls into two buckets. The first bucket would be known actor abuse or known actor exploitation, which by by the description you know, signifies that a victim is victimized by someone they know could even be relatives. Which is very sad to say. Wow. Um, who takes advantage of their financial resources and sometimes leaves them, you know, destitute or suffering physically, emotionally or in terms of their health? So that's a very sad form, obviously, of elder abuse. And we call that known actor abuse. The second form is very prevalent. I'm sure that everyone has received attempts to scam them from from criminals online. This is happening far too frequently. Sadly, with our older population, um, there's a whole litany and variety of different schemes that criminals use to again take advantage of our elder population, some of whom are lonely, isolated, looking for support through online means and criminals take advantage of that. And in this situation generally, the the crime is to financially exploit them.

PRENTICE: And I have heard of some criminals even pretending to be, well, officials Social Security Administration officials, which can certainly get their attention pretty darn quick. But that is a scam. Yes. I mean, when they try to get their Social Security numbers or personal identification from them because of their benefits.

HURWIT: That's that's exactly right. We see all types of what we call imposter scams. So criminals posing as, as you mentioned, Social Security Administration employees, law enforcement officers telling people, you know, you have a a fine to pay or a warrant that's outstanding, that you need to pay a fine to avoid. These are all, you know, criminal schemes, law enforcement and federal officials will not just call someone and ask them to to pay a fine without going through a pretty lengthy process if there is an issue. Another sort of red flag to look out for is that a lot of times these criminals are asking people to pay a fine or resolve some issue through payment in cryptocurrency or gift cards. The government, state, local, federal never try to resolve an issue through those types of means.

PRENTICE: Um, in regards to your efforts to catch these bad actors. Talk to me about that. And you have had some success. Yes. You've got a sentencing I know coming up later this summer. Yes.

HURWIT: So we have a really important case to us, um, that exemplifies the first type of abuse that I mentioned, that known actor abuse. What happened in this case is a retired this is local to Ada County, a retired school teacher. Um, was enjoying her retirement. Uh, had a very nice property, sort of a ranch in Ada County and, you know, needed some help with the upkeep and sort of friends of her family. Uh, a married couple moved in, and the husband is now convicted of, uh, engaging in a scheme to essentially obtain that ranch, her property through what appeared to her to be legitimate sort of power of attorney type estate planning documents. But in essence, he was stealing the property from her. They kicked her out of the property, and now they're facing sentencing in August. The husband for the fraud and the wife for obstruction of justice during the course of the investigation.

PRENTICE: Wow. Before I let you go, I have to ask about Aryan Knights. Only because we have been reading more and more about this gang operating inside the walls of Idaho prisons. And most recently, you have secured another conviction, or at least another one of the suspects pleading guilty. Uh, what? What do you tell a stranger about the Aryan Knights? It's a white supremacist gang within the prison, right? Yep.

HURWIT: That's the the very quick summary. Um, it's been operating in Idaho prison facilities for decades now. Our case that we're wrapping up, um, was indicted in 2019 against ten defendants. I know it well, actually, I was the lead prosecutor on the case before I became US attorney, and it's been making its way through the system since that time took a long time, as you can tell. Um, for a variety of reasons, a complex investigation, a complex case. At this time. We're pleased to report, though, that all of the ten defendants that were indicted have now pleaded guilty. Two are yet to be sentenced in the upcoming months.

PRENTICE: And their M.O. is intimidation and violence. Yes.

HURWIT: Essentially, yes. And also drug smuggling. That's that's something that maybe people don't understand occurs within the prison system. It's a huge problem that the FBI and IDoc, the Idaho Department of Correction, are working together on as we speak, and something we'll continue to to prosecute as federal crimes occur. But essentially, the Aryan Knights would obtain power over other inmates through extortion, through threats of violence, through actual violence. One of the defendants in our case was charged and pleaded guilty to an attempted murder. And now he has a life sentence in federal prison. Um, so one of the goals of the case was to break up the gang within the walls of the state prison and disperse them throughout the country to federal prisons. There's still more work to be done when it comes to this gang, but we're very proud of the work that's occurred in my office in this ten defendant case.

PRENTICE: And there are still some sentencings coming up. Yes.

HURWIT: That's correct. I believe we have one in in August and then one in October. And that will, uh, mark the conclusion of this case, which was brought under the Rico act. But as I said, we continue to work very closely and collaboratively with IDoc and the FBI to address any federal crimes that occur in our prison system in Idaho.

PRENTICE: How do you best characterize this? Have you wounded this gang? Have you crushed this gang?

HURWIT: You know, I think time will tell to be perfectly blunt with you, but I certainly think we broke up the leadership at the time. I don't think that it's as powerful and organized and strong as it was, but it certainly still exists and is a threat within the system. And there's also individuals that work with the gang outside of the prison, which is a very concerning and something that we're focused on prosecuting.

PRENTICE: And to be clear, one of your most recent guilty pleas was with one of the leaders of the gang. So you are going right to the head of of the monster, if you will.

HURWIT: You know, the ten individuals that we indicted were essentially the leadership structure. Mhm. Um, and the individual that just pleaded guilty on James Ramsey was the overall leader, um, in the time leading up to our indictment. And, uh, you know, we're pleased to see justice served for him. And in this case, in general.

PRENTICE: Congratulations on that. And thank you for what you do every day. And he is Josh Hurwitz, the United States Attorney for the District of Idaho. And Mr. Hurwit, thanks so very much for giving me some time.

HURWIT: My pleasure. Always great to be with you and take care.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

United States' Alyssa Mendoza hits Brazil's Jucielen Cerqueira in their women's 57 kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Paris, France.(Ariana Cubillos / AP)There’s a possible conflict of interest between the AG’s office and the Secretary of State’s office, school choice is once again a topic of debate, the Boise School District is making an effort to reform their grading system, a look at the Olympics and an update on the lawsuit between Big City Coffee and Boise state University.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Jay Tust, sports director at KTVB
Carly Flandro, reporter with Idaho Ed News
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Ian Max Stevenson , reporter with the Idaho Statesman

(andy jalakas / Flickr)Blaine County has officially completed its first climate action plan, with county officials calling it a monumental endeavor.

The plan is designed to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation outcomes on a regional level, with the goal of setting a course for sustainability in the future.

Andrew Mentzer, Blaine County Sustainability Manager, joins Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Barnaby Wasson / Flickr)As summer winds down, many families are settling back into a routine as they gear up for a new school year.

However, for parents sending their kids off to school for the first time, it can be hard to know how to prepare them for that transition.

Amber Jayne, an early childhood education specialist, joined Idaho Matters to give us a few tips and tricks.

(Veterans can / Flickr)As the country gets closer to celebrating 250 years of independence, many across the nation are making special preparations for the anniversary.

Here in Idaho, those preparations include a unique look at our state's history.

Janet Gallimore, the executive director of the Idaho State Historical Society, and HannahLore Hein, the Idaho State Historian, join Idaho Matters to talk more about this important milestone.

( Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival Facebook)Over the next few days, the road to one of Idaho's smallest towns will be busy as people make their way to the annual Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival.

The event, which kicks off today, is an important one for the tight-knit community.

Longtime supporters of the fest, Brent Palmatier, TeJay Rogers and Jason Stephens join Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

(Fusion Medical Animation / Unsplash)Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise once again. In California, cases are rising so quickly that the state is set to meet or surpass the number of cases seen in the summer of 2022, according to the California Health Department.

Here in Idaho, we're also seeing more COVID cases. So what's going on, and how will this potentially impact the start of school for kids in the Treasure Valley?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to help answer these questions.

(401(K) 2012 / Flickr)Idaho’s fiscal year started on July 1. The state government is already ramping up for next year’s Idaho legislative session, and state agencies have just a few weeks left to send their budget proposals to legislators, who will spend our tax dollars.

Jason Norris keeps a close eye on Idaho's economy. He’s the director of portfolio management at Ferguson Wellman Capital Management, and he was born and raised in Boise, so he knows all about the Gem State and how our economy works.

When we talked to Jason in January, he gave us his predictions about Idaho's unemployment rate, a possible recession, inflation and how Idaho is doing after the height of the COVID pandemic.

We wanted to bring him on to see how the economy has changed over the last few months, so he joined Idaho Matters for a mid-year economic outlook for Idaho.

Hundreds of pro-abortion rights advocates rallied in front of the Idaho Capitol Saturday May 14, 2022. They were protesting a leaked opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that's poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to the procedure.(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio)In the two years following Idaho's near-total abortion ban, a new coalition has formed to put new legislation on the ballot.

The group, which is called Idahoans United for Women and Families, is taking action, listening to the concerns of Idahoans as they work to put an important piece of legislation on the 2026 ballot. One that would reinstate access to reproductive healthcare in the state.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with the group spokesperson, Melanie Folwell, to talk more about this effort.

(Richard Vogel / AP)Earlier this month, officials in Idaho announced where they want to build new electric vehicle charging stations in communities like Bliss, Fruitland, Pocatello and Jerome. This endeavor is part of a federal program to expand the nation’s charging infrastructure, which wants to offer public charging stations every 50 miles along a national network.

It’s a lack of available charging stations that has kept many from buying an EV, according to a new survey by Triple A Idaho.

Only 18% of adults say they’re ready to buy an electric car, and more than 50% of them say it's because there aren’t enough charging stations and they’re afraid they’ll run out of ‘charge’ before they get to where they’re going.

Matthew Conde, Triple A Idaho Public and Government Affairs Director, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new study.

( Idaho Botanical Garden)This summer, the Idaho Botanical Garden celebrated a special anniversary honoring 40 years of community building and an appreciation of nature.

Now, as more and more visitors find their way to this gathering space, the nonprofit is making big plans for its future.

Erin Anderson, Executive Director of the Idaho Botanical Garden, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Idaho Conservation Corps)Earlier this month, weather sensors were placed throughout a Boise neighborhood to document how heat is impacting our urban areas.

The project, which is being spearheaded by a youth-led research team with the Idaho Conservation Corps, aims to show how additional tree canopy could provide a possible solution to rising temperatures here in the Treasure Valley.

Lisa O'Flaherty, the state director of the Idaho Conservation Corps, along with youth-crew member Logan Clark-Rivera, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Frankie Barnhill / Boise State Public Radio)Last week, work began in the foothills to make improvements to the popular Hillside to Hollow Reserve in order to establish a more accessible trail.

Lisa Duplessie, foothills and open space superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these improvements.

An hour north of the Mexico border and 30 miles from the Coachella valley lies Bombay Beach.

The township is located on the shoreline of California’s largest lake – the Salton Sea. But the saline lake has faced similar challenges to Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Receding shorelines. Exposed lake beds. An uncertain future.

KUER’s Saige Miller reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

A hydrothermal event is seen in Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone National Park in 2009. Yellowstone officials say a similar explosion on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, sent tourists running for cover and destroyed a boardwalk. They say such events are relatively common. (AP / USGS)Lawmakers react to President Biden's decision to step down, an update on the recent explosion at Yellowstone National Park, less students are participating in FAFSA this year and a look at exceptions to Idaho's abortion ban.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Nicole Blanchard, outdoors reporter for the Idaho Statesman

(Picture provided by USACE)This week, levels at Lucky Peak began to lower in preparation of a new project that will help to restore the Turner Gulch Boat Ramp. Which means if you're looking to get out on the lake you may want to do so sooner rather than later.

Christopher Silbernagel, operating project manager of Lucky Peak, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this project.

President Joe Biden, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on stage at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Feb. 3, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Patrick Semansky / AP)The presidential election was turned upside down when President Joe Biden announced Sunday he would not seek reelection.

Dr. David Adler, President of the Alturas Institute and a constitutional scholar, will be holding another Constitutional Conversation next week looking at this decision and what it will mean for the upcoming election. Adler joined Idaho Matters for a preview of this lecture.

(Pol Turrents / Flickr)You may have noticed we've had a lot of presidential politics going on lately, and that can be depressing. So, we wanted to take a look at the role comedy plays in this kind of news cycle.

Our resident movie critic and Morning Edition host George Prentice joined Idaho Matters to talk more and give us an idea of what to watch.

Water-scooping aircraft collecting water from Redfish Lake takes photo of the Bench Lake Fire on July 14.( U.S. Forest Service-Sawtooth National Forest)One week ago, a wildfire broke out eight miles south of Stanley, next to Idaho's iconic Redfish Lake.

The fire is still relatively small by Gem State’s standards, at about 2,000 acres, but it’s threatening some of the most popular camping and recreation spots in the Sawtooth National Forest.

High temperatures, smoke and dead trees killed by a mountain pine beetle epidemic have made the fire worse, and just getting to the fire has been a challenge for firefighters.

Nicole Blanchard with the Idaho Statesman and Steve Botti, the Mayor of Stanley, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the Bench Lake Fire.

(blawton44 / Flickr)The number of Idahoans traveling to Montana to receive abortion care has tripled in the last year.

According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, in 2022, 32 Idahoans traveled to Montana to get an abortion. In 2023, the year our state’s abortion ban went into total effect, 88 people went to Montana for abortion care.

One Montana advocacy group wants to make sure everyone knows that abortions and contraception are still legal in Montana.

Nicole Smith, executive director of Montanans for Choice, and Aileen Gleizer, advisor of Montanans for Choice, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Johnson Purimitla / Flickr)This weekend, cyclists from around the world will compete in the last two stages of the Tour de France race.

Among these athletes is Boise native Matteo Jorgenson, who attributes his start in the sport to BYRDS, a youth cycling program here in the Treasure Valley.

Douglas Tobin, President of BYRDS, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the program and the success of his riders.

Three counsels to U.S. President Gerald Ford meet with members of the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence in Washington, D.C., June 26, 1975. They brought White House files with them to aid panel's investigation into where orders to assassinate Cuban Premier Fidel Castro originated. From left are: seated, James Wilderoffer, counsel; Roderick Hills, counsel; Philip Buchan, counsel; Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, chairman; and Sen. John Tower, R-Texas. Standing, Senators Gary Hartr, D-Colorado; Robert Morgan, D-N.C.; Walter Mondale, D-Minn.; Richard Schweiker, R-Pa.; Howard Baker. R-Tenn.; and Charles McC. Mathias, R-Md. (Henry Griffin / AP)Next week marks 100 years since the birth of Idaho Sen. Frank Church.

Church, a Democrat, served as a U.S. senator from Idaho from 1957 until 1981, and he is currently the last Democrat to do so. He was also the longest-serving democratic senator from our state and the only Democrat from Idaho who served more than two terms in the Senate.

Church served on the senate committee on foreign relations, and in 1960 he gained national exposure when he gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention.

He was also considered a strong progressive and environmental legislator, and he played a major role in creating a system of protected wilderness areas.

Frank Church Institute Board Member, Rod Gramer, and the granddaughter of Frank Church, Monica Church, who is also the Executive Director of the Frank Church Institute, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his life and legacy.

(The Flicks / via Facebook)Idahoans will be considering an open primaries initiative this November, which includes a ranked choice voting component.

A new film called "Majority Rules" looks at this issue and there’s a sold out special screening on Wednesday, July 17, at The Flicks in Boise, which will include a panel discussion after the film. Former Gov. Butch Otter will be there, as will the director of the film, AJ Schnack.

The Flicks is working to get the film on the schedule in the future, for more people to watch. Schnack sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice for a preview of the screening.

( ISU AmeriCorps Programs)More than 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, September 11 has become the biggest day of service in America. It’s a day when many give back to their communities to honor those lost that day.

Last year, Idaho State University’s Institute of Rural Health got a grant from AmeriCorps to plan community outreach events in Pocatello, Boise and Kellogg throughout the year.

So far this year, on ISU's 9/11 Day of Service, AmeriCorps program volunteers have already built bunk beds for those in need and given out hygiene kits for folks experiencing homelessness and isolation kits for seniors, and they’ve just gotten started in their mission to fight poverty, food insecurity, isolation and help communities with disaster preparedness.

Program assistant Olivia McCandless and project coordinator Kayla Fielder joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

Alex Adams and Idaho Governor Brad Little after Little signed the “Promoting Families and Protecting Children Act,” on June 7, 2024.(Idaho Governor's Office)Idaho has a new Health and Welfare Director. Alex Adams faces a growing Medicaid budget and has already cut some vacant positions.

On day one, he made adoption a top priority and said he wants to double the number of foster families in Idaho.

After past struggles with Idaho lawmakers over federal funding and the department pulling out of the Boise Pride Parade two years ago, Health and Welfare has weathered some controversy. So how will he work to heal relationships in the Idaho legislature and in the community?

Director Adams joined Idaho Matters for a full hour to talk about his new role at Health and Welfare.

FILE - In the Sept. 21, 2017, file photo, tucked in a sleeping bag, Danny, a 60-year-old homeless man who only gave his first name, lies on an overpass above the 101 Freeway, one of the nation's busiest freeways, in Los Angeles. A federal appellate court says cities can't prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go. In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless Boise, Idaho residents who sued the city in 2009 alleging that a local ordinance that bans sleeping on the streets amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling could impact several other cities across the western U.S. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)(Jae C. Hong / AP)Last week, we told you it’s legal again to give someone a ticket for sleeping or camping on public property. This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Grants Pass vs. Johnson case.

The city of Oregon wanted to fine people sleeping in public parks and possibly put them in jail if they refused to comply, and the court said that was not "cruel and unusual" punishment.

This case has its roots in Boise, and Mayor Lauren McLean came out against the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying criminalizing homelessness won’t solve the problem.

Last Monday, we talked to the head of Interfaith Sanctuary about the case, and today we wanted to hear from Reverend Bill Roscoe. He’s the president and CEO of Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, which has emergency shelters in Boise and Nampa.

(Thanasis Zovoilis / Getty Images)Here in Idaho, there are nearly 30,000 people living with Alzheimer's, a disease that many are calling a public health crisis.

And as that number continues to grow, experts are working to raise awareness. Which is why the Alzheimer's Foundation of America will be hosting an educational conference this week, providing important resources and tools for those most impacted.

Chris Schneider Director of Media Relations with the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, and Judy Taylor, with Idaho's Commission of Aging and the Chair of the Idaho Board of Nursing, join Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Snake River Stampede )This year marks the 109th anniversary of the Snake River Stampede Rodeo!

This weeklong event brings thousands of cowboys and spectators to Nampa for everything from bull riding to barrel racing to mutton busting!

The stampede is a big money-maker for Canyon County and a tradition for families that spans generations. Clint Child, the president of the Snake River Stampede, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(cdn.slacker / Flickr)Boise native Annie Carey could be heading to the Paralympics in Paris this August.

She currently holds the long jump world record in her classification as well as the U.S. record in the 200 meters, and last year she competed in the Parapan American Games, bringing home bronze medals in the 100 meter, 200 meter and long jump.

And later this week, she'll head to Florida to compete in the Paralympics track and field, with the goal of heading to Paris for the Paralympics. Annie joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her journey.

(Murphy Woodhouse / Mountain West News Bureau )The Open Primary Initiative is headed to the ballot, there's a petition from the Attorney General's office to hear the Hecox v. Little case, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has voiced her support for President Biden and we a look at firework laws.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

A low-intensity burn on the recent Crawford prescribed fire near Cascade, Idaho(Steve Vigil / The Nature Conservancy )On a Thursday morning in May, Forest Service staff and crew leaders gathered in the Cascade Ranger District Office for a briefing. They were putting a plan together for the nearby, nearly 100-acre Crawford burn on the Boise National Forest.

Matt Haupt, the district’s senior fuels technician, read out the weather: sunny, 70-75, relative humidity in the upper 20s to lower 30s, low winds.

“Today is looking fairly good, a little hotter and drier,” he summarized.

The burning has already taken place earlier in the week, and this day’s work would be mostly mopping up and checking lines. After crew members got their marching orders in the parking lot below, they headed east toward the burn. I jumped in with Haupt, who’s overseeing it.

“The last time it was burned was the spring of 2018,” he said, driving to the project site. “It's mostly ponderosa pine, which typically needs five- to 15-year fire intervals.”

Many ecosystems and species — like the ponderosa pine — are dependent on regular fire. Prescribed fire can bring a number of ecological benefits, as well as significantly reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

Haupt is with the Forest Service, but that day everyone else was working for The Nature Conservancy — or TNC — an environmental nonprofit.

A Nature Conservancy fire crew gets ready to head out to check the Crawford prescribed fire's lines.(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )“The Forest Service still has their overhead structure,” he explained. “The supervision still needs to be there, but it's a lot of the manpower could be taken care of with TNC coming in.”

Federal agencies have committed to dramatically accelerating the pace of prescribed fire. In its 2022 Wildfire Crisis Strategy document, the Forest Service set a goal of treating 50 million additionalacres of federal, state, tribal and private land. But last year, a major federal wildfire commission said that the current federal fire workforce — some 19,000 strong — is “not sufficient for the scale of wildfire risk reduction, response, and post-fire recovery work required now, let alone into the future.”

“Federal investment is urgently needed to create new and expanded workforce capacity that is focused on, and tailored to, mitigation, planning, and post-fire response and recovery for communities and landscapes,” the commission’s report read. Efforts to build that workforce, it recommended, should include the public, private and non-governmental sectors.

‘Insatiable need’ Jeremy Bailey, TNC’s North America prescribed fire training director, said forests and grasslands’ need for fire is insatiable.

A day after burning operations on this section of the Crawford prescribed fire, the ground is a clean black, and some smoke is visible from the line. (Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )“And so is the need for a workforce that can do that work,” he said. “Back of the envelope, I estimate we need 10,000 employees nationwide.”

Last year, his organization received $45 million over five years from the Forest Service — money he said came out of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. They hired some 50 people on top of existing fire staff, and they have 20 to 30 folks out on Forest Service priority projects — like the Crawford burn — on any given day. His TNC colleague Matt Ward said workforce constraints are probably “biggest issue that is complicating everybody's ability to do more projects.”

“We’re adding needed capacity,” Ward said.

‘Instantaneous effect’ In a video shared by TNC crew boss Steve Vigil, you can see a snaking line of short flame burning steadily through pine needle duff earlier in the week, the sort of low-intensity fire that prescribed burns often try to create. When I visited, some smoking stumps were still visible from the fireline, but it was mostly clean, blackened forest floor.

“So we are looking at a post-burn landscape,” said TNC crewmember Slug Kaltenbach, my guide on the burn. “This was actually burned yesterday, if you can believe it.”

Kaltenbach, who uses they/them pronouns, is from Eugene, Oregon and is in their fifth year of fire, much of which has been suppression work. But for Kaltenbach, prescribed fire hits different.

“I think that prescription fire is one of the best feelings in the world to have as a job,” they said. “In one day of burning … you're going to have a larger effect than maybe like two weeks of work doing other kinds of initiatives, like thinning or piling. Fire is such an instantaneous effect on the ecosystem.”

TNC crewmember Slug Kaltenbach(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )They’re also drawn to the way TNC operates. Wildland fire has a reputation for brutal work schedules and long, unpredictable stretches away from friends and family. Poor work-life balance was one of the barriers to recruitment and retention in the federal fire workforce identified by the Government Accountability Office in 2022. TNC gives its workers fixed schedules, meaning they know exactly when they’ll be home.

That’s allowed Kaltenbach to be an active part of the Moon Mountain String Band back in Eugene, hard to imagine in other corners of fire.

Kaltenbach identifies as non-binary, and said they appreciate the near gender parity and diversity they see in their TNC colleagues, which contrasts sharply with federal counterparts. In fiscal year 2021, 84% of federal firefighters identified as men, and 72% identified as white. Limited workforce diversity was another challenge faced by federal fire agencies cited in the GAO report.

“We're super excited to have 50% of our workforce represented by women because that is not that is not the norm in the wildfire workforce,” TNC’s Bailey said.

Slug and their colleagues are also able to complete trainings and get professional qualifications on burns. All of these things together, they said, point toward a more sustainable, attractive way to do fire. And there’s always the most basic draw.

“Playing with fire is fun,” Kaltenbach said. “In a controlled way, of course.”

‘We need help’ Back at the district headquarters, Ranger Chris Bentley said that the TNC partnership is “exactly the direction we need to go.”

Chris Bentley, ranger on the Boise National Forest's Cascade District, explains how TNC crews fit into his agency's goals for prescribed fire. "It's just absolutely vital that we bring in these types of agreements and these types of partnerships. We can't do it on our own. We wouldn't want to even if we could."(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )“We're still going to try to attract the traditional firefighter workforce for ourselves, for the Forest Service,” he added. “But we need help. We're not going to be able to do the work on our own. We're just not. There's too much work to be done, it’s too important that we succeed.”

He readily acknowledged that the TNC crews are a drop in the bucket compared to the needed workforce.

“But, you know, every drop counts,” he said.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

(Stacey MacNaught / Flickr Creative Commons)Across the country, many parents and educators are struggling with the same question: "Should cell phones be kept out of school?"

Well, for more than 200 families in the Boise School District, the answer may be yes.

As more research emerges linking technology and social media to poor mental health, parents are in search of solutions, looking for ways to help their kids. Which is why one local group is working to make changes with a new set of initiatives.

Local parents Kim Washington, Tara Coffland and Nicola Blair joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

(Louis A Habash
/ Flickr)If you're hoping to stay out of the heat, a good movie or series may be the answer! Our resident movie critic, George Prentice, joined Idaho Matters to help us figure out What to Watch.

Boise, Idaho Wastewater SARS-COV-2 data.( City of Boise)The level of COVID-19 is up in Boise, at least according to the spike of the disease found in the city's wastewater. Plus, we know bird flu is hitting Idaho's dairy cows, but what about beef cattle?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this and answer your questions!

(AP Images)When a power line falls and sparks a wildfire that burns through homes and neighborhoods, who pays for the destruction?

That’s the question being asked in several states, including Idaho, after the deadly Santiam fire in Oregon. Four years ago, the fire killed 11 people and burned more than 5,000 homes and buildings.

PacifiCorp, which provides power to six states, including Idaho, was found liable for billions of dollars in damages, and it and other power companies are looking for ways to reduce liabilities after such fires.

So who should pay the price after fires like the Santiam fire in Oregon, the Marshall fire in Colorado, or the Maui fire that killed over 100 people in Hawaii?

Kylie Mohr took a deep dive into the subject for High Country News, and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more about what she found.

(CATCH )With an excessive heat warning in place through Saturday, many people are trying to stay out of the sun but for people experiencing homelessness, this can be hard to do.

Which is why the local nonprofit CATCH is requesting essential items to help keep this vulnerable community safe.

Connor O'Hora, CATCH's outreach team lead, and Cassidy Landry, a former client of CATCH, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(JGI/Tom Grill / Getty Images/Tetra images RF)Last year, a new law went into effect, expanding the rights of pregnant workers across the U.S.

Now, regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act have been finalized, offering clearer guidelines on what protections can be expected in the workplace.

Charlotte Burrows, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these rights.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean ( City of Boise)Boise Mayor Lauren McLean says she’d “like nothing more than to weigh in” on controversial rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. But that’s not going to stop her, she says, from making clear that a number of those decisions directly impact Boise.

“When I knock on doors and talk to our residents, I’ve talked to moms whose daughters have moved away and aren’t going to come back until they’re done having kids, because they’re not sure whether or not it’s safe to be pregnant in Idaho,” said McLean. “And in Boise, I’m talking with doctors who are leaving or are deeply considering their next steps.”

McLean weighed in on the high court’s recent ruling concerning Idaho’s abortion ban and how it conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. In a wide-ranging conversation with Morning Edition host George Prentice, McLean also discussed another SCOTUS decision – Johnson v. Grants Pass – plus, housing, jobs, law enforcement and much more.

HousingThe Idaho Community Foundation will cover the costs of services people need when exiting homelessness into a home.

"We have great public private partnerships that are making housing for folks exiting homelessness," said McLean. "Think families will have the chance to live at Park Apartments? Folks with medical needs ultimately will have homes near Fire Station five, and this summer we're breaking ground on New Path 2.0, a place for 95 people exiting homelessness into homes of their own."

The Foundation will cover the costs of services to keep people housed and on the road to self-sufficiency.

Johnson v. Grants Pass This ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court essentially bans people from sleeping in public spaces. McLean says the city has to be focused on long-term solutions and the root causes of issues related to homelessness.

"What solves this problem is the great collaborative work and solutions focus that Boiseans have had in the last six years, and will continue to have to bring homes to market for folks from all walks of life to support the organizations that are rapidly rehousing families."

McLean went on to say that Boise isn't making the mistakes that other cities have made in regards to homelessness.

Abortion in Boise and Idaho Abortion in Idaho remains a hot topic, especially after the recent EMTALA ruling from SCOTUS. McLean has not been shy when weighing in on the topic, and said the decision on personal medical issues, emergency or not, are to be made between families and their doctors.

"With government having no space, no room in that conversation, no place in that conversation," said McLean. "And it's for that reason that the city said we would not waste resources on investigating accusations of abortions."

The opinion from SCOTUS does not rule on the merit of the case but sends the case back to lower courts. This 6-3 ruling vacates the previous stay and sends the case back to the Ninth Circuit which will decide on the outcome.

CHIPS Implementation Task ForceMcLean was chosen to chair the CHIPS Implementation Task Force in June of this year. The CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science Act was signed into law in August 2022 and is intended to get microchip manufacturing back to the United States.

Axios reports the task force will "provide mayors in other key cities opportunities for collaboration to address supply chain issues and scale effective strategies for sustainable chip industry development."

The act made an investment in Boise-based Micron, but McLean said it will also open doors to make sure the city is working with universities, community colleges and labor unions to create training programs in this field.

The search for a new police chiefMayor McLean said they will be announcing the finalists for the Boise Police Chief position within the next week and there will be plenty of opportunities for community members to engage with the finalists.

Right now there are about 34 vacancies within the police department, with 25 officers set to be hired and join the police academy this month. McLean said they have been very intentional during the hiring process and the current police chief Ron Winegar has been working to find to find the right people to be in these roles.

"It is so important to continue to see crime rates go down, to continue to see the trust and relationship between our officers and residents remain strong, because that's what keeps those links between the officers that we are hiring and the residents they serve, well," said McLean.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

( Opera Idaho)This weekend, Opera in the Park is returning to downtown Boise for an evening of music that you won't soon forget.

Stacey Trenteseaux, the general director of Opera Idaho, and soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez join Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

( Roseanna Marcum)In March of 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Nampa was looking for a way to connect with the community without spending time indoors.

That’s when Puptricks was born. This local dog gathering brought together neighbors and their pups, allowing people to have some fun while their dogs showed off their tricks or dressed up in costumes to show off their cuteness.

The event was a success, and it’s almost time for the fourth annual Puptricks. Nampa Civic Center Facility Director Andrea Peachey and sales and marketing manager Roseanna Marcum joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

( U.S. Supreme Court)It’s now legal again to give someone a ticket for sleeping or camping on public property. This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Grants Pass v. Johnson case.

The city of Oregon wanted to fine people sleeping in public parks and possibly put them in jail if they refused to comply, and the court said that was not "cruel and unusual" punishment.

This case has its roots in Boise, under former Mayor Dave Bieter, in an older lawsuit when members of the homeless community fought back against the city’s policy of ticketing people sleeping on the street. That suit made it to the 9th Circuit Court, which said it did constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

Current mayor Lauren McLean came out against the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying criminalizing homelessness won’t solve the problem.

Jodi Peterson-Stigers, the executive director of Interfaith Sanctuary Community Housing, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the ramifications of the ruling on Boise’s homeless community.

Kids at Camp Rainbow Gold partake in a food fight. ( Camp Rainbow Gold)When it comes to making memories, there's no better place to do so than summer camp.

But for kids with medical conditions, this experience can feel out of reach. Which is why the work that Camp Rainbow Gold does is so important.

For over 40 years, the nonprofit has been creating opportunities for kids diagnosed with pediatric cancer to just be kids. And now, as demand for the organization’s services continues to grow, the nonprofit has plans to add six new cabins at the state’s first medical camp.

Elizabeth Lizberg, CEO of Camp Rainbow Gold, as well as Easton Brown, one of the campers, and his mother, Paige Brown, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his effort.

(Larry Reis / Flickr)When you think of fast-growing industries in Idaho, you might think of tech businesses or agriculture. But one of the fastest-growing industries and job markets is fish and wildlife, which employs more than 4,000 people in Idaho.

These jobs include everything from wildlife conservation to fishing guides, manufacturing jet boats, scientists, and working in fish hatcheries.

Since 2012, these types of jobs have grown at a 6.6 percent rate, and that’s expected to skyrocket to more than 22 percent over the next ten years.

Idaho Department of Labor economists Lisa Grigg and Ryan Whitesides will be talking about the fish and wildlife industry footprint at a webinar on Tuesday, July 9 and they joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2023 Annual Report.( USGS)Last year, four and a half million people flocked to Yellowstone National Park: a 37% increase over 2022.

They came to camp to fish, watch the wildlife, and check out the thermal geysers that spew hot water and rock out of what is a very active geologic site.

While Yellowstone seems like a summer playground, it's home to a lot of seismic activity, which can turn deadly, like in 1959 when the 7.3 Hebgen Lake earthquake killed 28 people.

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory has released its report on last year’s seismic activity at the park, and Idaho Matters asked Michael Poland to tell us about it. He’s the research geophysicist with the Cascades volcano observatory and the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone volcano observatory.

Protestors stand in front of the Supreme Court while Idaho v. United States is argued.(Victoria Pickering / Flickr)The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to send a lawsuit over Idaho's abortion ban back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and said, for now, Idaho hospitals can perform abortions in medical emergencies.

It's known as the EMTALA Case, and the justices did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit, which means the case will continue to be argued in a lower court for now.

Peg Dougherty, Deputy General Counsel for St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about how this will affect patients and doctors in Idaho.

Construction takes place on the Teton Pass near Jackson, Wyo. (Natalie Behring / AP)The Teton Pass has reopened, there's a divide over education issues, U of I and Phoenix have requested an extension in their negotiations and we take a look at the latest on the Daybells.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News

Downtown Boise( Kelsey Thomson)It's no secret that the city of Boise has some ambitious climate goals as they work to make the community carbon neutral by 2050.

Which is why they are enlisting the help of some of Idaho's most passionate activists, our youth.

With $50,000 to invest in youth-led projects, the city is looking for proposals that will help make a difference in our community.

Climate action and sustainability coordinator, Alex Brooks, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this opportunity.

Gray Wolves in Idaho.(John M Jarvey
/ Flickr)If there’s a more controversial environmental subject than wolves in Idaho, we haven’t found it yet.

When wolves were reintroduced into the Gem State almost 30 years ago, there were two very distinct sides: those who wanted them back and those who didn’t.

Anger, prejudice, myths, truths, and above all, very strong feelings on both sides, have often made it feel like common ground can never be reached.

Almost 20 years ago, Living with Wolves was formed to try and break down the myths around wolves. This nonprofit's mission is to build "tolerance that can lead to coexistence between people and wolves sharing the same land."

Garrick Dutcher, the research and program director for Living with Wolves, joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(Mary Dalloway / Flickr)A few years ago, a Boise State University student uploaded a video on TikTok.

He took what he called a cocoa bomb, put it in a cup, and poured hot water over it. As he did, the little ball of chocolate sprang open, and marshmallows and hot chocolate mix popped out, filling the cup with yummy goodness.

That video went viral, and suddenly Eric Torres-Garcia had thousands of dollars in orders, launching his Cocoa Bombs business.

Now he’s got his own manufacturing plant, and he’s turned this into an Idaho success story. Torres-Garcia joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(lennycarl08 / Flickr)Summertime means flowers, and flowers mean bumblebees! Big ones, tiny ones, black, white, and yellow — these insects play a huge role in our natural environment and in Idaho's agricultural industry.

But how much do we really know about bumblebees? And how are they doing in Idaho?

Armando Falcon, assistant professor in the department of Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Nematology at the University of Idaho's Parma Research and Extension Center, joined Idaho Matters to help answer these question.

An electron microscope view of the bird flu virus.(PR Newswire)Bird flu continues to be a problem in Idaho and around the country, where at least 20 dairy operations have been hit. Meanwhile, Finland is the first country to start handing out vaccines for the virus.

The CDC has issued a health advisory for dengue fever in the U.S.

And there’s a new, deadlier strain of Mpox spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues

The author of "Rive Ask Me Why," Shaun Griffin.( Shaun Griffin)For some folks approaching their 65th birthday, it might be time to retire, slow down a bit, and spend time closer to home.

But for Nevada writer Shaun Griffin, heading for his 70th decade meant jumping on his bike and taking a 1,000-mile ride from Portland, Oregon, to Jackson, Wyoming, with his two sons.

The ride took them through the Cascades, the Tetons, and the Sawtooths, which stretched their endurance and brought family closer together.

Griffin has put those experiences into a new memoir, "River Ask Me Why: Into the West on Two Wheels," and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( HarperCollins)Many people may remember Lady Jane Grey as England's shortest ruling monarch, but a new television series, My Lady Jane, is giving history a bit of a rewrite. Asking the question: why can't the damsel-in-distress save herself?

Cynthia Hand, co-author of "My Lady Jane," joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the premiere of the series.

My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies)

(Colby K. Neal / Bureau of Land Management)Those who try to stop or manage devastating wildland fires spend most of their time trying to adapt the forest using things like controlled burns or cutting down trees.

But a new study says we should be spending our time and money making homes in these areas harder to burn down.

That's a controversial idea for many who don't want to be told what to do with their private property, and it would take political will and new zoning and building codes to make it happen.

Mountain West News Bureau Boise Reporter Murphy Woodhouse joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)Just before 6 a.m., as the sun crested the Teton Mountains, a street sweeper rolled through empty roads in Driggs, Idaho. Two women — one dressed business chic, the other in a hoody — were getting onto the START commuter bus.

Wendy Herrera settled into her seat for another three-hour commute. She casually chatted with the bus driver about the previous day’s delays. The bus driver lamented that there had been traffic, especially near Alpine, Wyoming, but they still arrived on time.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)Hererra nodded, let out an amenable, “Okay, thanks,” and settled into her seat. She’s no stranger to the bus — she commutes to Jackson about three times a week for work at a bank — but she, like others, has been adjusting to the new route.

“It is just longer, not any worser though,” Herrera said. “I think it’s all about attitude.”

Herrera is among the thousands of people who work in and around the popular tourist destination of Jackson, but live in Idaho due to a familiar problem in Wyoming’s Teton County: astronomical wealth inequality and housing prices, some of the highest in the U.S. Nearly 15 percent of Teton County’s workforce lives on the other side of the pass, according to a 2022 housing needs assessment. Since the highway that crosses Teton Pass collapsed on June 8, commute times for these workers have nearly tripled.

For Hererra, the extra time spent commuting comes with a cost. She’s the mother of two young children.

“It just means I don’t have dinner with my kids and maybe I can’t get them ready for bed,” Herrera said.

The other woman on the bus was Wendy Ruiz. She works at a Jackson restaurant and bar named Eleanor's. She used to live in Jackson but after getting a new job, it didn’t make sense anymore.

“It was like, no employer housing, I’m living with my family,” Ruiz said. “It’s good, anyways, but nobody’s expecting this.”

“This” being the pass collapse, which has added another obstacle to her first year of commuting.

“It’s a big impact for everything,” Ruiz said. “I hope this is finished soon, because it’s hard”

At the next stop, Barry Hillam of Victor, Idaho boarded the bus. The Jackson dentist, wearing a baseball hat and glasses, sat down, opened his tablet and began to read.

“In the short term it’s been manageable,” Hillam said. “But in the long term, it wouldn’t be. I’d have to make a change.”

WYDOT expects to open a detour in less than two weeks. That will hopefully shorten the commute close to the typical hour. Weather permitting, the agency hopes to complete a rebuild of the roadway by November.

Hillam is grateful for the quick response but hopes the proposed timeline is accurate. He’s losing time with his wife and daughter.

“Just having dinner together, living life. We’ll still pull it off. It’ll be okay. We’ll see how long this lasts,” Hillam said.

START bus fares will be waived through June 28. Jackson officials have asked commuters to carpool or take the bus to limit the number of cars contributing to congestion at the Alpine junction and along the new route.

That congestion couldget worse as tourist season ramps up. While WYDOT estimates Highway 22 sees about 10,000 vehicles per day on average, that daily average can rise in summer to nearly 15,000.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL )The highway is a popular road tripping route into Jackson, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Tourism is Wyoming’s second largest industry, with Teton County contributing nearly a third of state tourism and travel tax revenue in 2022.

For now, START bus ridership has been mostly low. As the sun snuck over the Snake River Range, one sharp turn oriented the bus north into the Snake River Canyon, the last stretch until Jackson.

M. E. Sorci sat near the front of the bus. She stuffed three bags onto one seat and the floor beside her, a planner and a water bottle falling out one. She put her earbuds in and nestled into the window. She lives in Victor and manages the Orvis store in Jackson. She’s been commuting for about four years, opening and closing the store while being available on call. This new commute is not working with that schedule.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)“I’ll probably just have to camp,” Sorci said. “I have some friends I can stay with and they’re very nice for offering their homes to us and to me, but I don’t want to disrupt their lives.”

While Sorci hasn’t taken up her friend's offers, some have. Local groups are working to provide housing and financial help for those severely affected by the closure. County commissioners voted unanimously to allow the use of temporary shelters, including campers, cars and tents, in town.

Sorci said her livelihood, as well as what she values most in life, is being impacted.

“Time is kind of the most important thing to me and I feel like that’s being taken away,” Sorci said.

After three hours, the bus veered from the silty Snake River and into the south end of Jackson. Commuters started getting out and heading to work.

When their shifts end, they will hop back on the bus for another three hours home, making for a six hour commute altogether. A vehicle can get to Salt Lake City from Jackson in less time. Until the detour is built —- and possibly even longer — commuters have less time for hobbies, for family, for themselves.

(Idaho Department Of Lands / Idaho Statesman)Caldwell is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Since 2000, the city's population has almost tripled.

As new residents pour in, decisions have to be made about everything from where to build new housing and businesses to transportation to how land should be zoned and used.

These decisions are guided by a comprehensive plan that provides a long-term strategy for the future, and Caldwell is rewriting their master plan and asking for the public's help. Caldwell Planning & Zoning Director Robin Collins joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Idaho Transportation Department / Screenshot )Next week is the Fourth of July holiday weekend, which means lots of people will be hitting the road in anticipation of their favorite fireworks shows.

And while lower gas prices might make the drive more pleasant for some, people should keep in mind that temperatures will be on the rise, which can mean more hazards.

Matthew Conde, Public and Government Affairs Director with AAA Idaho, joined Idaho Matters to give drivers a few tips on how to stay safe in the heat.

The campus of Micron Technology Inc. in Boise, Idaho.(Charlie Litchfield / ASSOCIATED PRESS)Out in Southeast Boise, 11 cranes and hundreds of workers are building Micron's new computer chip fabrication plant.

The project itself is huge and will employ 4,000 construction workers. They're making their own concrete at the site and crushing tons of rock.

We wanted an update on the $15 billion expansion project, and it just so happens that BoiseDev.com just flew a drone over the construction to see what's up, so we invited Don Day, the founder and editor of BoiseDev.com, to join Idaho Matters.

Sabrina Sherwood offers a dog a treat.(Idaho Barkery / Genesis Photography)Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, pharmacist Sabrina Sherwood was standing in her kitchen, trying to come up with a treat for her dog Rocky.

Rocky had allergies and couldn't tolerate commercial, store-bought treats, so Sabrina started cooking up peanut butter, applesauce and rice flour to find the perfect, preservative-free treat for her pup.

The treats were a hit, and after facing some healthcare burnout during the pandemic, Sabrina decided to start her own dog treat company called "Idaho Barkery," and now this Idaho entrepreneur is selling her treats all over Idaho and beyond. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her unique business journey.

This weekend, one historic home will be making a big move.

Built in 1895, the John C. Rice House has had many people pass through its door, serving first as a home and then as a parsonage and Sunday school until being left vacant.

Now, the Caldwell Housing Authority is breathing new life into the property, once again establishing the building as an important part of the community as it's relocated to a new part of town.

Mike Dittenber, executive director of the Caldwell Housing Authority, and project manager Carlos Gonzalez joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

People beat the heat by floating the Boise River.(Sarah A. Miller / Idaho Statesman)As temperatures heat up, people are looking for ways to cool down and what better way to do that than on the Boise River. The river officially opens Thursday, June 27 for the 2024 float season.

Doug Holloway, Director of Boise Parks and Recreation, and Bonnie Shelton, Communication and Marketing Superintendent for Boise Parks and Recreation, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Ashley Ahearn)Dorothy Moon was reelected as Idaho's Republican Party chairwoman, the Gem State is using a new business system, certain areas of the state are at higher risk of wildfire and construction on the College of Western Idaho's new expansion is underway.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Sydney Kidd with BoiseDev
Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Kyle Pfannenstiel, reporter for Idaho Capital Sun
Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun

(Maria Lin Kim / Unsplash)Since last year, the number of people in Idaho experiencing food insecurity has increased by more than three percent, leaving over 200,000 Idahoans without enough to eat.

And as the price of groceries and living costs continues to remain high, it's likely that the problem is here to stay, at least for a little while. Which is why the Idaho Food Bank is working to help fill the gap.

Morgan Wilson, the Chief Development Officer for the Idaho Food Bank, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

( Flick/NPS Climate Change Response)A diverse group of researchers led by the University of Idaho are coming together to study the effects that drought and fires have on forestland.

A $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation will create what's being called the Ember Institute to study the issue while also reaching out to underserved communities and people across the political spectrum.

Tara Hudiburg, principle investigator for Ember and professor in U of I's Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, as well as Laurel Lynch, assistant professor in U of I's Department of Soil and Water Systems and Co-principle investigator on the Ember Project, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Bruneau Dunes Observatory / Randy Davis)After nine years of hard work, Bruneau Dunes State Park south of Boise has been officially designated an International Dark Sky Park by Dark Sky International.

This very rare certification means the park's two telescopes and the landscape around them can take advantage of very dark night conditions to see far into space.

Greg Harman, a park ranger at Bruneau Dunes State Park, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity, finds a small cluster of Carson Valley monkeyflowers outside of Carson City, Nev., on Thursday, May 2, 2024.(Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau )It’s a sun-soaked afternoon in Carson City, Nev., and Patrick Donnelly is walking down a brush-covered slope between a highway and a large shopping center.

Just over a decade ago, these grocery stores, retail shops, and restaurants weren’t here. The area was 86 acres of untouched desertland.

It also served as a habitat for a rare Nevada wildflower: the Carson Valley monkeyflower.

“This was documented monkeyflower habitat 12 years ago,” says Donnelly, the Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “And now it’s covered in trash, there's the Trader Joe's and the Dollar Loan Center. This is ultimately what will drive the species extinct; habitat loss is what's going to push it over the edge.”

The Carson Valley monkeyflower faces more threats than any rare plant in Nevada, according to state researchers.(Patrick Donnelly / Center for Biological Diversity )Earlier this year, Donnelly and the conservation group petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add the Carson Valley monkeyflower to the endangered species list. The tiny flower, ranging from 1 to 3 inches tall, has bright yellow blossoms, freckled with red dots.

“They have this beautiful patterning – these red dots,” Donnelly says. “And those dots are an indicator to bees to come on in.”

But they provide more than nectar to bees, and a pretty sight to Donnelly. They play a critical role in the biodiversity that gives people clean air and water and need federal protections as the Carson City area expands, he says.

“It doesn't mean that we can't have Trader Joe's and we can't have Walmart, it just means there needs to be some limits on our growth,” he adds.

In fact, more than 40% of the Carson Valley monkeyflower’s habitat has already been destroyed, and they grow on only 1,000 acres in northern Nevada and a corner of California, according to a 2018 report by the Nevada Division of Natural Heritage.

Report author Janel Johnson, now a researcher for national nonprofit NatureServe, says threats to monkeyflower’s terrain are mounting.

“Unfortunately, those places that are gentle slopes with sandy soils also happen to be good places to build city parks and housing developments and freeways and all the other things that make a city,” she says.

Carson Valley monkeyflowers had a strong bloom last year (seen here), but the rare plant is losing habitat to the development of roads and buildings.(Patrick Donnelly / Center for Biological Diversity)In recent decades, the greater Carson City area has expanded rapidly. New homes, roads and warehouses continue to unfold across this desert like a growing pop-up book.

Johnson says that doesn’t mean imperiled plants like the monkeyflower should be ignored, adding that “it’s kind of arrogant of humans to decide what gets to live and what doesn't, just on a whim of where do we want to build our next warehouse or subdivision.”

That’s a rising conflict in the fast-growing Mountain West: Developers targeting land and people trying to conserve it for plants and animals.

Back in Carson City, Donnelly, sporting an Indiana Jones-like hat and using a rustic walking stick, is now hiking in an area of monkeyflower habitat that isn’t threatened by development – at least not yet.

Last spring, blankets of the yellow wildflower covered these hills.

“We had just thousands and thousands of them everywhere you looked,” Donnelly says.

But that’s not the case this year, which is why he’s searching high and low to find some sprouting from the sandy soil. After a lengthy search for the elusive flower, Donnelly breaks into giddy laughter as he spots tiny yellow blossoms with red dots.

“I can't believe you could wander around Carson City for three hours looking for plants, and this is what you find. That's the Carson Valley monkeyflower,” Donnelly says as he leans in to get a close look at the plant, which is barely an inch tall and slightly wilting. “That is a struggling wildflower right there – it is not living to its full potential.”

Carson Valley monkeyflowers, like this inch-tall plant, are struggling to sprout and survive amid hotter and drier conditions. (Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau)Donnelly says a lot of the blame goes to another increasing threat to the monkeyflower: climate change. Rising temperatures, declining precipitation, and drought make it difficult for them to know if and when to sprout.

“Some of them will adapt every year, no matter how crazy it is,” he says. “Maybe it's one out of millions. But that resiliency is the only chance these plants have at surviving climate change.”

He says that’s why it’s more important than ever to protect the Carson Valley monkeyflower, which is also threatened by wildfires, livestock farming and ranching, and invasive species.

But federal protections won’t happen anytime soon. The average time it takes the U.S. government to list a species after a petition is filed? More than a decade, Donnelly says.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Christian nationalist movement is growing in America; its schools can be found around the country, and there are YouTube channels devoted to the idea.

Some church leaders have extreme views, including that women are subordinate to me and only Christians can hold public office.

One of the centers of the movement is Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, where the church is hoping to make the city a church town by buying up prime real estate and opening businesses there.

Heath Druzin, the host and creator of the podcast Extremely American, wanted to take a deep dive into this topic in season two of his podcast, and our own reporter, James Dawson, joined him as they spent a year inside the Christian Nationalist Movement. Their podcast drops soon, and they joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

A few electric vehicle charging stations are on display at the EV Charging Summit in Las Vegas in March 2024. The expo attracted people from more than 30 countries and showcased the various companies trying to make EV charging more accessible to people.(Yvette Fernandez / KNPR )Transitioning to electric vehicles – or EVs – is much more complicated than simply adding more charging stations across the country. Those on the cutting edge of this effort talked about the challenges and potential solutions at the EV Charging Summit in Las Vegas, where people from more than 30 countries attended in March.

Federal Highway Administrator Shalien Bhatt told participants that China and Europe are ahead of the United States when it comes to EV production and infrastructure.

“Just because we won the 20th century in the automotive industry is not a guarantee that we win the 21st century in the automotive industry if we're not building the vehicles that the world wants,” Bhatt said.

The federal government is allocating $7.5 billion to enhance the nation’s EV charging network. Last year there were 170,000 charging stations across the country. Bhatt said 500,000 are slated to be installed within the next couple of years.

“What we need to do is make sure that we develop and build a charging network so that anybody can drive from New York City all the way to L.A,” he said.

Industry analysts estimate at least 2 million charging stations will be needed by the end of the decade to significantly reduce emissions. And America's EV infrastructure is fragmented. Different types of chargers make it a challenge to find the one that works at the appropriate speed for a particular situation.

Oscar Rodriguez is with NOVA Charge, a company focused on fleet charging. He said America's system has had some success with fleets, like school buses that can charge overnight and between shifts.

“But there's another kind of fleet that really has not been well served in the industry," Rodriguez said. "And that fleet is the quick turn fleet, the fleet that's got to be at the ready, not overnight the next morning, but at the next shift. So first responders have this problem."

Charging individual vehicles in fleets isn't always practical. But Tallis Blalack with the Central Florida Expressway Authority said there are a handful of locations across the country where “electrified roadways” are planned. On these roads, charging coils are placed in the pavement and vehicles are equipped with receivers.

“So just as I can take my iPhone and I can put it on a wireless charger and I can charge it, we can charge a semi doing 70 miles an hour on the freeway,” said Blalack.

This is particularly important since 70% of America's goods are transported by trucks. But Blalack says building more electrified roadways at convenient locations like rest stops will literally take an act of Congress. That’s because of a 1950s law that prohibits “commercial activity.”

“What it means is that when you're driving out here in the West and you come in to a rest stop area, there's nothing there because it's commercial activity. It's been modified three times by Congress to allow putting in payphones, to allow vending machines. And the third one, which all drivers need, which was to allow the sale of lottery tickets,” Blalack said, partially joking.

Blalack hopes this can change in 2026 when lawmakers take up a major transportation funding bill.

Another issue is finding a way to add more charging options without overtaxing the electric grid. Sandra Peterson with Beam Global said the company has come up with the “EV Arc” – an autonomous, off-grid charger that looks like an outdoor lamp post on wheels, topped with a solar panel.

“Right now construction, electrical upgrades can take months. This deploys in about 2 hours — you have EV charging," Peterson said. "Another thing that's a benefit is that it's transportable. Which, you put in ground charging — you can't move it."

How is all this going to be accomplished? Dwayne Norris of Soulful Synergy said his consulting company provides a trained workforce, ready to take on this new industry's charge.

“There is a shift that's coming in the way that we produce energy, the way that we use energy, the way that we think about, you know, all these things and how they intersect,” said Norris. "What is it without people?”

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

World Refugee Day will be celebrated in Boise on Saturday, June 22.( Idaho Office for Refugees)It’s challenging to find enough words to describe the wonderment and joy of World Refugee Day in Boise. It’s cleverly located in the downtown Grove, but it’s difficult to tell where the traditional Saturday market ends and the World Refugee Day festivities begin.

As a result, thousands of people, strolling through the market, suddenly come upon kiosks of crafts, food and fashion. Music from a nearby stage heightens, and aromas from some global delicacies tempt the taste buds.

Tack on top of that — a naturalization ceremony where men and women from nearly every corner of the globe become America’s newest citizens.

Holly Beech (right) and Saaed al-Azzawi (left)( Idaho Office for Refugees)“It’s a chance for people who came from refugee backgrounds and now live in Idaho to celebrate and share some of the favorite parts of their cultures and traditions,” said Holly Beech, communications director at the Idaho Office for Refugees. “It has a vibe of connection, appreciation and solidarity. But it’s also a chance to pause and reflect and respect the fact that millions of people around the world are still displaced.”

Saaed al Azzawi knows that challenge all too well.

“I’m from Baghdad. I used to work at the U.S. Embassy In Iraq,” said al-Azzawi, who suffered his own share of wounds in his battle-scarred home nation. “We are lucky to survive. We lived a very tough life.”

But after relocating to Idaho with his family, and becoming a U.S. citizen, he has an ear-to-ear smile.

“The World Refugee Day? It’s like my birthday. The feeling of freedom … the feeling of humanity,” he said.

The two visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview this week’s World Refugee Day celebrations in Boise and Twin Falls.

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

(Canva )June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month, a time set aside to help the one in ten Americans over the age of 60 who are targeted by elder abuse, and some estimates say that fewer than one out of every 24 cases of abuse is ever reported.

The Nampa Family Justice Center and the Idaho Department of Finance are working to raise awareness about elder abuse and connect people to resources to stop this exploration.

Alyssa Groen, the assistant program manager of the Nampa Family Justice Center; Patrice Harris, an elder advocate; and John Yaros, Security Bureau Chief with the Idaho Department of Finance, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

Anyone who suspects senior financial exploitation in Idaho can call 208-332-8000/Idaho toll free at 1-888-346- 3378 or email Finance.InternetMail@finance.idaho.gov.

A neighborhood birthday Party on River Street in 1973.( Photo courtesy Boise City Archives, John Hardy Family Collection, MS084.)Many areas of Boise have a rich history, but one in particular has a very important story.

One which Preservation Idaho and their collaborating partners are passionate about sharing, which is why they've created a self-guided walking tour of the River Street neighborhood.

Paula Benson, with the Preservation Idaho Board of Directors, and Dan Everhart, Idaho State Historic Preservation Office Outreach Historian, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this new resource.

Supporters of a bill that would rewrite Nevada's abortion laws rally in front of the Legislature in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, May 21, 2019.

(AP Photo/Ryan Tarinelli)Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and removed federal abortion protections, a legal chess game is taking place among states.

Since Roe v Wade was overturned, nearly half of states in the U.S. imposed abortion restrictions.

More than a dozen clinics in Texas closed, while others moved to New Mexico. New restrictions in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming are pushing women into Colorado and Nevada, which are working to protect reproductive care.

Lindsey Harmon is with Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, a group working to enshrine abortion protections in Nevada’s constitution by a vote of the people — an attempt also being made in more than a dozen states.

"Today we've turned in over 200,000 signatures in all 17 counties across Nevada," Harmon said to a crowd gathered recently outside the Clark County Building in Las Vegas. Nevada advocates collected nearly twice as many signatures as needed to qualify their initiative for placement on the ballot.

She pointed out that Nevada is nearly surrounded by states that restrict abortion.

“Whether it’s travel bans or bans on emergency care as we're seeing out of Idaho or near total bans like we're seeing in Arizona and Utah respectively,” Harmon said.

Like a chess game, both sides in the nationwide battle are making significant, diametrically opposed moves before the clock runs out.

Opponents have turned to obscure laws – some from the 19th century. Lawmakers in Arizona wanted to rely on a Civil War-era law to ban abortions. (That Arizona law was later repealed, though the repeal didn't take effect immediately and the original ban could still be reinstated before the repeal takes place.)

Others want to invoke the Comstock Act, a federal statute from 1873 that prohibited mailing birth control materials. University of Nevada Las Vegas Professor David Orentlicher believes challenging this will be difficult since Comstock has been updated several times.

“That would suggest that Congress didn't object to maintaining that part of the law,” Orentlicher explained.

Meanwhile, those who support broader reproductive rights have celebrated as abortion medications like mifepristone became available in drug store chains, such as CVS and Walgreens.

Using a different tactic, Louisiana lawmakers recently re-classified abortion medications as “controlled substances,” making them much harder to obtain.

Those who want to restrict reproductive rights are also challenging the federal law that ensures public access to emergency medical services. It’s called the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA).

Orentlicher said this means hospitals must provide stabilizing medical treatment.

“If you're in active labor, they don't want you sending you away while you're in active labor, that you deliver,” somewhere in the street, he explained.

This is at the heart of a case brought by the state of Idaho to the U.S. Supreme Court. Idaho has a near-total abortion ban, allowing doctors to terminate pregnancy only to save the life of the mother.

Following oral arguments in March, Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said Idaho's abortion restrictions do not conflict with the federal law.

Labrador told reporters after the Supreme Court heard Idaho’s position that “EMTALA requires that emergency rooms care for pregnant women and their unborn children. And under Idaho's law, doctors are expected to treat women facing life threatening situations.”

Ilana Rubel is the minority leader of the Idaho House of Representatives. She said women are not getting emergency care and doctors are leaving the state.

“It is awkward to come to terms with the fact that the law that they championed has caused complete disaster for the state of Idaho ... But facts are facts. Numbers are numbers,” said Rubel shortly after the Supreme Court hearing.

Idaho’s Coalition for Safe Reproductive Health surveyed 117 doctors and about two-thirds said they were going to or likely would leave the state because of its new laws and the liability it places on them.

A decision on the Supreme Court case is expected this summer.

The debate will continue as abortion goes on the ballot in several states this fall.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The film Under G_D explores the tension between multiple faiths and the growing number of abortion bans.(Ronda Kimbrow / 123rf Ronda Kimbrow)While Idaho's near total abortion ban – which continues to push OBGYNs out-of-state due to fear of prosecution – remains in effect, polling reveals a growing number of Idahoans see the restrictions as too draconian. Most polls find Idahoans in a growing middle ground in a debate which had, until recently, found citizens choosing a hard yes, or hard no.

“I try not to judge those whose religious convictions are different than mine,” said Rev. Sara LaWall, faith leader of the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. “And I want to have the freedom to believe those and practice those. Sometimes, those practices and beliefs have to be kept squarely in the religious sphere, and not in the governmental sphere. And that is the conversation I am interested in having.”

LaWall has joined a growing chorus of faith leaders from across Idaho who say, while some Idaho legislators have used their religious faith in informing their opposition to abortion, a good many other faiths have been left by the wayside.

“The challenges that the government is imposing is a narrow version of Christianity as a kind of state religion on this question,” said Rabbi Dan Fink, faith leader at Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel “And Idaho’s law, as current established on abortion, prevents Jews from freely exercising what our tradition calls us to do.”

Fink and LaWall joined Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the conversation they hope to have following a screening of the film, “Under G_D,” Thursday, June 20 at The Flicks in Boise.

Read the full transcript below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. This morning we're going to talk about a movie. And because we single it out, we think it is deserving of your attention. It will be screened one night only later this week, Thursday the 20th at The Flicks, and the film is titled Under G_D. Indeed, the word is "God," but the letter "O" is missing from the title. But something else is missing in the debate over abortion restrictions in Idaho and other states. We'll get to that missing piece in a moment, but first, let's bring in our guests. Here is Reverend Sara LaWall from the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Good morning, Reverend Sara.

REV. SARA LAWALL: Good morning, George.

PRENTICE: And here comes Rabbi Dan Fink from Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel. Good morning, Rabbi Dan.

RABBI DAN FINK: Good morning, George. Glad to be here.

PRENTICE: I must say, I was lucky enough to see this film when it emerged from film festivals and picked up a boatload of jury awards. The film, by the way, is about a half hour. It's a superb short documentary; so that will allow plenty of conversation following the film in Thursday's event and what conversation there should be. So, here's where we are: we know that most abortions are banned in Idaho and a number of other states. But upon seeing this film, you will learn a lot more about RFRA. That's R-F-R-A, an acronym for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that allows some lawmakers to work around constitutional law to model laws around "believer's of faith." But what faith? Reverend Sara, jump in here. This is a big disparity because many of these restrictions have foundations of religious conviction. But to be sure, it's not all religions.

LAWALL: That's correct. And that is really what drew me to this film. But also I've been following this lawsuit. It's really disheartening when our lawmakers use faith as a foundation for the legislation that they are passing, without any recognition that there is such a multitude of faith traditions and beliefs, particularly around this question. And it's really about very, very narrow interpretation - theological interpretation and set of religious beliefs - and doctrine that doesn't apply to all faiths. And so I'm really invested in wanting to have a a conversation about how we govern. What does religious freedom really mean? What does the separation of church and state really mean? Because it is really ostracizing, leaving out and frankly, oppressing a number of faith traditions and faith communities with regard to this particular legislation IN abortion rights and access, but others as well.

PRENTICE: Rabbi Dan Fink, in this film we hear from a contemporary of yours. He is Rabbi Barry Silver from Florida. And, well, let me just play a clip here.

RABBI BARRY SILVER: "It's a Jewish value to stand up against authority. Jews have never hesitated to stand on the fringe of society when it's necessary to fight against oppression."

PRENTICE: Rabbi Dan, can you add to that? Can you bring this home to us here in Idaho?

FINK: Yes. Rabbi Silver participates in this suit, and appears in the film because he recognizes, as Reverend LaWall noted, that faiths are in very different places on the question of choice. in Idaho and in other places, the anti-abortion movement has chosen to give authority to a very small, a very narrow kind of conservative Christianity, and essentially made it a kind of state religion. And Jewish tradition has always stood against this. In Jewish tradition, an abortion is not only allowed' but actually when a woman's life and health are endangered, Jewish law requires it. So essentially the point is that, anti-abortion restrictions prevent pious Jewish people from living in accordance with our tradition on this matter.

PRENTICE: Talk a little bit more about that tradition, because I've learned a little bit about Jewish law using old rules or old principles, but they apply to contemporary circumstances. In other words, they're grounded in reality.

FINK: That's right. So, George, Jews famously like to disagree amongst ourselves. There's an old saying that "for every two Jews there are at least three opinions." And so, if you ask Jews about abortion and when is abortion justified and who chooses, you'll get different answers from different parts of the Jewish world. With the Orthodox, the more traditional...more conservative leaning, but one of the very few things. And there really are not so many Jews across the board. From very traditional, to very progressive agree on, is that human life begins at birth. Jews all agree that a fetus is not a human being. A fetus is a potential human being. And that until crowning, the life of the mother, carrying that fetus takes priority over the life of the fetus. It's really one of few things that Jews agree upon... and that Idaho law stands in direct opposition to.

PRENTICE: Rev. Sara, help me out with this. We found that there are a growing number of people who are conflicted about this. They're somewhere in this rather large middle, if you will, of this debate. And I have to assume that's where you want to open up this conversation.

LAWALL: I think that's right. I think it's to remind people of the kind of foundational beliefs of this country, in exercising one's own religious freedom separate from the state. And part of what that says to me is that there is deep power in one's religious convictions and beliefs, and I hold that as very sacred. And so I try not to judge those whose religious convictions are different than mine, and I want them to have the freedom to believe those and practice. But I want the same exact freedom for myself and other communities who practice and believe differently, which means that sometimes those practices and beliefs have to be kept squarely in the religious sphere, and not in the public or governmental sphere. And that's the conversation I'm interested in having.

PRENTICE: And I'd like you both to weigh in on this. Rabbi Dan, I'll ask you first: the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says the government cannot establish religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof. In other words, Jews, Muslims, even many Christians are being left out of the conversation in these new laws that are restricting.

FINK: The challenges that the government is imposing as a narrow version of Christianity as a kind of state religion on this question. And Idaho's law, as currently established on abortion, prevents Jews from freely exercising what our tradition calls us to do.

LAWALL: There are many Christians coming out of liberal Christianity and the Protestant Reformation and Unitarian Universalists who do believe in choice, who really also believe that, when it comes to abortion, it's very particular, very private, very spiritual decision that should be made by the patient in consultation with their doctor. And if that patient so chooses, in consultation, in consultation with their spiritual leader or others who are important in their life. And the government should really be out of that decision-making and out of that space.

PRENTICE: Reverend Sara LaWall is the faith leader from the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. And of course, Rabbi Dan Fink is from Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel. And the event is this Thursday the 20th. By the way, the event is free, but you want to reserve a ticket. Thank you to you both. Great good luck for Thursday, and thanks for giving me some time this morning.

LAWALL: Thank you George,

FINK: Thank you.

A damaged section of Teton Pass near Jackson, Wyo., on Saturday, June 8, 2024, that officials said had “catastrophically failed.” (AP / Wyoming Highway Patrol)An update on the University of Idaho's Phoenix acquisition, commuters are being impacted by the Teton Pass collapse, high school graduation requirements could be changing and a look at what a recent ruling on Florida's transgender care ban could mean for Idaho.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News

Daniel is part of a tight-knit ranching community in western Wyoming(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media)Wyoming is home to hundreds of wolves, most live in or near Yellowstone National Park. They’re protected and a big tourist draw.

But elsewhere in the state wolves are still often reviled as predators and a threat to the livestock industry. So killing wolves in most of Wyoming is legal year-round without a license.

But one man who did that recently is now under investigation, after the animal’s death sparked outrage around the world.

Video shot inside a bar in Daniel, Wyo., population 108, in late February shows a muzzled and leashed wolf that looks to be injured, lying on the wooden floor. Bar patrons chatter in the background. Another video shows it attempting to snarl momentarily, but then submitting to a man grabbing its snout and leaning down to kiss it.

Cody Roberts in an image from a video in which he brought a live wolf into a bar in Daniel, Wyo., in February 2024.(screenshot by NPR)That man is Cody Roberts, who’s from a longtime local ranching family. Local media reports say Roberts ran the wolf over with a snowmobile, which is legal in Wyoming if the animal dies.

But this wolf didn’t die that way. A source who requested anonymity for personal safety reasons says Roberts shot the animal later that night. But it’s what happened at the bar before he shot the wolf that has become a huge story.

Someone at the bar that night reported Roberts to local game wardens. They ticketed him for illegally possessing a live wolf, and he paid a $250 fine.

Global threatsJackson Hole Community Radio broke the story a month after the incident. In April, videos of the bar incident surfaced and spread online internationally.

Cody Roberts isn’t talking to reporters, but people all over the world are talking about what happened at the bar in Daniel.

“I've had death threats from Ireland, Russia, Japan, Australia,” said another man who happens to be named Cody Roberts, but had nothing to do with the incident, is not related to the other Roberts, and lives about 100 miles way in Thayne, Wyo.

“I don't know how many thousands of messages I've had,” he said, exasperated.

Some people have mistaken his Facebook page for the other Roberts.

“Like this one just says, ‘You're a psychopathic wolf torturer kill yourself,’ ” he read.

People have threatened his family too — sharing his parents’ phone number online and even threatening to “run his grandson over.”

Roberts said he has responded to every message explaining that he is not the same guy.

“One lady even went and said, ‘I don't care if you're not the right one, do me a favor and put a bullet in his head and this will all go away,’ ” Roberts read.

He said he’s also disappointed in what the otherCody Roberts did, but he actually thinks these threats are worse.

“Does he deserve everything that he's getting? No, I don't think he does,” he said. “You know, he's still a human.”

“Boycott Wyoming” has become a trending hashtag. Another graphic circulating shows the Wyoming flag, with the words “Wyoming the animal abuse and torture state” superimposed upon it. The Wyoming Office of Tourism Facebook page is flooded with similar comments. The page normally posts almost daily, but went silent for almost all of April.

Local businesses are also facing backlash, including one-star reviews being left for some businesses only because they are in the same area as the incident.

Local angerCali O’Hare has had to write about it as the sole newsroom employee of the local paper, the Pinedale Roundup.

The reporter for the Pinedale Roundup newspaper says she's faced local backlash for writing about the wolf incident(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media)“There's all kinds of letters I’ve gotten. I got one that was like, ‘The world is watching you.’ You know — so no pressure,” O’Hare half-joked. “It's not only a man's reputation, his family and their livelihood on the line, but it's also the reputation of the community — and the perception from the rest of the world.”

In this tight-knit community known for cowboys and sprawling sagebrush, this level of attention is unheard of. Not to mention — everyone knows everyone.

“I mean, I joke, it's three degrees of separation,” O’Hare said, adding that she knew Roberts before any of this happened. “It is truly one of those, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.”

O’Hare said locals have condemned her for covering the incident. They did not like hearing about an incident that cast a shadow over one of their own, and the resulting global backlash to their community.

One comment she got reads, “Go practice real journalism Cali O’Hare, you b***h on a witch hunt for a man's family.”

Others asked O’Hare to stop the coverage, one accused her of not being objective or embellishing.

“I'm just doing my job. It's not personal. And I have great empathy for all of the folks involved in this,” she said.

The motorcycle brigadeOn Memorial Day weekend, the local frustration moved beyond keyboards to in-person in Daniel.

For weeks, wolf advocates from across the country, including a motorcycle brigade from Texas, planned to drive through Daniel to raise awareness and money to reform Wyoming’s wolf laws.

Police escort the motorcycle protest brigade through Daniel, Wyoming on May 26, 2024(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media)On the day of the event, a throng of locals came out, but only a handful of out-of-state advocates. The single-lane highway through town was lined bumper to bumper with trucks, livestock trailers, semis and hundreds of people, mostly locals. The day was peaceful, but tense.

“We have a great community. The people are the best,” said Lonny Johnson, a local farrier wearing a tan cowboy hat and purple silk scarf. “That's why we're here. No other reason than that.”

That was the main sentiment: Locals are tired of outsiders giving them a bad name. Many residents said they think Roberts is a good guy, he just made a mistake.

“Boys and booze and wolves obviously didn't mix up well,” said Pat Johnson “What was wrong about it was bringing it to this d*mn bar.”

But, there were a few Wyomingites who felt differently.

“I’m not too happy with what Cody Roberts did,” said Gary Garlick, from the nearby town of Big Piney. “There's a lot of ranchers that are upset with him as well. They're concerned about predator control, but what he did was a little out of line.”

He said he wished it had not come to this — a national protest in the tiny cow town.

Cattle ranching is important to Wyoming's economy and culture (Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media)Two women from California stood in front of the Green River Bar, sneaking by the giant livestock semi-trailers blocking the parking and street-side view of the infamous bar the wolf was brought into. They posed with red duct tape over their mouths — just like the tape that bound the wolf’s mouth in one of the leaked images.

“We drove 13 hours to get here,” Holly Smallie said, as a few local trucks blared their horns in the background. “Wolves are magical. We don’t deserve them. We’re no better than them. You live, you coexist, you care about wildlife.”

Smallie did not mince words — she thinks what Roberts did was torture and it needs further punishment.

The motorcycle brigade itself was short-lived. It took about one minute for six motorcyclists and several cars, one with a sign reading, “Stop wildlife cruelty," to be escorted through town by police.

The local crowd mostly booed, blatantly giving a thumbs down. Some called out, “That’s it?” Another said, “And I canceled church for this?”

But, the wolf advocates said they raised $130,000 that they hope will reform Wyoming’s laws, so that in the future something like what Roberts did would amount to a much higher penalty.

The investigationsEven though Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department said they punished Roberts to the fullest extent of the law with the $250 ticket, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Department is not so sure. They opened an investigation into Roberts in April to see if any other laws could apply to the case. That investigation is still ongoing.

But that isn’t the only investigation. Apparently, there have been an unprecedented number of death threats resulting from the case, said Travis Bingham, the department’s public information officer.

“Like the Sublette County Library has zero to do with it, but they're getting them [threats],” Bingham said. “But the list goes on — his family members, citizens and town business owners.”

He added that many of the death threat investigations are not wrapped up yet either.

Additionally, the Sheriff’s Department, which serves a county of less than 10,000 people, has received thousands of frustrated emails, social media comments and phone calls, Bingham said.

“We've had them from back East to Texas to California, Washington, D.C., New York, Florida, was the majority,” he said, “We did receive a couple emails from out of the country, like Europe and Australia.”

The calls were clogging up their 911 services, so the department set up a separate tip line. Outsiders, like some at the motorcycle brigade, want Roberts to be arrested, and many are saying Wyoming’s wolf laws should be changed.

“A pretty good compromise”“An incident like this tars everyone,” said C.J. Box, a popular Wyoming author who has penned dozens of books following a fictional game warden. He has extensively researched Wyoming’s wildlife culture and laws, including those about wolves.

Box said people may not like Roberts — and Wyoming — being attacked by outsiders, but that does not mean they are defending what he allegedly did with the wolf.

“That's not hunting,” Box said. “Every hunter I know of, if they wound something, will try to dispatch that animal as quickly and humanely as possible. Not take it back, not show it off, not take pictures with it. That’s not the behavior of a hunter.”

He added that he thinks Wyoming’s wolf laws are a “pretty good compromise” — protecting the predator in much of the state’s northwest corner near Yellowstone National Park, and allowing them to be hunted in most of the rest of the state.

But this incident has state lawmakers looking at making changes. They recently formed a committee with stakeholders, specifically looking at the treatment of predatory animals. Any official changes to state law would come next year during Wyoming’s legislative session, at the earliest.

Meanwhile, wildlife advocate groups have filed a lawsuit to list the gray wolf in the multi-state northern Rocky Mountain region as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Currently, the species is protected under the act everywhere but that region. If the plaintiffs win, Wyoming would lose its authority to allow wolf hunting, with regulations being set and enforced by the federal government.

Copyright 2024 NPR

A string of wolf attacks on livestock in Colorado's high country has become a flashpoint in the effort to restore the animal to its native range. Ranchers want the state to kill the wolves, which were reintroduced in that state just a few months ago. KUNC's Scott Franz reports for the Mountain West News Bureau that conservationists are urging patience.

Linda Chase lived in Clark County, Nevada, during the time of active nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s. She contracted an autoimmune disease after being exposed to radiation. Many "downwinders" such as herself were not covered under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. She spoke at an event at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas.(Yvette Fernandez / KNPR )A long-standing federal program aimed at helping people afford medical treatment caused by toxic exposure, came to an end on Friday, June 7. Supporters tried to revive it but ultimately failed.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) passed the Senate but never came up for a vote in the House before expiring last week. Since then, supporters tried a new tactic, submitting it as one of the over 1,300 possible amendments attached to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.

“What we're looking at here, is really trying to make sure that everybody who is impacted by our nuclear testing program receive the same kind of compensation,” said New Mexico Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez.

She told her fellow lawmakers simply renewing the program as is would be unfair. Proponents have wanted significant expansions that would potentially help hundreds of thousands of people.

“Study after study has shown the expanse of the nuclear radiation,” Missour Sen. Josh Hawley said from the Senate floor earlier this year, imploring Congress to accept new scientific findings, take responsibility and compensate people who continue to be impacted.

With new technology and new studies, scientists have determined the fallout from hundreds of nuclear tests in the 1940s spread much further than what was known decades earlier.

“Here's a study from 1997, from 2005, another one in 2005, from 2023—all showing that the nuclear radiation is far beyond the contours of the original RECA passed in 1990,” Hawley said.

These new studies showed the radioactive plumes reached 46 states, the Navajo Nation, Guam, Canada and Mexico within days of detonation. But RECA only covered "downwinders" in portions of three states: Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

“While they play politics we're gathering up our resources to pay for somebody to have cancer treatment," said Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor. She said five generations of her family have developed cancer. She represents the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium in New Mexico.

Despite the Trinity Test Site being located in the New Mexico desert, “downwinders” in that state have never been included in the RECA program.

Cullin Potilo's family lives in Mojave County in Arizona. His family members have all the cancers covered by RECA, but Mojave County isn't part of the "downwinders" area defined by RECA.

“Mojave County has one of the highest rates of cancer in Arizona," Potilo said.

Earlier this week, at a news conference held at the Atomic Museum in Las Vegas, Congresswoman Susie Lee of Nevada was joined by Linda Chase, who remembers watching plumes from nuclear tests from her home in Nevada. She developed an autoimmune disease and her father died of bladder cancer.

“I checked every box except one," Chase said. "We lived in Clark County, which was not one of the 22 counties covered by RECA."

Most egregious is the exclusion of the Navajo Nation.

“Speaker (Mike) Johnson not only has betrayed the veterans and the blue-collar uranium miners and their families but has really also profoundly impacted and wronged the Navajo people,” said Navajo Nation spokesperson Justin Ahasteen, from his Washington, D.C. office.

Ahasteen said the tribe played a crucial role in World War II, from the Code Talkers to supplying the uranium used for the country's nuclear arsenal.

“It was the Navajo people in World War II who essentially won the war in the Pacific against Japan," he said. "From 1944 to about 1986, there were 30 million tons of uranium that were extracted from the Navajo Nation in between that same period. The domestic supply of uranium was around 60 million tons. So over half of the domestic supply of uranium came from the Navajo Nation.”

Ahasteen said once again the U.S. government is breaking its treaties and its word.

“The only thanks we've been given is disease, hardship and heartache," he said. "We have some of the highest rates of cancer in the country. High mortality rates, high birth defect rates, high cancer rates. All attributed to radiation exposure.”

States such as Missouri were far away from the testing sites and uranium mines but were used as toxic waste dumping grounds. Tricia Burns and several family members developed cancer as did many of her friends. Burns said she became a Missouri state representative because of this ongoing issue.

“Thyroid cancer is so common, when the doctor rips your thyroid out of your neck and that little scar on your neck, it's actually called the North County necklace,” said Burns during a recent online news conference sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Republicans have said they wanted to ensure those who file claims are “actually suffering.” They have also balked at the $50 billion cost to expand the program for six years. The latest version, expanding coverage but funding it for only five years was also not acceptable for Congress to pass.

"We've spent $10 trillion on our nuclear programs since their inception," Cordova said. "We have spent $2.5 billion on RECA over 34 years. There is no way this is going to cost too much."

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

(Veit Irtenkauf / Flickr )You've seen them zipping over irrigation canals, diving down, and skimming the water in search of bugs with their very distinctive wings.

There are 86 species of swallows, and many of them spend their summers in Idaho. These amazing birds were featured in the May issue of Wildlife Express, the Idaho Fish and Game newsletter for kids and kids at heart.

We asked Vickey Runnoe back on Idaho Matters to tell us more. She's a conservation education supervisor with Idaho Fish and Game and the superintendent of the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center.

(Illustration by Luisa Uribe / Random House Studio)It was nine years ago when we first brought you the story of Idaho Fish and Game parachuting beavers into what is now the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area.

The story spread around the world and went viral again a few months later when video of the transplanting experiment surfaced from 1948.

Now the story has been captured in a children's book. It's called "When Beavers Flew: An Incredible True Story of Rescue and Rehabilitation," and it was written by Idaho native Kristen Tracy.

Tracy joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( G.P. Putnam's Sons)Jessie Rosen's newest novel, "The Heirloom," takes us on a globe-trotting adventure as the main character Shea tries to track down who first owned her heirloom ring in order to discover what kind of energy it holds.

Will it be good or bad, and what will it mean for her upcoming marriage? Jessie joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Emilie Ritter Saunders / Boise State Public Radio)Avian influenza outbreaks have continued to spread, a new group of people now have the option to get the RSV vaccine and another COVID-19 variant has surged.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues and the Midnight Jazz Cats jazz band joined the Roundtable in studio to share a little live music. You can catch an interview with the Cats and more of their live music here.

From left to right: Dr. Lloyd Blake, Dr. Mark Stolpe, Bill Shepherd, Bob Phillips and Blake Olson.( The Midnight Jazz Cats)Almost two years ago, five retirees got together to have a little fun and make a little music. They became The Midnight Jazz Cats and started playing in senior living facilities around the Treasure Valley each month to bring a bit of joy into the lives of others.

Their fame quickly grew, and though they haven't won a Grammy yet, they have played everywhere, from the Festival of Trees to the Sapphire Room to the Morrison Center. They play mostly for fun, not profit, but they won't refuse a good paycheck.

The Jazz Cats specialize in jazz from the 1920s through the 1970s. Along with their mascot, Ella Fitzkitty, they play everything from jazz standards to Bossa Novas to Western Swing Music, and they joined Idaho Matters live to talk more about their mission, promoting America's great musical art form, jazz!

You can hear more from The Midnight Jazz Cats here!

Rachel HuchmalaThe Idaho night sky will soon have many new observers thanks to a grant from NASA's Science Activation Program, which will put telescopes in classrooms across the state.

An effort which Boise State University's Telescopes for Teachers Program has been working hard on. Dr. Rachel Huchmala joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this endeavor.

Current estimates suggest more than 70,000 wild horses and burros roam the American west. That's more than three times the number land managers say can safely co-exist with other animals on the open range.

In recent years, the Federal Bureau of Land Management has stepped up efforts to move most of those animals off public land, but where do those horses go, and why are advocates concerned that these iconic symbols of the American west are still being slaughtered?

Nevada Public Radio's Paul Boger reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Elk on the feedground in Alpine.(Caitlin Tan / Wyoming Public Media )Some Western states choose to feed elk occasionally, but Wyoming has the nations largest feeding program.

It started about 100 years ago - when winters were harsh and ranchers were upset that elk were getting into their hay yards. Now there are 22 feedgrounds statewide.

But that whole system is in jeopardy due to a deadly disease that spreads when elk gather. Wyoming Public Radio's Caitlin Tan visited a feedground in late March and has this report for the Mountain West News Bureau.

The Old Crow Medicine Show performs on stage. Left to Right: Mike Harris, Critter Fuqua, Dante’ Pope, Ketch Secor, Morgan Jahning, Cory Younts. Not Pictured: PJ George.(Old Crow Medicine Show / Brendan McLean)The American dream has been shaped by many different voices, a countless number of which come from Americana music.

From folk to country to bluegrass, each sound has played an important role in our country's ethos. Which is exactly what Sun Valley Community School teacher Ryan Waterfield will be exploring in her classroom this summer.

And in order to do this, she's enlisted the help of musician Ketch Secor, the lead singer of the Americana string band Old Crow Medicine Show. He and Ryan joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Berkley)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on April 29, 2024.

Readers fell in love with author Nikki Payne's debut novel, "Pride and Protest," a retelling of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." It got all kinds of buzz, from Ebony Magazine to Oprah Daily.

Now Payne is back with her latest novel, "Sex, Lies and Sensibility," a modern re-working of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new release.

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(The Spokesman Review)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on November 13, 2023.

Last November Idaho Matters got the chance to sit down with two FBI agents who were on the ground during the Ruby Ridge Standoff in North Idaho back in 1992. They were about to appear on the CBS TV show "FBI True" and agreed to come on Idaho Matters to talk about the incident.

Last month we were honored to learn the Idaho Press Club awarded us a first place award for "Best Audio Interview" for this story. As we continue to bring you award-winning stories, we wanted to share this interview with you again.

(M.G. Smith / Flickr)Primary election results are in, the Ada County Highway District has rebranded, speed limits could be changing in Meridian, we’re running behind on surplus money and we take a look at water rights in Eastern Idaho.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com

Wind energy is a big part of the transition from fossil fuels. But that comes with consequences, including the potential for more deadly collisions between birds and turbines. Researchers in our region art trying to solve that problem.

Wyoming Public Radio's Will Walkey reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Random House Canada)Have you ever thought about abandoning it all and prioritizing yourself?

That's the topic author Heidi Reimer delves into in her debut novel, "The Mother Act." She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Internal Body II, 2023, cotton rope and low-fire terracotta, aluminium armature courtesy of Tanya Aguiñiga and Volume Gallery, Chicago.(Tanya Aguiñiga / Sun Valley Museum of Art)As one of the oldest art forms, weaving has a place in many cultures.

The skill is not only a practical one but also one of creative expression, tradition and activism, all of which the Sun Valley Museum of Art is exploring in their latest exhibition, "Intertwined: Weaving in the Community."

Tanya Aguiñiga, one of the featured artists in the exhibit, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Asteroid "Jenny."( asteroidoccultation.com)How big is an asteroid? It's not like you can just run out with a tape measure and figure that out.

It turns out, if you can find it and you know when it might pass in front of a star, it's not that hard to do. And a lot of students and citizen scientists like to do it.

Chris Anderson is the coordinator at the Centennial Observatory at the Herrett Center for Arts and Science at the College of Southern Idaho. He's been trying to find and measure asteroids for ten years, and he's going to talk about his research Friday night at Boise State's First Friday Astronomy. His talk is called "In the Shadows of Asteroids: Steller Occultation Observations at the College of Southern Idaho," and he joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(Robin Grant / Flickr)Idaho is seeing what many say is a youth mental health crisis. Teens face depression and anxiety, and parents are struggling without the tools they need to help their kids.

That’s the premise of the Navigating Teen Mental Health panel Thursday night, May 6, at the Boise Centre Boise, sponsored by Boise State Public Radio and KTVB TV. The hope is to spark conversation and give parents better tools to connect with their family and community.

Vashti Summervill is on the panel. She’s a certified parent coach with her company, Family Healing Pathways, and a therapeutic consultant with a practice called Educational Connections, and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Leslie Hagenstein indicates where the New Fork River flows through her property on Mar. 27, 2024. She signed up for a program that pays her to pause irrigation on her land in order to save Colorado River water. Some experts say the System Conservation Pilot Program, or SCPP, is costly and may not be the most effective way to save Colorado River water.(Alex Hager / KUNC )Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy.

The cottonwood-lined property, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains south of Pinedale, is not only home to Hagenstein, her older sister and their dogs, but to bald eagles and moose. But this summer, for the second year in a row, water from Pine Creek will not turn 600 acres of grass and alfalfa a lush green.

On a blustery day in late March, Hagenstein stood in her fields, now brown and weed-choked, and explained why she cried after she chose to participate in a program that pays ranchers in the Upper Colorado River basin to leave their water in the river.

“You have these very lush grasses, and you have a canal or a ditch that's full of this beautiful clear, gorgeous water that comes out of these beautiful mountains. It’s nirvana,” Hagenstein said. “And then last year, it looks like Armageddon. I mean, it's nothing, it's very sad, there's just no growth at all. There's no green.”

The Colorado River basin has endured decades of drier-than-normal conditions, and steady demand. That imbalance is draining its largest reservoirs, and making it nearly impossible for them to recover, putting the region’s water security in jeopardy. Reining in demand throughout the vast western watershed has become a drumbeat among policymakers at both the state and federal level. Hagenstein’s ranch is an example of what that intentional reduction in water use looks like.

In Sublette County, Hagenstein said it’s rare for people to make a living solely on raising livestock and growing hay anymore. In addition to ranching, she worked as a nurse practitioner for more than 40 years before retiring. And when she looked at her bank accounts, she realized she needed a better way to meet expenses if she was going to keep the ranch afloat in the future. Hagenstein said it was a no-brainer. She signed up for the System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP) in 2023. Through the federally funded program, she was able to make 13 times more than she would have by leasing it out to grow hay.

Since its inception as a mass experiment in water use reduction, the program has divided farmers and ranchers. Concerns over the high cost, the limited water savings, the difficulty in measuring and tracking conserved water, and the potential damage to local agricultural economies still linger. But without fully overhauling the West’s water rights system, few tools exist to get farmers and ranchers — the Colorado River’s majority users — to conserve voluntarily.

“I’m a Wyoming native,” Hagenstein said. “I don’t want to push our water downstream. I don’t want to disregard it. But I also have to survive in this landscape. And to survive in this landscape, you have to get creative.”

SCPP participation doubles in 2024Driven by overuse, drought and climate change, water levels in Lake Powell fell to their lowest point ever in 2022. The nation’s second-largest reservoir provided a stark visual indicator of the Colorado River’s supply-demand imbalance. Those falling levels also threatened the ability to produce hydroelectric power and prompted officials from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to call on states for an unprecedented level of water conservation. The agency gave the seven states that use the Colorado River a tight deadline to save an additional 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water. (An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to fill 1 acre of land to a height of 1 foot. One acre-foot generally provides enough water for one to two households for a year.)

States gave the federal government no plans to save that much water in one fell swoop, instead proposing a patchwork of smaller conservation measures aimed at boosting the reservoirs and avoiding infrastructural damage.

The Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), an agency that brings together water leaders from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, offered up the “5-Point Plan," one arm of which was restarting the SCPP.

In 2023, after the federal government announced it would spend $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on Colorado River programs, the Upper Colorado River Commission decided to reboot the SCPP, which was first tested from 2015 to 2018. The program pays eligible water users in the four Upper Basin states to leave their fields dry for the irrigation season and let that water flow downstream.

But a hasty rollout to the SCPP in 2023 meant low participation numbers. Only 64 water-saving projects were approved, and about 38,000 acre-feet of water was conserved across the four states, which cost nearly $16 million. Water users complained about not having enough time to plan for the upcoming growing season and said an initial lowball offer from the UCRC of $150 per acre-foot was insulting and came with a complicated haggling process to get a higher payment. UCRC officials said the short notice and challenges with getting the word out about the program contributed to low participation numbers in 2023.

A University of Wyoming study surveyed the region’s growers about water conservation between November 2022 and March 2023. Eighty-eight percent of respondents in the Upper Basin were not even aware that the SCPP existed.

UCRC commissioners voted to run the program again in 2024, but said this time projects should focus on local drought resiliency on a longer-term basis. UCRC officials tweaked the program based on lessons learned in 2023, and the 2024 program had nearly double the participation, with 109 projects and nearly 64,000 acre-feet of water expected to be conserved.

“I view the doubling of interest and participation from one year to the next as a significant success,” UCRC Executive Director Chuck Cullom said.

What happens to conserved water?Despite one of its stated intentions — protecting critical reservoir levels — water being left in streams by SCPP-participating irrigators is not tracked to Lake Powell, the storage bucket for the Upper Basin.

In total, across 2023 and 2024, the program spent $45 million to save a little more than 1% of the Colorado River water allocated to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

Although engineers have calculated how much water is saved by individual projects, known as conserved consumptive use, officials are not measuring how much of that conserved water ends up in Lake Powell. And the laws that govern water rights allow downstream users to simply take the water that an upstream user participating in the SCPP leaves in the river, potentially canceling out the attempt at banking that water.

These types of temporary, voluntary and compensated conservation programs aren’t new to the Upper Basin. In addition to the pilot program from 2015 to 2018, the state of Colorado undertook a two-year study of the idea of a demand management program by convening nine work groups to examine the issue.

System conservation and demand management, while conceptually the same, have one big difference: A demand management program would track the water so that downstream users don’t grab it and create a special pool to store the conserved water in Lake Powell. With system conservation, the water simply becomes part of the Colorado River system, with no certainty about where it ends up.

This lack of accounting for the water has some asking whether the SCPP is accomplishing what it set out to do and whether it is worth the high cost to taxpayers.

Even if all the roughly 64,000 acre-feet from the SCPP in 2024 makes it to Lake Powell, it’s still a drop in the bucket for the reservoir; last year, 13.4 million acre-feet flowed into Lake Powell. The reservoir currently holds about 8.2 million acre-feet and has a capacity of about 25 million acre-feet.

“I still haven’t really seen evidence of total water savings or anything like that,” said Elizabeth Koebele, a professor of political science and director of the graduate program of hydrologic sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. Koebele wrote her doctoral dissertation on the first iteration of the SCPP. “As far as getting water to reservoirs, I’m not sure that we’ve seen a lot of success from the System Conservation Pilot Program so far.”

And the program has been expensive. For the 2024 iteration of the program, UCRC officials offered a fixed price per acre-foot that applicants could take or leave — no haggling this time. Colorado, Utah and Wyoming paid agricultural water users about $500 an acre-foot; the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, New Mexico’s sole participant in 2023 and 2024, received $300 an acre-foot. Projects that involved municipal or industrial water use were compensated on a case-by-case basis, and those that involved leaving water in reservoirs were paid $150 an acre-foot. The majority of projects in both years involved taking water off fields for the whole season or part of the season, known as fallowing.

The UCRC doled out nearly $29 million in payments to water users in 2024. The program paid about $45 million to participants in 2023 and 2024 combined. Some participants are using these payments to upgrade their irrigation systems, Cullom said, which helps maintain the vitality of local agriculture.

But even with this amount of money spent, Koebele said it may still not cover the costs to participants for things such as long term impacts to soil health that come with taking water off fields for a season or two. After the infusion of IRA money runs out, it’s unclear how such a program would be funded in the future.

“I also worry that we don’t have an endless supply of money to compensate users for conservation in the basin,” Koebele said. “And perhaps we need to be thinking about — rather than doing temporary conservation — investments in longer-term conservation beyond what we’re already doing.”

Western Slope water managers critical of SCPPSome groups have concerns with the SCPP beyond its issues with accounting for how much water ends up in Lake Powell.

The Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District represents 15 counties on Colorado’s Western Slope. Their mission is to protect, conserve, use and develop the water within its boundaries, which has often meant fighting Front Range entities that want to take more from the headwaters of the Colorado River in the form of transmountain diversions. Sometimes, that means voicing concerns about conservation programs that it thinks have the potential to harm Western Slope water users.

River District officials have been vocal critics of the SCPP, pointing out the ways that it could, if not done carefully, harm certain water users and rural agricultural communities. Because of the way water left in the stream by participants in the SCPP can be picked up by the next water user in line, some of which are Front Range cities, at least two of the projects this year could result in less — not more — water in the Colorado River, according to comments that the River District submitted to the state of Colorado. (One of these projects dropped out in 2024.)

“Without significant improvements, it would be hard for the River District to support additional expenditures on system conservation,” said Peter Fleming, the district’s general counsel.

The River District had also wanted a say in the SCPP process in 2023, going as far as creating their own checklist for deciding project approval, but UCRC officials said the commission had sole authority to approve projects.

Water users from all sectors — including agriculture, cities and industry — are allowed to participate in the program, but, in practice, all of the 2023 and 2024 projects in Colorado involve Western Slope agricultural water users. That’s partly because the price that the SCPP offered was less than the market value of water on the Front Range.

“If you’re simply basing it on a set dollar value per acre-foot, you’re going to result in disproportionate impacts to areas of the state where the economic value of water is not as high as others,” Fleming said. “You’re going to end up with all the water coming from the Western Slope. … You shouldn’t create sacrificial lambs.”

Upper Basin facing increased pressureThe Upper Basin’s conservation program is playing out against the backdrop of watershedwide negotiations with the Lower Basin states (California, Arizona and Nevada) about how to share the river after the current guidelines governing river operations expire in 2026.

After failing to come to an agreement, the Upper and Lower basins submitted competing proposals to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Lower Basin officials committed to a baseline of 1.5 million acre-feet in cuts, plus more when conditions warrant. They also called for the Upper Basin to share in those additional cuts when reservoirs dip below a certain level.

Upper Basin officials have balked at the notion that their water users should share in any cuts, saying they already suffer shortages in dry years. The source of the problem, they say, is overuse by the Lower Basin.

Plus, without ever having violated the 1922 Colorado River Compact by using more than the 7.5 million acre-feet allotted to them, they say there’s no way to enforce mandatory cuts on the Upper Basin.

But under increased pressure from the Lower Basin, and facing a drier future as climate change continues to rob the Colorado River of flows, Upper Basin water managers have made one small concession. In their proposal, they have offered to continue “parallel activities” like the SCPP, but said these programs will be separate from any post-2026 agreement with the Lower Basin. The congressional authorization for the SCPP expires at the end of 2024, and it’s unclear whether water managers will implement a program in 2025 or beyond.

Inherent in the Upper Basin’s stance is a contradiction: Why maintain that both the source of the problem and responsibility for a solution rest with the Lower Basin, but then agree to do the SCPP or a conservation program like it?

“I think that they're basically saying that the Lower Basin needs to get their act together before we actually really need to come to the table in a realistic way,” said Drew Bennett, a University of Wyoming professor of private-lands stewardship. “I think they feel like, ‘We don't actually really need to do anything.’ That the SCPP is actually above and beyond what they need to be doing. Is that reality? I don't know. But I think that’s sort of the message they're trying to send in negotiations.”

Grower attitudes key to program successSome experts say the program’s real value is not getting water into depleted reservoirs. It is testing out a potential tool to help farmers and ranchers adapt to a future with less water. They frame it as an experiment that provides crucial information and lessons on how an Upper Basin conservation program could be scaled up. It also continues to ease water users into the concept of using less should a more permanent water conservation program come to pass.

“This program kind of, I think, helps grease the skids for that process that gets people comfortable for how it operates,” said Alex Funk, who worked for the Colorado Water Conservation Board in 2019 and helped to guide the state’s demand management study with regard to agricultural impacts. “Just seeing the doubling of the amount of acre-feet conserved under the second year and then the interest shows that, yeah, I think there could be some longevity to the program. … I think one has to be optimistic because I don’t see how the Upper Basin navigates a post-2026 future without such a program.”

Funk now works as senior counsel and director of water resources at the nonprofit Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The group receives funding from the Walton Family Foundation, which also funds a portion of Colorado River coverage from KUNC and The Water Desk.

Cullom, executive director of the agency that runs the SCPP, pushed back on the idea that it is intended to help correct the supply/demand imbalance on the river, which he said is the fault of the Lower Basin.

“The intent of the program is to develop new tools for the upper division water users to adapt to a drier future,” he said. “We’re trying to develop tools that benefit the local communities and producers and water users in the four upper division states through drought resiliency, new tools, the ability to explore crop switching and irrigation efficiencies.”

Of all the challenges in setting up a program such as this — funding, pricing, calculating water saved, getting the word out — the biggest may be the attitudes of water users themselves, some of whom have a deep-seated mistrust of the federal government. Like Hagenstein, all of the water users that Aspen Journalism and KUNC interviewed for this story said financial reasons were the biggest driver behind their participation in the SCPP.

Bennett’s research also explained some of the reasons why growers may be hesitant to enroll in conservation programs such as the SCPP. It found that farmers and ranchers trusted local organizations to administer conservation programs significantly more than state or federal ones.

If demand management strategies were deployed, 74% of survey respondents said they’d prefer to have a local agency manage the program, as opposed to a state or federal agency. Only about 14% of growers said there is a high level of trust between water users and water management agencies in their states. The same percentage said their state’s planning process was adequate for dealing with water supply issues.

These findings point to a stumbling block that the UCRC and other agencies must overcome if they hope to create a longer-term conservation program.

Hagenstein, the Wyoming rancher, has experienced those attitudes firsthand. She has been on the receiving end of insults and name-calling because of her participation in the SCPP.

But Hagenstein says the SCPP has allowed her to have money in her pocket to continue ranching long term.

“I didn't anticipate it would be so beneficial,” she said. “It bought us time to stay in ranching is the long and the short of it. So, I’m most grateful for the abundance that the federal government offered us. … You know, some would call it a golden goose.”

This story was reported and produced collaboratively by Aspen Journalism, a nonprofit, investigative news organization, and Northern Colorado-based public radio station KUNC, and is a part of KUNC’s ongoing coverage of the Colorado River supported by the Walton Family Foundation. Additional editing resources and other support for this story came from The Water Desk, an independent initiative of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

The cover of "Sadness Happens: A Celebration of Tears," by Brandon Stosuy.( Simon & Schuster)Have you ever seen someone crying in public? Maybe in their car or on a run or perhaps in the bathroom?

It turns out sadness happens all the time, and author Brandon Stosuy has been watching people cry everywhere he goes in New York, and he started tweeting about it, not realizing it would go viral.

He's put together a book of essays from dozens of folks called "Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears," and he joined Idaho Matters to talk about it.

(Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health )The city of Weiser is hoping to transform its park land to create a space that brings more people together, and they're doing it thanks to The Community Project, which is the brainchild of the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health.

Mayor Randy Hibberd and Courtney Frost, senior program officer at the Foundation for Health, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Natalie Behring / KHOL)The sun had yet to rise and over a hundred cars, trucks and trailers sat idling in the county fairgrounds parking lot and down the neighboring street. Hunters were drinking coffee, reaching for their toes to limber up and some — saddling horses.

Then, 20 minutes before the 6 a.m. start of Wyoming’s annual shed hunt, flashing police lights led the motorcade out of town toward the elk refuge.

(Natalie Behring / KHOL)Brady Rivenes and his five shed-hunting passengers were 23rd in line. As he drove, his black truck’s headlights shined on herds of elk. The 24-year-old from Gillette says the rush — or the chaos as he put it — is hard to explain.

“Especially since it’s over something stupid like elk horns,” Rivenes said.

But this is his fifth year driving the six and a half hours from Gillette for the shed hunt, and he knew where he was heading.

He quickly hung a right leaving the motorcade, peeled down a gravel road, veered over the edge of it and lurched into park beneath looming canyon walls just outside of the refuge boundaries.

The group leaped out of the truck, swung packs over their shoulders and broke into a sprint alongside other hunters — like the start of an Easter egg hunt for grown men clad in camo.

“It’s exhausting — this is the definition of type two fun,” Rivenes said.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)Shed antler hunting season in the state opened on May 1 and the annual shed hunt in Jackson usually draws hundreds of vehicles from around the country. They come to search for antlers, which elk shed around this time every year.

But, this year, only Wyoming residents can participate for the first week — because of a new state law. The legislation was largely spurred by calls from Wyoming shed hunters who felt they’d been pushed out by swarms of out-of-state hunters in recent years as the sport has grown in popularity. While competition was still fierce, there were fewer people this year.

Wyoming Game & Fish’s Brad Hovinga said the legislation cut the number of registrations in the Jackson area in half, from around 300 to about 120.

“And quite honestly it was about as low-key as an antler collection opener than we’ve seen in years,” Hovinga said.

That’s because, in years past, Game and Fish has found hunters trying to get an advantage by sneaking out early, which is illegal. But this year, Hovinga said, law enforcement didn’t cite anyone for jumping the gun. He added that they checked licenses sporadically and didn’t find anyone violating the new law.

The law has been largely celebrated amongst Wyoming shed hunters, but he said the department has heard from many non-residents who felt the law — making them wait — is unfair because the large majority of antlers, at least in Jackson, will already be collected.

“Non-residents that show may have to hunt quite a bit harder than they have experienced in the past when they were allowed to start on the first of May,” Hovinga said.

Jase Romrell from Star Valley was out on opening day. He said he’s a fan of the law.

“It’s more special this year because we can actually benefit from being Wyoming residents,” Romrell said. “It makes me feel proud to come and pick up the antlers that you watch all winter and see on the refuge.”

Sitting atop his horse with multiple antlers slung to its side, he said this year is also special since his sons are joining him for the first time.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)“My goal was to get the twins, my two boys, an antler and they both succeeded in that,” Romrell said. “I just wanted to put a smile on their faces and make them enjoy the outdoors as much as I do.”

He’s been shed hunting in Jackson for about 10 years.

“We enjoy looking at them, we enjoy using them in home decor,” Romrell said. “They’re special to us because it’s a western living style.”

Brady Rivenes, the 24-year-old from Gillette, said he has mixed feelings about the new law.

“Yeah I kind of go both ways,” he said. “It’s cool getting to see all the Wyoming guys get their first pick on horns but also kind of bittersweet because you don’t get to see all of your out of state buddies you’ve made from coming to this over the years.”

Back on the mountain, Rivenes ran up a rocky cliff to a ridge line that plateaus. The chaos he had prepped for earlier had come to fruition. He occasionally tripped on the uneven game trails as he scanned the hillside for antler points. The sunrise cast a pink glow above the Tetons and glistened off the thin snow crust.

“They’re hard to see in snow,” Rivenes said as he tried to catch his breath.

Moving fast, with no plans of stopping, he knew other hunters were right behind him. He was looking for pockets, or clusters of many antlers he had had luck finding in previous years.

“Some years you find it, some years you don’t,” Rivenes said, “but either way, we’re not stopping.

Then, his pace quickened and he yelled as he spotted one — then two. He scrambled to their side, threw off his pack, strapped them in and, with no time to celebrate, kept moving.

He was unsatisfied.

“Not good enough,” he said. “From where we went through and to only have two — it’s surprising.”

By the end of the day he’ll have added two more. His friends, who had all spread out, found another four.

Ultimately, it was “not too shabby,” Rivenes said.

(Dante Filpula Ankne / KHOL)He’s had better years, but ultimately it’s not just the thrill, the sheds or the scenery that keeps him coming back.

“A lot of it’s the people,” he said. “We like to shed hunt, there’s sheds on this hill, everyone else gets to come together that likes to shed hunt and you get to see all those guys pick up horns, it’s just a good time in general.”

Rivenes returned to his truck and threw down his sheds, considered their size alongside the others and debriefed the day cordially with other returning hunters. The competition was over.

He drove the gravel road out until he met the paved streets in town, grabbed a quick lunch at a local restaurant and then hit the road back towards Gillette — all before noon.

Copyright 2024 Wyoming Public Radio

After quagga mussels were detected in the Snake River, ISDA set up boat decontamination stations in Twin Falls. It asked everyone who had been in the water during a month-long stretch to get their boats, kayaks and fishing gear cleaned.(Rachel Cohen / Boise State Public Radio )Invasive quagga mussels were found in Idaho for the first time last fall. The state has been trying to get rid of them, but if it’s not successful, the mussels could have widespread and expensive consequences.Michael Stephenson has spent years worrying about a tiny invasive creature smaller than a fingernail. Then, last fall, they arrived. The larval form of quagga mussels and one adult were found in the Snake River near Twin Falls.

“I’m feeling very anxious about it,” said Stephenson, who works as a biologist at Idaho Power. The company operates 17 hydroelectric plants on the Snake River and its tributaries, 15 of which are downstream of where quagga mussels were detected.

Stephenson said the small bivalves are a big problem. They spread rapidly – a female can produce a million eggs each year – and they attach to pretty much any surface in the water. They can clog intakes for drinking and irrigation water systems, and hydroelectric turbines.

The Columbia River Basin is the only major river system in the country without an invasive mussel infestation. The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region estimates it would cost the Northwest $500 million a year to deal with.

On top of an Idaho Power dam near Hagerman, Stephenson points to a metal filter where water flows from the reservoir into the power house. It’s one of the initial points where quagga mussels could interfere with the system. They’d start to encrust the steel bars, Stephenson said, reducing the amount of water entering the dam.

The company currently uses a mechanical rake to keep sticks and vegetation out, but prying quagga mussels off could require scuba divers. The mussels could also target other pipes that bring in water to cool the system as the turbines are spinning; without the cold water, they could overheat.

After a visit to the southwest to see how the operators of Hoover Dam handle quagga mussels in Lake Mead, Idaho Power is considering buying special ultraviolet lights to kill baby mussels floating through its facilities.

“If we get an infestation in the Snake River, it may be the biggest problem we've dealt with yet, as far as infrastructural issues,” Stephenson said.

Michael Stephenson, a biologist at Idaho Power, is investigating how quagga mussels in the Snake River could affect hydropower operations and how the company can prepare.(Rachel Cohen / Boise State Public Radio )Last fall, Idaho poured a copper-based chemical into the river to try to eradicate the mussels. Similar toxins have worked to kill mussels elsewhere, but this treatment, in a major river, was unprecedented.

“That’s been weighing quite a bit on my mind,” said Nic Zurfluh, the invasive species bureau chief for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. “Just gauging how effective the treatment was last fall.”

Zurfluh said it’s been a long winter of waiting to see if the mussels are gone. They stop reproducing in colder months so they’re not easily detectable then. As the temperatures warm, Zurfluh’s team will begin collecting water samples around the state with an emphasis on the Snake River near Twin Falls, searching for signs of mussels.

Quagga Mussels infesting an Idaho license plate.(Sen. Michelle Stennett
/ Jeremy J. Gugino)Thanks to money from the legislature, those efforts will double in scale this summer. But Zurfluh cautions that answers might take time.

“Not having detections, I would take that as really great news,” he said.”But just knowing that's not going to tell the full picture until we go quite a little while with non-detects.”

The tiny mussels are hard to find. It might take a few months, even a few years, to get an “all-clear.”

ISDA hopes the chemical treatment will eradicate the quagga mussel before a population takes hold in the Snake River.(Rachel Cohen / Boise State Public Radio )If the mussels are still around and float downstream they could pose a big threat to anadromous fish that migrate from inland spawning grounds to the ocean and bring vital nutrients back – nutrients the quagga mussels absorb. The mussels are expert filter feeders, said Anthony Capetillo, an invasive species biologist with the Nez Perce Tribe and a tribal member.

“If the quagga mussels are sucking all the oxygen and all the nutrients out of the water, then that takes away from the fish, so they're not able to grow as they usually would,” Capetillo said.

Salmon in particular, he says, are already suffering because of dams and climate change, and quagga mussels, with their sharp shells coating fish ladders, could make their migration journeys more treacherous.

“All the money that we've been putting into all these projects to get these salmon and steelhead and lamprey back into these waters,” Capetilo said. “All of that could potentially be for nothing if we allow these invasives to come and take hold.”

A lot is at stake, he said, for a region that values clean water and access to the outdoors, but perhaps even more so for tribal communities.

“If we do lose parts of our identity,” he said, “lose our resources, we can't really measure what those losses are.”

Even further downstream, Justin Bush, the aquatic invasive species policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it could take as little as a week for floating veligers to make it from Twin Falls to that state’s borders.

“We feel like this threat is right on our doorstep,” he said. “It's causing us to think about a new timeline, new actions, and new levels of funding that will be required in both the short and long term.”

Last fall, as soon as the mussels were detected in Idaho, Washington deployed its monitoring crews closer to the border. They didn’t turn anything up.

Now, the state will have a specific Snake River mussel monitoring team, fully-staffed boat check stations in the southeast region and a new mussel-sniffing dog.

“All eyes are on Idaho and we're waiting for more information,” Bush said.

Idaho officials hope their eradication efforts have staved off an infestation, Zurfluh said.

At the Twin Falls waterfront, the state is requiring all boats entering and leaving the river to be washed down to contain any remaining mussels from spreading to other water bodies. Plus, prevention is still key, Zurfluh said. It would just take a single boat or kayak carrying new mussels to spark another introduction tomorrow.

Find reporter Rachel Cohen on X @racheld_cohen

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

( G.P. Putnam's Sons)The award-winning novel "The Guncle" has returned, reuniting us with our favorite characters five years after they spent the summer together. This time, however, they're going abroad.

Author Steven Rowley joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his latest novel, The Guncle Abroad.

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(iStockphoto)About half of all Americans will go through menopause, but it's still something people don't like to talk about, and that often leaves the women going through it freighted and unsure about what's happening to them as they go through this change.

Last year, we dedicated an entire show to this topic, talking to experts about the different phases of menopause, its symptoms, and how to treat them. And we were recently honored to learn we won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for news documentary, as well as awards for best news talk show and best watchdog/investigative report from the Idaho Press Club.

We wanted to bring back this important program for folks who missed it the first time and for people looking for more information on menopause.

Chad Daybell sits at the defense table after the jury's verdict in his murder trial was read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Daybell was convicted of killing his wife and his new girlfriend's two youngest kids in a strange triple murder case that included claims of apocalyptic prophesies, zombie children and illicit affairs. ( AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)(Kyle Green / Associated Press)As Idaho politicians weighed in on Donald Trump’s conviction Thursday in New York, another trial came to a conclusion as well, Chad Daybell was found guilty of first degree murder and there’s another chapter in the Idaho Transportation Department headquarters story.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Ian Max Stevenson with the Idaho Statesman
Alex Brizee with the Idaho Statesman

You can help catch and band songbirds with the scientists at the Intermountain Bird Observatory!(Dave Crawforth / Intermountain Bird Observatory)Ever wanted to hold a wild songbird in your hands?

That’s something Heidi Ware Carlisle does a lot. She’s the education and outreach director with the Intermountain Bird Observatory which catches and bands songbirds along the Boise River.

“We're a research unit of Boise State and we operate like a nonprofit. So we do a lot of bird research and conservation work, mostly in Idaho, but actually around the world,” said Carlisle, who teaches ornithology in her spare time at Boise State University

They study everything from the calliope hummingbird, all the way up to golden eagles.

(Intermountain Bird Observatory / Intermountain Bird Observatory)“And the coolest thing about what we do is we invite the public to come and watch us as we do our research,” Carlisle said.

On Saturday, June 1, they'll be catching and banding songbirds along the Boise River and giving folks a chance to become a scientist for a day.

“So you have the opportunity to visit our stations and see birds up close,” Carlisle said. “And actually, when we're done measuring them and weighing them, you can actually hold out your hand and get to hold one of these wild birds as it flies off back into the wild.”

IBO, Intermountain Bird Observatory, hummingbird banding, Idaho City, John Kelly photo.(John C. Kelly/Boise State University / Intermountain Bird Observatory)All that research has shown shifts in migration and the number of different bird species.

“One of our goals is to really keep our finger on the pulse, especially for common species.”

The IBO is celebrating its 30th anniversary with several special events this summer. Carlisle says anyone can come watch songbird banding and even hold and release the birds as they continue their migration.

(Dale Toweill / Intermountain Bird Observatory)

(f_ / iStockphoto.com)Idaho Mom Robin Zikmund knew her son was different at an early age. While his peers were reading by the third grade, her son was still struggling.

Eventually her son was diagnosed with dyslexia, but Robin wanted to do more than just have a diagnosis for her son.

So she founded the Idaho chapter of Decoding Dyslexia, which has helped make a significant impact on dyslexia legislation and literacy in Idaho through the science of reading.

Robin joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Animal Wellness Action / Center for a Humane Economy)Spotted Owls are disappearing from Oregon, Washington and northern California. Some officials estimate their numbers have dropped by 75% over the last 20 years.

The birds were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act almost 35 years ago but despite that designation, as few as 3,000 may be left on federal lands in the three states.

The birds are threatened by a lot of factors involving humans but one of their biggest threats comes from a sister species - the Barred Owl.

These owls are bigger and stronger than their cousins and have been crowding Spotted Owls out of their territory. Some estimates say there are more than 100,000 Barred Owls now along the coast range.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a new plan to save the Spotted Owls by shooting up to half a million Barred Owls and the plan has stirred up some controversy.

Wayne Pacelle is the president of Animal Wellness Action and The Center for a Humane Economy and has come out against the new plan. He joined Idaho Matters to share his concerns.

( Meridian Canine Rescue)In March, Meridian Canine Rescue faced a rent hike that they couldn’t meet and had to move their operations. They asked the community for help for the move and donations poured in.

Now the dog rescue and training operation is moving into their new digs on a private farm in Emmett and we wanted to check in to see how they’re doing.

Karinna Lozano is the Meridian Canine Rescue Board President and she joined Idaho Matters.

FILE - In this May 27, 2011 file photo, kids fish at twilight at the edge of Kingman Wash, at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona. Regional health officials say a Las Vegas-area boy died from a rare brain-eating amoeba that investigators think he was exposed to in warm waters at Lake Mead. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)(Julie Jacobson/AP / AP)Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said he had a dead worm in his brain. So what are brain worms? How are they different from brain amoebas? And how do you keep them out of your head?

Plus we get an update on bird flu which has now been found in alpacas in Idaho.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues and answer your listener questions.

(Penguin Random House / Penguin Random House)New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins is back with her latest novel which is set in Cape Cod with fun and quirky family dynamics as well as a truly lovely main character. It’s called Look on the Bright Side and she joined Idaho Matters for a look inside.

Cutting and burning Juniper trees means better habitat for sage grouse.(Connor White / BOSH Project)Imagine this: 50 chainsaw crews fan out over carefully selected areas of Owyhee County in southwest Idaho. For eight hours a day — all they do is cut down hundreds of juniper trees. Then in the spring, more crews go out and burn those fallen trees.

This is the BOSH Project. BOSH stands for Bruneau Owyhee Sage Grouse Habitat and in six years, crews have cleared 140,000 acres of encroaching junipers. Those trees, though native to Idaho, have been taking over the landscape since 1860.

And it’s our fault, according to Conner White, BOSH Project coordinator for Pheasants Forever and the Bureau of Land Management.

“We got very good at suppressing fire for over a century. We basically put every fire out,” White said. “Fire is the main thing that kills these conifers, and we completely removed it from the landscape.”

Crews spend eight hours a day cutting down Juniper trees in targeted areas.(Connor White / BOSH Project)The goal of the BOSH Project is to take out those junipers, restore native plant species like sagebrush, recover more streams and wetlands and bring back sage grouse and other animals to the land.

The project is huge, covering around 600,000 acres in Owyhee County alone, says Jeremy Maestas, National Sagebrush Ecosystem Specialist for Working Lands for Wildlife and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“We're probably going to be pushing up towards a million acres once this project's fully completed,” says Maestas.

Turns out, sage grouse don’t like to hang around Juniper trees and won’t nest in an area that has even four trees per acre.

“The theory is that the trees provide perches for predators or cover for ground based predators to be able to go in there and get them,” said White.

Similar work has shown results for the return of sage grouse in the Warner Mountains Project in southern Oregon.

“Grouse immediately started nesting in areas once the trees were removed. And then over a decade, we were able to show that it actually bent the curve on their population growth rates over areas that were untreated. So we saw a 12% increase in the population growth rate, which is the first time we've ever documented in the literature that we can benefit grouse at a population scale through active restoration,” Maestas said.

Here's what it looks like when Junipers overtake an area and crowd out sagebrush.(Connor White / BOSH Project)Taking out junipers isn’t just good for sage grouse. Other birds, like Brewer’s Sparrows and Sage Sparrows, also come back along with native plants. Junipers also drink a lot of water and when you remove them, the landscape changes.

“They're seeing springs come back to life and creeks come back to life and more water for aquatic life and spotted frogs and things like that,” says Steve Stubner, writer and producer of the “Life on the Range” series sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission.

Here's the same area, after BOSH has come in and taken out the Juniper trees.(Connor White / BOSH Project)Ranchers and other private landowners are partnering with up to a dozen federal, state, and local agencies to make the project happen. And ranchers are liking what they see.

“They're loving it,” said Stubner. “A lot of times, what's good for sage grouse is also good for livestock and wildlife. And that's definitely the great combo we've got going here.”

Maestas says they’re fighting against the clock to save sage grouse, with 1.3 million acres a year of sagebrush ecosystems disappearing thanks to things like conifer encroachment.

“So any time we can set the clock back and keep these lands healthy and resilient for current and future generations it really brings a lot of pride to the work that we do,” said Maestas.

Sage grouse can be the canary in the coal mine for areas like these.

“There's a whole arc of peril happening with over 350 species of conservation concern, plants and animals that will probably never have their own initiative. They're not sexy enough or interesting enough for that kind of investment. But when we do things for sage grouse we are seeing benefits for other sagebrush dependent species,” Maestas said.

Ashy pebblesnail.(Tyson Ehlers / Tyson Ehlers)When you think of Idaho rivers, you think of water and fish and the beauty of the landscape but down in the nooks and crannies of the waterbed are two small, slimy creatures that act as a sort of canary in the coal mine for northwest waterways.

They are the Ashy Pebblesnail and Shortface Lanx and they’re disappearing from rivers around the west thanks to warmer water and threats from dams, agriculture and people.

The Center for Biological Diversity wants to protect these snails, and the rivers they live in, under the Endangered Species Act.

Here to tell Idaho Matters more is Noah Greenwald, the Endangered Species Director for the Center.

The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, Nevada's state fish, is the largest member of the cutthroats, with lake-dwellers weighing up to 40 pounds. For decades, they've been listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. (USFWS)For years, fish and wildlife officials have been working to help an iconic Western fish whose habitat is shrinking. That includes efforts to return the fish to a river in the Mountain West where the species had disappeared.

It’s a cloudy day east of Reno, and Chad Mellison, wearing waders and holding a flyfishing rod, steps into the Truckee River. He unfurls his line and casts upstream into the fast-flowing waters.

“If you're a fish and live in a river, your nose is pointing upstream because that's where your food's coming down,” said Mellison, an avid flyfisher and longtime biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Right now, Mellison’s fishing for Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, Nevada’s state fish.

He isn’t having any luck yet.

Chad Mellison, a USFWS biologist, casts his flyfishing line in the Truckee River east of Reno. (Robyn Gerstenslager / USFWS)“That’s why they call it fishing and not catching,” Mellison said with a laugh. “If it were easy, it wouldn’t be as fun.”

The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, characterized by a vibrant red slash under its jaw, is a trophy fish many anglers hope to hook when they cast a line in Northern Nevada.

Just ask Mike Anderson, a guide with the Reno Fly Shop. Every year, he has a handful of clients land a 20-pound cutthroat – a size that makes the fish “almost look prehistoric” – in nearby Pyramid Lake.

“The fish that get that big, and the people that hook into them, it's a life-changing, once-in-a-lifetime kind of a thing,” Anderson said.

The Lahontan Cutthroat once swam in a dozen lake systems and more than 7,000 miles of streams in the Lahontan Basin, which extends from northern Nevada to central California.

Now, they occupy just about 10% of their historical habitat. For decades, they’ve been listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Two of the biggest threats are poor habitat quality, and then non-native fish,” said Mellison, adding that river diversions, dams, and wildfires damagetheir habitat, and non-native trout outcompete them for food and territory – and even eat them.

That’s decimated cutthroat in some areas, like the North Fork of the Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada. Decades ago, that was home to one of the biggest populations.

By 2011, the fish no longer survived there. One big reason?

“There was a mining company out there doing exploratory drilling and they wanted to drill some really deep holes,” Mellison said.

The headwaters of the North Fork of the Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada, where the population of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout disappeared in 2011 due to habitat loss. (NDOW)So deep that the drilling punctured the local aquifer and connected it to another one further downstream. Like a straw, it sucked up the headwaters of the North Fork.

That forced the cutthroat further and further downriver, where they met brook trout, which had “taken over” within a couple of years, Mellison said.

In response, officials installed a fish barrier, paid for by the mining company, to stop brook trout from traveling upriver. The Nevada Department of Wildlife worked to remove those that remained by treating river and area waterways with a chemical called rotenone.

The habitat still showed problems when the agency started returning the fish in 2015, said Jacob Stoller, a fisheries biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

“There are still concerns with habitat conditions being impacted from mining, irrigation, livestock grazing, and drought,” Stoller said.

It wasn’t until June 2021 that officials felt confident that the cutthroat were not only surviving, they were thriving. Mellison provided the defining moment. After doing field work in the North Fork area, he decided to flyfish a bit before heading home.

“First cast, hooked the fish, and I'm like, this better be a cutthroat, after all the work we've been doing,” Mellison recalled. “And of course, it was and I landed it, and it was just a beautiful fish.”

Mellison said he knew his day of fishing couldn’t get any better, so he packed up his rod and headed home.

The Lahontan cutthroat trout that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologist Chad Mellison caught on the North Fork of the Humboldt River in 2021.(Chad Mellison / USFWS)“Seeing a native fish that you caught, admire it, and then watch it swim away back into his home. It was … whoo,” Mellison said as his eyes well with tears. “Yeah, that’s good stuff.”

Mellison and the others who helped return the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout to the Nork Fork are hopeful about the future of that population. Biologists are waiting on environmental DNA results to confirm that brook trout are no longer in the river.

And if you’re wondering if Mellison caught a cutthroat in the Truckee River on this cool, cloudy day outside of Reno?

“Here we go…Oh!” Mellison yelled after briefly hooking a trout before it slips away. “That was a big fish!”

As Mellison said, that’s why they call it fishing, not catching.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on April 8, 2024.

Last year, we introduced you to a rom-com novel called "Best Men," which explored what it was like for one gay man looking for love in New York City.

The book was met with much-deserved buzz, being featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, and Bravo's Watch What Happens Live.

Now Sidney Karger is back with his latest novel, "The Bump," which released on May 21, and he joined Idaho Matters to talk about the new release.

( Penguin Life)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 6, 2023.

Author Cyndie Spiegel's book, "Microjoys: Finding Hope When Life is Not Okay" provides an intimate look at all the small moments that have helped her to move forward, even in the toughest times of her life. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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( The Open Field)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on November 21, 2022.

When one thinks of Paulina Porizkova, one might remember her as the Sports Illustrated cover model from the 1980s or the wife of "Cars" front man, Rick Ocasek. Or perhaps you know her from her popular Instagram account.

Now, Porizkova is revealing herself in a raw book, No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her latest book.

The front cover of Carter Bays new novel, The Mutual Friend. This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on May 11, 2022.

The co-creator of the Emmy award-winning show "How I Met Your Mother" is back, this time with his first novel. Idaho Matterssat down with Carter Bays to talk more about his debut novel, The Mutual Friend.

The 4.5-mile trail begins in Stanley's Pioneer Park and ends near the entrance to Redfish Lake.(Rachel Cohen / Boise State Public Radio )The Donnelly Library goes adults only, Idaho had a primary and a Democratic caucus in one week, Magic Valley's legislative delegation shifted Tuesday and there’s an update in the Sawtooth trail dispute which has been going on since 2019.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Ian Max Stevenson with the Idaho Statesman
Christina Lords, Editor-in-Chief of the Idaho Capital Sun
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio
Rachel Cohen with Boise State Public Radio

Flock Safety camera on pole.(Flock Safety)Early Sunday morning, gunshots were heard in Caldwell. Determining where those shots are coming from can be difficult for a human — but not for a machine.

Caldwell Police are using a new tool called Flock Safety which can pinpoint where a gunshot is coming from and alert law enforcement officers.

Flock told police where the shots came from, on Belmont Street, and that led to the arrest of two men in a car with guns and 26 bullet casings.

Joining Idaho Matters to tell us more about what happened is Caldwell Chief of Police Rex Ingram and to tell us more about Flock is Director of Communications Holly Beilin.

(Hefty / ReNew Program)Every other week in Boise trucks pick up those blue recycling containers filled with cardboard and other materials. And inside many of those blue carts are bright orange Hefty bags filled with those hard to recycle products like plastic wrappers.

The Orange Bag Program, now called the Hefty ReNew Program has been around for more than five years and we wanted to check in and see how the program is doing. So we invited Lynnette Hinch, the Team Lead and Catherine Chertudi, who consults for the program, to join Idaho Matters.

(Valley Regional Transit)Valley Regional Transit is changing up the way it does business. Starting Monday, June 3, the bus system for the Treasure Valley will look a lot different with new routes, more targeted bus service and a big expansion of their LYFT Pass.

Here to tell Idaho Matters about "Change Day" are Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit and Jason Rose, VRT Communications Director.

(Chelsea Larsen / KYMfest)Every year the community comes out for a very special festival in Nampa. It’s called KMYfest and it was started by the family of Kymberlee Larsen who died tragically in a domestic assault six years ago.

Chelsea Larsen, Kym’s sister, survived the home invasion that took her sister’s life but struggled with finding and navigating the resources that are out there to help. She founded KYMfest to help bring together those resources and the people who need them and to help connect and heal her community.

This year’s KYMfest is set for Saturday, June 1 and Chelsea joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio)Tuesday's Idaho primary election saw a major shakeup in the legislature as the struggle between hardliners and moderates in the GOP led to at least 15 incumbents losing to challengers around the state.

So who won? And who lost? And what does it mean for school choice, Idaho Launch and other hot button issues at the Statehouse? Plus, more than 40 school bonds and levies were up for grabs last night.

Here to break it down for us is our reporter panel - Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News, Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun, and our own legislative reporter James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News.

Then we breakdown what these results mean for Idaho with Professor McKay Cunningham, Director of On-Campus Experiential Learning at the College of Idaho.

FILE - In this June 14, 2007, file photo, Abraham Lincoln's iconic stovepipe hat of questioned authenticity is photographed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Now that there is no concrete evidence that the felted beaver-fur hat ever sat atop Lincoln's 6-foot-4 frame, the foundation that bought the hat as part of a 1,500-piece, $23 million deal with California collector Louise Taper is not considering asking for a refund. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman File)(Seth Perlman/AP / AP)Since the infancy of the United States, America’s leaders from James Madison to Abraham Lincoln have warned that threats to our democracy would not come from abroad but from Americans themselves.

Dr. David Adler, President of the Alturas Institute will be holding another Constitutional Conversation at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 23 at the Yanke Center in Boise titled "A president and the nation’s ideals on trial: how did we drift into calamity - wisdom from Abraham Lincoln" and he joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(J. Stephen Conn / Flickr)What do you think of when you think of Idaho? Do you think of bank robberies, bandits, sunken silver ore and stashed loot in the Owyhee mountains?

Well, that all happened in Idaho back in the 1860s, from Butch Cassidy's heist in Montpelier to a stagecoach robbery in Bannock County.

These and other tales from the past are all told on "Idaho's Lost Treasures", a new show on Idaho Public Television. Producer Eric Westrom joined Idaho Matters to tell us some tales of Idaho’s past.

(Paint the Town / NeighborWorks Boise)Next month, homes across the Treasure Valley will be getting a makeover as Neighborworks Boise kicks off their 42nd annual Paint the Town event, giving back to those in need of a little help.

Inga Hadder, Director of Communications and Community Engagement with Neighborworks Boise, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

( Wyatt Myskow / Inside Climate News)The Owyhee Canyonlands is a large chunk of high desert land in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada that covers more than seven million acres.

It’s home to plants and animals, some of which can’t be found anywhere else, and it’s a playground for many who recreate along the rocks and sagebrush and for some Native Americans it’s sacred land.

Attempts to help preserve some or all of the area have failed and those who love the land are worried about threats from wildfires, invasive species, and development.

There has been a growing call for President Joe Biden to protect part of the Canyonlands under the Antiquities Act. Reporter Wyatt Myskow is the Mountain West Correspondent with Inside Climate News and he wrote about how we got to this point.

A Boise firefighter walks by all that remains of the poorly prepared home at a recent demonstration fire.(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )Wildfires and other climate-fueled disasters are straining insurance markets.

Recently, officials met in Boise to compare notes on how to avoid what some call the "uninsurable future." The Mountain West News Bureau's Murphy Woodhouse was there.

(Screenshot / Ada County Elections )How will I know if the ballot I fill out in the election booth gets counted? How can I check how a candidate did in my precinct? In my district?

These are questions that some voters started asking especially after the 2020 election and many worried about election integrity have flooded election offices around the country with requests for information, often overwhelming officials with the time it takes to provide the info for every public information request.

A new tool, called the Ada County Ballot Verifier, will save time, provide greater transparency and demonstrate integrity in the system. Itsfirst real-time test comes Tuesday during Idaho's primary election.

Here to tell Idaho Matters more about the system are Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple, Ada County Elections Director Saul Seyler and Civera CEO Adam Friedman.

Erica Hermsen is passionate about getting kids outside and learning about their environment.(EverWild Forest School)Moving to a new place means new experiences and new ideas and if you’re moving to Idaho from a different country you may not be familiar with the wildlife of the Gem State.

Thanks to a grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Outdoor Learning Alliance is helping young refugees learn about the birds that live in and around Boise while giving them a chance to find out more about their new home.

We wanted to know more about the Feathered Journeys program and their community event at the Erma Hayman House on June 8. So we invited Erica Hermsen, the founder and executive director of NOLA and EverWild Forest School, to join Idaho Matters.

( Creative Commons CC0)A leaked conversation has caused a divide within the Idaho GOP, Meridian's empty city council seat may soon be filled, school choice campaigns are heating up and we take a look at the latest in the trial of Chad Daybell.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Sydney Kidd with BoiseDev
Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com
Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News

(High Quality Fertility Centers / Flickr)For more than a year, the topic of women's health in Idaho has been a reoccurring headline.

And as the state continues to face a shortage of health care providers, reports of OB-GYN specialists leaving have many worried, especially as other resources tracking women's health have been discontinued.

But now, thanks to the University of Idaho, the Gem State will soon have a new biomedical center focusing strictly on women's health and nutrition.

Shelley McGuire, a professor of nutrition and director of the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the center.

A photo of the Minidoka National Historic Site. ( Eugene Tagawa)After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor during World War II, the lives of Japanese Americans changed dramatically.

Some people were taken from their homes and held in places like the Minidoka War Relocation Center, others in inland states faced discrimination and hardship and still others were serving their country in the war.

A new exhibit at the Idaho State Museum called Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War Two Experience explores this topic with interviews, rare photos, and other artifacts.

Nicole Inghilterra, curator of collections and exhibitions with the Idaho State Museum, and Mitch Maki with the Go For Broke National Education Center spoke with Idaho Matters about the exhibit.

A "Shelvis" — Elvis impersonator dressed in drag — officiates a wedding at the Little While Chapel on New Year's Eve 2023 in Las Vegas. New Year's Eve 2023 was a date with a repeating pattern — 12/31/23 — and a popular wedding date. There are other "palindromic" dates coming up in April, such as 4/20/24 and 4/22/24 that could prove to be popular as well.(Courtesy The Little White Chapel)Elvis-themed weddings are always popular in Vegas. After all, it’s where the King of Rock and Roll married Priscilla in 1967.

More than a half-century later, Anamarie Popoca and Michelle Antonio were on leave from the military and looking for something fun and different for their wedding. So, they chose a ceremony at the Little White Wedding Chapel featuring a “Shelvis” or “She-Elvis” — an Elvis impersonator in drag.

"They said, 'Oh you want a “shelvis” wedding?' We said yeah, lets do it. It'll be unique," Popoca said.

Having unique qualities is important even to Shelvis — a huge black wig, gold boots and a shiny, high cut jumper with a cape. Shelvis, aka Mark Melton, said it’s a unique experience.

"I love it. It combines the best of both worlds when you think of Vegas," Melton said. "Like, showgirl and Elvis. And I love that I get to sing and marry people every day. It's a lot of fun!"

Weddings are a significant industry in Clark County, adding almost $2 billion to the local economy in 2023. There are more than 70 standalone chapels. Most are near the Strip. The Little White Wedding Chapel offers classic Las Vegas amenities, including a drive-thru wedding option. It's also a celebrity magnet — it's the same chapel where Elvis got married, and more recently, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez.

Getting married in Las Vegas is also quick and easy. There’s no waiting period, no blood tests and the entire process can be completed in a couple of hours. There’s even a pop-up marriage license office at the airport.

These conveniences allow couples like Tim and Jessica Kennedy of North Carolina, to focus on the qualities that make their day extra special. And recently, there’s been some special significance with the calendar.

"We really like the day 1,2,3, 1,2,3, for 12/31/23," said Tim Kennedy.

"And, for New Year's Eve I thought it would be amazing that we get to end the year together and start the new one," said Jessica Kennedy.

Couples usually choose a “specialty date” for practical reasons, said Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya.

“Well, the number one thing we hear is that it helps the husbands remember their anniversary,” she joked.

On average, there are about 200 weddings a day in the county. On New Year's Eve, about 500 weddings. But palindromes — dates with the same sequence of numbers backwards and forwards — draw huge numbers. Goya said “Lucky 7” – July 7, 2007 – was a record-setting date.

"We had almost 4,500 people married on the same day," Goya said. "It was seven, seven, seven. And then the second highest was 11, 11, 11 (November 11, 2011).”

Several dates in April may come close to setting new records, and chapels are filling. There are several palindrome dates coming up, starting with 4/20/24 and including several dates in the 20s, such as 4/22/24.

But Goya says ultimately, there's more to it than just picking lucky numbers.

"We kind of have a Vegas wedding club where couples love to talk to each other about their Vegas wedding, and they feel like it's a unique experience," she said. "And I don't think that that whole crowd experience is really available anywhere else in the world.”

Once April ends, the next palindrome dates won’t happen until 2025. But couples can always opt for special wedding theme dates. Like the “cannabis” themed weddings on April 20. Or “Star Wars” themed weddings on May the Fourth.

And of course, there’s always the walk-up wedding for couples who don’t like to plan ahead.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

(Adam Cottrell / Boise State Public Radio )The Boise School District wants to expand its early learning program for kids three to five years of age and is considering converting an elementary school on the Bench into a new learning center for 300 kids.

The district provides early childhood education at more than 11 sites, and the demand for this kind of learning is growing in the Treasure Valley.

Converting Owyhee Elementary would mean moving students and redrawing school boundaries, but officials say it would give the district's youngest learners a better chance to benefit from this kind of education.

Cherise Longoria, administrator of student support services with the Boise School District, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( AP Images)There's a new COVID-19 variant, and experts are saying we could see a rise in cases this summer. Not to mention some folks under 65 are reporting they can't get a COVID booster shot.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues and answer your listener questions.

The 2024 State Summer Games kick off on June 7th. ( Special Olympics Idaho)For more than 50 years, Special Olympics Idaho has been empowering those with intellectual disabilities to take part in competition and hone their skills as athletes.

And next month, the organization will be hosting one of its biggest events of the year as people from across the state come together to take part in the 2024 State Summer Games.

Noelle Lyon, Director of Development for Special Olympics Idaho, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the games.

(Julie Luchetta / Boise State Public Radio )The word Clutch has a lot of different definitions: it can mean a fancy purse, the number of eggs in a nest or to hold something - or someone - tightly. It’s also the name of a club for queer kids looking for a safe place to hang out in the Treasure Valley.

Once a week, Clutch opens its doors to teens and young adults looking for a queer friendly space to hang out. As Idaho continues to advance anti-LGBTQ legislation, participants and volunteers at the LGBTQ+ youth club celebrated the group’s two year anniversary.

Clutch recently celebrated its two year anniversary with music, rainbow swag and a colorful cake.(Julie Luchetta / Boise State Public Radio )Clutch sets up inside a small church each week in downtown Nampa and welcomes young people after school, ranging anywhere from 14 to 20 years old. One Thursday evening this spring, about a dozen teens chatted around tables, played cards, helped each other put make-up on while eating slices of a rainbow colored cake.

One participant, 18-year-old Rachel Lynn had just drawn a thick pointy cat eye on her lids and was wearing black lipstick.

“I'm going for something like, I don't know, emo, gothic type,” she said. “I just kind of want to be, like, dark and edgy.”

Some people in her life have been struggling with her transition. Rachel discovered Clutch a few weeks ago after being kicked out by her family. She said she walked outside for a while and chanced upon the group.

The staff welcomed her and helped her reach out to housing services. She’s been trying to get back on her feet ever since and coming back to the group regularly for support. Clutch is one of the few places she said she can kick back and have some fun.

“It takes a huge weight off your shoulders to not always have to be thinking about what people might think of you, because everyone in the room accepts you and understands,” Rachel said.

Each week, Clutch organizes activities and outings, like a workshop to learn how to 3D print or scavenger hunts around the neighborhood. One time, a lizard guy came and showed them a bunch of lizards. Karaoke night seems to be everyone’s favorite.

Mindy OldenKamp and her wife started Clutch two years ago because when they were growing up in Nampa, they didn’t know where to find community.

“Thirty years ago, it just wasn't as safe,” she said. “There wasn't a group that we could go to where there were other people that we knew we shared things with, like our sexuality, our gender, our fluidity, our very selves.”

A 2019 study from the Trevor Project shows that young LGBTQ+ people with accepting adults in their lives are less likely to attempt suicide. Research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services also shows gay, lesbian and bisexual people face higher instances of mental health and substance use struggle, because of the stress related to stigma, discrimination and harassment.

So having a place where people are being accepted as they are can make a bug impact, Oldenkamp said.

“We really just wanted to show the kids in Nampa that there are people who love them just as they are, and there's a place for them just as they are,” she added.

For the last several years, Republican lawmakers in the state have pushed several pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation. Last year, Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill prohibiting students from using the bathrooms of their preferred gender, currently under injunction. Idaho also banned doctors from providing gender affirming care to minors.

Clutch attendee 18-year-old Marshall is a senior at Nampa High School. His family has been supportive of him figuring out his gender identity, but not everyone understands what it’s like to be transgender.

“It's difficult to try and explain gender dysphoria to someone who has never felt it before. Being in a body, you do not see yourself as,” he said.

This spring, the governor signed a law protecting teachers who do not want to use students’ preferred pronouns. The state is also currently suing the federal government for its revamping of Title IX which now prohibits discrimination in Education against LGBTQ+ students and employees.

It's sad that we're going backwards at this point with these sorts of laws going into place” Marshall said. “It’s infuriating. I feel like I can't do anything because I'm just one person against politicians who have all the power.”

Last June, the Nampa School Board also prohibited gender or sexual identity from being taught or discussed in schools in the district. That week, Pride Director Scott Mocaby and the other Clutch volunteers stood ready to show support.

“It was kind of like a somber night for our kids,” he said describing the mood at Clutch. “We made sure to bring extra light and positivity that day.”

Mocaby said that week highlighted how important the Clutch space is for queer kids.

(Julie Luchetta / Boise State Public Radio)He said at Clutch, they can always expect something to eat, a smile, a game or anything to keep their minds off what is happening in the world.

“It can be scary,” he added and Clutch offers a place free of fear or judgment.

He hopes Clutch can also help others understand what it’s like to be LGBTQ.

“We’re just like everybody else. We're not trying to force an agenda on anybody. We're just trying to exist just like them,” Mocaby added.

Marshall agreed, saying while he can’t always be himself at school or in the outside world, but here, he gets to experience and see a lot of queer joy.

“It's really nice just not having to hide anything. It’s very freeing,” he said. “Seeing things like clutch pop up makes me really happy. And it does make me feel hopeful that we can change things if we all stick together.”

Clutch has steadily grown since it first launched a couple of years ago. As kids continue to show up each week, the team hopes more community members will volunteer to make them feel welcomed and loved.

(iStockphoto.com)A group of high school students is studying the idea of access as a human right, pairing up with storytellers between the ages of 75 and 88, with the task of finding out about a time that they lost access.

The questions the students were hoping to answer was "who has access, who doesn't and what do those answers mean for the community we live in?"

The project is part of the City Club of Boise's 9th annual Marilyn Shuler Human Rights Forum, which takes place Wednesday afternoon at Jump.

Hailey’s Sage School 10th and 11th Grade Students Host Farm-To-Table Dinner.( The Sage School)How do you teach critical thinking to high school students? Most schools might assign a paper or an end-of-year test, but at The Sage School in Hailey, Idaho, they've got something even better.

It's called "The Feast," and it's the defining project of their journey through school, incorporating everything from studying the American food system, Idaho agriculture, soil science, food justice, finances and ecosystems.

This year's feast happens Thursday, May 16, and Amy Morrison, the lead teacher for this project, along with two of the students involved, Tristan Boloix and Sarah Leidecker, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Left to Right, Elia Lopez, Snake River Elementary Family Services Coordinator, LaRita Schandorff, NBP director, Mark Person, Vice Commander of American Legion District 3, and Mark Marshall, American Legion Rider, Post 39.( The Nampa Bicycle Project)For years now, the Nampa Bicycle Project has been giving back to the community, providing refurbished bicycles to those in need in order to do some good.

Which was a mission that American Legion Post 201, located inside the Idaho Department of Correction, was eager to get behind.

LaRita Schandorff, Director of the Nampa Bicycle Project, and Mark Person, Vice Commander of American Legion District 3, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this project.

Dawnel Towery and her family at a San Francisco 49ers game.( Wish Granters)Here in Idaho, one group is helping to make the wishes of terminally ill adults come true.

For more than a decade, the nonprofit Wish Granters has been providing a little bit of hope to those who need it most. Facilitating end-of-life requests that range from spending time with elephants to skydiving to something as simple as a dinner with loved ones.

Olivia Kviklys and Kristin Jackson with Wish Granters joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the work they do.

The College of Idaho( The College of Idaho Facebook)Idaho's primary is set for next Tuesday, and every seat in the Idaho Legislature is up for grabs.

Candidates are facing a wide range of issues, from abortion to libraries to funding public schools. So the College of Idaho is hosting a candidate forum Wednesday, May 15 to give the public a chance to hear from their candidates and ask the questions that matter to them.

McKay Cunningham, the college's director of On-Campus Experiential Learning, will be hosting the forum and joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Katherine Jones / Idaho Statesman)Across the globe, people are feeling the impact of climate change, not just in their environment but in their health, which can mean more frequent visits to the doctor.

And though hospitals are helping to solve people's health problems, they're also inadvertently contributing to the bigger one, climate change.

Which is why many health care systems, like St. Luke's, are making a commitment to reduce emissions and address the issue.

Dr. Ethan Sims, Director of Environmental Sustainability and an emergency department physician at St. Luke's, and Stephanie Wicks, a sustainability leader at St. Luke's, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

Elizabeth Gilbert greets and talks with students from the Oregon Youth Challenge program.(Deschutes Public Library/The Penguin Group / Flickr)Maybe you saw the movie starring Julia Roberts or read the book "Eat, Pray, Love," which was an international bestseller and sold more than 12 million copies.

Author Elizabeth Gilbert has written 10 books, including her latest, "City of Girls." She is writer-at-large for GQ and is coming to Boise on May 20 for The Cabin Readings and Conversations series.

She joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

City of Girls: A Novel

(Aditya Romansa / Unsplash)Almost 40% of mothers in Idaho say they feel tired or burned out; for working moms, that number jumps to 57%.

More than 70% of Idahoans say they don't have time to take care of their own physical needs, and almost 75% say they're just struggling to get by every day, according to a new survey by Gallup and Spark Strategic Solutions.

But despite these numbers, moms in Idaho say they find joy and hope in motherhood, and they rely heavily on their faith and spirituality to get through the rough times.

Shannon McGuire, the chief empowerment officer of Spark Strategic Solutions, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new survey.

(File )Fundraising by legislative candidates is giving some people pause, schools are supporting teachers in a new way, Idahoans should get ready to update their IDs and the Idaho Democratic Party is doubling their efforts in the face of recent legislation.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Carly Flandro, Reporter with Idaho Ed News
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Ian Max Stevenson Reporter with the Idaho Statesman
Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun

The newest ambassador at the World Center for Birds and Prey is Salix, a baby barn owl.( The World Center for Birds and Prey)South of Boise, 22 very special ambassadors live together in a sprawling complex in the Idaho desert. Their job is to form a bridge between people and birds to help humans better understand how to help raptors and other flying creatures in their natural environment.

The newest ambassador at The World Center for Birds and Prey is Salix, a baby barn owl. Though Salix is only a few weeks old, this small, scruffy-looking raptor is already teaching visitors and breaking hearts.

Stephanie Ashley, curator of birds, and Tate Mason, World Center for Birds of Prey Director, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about Salix and the avian ambassadors.

(Purestock / Getty Images/Purestock)Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is never an easy subject to talk about, but it is an important area of research.

Which is why the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is studying children around the country who have succumbed to this syndrome.

The CDC is providing grants to organizations across the nation, including Boise State University, to gather data, look for trends and find ways to prevent this horrible situation from happening.

Max Veltman is a licensed pediatric nurse practitioner and an associate professor in the school of nursing, and he's working with Canyon County and other entities to collect this date. Veltman joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(RenoCdZ / iStockphoto)Every kid deserves a place to call home. But for years now, Idaho has been facing a shortage of foster families, leaving a gap in care that has resulted in many kids staying in short-term rentals.

Now, though, thanks to state and community efforts, a new center is helping to address this problem.

Stacy Corbett, child welfare program manager, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

H5N1 avian flu viruses (seen in gold) grow inside canine kidney cells (seen in green).(Cynthia Goldsmith / CDC)Avian flu is continuing to spread in the U.S.; in fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outbreaks in dairy cattle were first reported on March 25. As of May 2, there are known cases in nine states.

Jump to today, there is now a concerning development when it comes to the transmission of this virus.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this issue.

Celtic Woman perform on stage. (donal moloney / Celtic Woman)You've seen them on PBS, and you've heard them perform all over the globe, they are Celtic Woman, and they're on their 20th anniversary tour.

As part of this tour, they'll be coming to the Morrison Center to sing and perform traditional Irish music as well as contemporary songs. Their beautiful voices, combined with a full band playing traditional Celtic instruments, have been wowing audiences for two decades.

Emma Warren is the newest member of Celtic Woman, and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Albertsons)The choice to use a plastic bag may seem like a small one, but it has big consequences for the environment.

Which is why students in the Treasure Valley are encouraging people to make the switch to a reusable tote. The project is being supported by the Idaho Business for the Outdoors and Albertsons in honor of Earth Month.

Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise), along with Kathy Holland, a member of the Albertsons communications and public relations team, and Jisong Ryu, a junior at Timberline High, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

(Dante Filpula Ankney / KHOL)Ryan Stolp’s newspaper comic was due in 30 minutes, but he didn't know what he was going to draw. He consulted his half-baked list of ideas and then grabbed his iPad.

“I would love to tell you that I think these out more than I do,” Stolp stammered.

But he didn't have the time. Stick figure here, sketch there, speech bubble, color and… done. He sent it off to the paper — just in time.

“And that’s how Jackson, at least, gets Lift Lines,” Stolp said.

"Lift Lines" is Stolp’s satirical comic that riffs on ski culture and the lifestyle in mountain towns like Jackson. It runs three times a week in the town's daily paper as well as on Instagram to his 15,000 followers.

But this spring one of his illustrations drew community outrage — unlike any he’s done before.

“So, I knew there was this little secret,” Stolp said. “So I'm like, okay, I can fly kind of close to the sun, and I can make this joke.”

That secret was a loophole that allowed locals to avoid a $35 daily parking fee in a lot at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Parking there offers a way to avoid an about hour-long bus ride to the resort from town, or about half an hour from the park and ride lot at Stilson. Dozens — if not hundreds — of locals had been using the hack, by quickly scanning their ticket.

“I kind of felt like I stepped on a landmine that I didn't know was there." - Ryan Stolp, Lift Lines Comics

Soon after the comic ran, the group that runs the parking lot, the Teton Village Association, cracked down. No more hack, no more free parking.

Locals were not amused, to say the least. Suddenly, Stolp was targeted by spam callers and Jehovah’s Witnesses — a setup he suspects was sparked by angry locals. And among the hundreds of angry Instagram comments, he was described as public enemy number one and warned that he would get punched in the face.

“It's different when everyone that's mad is like your neighbor and your community member and your friend or your friend of a friend,” Stolp said.

Thirty-five bucks might not seem like much. But the incident highlights a friction in ski towns across the Mountain West. Skiing and snowboarding continues to grow, bringing more people to resort towns. And that drives up prices on housing, meals, lift tickets — almost everything — and many residents are feeling the squeeze.

(Connor Burkesmith)Margaret Bowes is the executive director of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns.

“Resort and tourism-based communities have very unique challenges such as high cost of living, affordable housing issues and transportation,” Bowes said.

She said parking fees and parking tickets aim to steer people to car pools and shuttles.

“I think skiing has just really changed,” Bowes said. “It's exploded in recent years, and so gone are the days when you can drive up to your favorite resort at 9 a.m. on a Saturday and not encounter crowds.”

Still, the changes can rankle residents who long for the good old days.

“I think those of us that live in ski towns sometimes feel [that] we get fatigue,” Bowes said. “We get tourism fatigue and sometimes feel like our communities aren't our own anymore. And so there gets to be a little bit of friction.”

Julien Lacourse, who has worked as a bartender in town, has felt that friction.

He said he used the parking hack hundreds of times and saw nothing wrong with using something that was widely available — at least to those who knew.

“I don't think it's possible to steal something when it's allowed,” Lacourse said.

He said he recognizes somebody needs to manage parking but said that the Teton Village Association [TVA], well …

“They're a necessary evil, which we can all stomp our feet about because ... they're nerds,” Lacourse said. “They’re just a thorn in our side because they have to be, man. You know, the village [the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort] is the rose. They’re the thorns. That's just the way it is.”

Nerds because — well, he has gotten some tickets, pasted onto his driver's side door so well that it lasts for days.

Lacourse paid for stickers to be made that say “Defund the TVA” in bold black letters.

He said it was mostly a joke, a reaction to getting a ticket. He added that outside of a few instances, he has never had too much trouble with getting to work, even without the loophole.

He considers Stolp a friend, but said he wishes the cartoonist had apologized. He said he thinks a lot of the blowback was deserved but also that many went too far.

“Any calls to violence are outlandish. Come on guys. That’s ridiculous,” Lacourse said.

Stolp attributes the blowback to folks who are frustrated about changes in town and are looking for a scapegoat. And in this instance, he was exactly that for people’s frustration.

“I think the thing that you have an obligation to do, no matter where you are in that community, is to be a role model and steward how that community should evolve, because all things change,” Stolp said.

Recently, he was back on the mountain during Gaper Day, feeling mostly good, but maybe a little wary, he said.

“Beautiful sunrise on Tetons this morning,” Stolp said.

After riding the tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, he clicked into his skis in front of Corbet’s Cabin. He took a minute to think about how things played out and the support he received from many.

“I think the community showed its true colors in the end and the true colors were good. That's why I live here, that’s why I love living here,” he said. “There's great people around every corner.”

And with that he shimmied over a ridge, and down into the bowl he went.

(Chamonix Experience / Flickr)Ski season is winding down, but training exercises are going on now for dogs used in avalanche and search and rescue missions. KUNR's Kat Fulwider reports.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump.(Paul Sancya / AP)It was just about two weeks ago when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Trump v. United States. A case that looks at the issue of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

During arguments, we finally got a hint of what the justices were thinking in a case that has far-reaching implications for not just former President Donald Trump but all former and future presidents.

Dr. David Adler, President of the Alturas Institute, is going to break down the case and how it relates to the U.S. Constitution on Thursday at his next constitutional conversation at Boise State University's Yanke Center. He joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

( CC0 Public Domain)In the news, we hear daily about the suffering in Gaza, the crisis touches all parts of society including the pets and strays affected by the fighting.

But, an animal rescue shelter in Wyoming is stepping up to lend a hand. Wyoming Public Radio’s Jordan Uplinger reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(Carly Barnes / Flickr)The White River National Forest in western Colorado uses a variety of methods to manage its 2.3 million acres, whether that's pickup trucks, all-terrain vehicles, or drones, but there's one tried and true method of getting around the wilderness that the forest service still relies on - horses and mules.

Recently, workers got some training in the saddle. Caroline Llanes reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Matt Burgess shows a kid how to properly hold an atlatl at the 2023 Idaho Archaeology Fair. ( Idaho Archaeological Society )When it comes to Idaho history, there's one group that will always be happy to dig into the Gem State's past: the Idaho Archaeological Society.

For more than 50 years, the organization has been preserving important artifacts that not only help us learn more about the state's earliest inhabitants but also how they may have impacted the way we live our lives today. And this weekend, they are celebrating that work with the Idaho Archeology Fair.

Beth Burgess, cultural resources program manager, and Craig Hauer, IAS President, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the society and their upcoming fair.

Glock 9mm pistol with “switch” machinegun conversion device installed that Rhyne attempted to ship in the mail. (Photographs obtained from the publicly filed Government’s Sentencing Memorandum, ECF No. 55.)(United States Attorney's Office)Recently, three people were sentenced to prison in Idaho for possessing illegal guns or ammunition. They'll serve a combined 22 years behind bars.

All three cases were prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative from the Justice Department.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the initiative, which brings together law enforcement agencies from all over Idaho.

(Brittany Randolph / Flickr Creative Commons)When it comes to supporting our children's mental health, it can be hard to know where to start. Which is why organizations like FYIdaho are so important.

For 25 years, the nonprofit has been providing mental health resources to those in need, connecting parents and kids with vital services that help to empower the whole family.

Brenda Willson, Executive Director of FYIdaho, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

Every day, 26,000 cars drive up and over Interstate 84 on the Five Mile Overpass in Boise.

The bridge was built in 1966 and has two narrow lanes that carry travelers from Overland Road to Franklin. It's the only freeway overpass in Boise that has not been rebuilt to make it safer and more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

The Ada County Highway District is planning to replace the bridge while widening the road and putting in a safe way for people and bikes to cross.

While the project is just now getting public attention, ACHD has been quietly planning the project for more than five years, and it will take another few years for the construction to be complete.

So what goes into a project like this? Rachel Speer, the project manager for the Five Mile Bridge with the Ada County Highway District, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the project.

Kristen Beaver, Piper Bevis and Charlotte Van Orden take part in "SOARING" an Open Arms Dance Project.(Gregg Mizuta / Open Arms Dance Project)For more than a decade, the Open Arms Dance Project has been bringing people of different ages and abilities together for one purpose: to create joy through art.

And this year is no different, especially as the company gears up for their end-of-season performance, SOARING.

Megan Brandel, the artistic director of Open Arms, along with dancers Carol Colwell and Loey Brandel, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

(Roam Yocham / Boise State Public Radio)Idaho is pushing back against new Title IX rules, primary races in the state are heating up, a lawsuit has been filed over the blocked sale of the Idaho Transportation Department and signatures for Idaho's open primary ballot initiative have been submitted,

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News

(tatranka 7 / Flickr)Just like water managers here in Idaho, officials in the seven states that use the Colorado River are turning their eyes to the mountains to get a sense of the summer water supply. That river gets two-thirds of its water from snow in Colorado, which is just starting to melt.

KUNC's Alex Hager follows the springtime flows for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Freedom of expression has been recognzsed as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law by the United Nations.( 123rf, Boise State Public Radio)Speech: it can define us as much as divide us. And Idaho, it appears, has found itself in the eye of that hurricane lately.

With the year not half over, 2024 has been particularly brittle: from the hyper-divisions at the Idaho Capitol to the rants of Boise State Professor Scott Yenor’s doubling down on his comments, calling feminists “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome.”

And Boise State is not an outlier. Just this week, college students at Yale have been charged with trespassing during protests over the Irael-Hamas war. And the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of a valedictorian, a Muslim, due to what the university said were “safety reasons.”

“When I look at public universities, and I’m not just talking about Boise State… once you open a public space to a speaker, the court has said, ‘you have to open that,’” said Dr. Sam Martin, scholar, professor and Frank and Bethine Church Chair Endowed Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University. “When we affirm a person’s right to speak out and say things that we would spend our whole lives shouting against, that’s free speech.”

Martin joined Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about how public perceptions can shift over time, and how the so-called “law of the pendulum,” which can only swing too far to the left or right.

Every spring, students plant thousands of plants, everything from tomatoes to peppers to flowers and herbs, as part of horticulture classes at Boise area high schools. The kids grow the better known varieties of plants like Romas and Beefsteak, but they also get to experiment with tomatoes with names like Boxcar Willie, Siberian Cool Weather and Brandywine Pink.

The Borah High greenhouse is full of plants before the annual sale.(Samantha Wright / Boise State Public Radio )Then when the flowers and veggies are ready, the high schools hold plant sales which are open to the public, giving everyone a chance to pick up some plants for much less than they would cost in a store.

We headed to Borah High School's greenhouse to meet with Jeremy Thompson, biology and horticulture teacher, to preview one of this year's upcoming sales. He said the kids learn how to garden from the ground up.

“We go really slow and they work with a partner and, like, hey, this is how you measure how deep this is, and this is how much potting mix you have to put in there. And this is how wet it has to be. And we do that a few times. And then after that it's like, okay, you're planting your own flat and this is what you need to do,” said Thompson.

All the plants are grown by high school students who plant seed after seed each spring.(Samantha Wright / Boise State Public Radio)The greenhouse behind Borah High is filled with rows and rows of flowers and vegetables. There is a long line of tomatoes including Golden Nugget, Mortgage Lifter, San Marzano and Oregon Spring.

Who doesn't want a flower named after Dracula in their yard?(Samantha Wright / Boise State Public Radio)He says the kids learn a lot as they start taking care of their own plants and they get to choose what plants they put into their hanging baskets.

“It's a learning process and yeah, sometimes it probably would be, I guess if it was in it for the profit, it might be better to say, hey, you're going to plant these things. But I think it's important for them to learn what they're planting and how well it's going to work,” Thompson said.

Rows of pepper plants are popping up including Hot Lemon, Hungarian Hot Wax and Jupiter Bell. The flowers are dazzling, from a Speedy Sonnet Mix Snapdragon to a Darlin Orange Flare Dahlia. One of the favorites for kids and buyers alike is the Dracula Celosia plant, which is a bright red-purple folded spike nestled on blood-red veined leaves.

He says at first, it’s hard for kids to see the results of all their hard work planting seed after seed, until a few weeks go by.

“All of a sudden there's all these little baby plants popping up, and then they start to get excited. And then when the flowers are all blooming, I think they find enjoyment in that and get some sort of satisfaction from, hey, I did that,” said Thompson.

The students make sure all the plants come with descriptions and tips on how they will grow.(Samantha Wright / Boise State Public Radio)He says everyone is welcome to the sales, where you can pick up plants for $1 or $3 apiece. All the money raised goes back into the horticulture programs to buy more things like seeds and pots for next year’s growing season.

Borah High School Plant Sale:

Friday, May 3 10-5 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 12-4:00 p.m.

Capital High School Plant Sale:

Friday, May 10 3-6 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 10-2 p.m.

Frank Church High School Plant Sale:

Thursday, May 9 2:30-6 p.m.
Friday, May 10 12-5 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 11-2 p.m.

( The Open Field)Have you ever asked yourself this question or something similar: What makes a good life?

Well, some professors at Yale University are tackling that question in a course that's become one of the most popular on campus, and they've written a book about it. It's called "Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most."

Ryan McNally, the associate director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and one of the authors of the book, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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Wolves howl in a forest. (John Flesher / AP Images)Months after wolves were reintroduced to the Colorado landscape, they’re expanding their range and generating buzz. Thousands are tracking them on social media and wildlife photographers are planning summer excursions to see them.

Could this mark the beginning of a new tourism attraction? KUNC’s Scott Franz reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Hannah Barefoot)For the past two years, Wyoming tourism advocates have tried to pass a film rebate incentive program through the state legislature. Filming in the state has its challenges, mainly because it does not offer financial incentives for filmmakers like other surrounding states including Montana, Utah, and Colorado.

Although this year a film rebate incentive program wasn’t introduced during the legislative session, advocates in Cody are taking another route to try to attract films to the region.

A Western Movie

A vintage rodeo poster, an elk mount, and antique washboards. These are some of the items hanging on the walls viewable from the dancefloor at Cassie’s Steakhouse in Cody where Mike Canada organizes an open mic night.

On a weeknight in February, a handful of locals munched on steaks and baked potatoes while they enjoyed the music, but this time of year the wooden dance floor is pretty empty.

But, later this year, actor Hannah Barefoot plans to pack this former brothel turned cowboy bar and restaurant with a film crew to shoot part of her movie “Midnight Clear.” She said it's a Western set during Christmas where a single mom tries to save her family’s struggling dude ranch.

“They always say, ‘Write what you know,’ and as I was starting to think about what this script would be, I just started thinking about how much I love my hometown; I love Cody; I love Wyoming in general,” she said.

Barefoot says as the characters and the story started coming together, there was no question that it had to be set in Cody at places like the Irma Hotel, the Cowboy Palace western wear shop, and her family friend’s dude ranch near Yellowstone.

People in Hollywood liked the idea.

“But because Wyoming doesn’t have a film industry. There’s not a tax incentive; there’s no crew. And so they’re like, ‘Yeah we love this script, we’ll shoot it in Canada.’ Or, ‘We love this script, we'll shoot it in Montana or New Mexico,’” Barefoot said.

A film incentive rebate program

Wyoming had a film incentive rebate program that got started in 2009, but it went through some budget cuts and was sunsetted in 2018. In 2019, the legislature voted not to continue it.

Ever since, there have been efforts to bring it back. During last year's legislative session, Wyoming Department of Tourism Executive Director Diane Shober spoke to the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee about the program's success.

“And during that time there were over 30 productions that took place and the economic contributions and qualified expenditures during that time were $18,329,000. Of that 18 million, $9,125,000 were in crew and salary and wages for Wyoming qualified workforce that totaled 320 different crew,” she said.

In the proposed program, some productions could qualify for up to a 30 percent rebate for Wyoming expenses for things like hiring local staff and production equipment rentals.

According to a document from the Wyoming Department of Tourism, the state is losing out to other states with film incentives, including projects like “Wind River,” “Longmire,” and “1883,” one of the “Yellowstone” prequels.

Kelly Eastes runs the film office in Casper and a newly formed one in Cody. He told the committee last year that he scouted locations several times for “1883.”

“They wanted locations outside of Casper near Independence Rock, and we had things set up for them, but the incentive drew them to Montana since we didn’t have that available to us,” he said.

A University of Montana study showed that in one year 2.1 million people were inspired by the “Yellowstone” TV show to visit Montana, and when they came, they spent an estimated $730 million.

At the legislative meeting, several members of the committee expressed concern over how Wyoming could be depicted in film projects, including Rawlins Representative Donald Burkhart.

“If a company, a film company, came to Wyoming and met all of these requirements and produced a documentary that was derogatory and disruptive to our mineral extraction industry would they qualify for these?” he asked.

Cody Representative Sandy Newsome said even though the legislation ultimately received an 8-1 yes vote from the committee and was sent to the House for debate, it was not introduced on the House floor last year.

“Well, I would like to bring it back, but there doesn’t seem an appetite in the legislature for it at this point. We had a changeover of a lot of new members who are maybe ideologically opposed to incentives of any kind,” she said.

The proposed film incentive would be funded by the state’s lodging tax, not taxpayer dollars.

A new approach

Newsome still wants the legislature to consider it in the future, but for now, she’s hoping the newly formed Cody Yellowstone film office will bring more business to Northwest Wyoming. The Park County Travel Council recently launched the film office.

“At the moment, we aren’t able to offer really any incentives, but if they are able to book their picture in the wintertime, we can get very aggressive on hotel rates for them,” said Ryan Hauck who is the Park County Travel Council’s executive director.

The film office has already negotiated hotel room rates for Barefoot’s upcoming movie and is helping her hire local talent. They can also help film projects with scouting locations, permitting, and other logistics. Barefoot said she hopes filming it in Cody during the off season will give her hometown an economic boost.

“We want to then take this film that’s done without a film incentive and then show, ‘Look at how much we did without a film incentive, how much more could we do? How much more could we accomplish if there were a film incentive, and if there were an actual industry that was a viable economic industry for this state?’” she said.

Barefoot’s film “Midnight Clear” will be shot in Cody later this year. She anticipates releasing it before the holidays in 2025.

An Idaho Matters couple sent us this picture from their backyard in the East End of Boise where a pair of ducks often drop by for a drink and a quick bath. (Listener photo / Idaho Matters)There's a whooping cough outbreak in North Idaho, Bird Flu is spreading and may have hit a third Idaho dairy and EMTALA arguments have been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about all of this and to answer your questions, including this one: with Bird Flu spreading, should you keep feeding those ducks in your backyard?

A statue of Harriet Tubman at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Maryland.(Craig James)When it comes to American history, especially around the 1850s, two women stand out as lightning rods for dramatic change in society.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's best-selling anti-slavery novel had a profound effect on how White people saw African Americans that some say helped lead to the Civil War.

Harriet Tubman rescued dozens of black people from slavery through the “Underground Railroad” and never stopped fighting for the rights of African Americans and women.

History professor Dr. Richard Bell from the University of Maryland joins Idaho Matters to talk more about these two amazing women.

Failure on board. (contrastwerkstatt/contrastwerkstatt)You may know Patrick Hinds as one of the voices behind the tremendously successful podcast "True Crime Obsessed."

What you may not know is that Patrick is also a self professed failure, something he looks at in his new book "Failure is Not NOT an Option." He joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his new book and tour.

What do you think of when you hear "Craters of the Moon National Monument?"

Maybe a hot, rocky landscape. A gray, empty, volcanic area where nothing grows and plants can't survive.

Well, it turns out a lot of plants can survive in this desert in Eastern Idaho, and Dr. Lynn Kinter knows firsthand. She's been studying plants for more than 35 years.

Dr. Kinter is an adjunct graduate faculty member in the department of Biological Sciences at Boise State University and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Berkley)Readers fell in love with author Nikki Payne's debut novel, "Pride and Protest," a retelling of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." It got all kinds of buzz, from Ebony Magazine to Oprah Daily.

Now Payne is back with her latest novel, "Sex, Lies and Sensibility," a modern re-working of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new release.

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( John Bieter)Throughout Idaho, there is a rich history of Basque culture, a piece of which can be found in many of the forests across Idaho in the form of tree carvings.

Known as arborglyphs, these markings were commonly left by sheepherders, providing a glimpse into the past of an often overlooked population. And for years now, Boise State University professor John Bieter has made it a priority to document these fading artifacts.

Bieter joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this work and the significance of arborglyphs.

(timber1212 / Flickr)Though Idaho is still experiencing a bit of cold weather, the song of migrating birds is proof that spring is in the air.

And as the days continue to get longer, we'll start to see more of these returning travelers in larger numbers. From cranes to swans to swallows, birds big and small are making their way back to the Gem State, some traveling thousands of miles—a journey that many experts are still working to understand.

Including Heidi Ware Carlisle, the Education and Outreach Director of Intermountain Bird Observatory. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about migrating birds.

A temporary memorial featuring Deputy Tobin Bolter’s patrol vehicle is set up in front of the Ada County Sheriff's Office (7200 W. Barrister Dr in Boise). Star Police, Kuna Police and Eagle Police substations also have dedicated memorial spots.( Ada County Sheriff's Office / Facebook)A memorial service will soon be held for Deputy Tobin Bolter, the signature deadline for open primary supporters is right around the corner, some health organizations are encouraging pregnant patients to think about air ambulance services and we take a look at what's next for Idaho's gender-affirming care ban.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Alex Brizee with the Idaho Statesman
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun
Ian Max Stevenson with the Idaho Statesman

(Berkley )This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 18, 2024.

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray is back with a look at one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Frances Perkins. It's a name you may not be familiar with, but you should be.

Dray joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book, "Becoming Madam Secretary."

(Practical Cures / Flickr)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on November 16, 2023.

With ADHD and other diagnoses on the rise, today's youth are experiencing chronic levels of anxiety and depression. That's why it's important to make sure these children feel supported and understood.

Dr. Sharon Saline is a licensed clinical psychologist, an award-winning author, and a top expert on ADHD, anxiety, and mental health challenges. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Disney Hyperion)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 4, 2024.

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.

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(Theknightcenter / Flickr)Last month, Saltzer Health officially closed their doors, leaving many employees, doctors and patients scrambling.

Dr. David Pate, the former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to take a look at the gap this has left in the Gem State's health care, as well as the latest public health concerns that are making headlines.

(Jenna Maurice / Tor Books)Vampires, magic, faustian bargains ... author Victoria Schwab has written about it all. She's penned over 20 books and has an incredible following of readers.

She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her creative process and what readers can expect to see from her next.

(Katherine Blunt)It has been close to 9 months since the deadly fire in Maui destroyed the town of Lahaina and it’s been five years since a fire decimated the town of Paradise, California. Could an aging utility infrastructure, along with wildfire risk, be a major culprit behind these disasters?

Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the book “California Burning" Katherine Blunt joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these fires.

( 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 latest release.

( Algonquin Books)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on February 6, 2024.

You may know Ayesha Rascoe from her ten years of reporting for Reuters News Agency or from her time as a White House correspondent covering three different presidents, or maybe she wakes you up on Sundays as the host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday.

But before she started her career as a political reporter, she was a student at Howard University, and her experience there helped fuel her new book, “HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience."

It’s a collection of essays from everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Branford Marsalis to Stacey Abrams who write about how attending a historically black university helped shape who they are today. Rascoe joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book.

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( OSU Press)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on November 28, 2023.

University of Idaho professor Alexandra Teague is out with her latest work and this time it's a very personal look at what some would say was a quirky childhood.

The memoir "Spinning Teacups" takes us across America from Florida to Idaho and many stops in between. Teague joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Canva)The U.S. Supreme Court will take up an Idaho case on Wednesday that could have widespread implications around the country.

It involves an Idaho abortion law and a lawsuit filed by the Biden Administration, which argued hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care, which could potentially include abortion, no matter if there's a state law banning abortion.

Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), hospitals and doctors are required to treat patients until their medical emergency is stabilized or resolved, which can include providing abortion care.

Idaho code allows physicians to perform abortions to prevent the death of a patient. But Boise OBGYN Dr. Sara Thomson said doctors have an ethical duty to intervene before their patients’ health deteriorates to a life-threatening emergency.

The question before SCOTUS is whether EMTALA openly and directly conflicts with a portion of Idaho's abortion law. Idaho's law has limited exceptions to providing abortions and physicians feel they cannot provide "stabilizing care" when a person needs it.

Defining what stabilizing care is is going to be a large part of the argument, but the other part is whether or not the federal government has reached too far in regards to EMTALA.

"Did the federal agency that is responsible for enforcing EMTALA go too far by making this argument that EMTALA means required abortion care? I think that the conservative justices are really going to be interested in that kind of question," said McKay Cunningham, the director of the On-Campus Experiential Learning at the College of Idaho.

EMTALA was enacted in 1986 by Congress to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay.

"A patient who is pregnant and has an emergency medical condition, the doctors are going to look at her say 'Okay, if we do not address this emergency medical condition and it may require termination, we are not going to be able to save potential bodily functions," said Peg Dougherty, the Deputy General Counsel for St. Luke's Health System. "We are not going to be able to save her reproductive organs. Those are health matters that would be able to preserve the patient's health if our doctors were able to do that."

The Idahoans United for Women and Families coalition said their poll of about 600 residents shows three out of five Idahoans believe abortions should be legal in some or almost all cases. Spokesperson Melanie Folwell said 12% believe abortions should never be legal.

The coalition is campaigning to introduce an initiative regarding the legality of abortion on the 2026 ballot. To do so, the coalition will have to gather signatures representing at least 6% of eligible voters in the most recent election, coming from at least 18 of Idaho's 35 legislative districts.

A recent study published by the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare showed Idaho lost 22% of its OBGYNs since the strict abortion bans went into effect in 2022.

Cunningham and Dougherty joined Idaho Matters to help break down the law and the arguments coming up in the Supreme Court.

Editor's note (correction): We did reach out to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office about the EMTALA case, once in January and in April but our emails got lost in the Spam folder and were never received. We spoke with the AG’s Office after this story aired, the issue has been fixed, and we’ve extended a new invitation to come on Idaho Matters and break down the arguments on Idaho’s side of this case.

U.S. Supreme Court building(Ian Hutchinson / Unsplash)Idaho’s law banning gender-affirming care for youth has gone into effect, big staffing cuts have been made in the Idaho Falls school district, SCOTUS is set to take up another case involving the Gem State and we take a look at some sad news from the legislature.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney with Idaho Reports
Carly Flandro, Reporter with Idaho Ed News
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television

( Idaho Gives)Every year, the Idaho Nonprofit Center organizes what's known as Idaho Gives. It's a chance for people to come together to support the more than 9,000 groups in Idaho.

Kevin Bailey is the CEO at the center and he sat down to talk with Morning Edition host George Prentice about this years Idaho Gives.

Kevin Bacon(Silva. S / Flickr)A high school in our region will get some Hollywood glitz for prom day this month. Kevin Bacon is coming to Utah's Payson High, where part of Footloose was filmed.

This is the movie's 40th anniversary and the school building will be torn down next year. So students and faculty have been working for months to bring home the bacon.

KUER's Ciara Hulet was at Payson High when the news went public, and has this report for the Mountain West News Bureau.

A replica of the Declaration of Independence showing how the document looked the day it was signed, as part of the National Archives exhibit, in Washington, D.C. (Robert Miller / Flickr)The Declaration of Independence is a defining document in the birth of the United States.

But how much do we really know about it? Was this historical document seen primarily as a celebration of a new country or more of a divorce decree?

Dr. Richard Bell will be talking more about the legacy of the Declaration of Independence on Thursday, April 25, at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Boise. He joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

Olivia Luna volunteers with BABE VOTE.( BABE VOTE)Last week, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that student IDs can't be used to vote in the Gem State.

At issue were two laws passed last year that said student IDs could no longer be used to register to vote and that students without an Idaho drivers license would have to get an Idaho ID card or other accepted form of identification.

BABE VOTE and the League of Women Voters sued over the laws, and in a five-to-zero decision, the justices decided that the legislature has the power to set reasonable conditions on the right to vote.

Kendal Shaber, a board member of the League of Women Voters, and Olivia Luna, a BABE VOTE volunteer and student at Boise State, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this issue.

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2007 file photo, British singer Amy Winehouse poses for photographs after being interviewed by The Associated Press at a studio in north London. Friday, July 23, 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the iconic British pop singer, who died at her home in Camden. Her death was attributed to accidental alcohol poisoning. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)(Matt Dunham/AP / AP)If you're looking for something to watch this weekend, we have a variety of choices for you! From the #1 Box Office movie "Civil War" to a biopic about Amy Winehouse to a retrospective of Conan O'Brien, we have something for everyone!

Our resident movie critic, George Prentice, joined Idaho Matters to help us figure out What to Watch.

(AP Images)A disease caused by rats is on the rise and when is the best time to get the latest COVID vaccine?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about all of this.

Two people shake hands.(webgirltj / Flickr)Next week, a new exhibit will be coming to Idaho, sharing images and stories from around the world in an effort to connect communities and encourage cultural exchanges among our future leaders.

An endeavor that Global Ties Idaho has been supporting for more than a decade as they work to create lasting impact.

Carole Schroeder, the executive director of Global Ties Idaho, and Maya Duratovic, a Global Ties Idaho board member, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Jack Sanders( Craig Ferre)For more than 30 years, the Piatigorsky Foundation has been providing communities across the country with unique access to classical music.

And Thursday, April 18, the organization will be here in Idaho for a special concert featuring classical guitarist Jack Sanders. He joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the importance of sharing this music.

Brandon VanWaeyenberghe and his dog Barley.( Zenith City Photography)This May, one of Idaho's most beloved performing arts organizations, the Boise Philharmonic, will be welcoming a new executive director, Brandon Vanwaeyenberghe.

With more than ten years of experience in the world of orchestra, he is sure to bring something special to the Philharmonics next season of music. Vanwaeyenberghe joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his new role.

(Ute Grabowsky / Photothek via Getty Images)Across the United States, kids are struggling with their mental health and here in Idaho, we're seeing the same problem. One which was made even more stark after the suicide of four Boise students late last year.

Now as the community joins together in support of our kids, one group is working on a way to address the mental health struggles of our youth before they reach a crisis point.

Megan Smith, the director of Communities for Youth, joined Idaho Matters.

(James G. Edmondson2014 / Flickr)As the weather warms up, snow is melting and water is filling up the Boise River, sometimes overflowing the river banks.

That can mean flooding on the Greenbelt, and Boise Parks and Recreation spends a lot of time each year managing closures and keeping the public up-to-date on what's closed and what's open.

And when the flooding is over, the department has a short window to repair and stabilize the river banks. Sara Arkle, parks resources superintendent, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this work.

The book cover of "The Weight of Nature" by Clayton Page Aldern.( Dutton)The Earth's changing climate, from hotter days to more dangerous weather events, could be impacting our brains in ways we are only just learning about.

Clayton Page Aldern, a journalist who also holds a master's degree in neuroscience and public policy, delves into this issue in his new book, "The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains." He joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Wind turbines in the west.(Dennis Schroeder / National Renewable Energy Lab)As the need for energy grows across the west and more focus is being shifted to low-carbon resources, people are asking important questions like: How do we bring this kind of energy online reliably? And how do we deliver that new energy safely to the communities that need it?

Peter Gower is the climate and renewable energy program director at The Nature Conservancy's Western U.S. and Canada division, and he'll be talking about these challenges at the Andrus Center Environmental Conference at Boise State on Tuesday, April 16, and he joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(lori05871 / Flickr)April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and in an effort to bring more awareness to our community, we're taking a few minutes each week to focus on important work that's being done to help ensure healthy outcomes for Idaho kids.

Amanda Mills, the strengthening families specialist with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children; Nicole Criner, the group's marketing and communication director; Roger Sherman, the executive director of the Idaho Children's Trust Fund; and Audra Green, a librarian and Hope Conquers ACEs trainer, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

The production of "Kid Lightning" will take to the stage on April 26th and the 27th. (LED )Award-winning arts organization LED is back with two performances of Kid Lightning at Boise's Morrison Center. Lauren Edson, co-founder of LED, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming production.

Wolves howl in a forest. (John Flesher / AP Images)A new film being made in Idaho, "Children of the Wolves," features a group of Timberline High School students and a wolf pack from the Gem State.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with executive producers Matthew Podolsky and Seth Randal, as well as film director Barb Kuensting, to talk more about the documentary.

(Emilie Ritter Saunders / Boise State Public Radio)A case heading to the U.S. Supreme Court could have big impacts on Idaho's abortion care, a new library bill has been signed into law, plans for a veterans home in Boise have been postponed and a roundup of this years legislative session.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Nicole Blanchard, outdoors reporter for the Idaho Statesman
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News

The creative team behind The Sound of Music, produced by Boise State, include Darrin Purdy, Gordon Reinhart and Caitlin Burke.A crisis of faith. The struggle of single parenthood. And a growing threat of racist demagoguery. Any one of these themes could be the foundation for 21st century drama. But together they were the pillars of a 1959 Broadway show which, in turn, became one of, if not the most, loved films of all time: The Sound of Music.

The Rogers and Hammerstein musical is 65-years old, but the creative team behind Boise State’s 2024 production of The Sound of Music find plenty of contemporary relevance in its story.

“Whether it’s Shakespeare or Rogers and Hammerstein or a brand new play, I can draw a line from the text to my current life and what I’m seeing in the world,” said Gordon Reinhart, director of the new production. “It feels similar to our current moment in the world.”

Reinhart joined Darrin Purdy, director of Boise State’s theatre and costume design and Caitlin Burke, who plays Mother Abbess, to visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview their production.

Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren

Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio

Since July the United States has seen a steady uptick in COVID cases, leaving some to wonder if this new COVID variant is going to make for a difficult fall and winter.

Despite ridicule by some lawmakers, and what some have said are insurmountable odds, the Greater Idaho movement continues to quietly grow and expand across eastern Oregon.

Farmers and Ranchers in the west are being pressured by rising production costs, increased workloads and extreme weather. No wonder they are facing higher levels of stress and mental health issues than other Americans.

In today's digital world scams are on the rise, with new ways of tricking people out of their money emerging every day. And according to the Idaho Humane Society one of those scams is targeting pet owners, specifically owners who have lost their pet.

The land and its waterways have long been sacred to Indigenous people and they know how to care for it well, considering the land used to be theirs. Now, some groups are recruiting indigenous youth to restore and protect these areas.

A recent ceremony in our region dedicated a garden that provides spiritual, medicinal and nutritional sustenance. It's called the Northern Cheyenne Medicinal Garden and it has more than 100 different plants.

The Netflix adaptation of Idahoan Tony Doerr's book "All the Light We Cannot See" had its world premiere over the weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival and our resident movie critic George Prentice was there to see it.

Figuring out where to start when it comes to tackling climate change can be overwhelming, but one scientist says it doesn't have to be. In fact, it can be as easy as starting a conversation.

From 1942 to 1945, the family of Barbara Yoshida Berthiaume was incarcerated in the Minidoka Japanese internment camp in Eastern Idaho. But she didn’t learn about this dark chapter in her family’s history until she was in her senior year at Kuna High.

Hotter summers across our region are making it difficult for some workers to stay cool and comfortable, that includes food truck owners who cook over hot stoves and fryers in small spaces.

Water issues in the arid west are complex. The laws that govern our region’s rivers and reservoirs are tough to wrap your mind around, but art can provide an entry point – and create an emotional connection that helps people understand what’s at stake.

(Jim Choate / Flickr)Republican lawmakers continue to gain support for a special session, agricultural workers in the West are facing mental health issues, Idaho Power wants to make changes to their net metering policies and a look at Biden's new SAVE program.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun
Kaleb Roedel, Reporter for KUNR’s Mountain West News Bureau
Rachel Cohen, South Central Idaho reporter for Boise State Public Radio

(Art Vandelay / Flickr)Steven Nelson, a Nampa man, died in April 2016 after responding to an online ad promising a sexual encounter. He was attacked by Kelly Schneider, who yelled homophobic slurs while kicking him repeatedly with steel toed boots. Schneider then stripped and robbed Nelson in the pre-dawn darkness near Lake Lowell. The critically-injured Nelson walked naked and without shoes about half a mile away to a home where he asked for help. Unfortunately, he died several hours later, but not before he was able to give investigators detailed information that helped identify his killer.

Playwright Gregory Hinton has spent time over the years with Steven's family and with their permission he's curated an assembly of impact statements from the sentencing hearing of Nelson's confessed killer. The Piece is called "Walking Steven Home." Hinton joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Oivind Hovland / Getty Images)Women in Idaho are facing unique challenges as they grapple with issues of gender equality, women's rights and equal protection of the law.

This is why the Alturas Institute brings together exceptional women each year to Idaho to talk about these issues and find ways to solve them.

This year's "Conversations with Exceptional Women" will include a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Grammy-award winner and other successful women, including Dr. Fiona Hill who served as a national security advisor to three U.S. Presidents.

This year's theme is "Courage is Contagious: Standing Up for Women," and here to talk about next week's conference are Dr. David Adler, the President of the Alturas Institute, Amy Andersson, a Grammy-winning conductor and producer, Dr. Caroline Heldman, the Executive Director of the Representation Project and Chair of the Critical Theory and Social Justice Department at Occidental College in Los Angeles and Karen Crouse, former New York Times Sports writer and author.

Peter Detwiler, North Slope Borough wildlife technician, samples polar bear footprints in snow.(University of Idaho / Jennifer Adams)Researchers at the University of Idaho have recently discovered a new way to distinguish individual polar bears in the wild, using their tracks.

This noninvasive method collects DNA from the animals' paw prints, allowing scientists to monitor the bear populations without disturbing them.

Research Scientist Jennifer Adams and Lisette Waits, Distinguished Professor with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences with U of I join Idaho Mattes to talk more about this new research.

( Dr. Richard Bell)Four years ago the New York Times magazine started an initiative called the "1619 Project" to look at the 400th anniversary of black slavery in America.

The project has sparked hundreds of conversations on the legacy of black slavery and the contributions of black Americans, creating backlash as several states have incited laws to block it from public schools.

Dr. Richard Bell is a professor of history at the University of Maryland and is hosting a series of lectures about the project at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Boise and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this subject.

Schools around the country are back in session and not only are we seeing a COVID-19 surge but, meningitis is also top of mind. So what should we know in order to protect ourselves?

This Friday, Sept. 8 the 34th annual Boise Pride Festival kicks off, celebrating Idaho's LGBTQ+ community.

It's been a busy summer on the Boise River with thousands of people taking part in one of the area's favorite activities: floating.

Here in Idaho a nonprofit is helping to provide shoes to thousands of kids around the world, working to address a problem that many families impacted by poverty come up against: bare feet.

(iStockphoto.com)It’s a special Labor Day version of “What to Watch” with our resident movie critic, and Morning Edition host, George Prentice!

The nose knows. There’s a controversy brewing over noses, specifically prosthetic noses that actors use when playing roles like the current movie Golda.

Actress Helen Mirren has been caught up in controversy as she plays Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. George takes a look at fake noses through movie history and at how the nose uproar is taking away from stellar acting and a fascinating historical story.

Colin Sesek performing in "Bent Compass."( Colin Sesek)In 2004 Colin Sesek was working for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. A year later he was in the Army, working to become a medic, and soon his deployments began.

While he traveled around the world he kept in touch with his friend from the Shakespeare Festival, Neil Brookshire. They talked over the phone and Colin shared his experiences with Neil who began to think about how to put those experiences on stage to share with a wider audience.

What emerged was the one-man play "Bent Compass" where Neil shares much of what Colin went through as he transformed from a raw Army recruit to a veteran of combat and includes many of the hard, gripping and painful experiences that went along with his time in the service.

Neil will be on stage performing the play in Garden City Thursday, September 7 and Friday, September 8 as a special Alley Repertory Theater production. Sesek and Brookshire joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming performance.

(Madelyn Beck / Mountain West News Bureau)A growing body of research shows that when the air quality is bad outside, it can also affect the air indoors. So what should you do when wildfire smoke is clouding the sky? One project in Idaho is testing out solutions to protect some of the community's most vulnerable. Rachel Cohen reports.

Imagine a panoramic view of a field of stars or a beautiful desert landscape with a time lapse of galaxies crawling across the night sky. These are just some the amazing pictures captured by astrophotographer Nate Liles.

Nate is coming back to the Sun Valley Museum of Art to share some of his tips and tricks for taking pictures of the night sky and he joined Idaho Matters to chat ahead of his visit.

(Mike Mozart / Flickr)The ACLU of Idaho is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The state's chapter began with a lawsuit in 1993 and has been here ever since and now the organization has over 5,000 Idaho members.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Leo Morales, the Executive Director of ACLU of Idaho and Louise Melling, the Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU National Office.

(Diogo Luiz Gomes Diniz
/ Flickr)When you see a dead bird below a power line your first thought is likely that it died from electrocution. This is a common conventional wisdom, but a new study says it's wrong.

The study shows that a majority of birds found dead near power lines had been shot, not electrocuted. This study has profound implications for conserving birds, like bald eagles, and for figuring out the best ways to help them thrive.

Todd Katzner, research wildlife biologist with the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center U.S. Geological Survey and Eve Thomason, research associate with the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University join Idaho Matters to tell us more about the study.

Women attend the closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on Monday in Gatineau, Quebec.(Chris Wattie / Reuters)Indigenous journalists from the U.S. and Canada gathered recently in Winnipeg for a conference on important issues - like the missing and murdered. It's a tragedy that knows no boundaries.

Antonia Gonzalez of National Native News was there and filed this report for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Construction in Downtown Boise. (Dan McLean
/ Flickr)We've seen a ton of new apartment buildings being proposed in Boise and Ada County as builders work to fill a growing need for housing in the Treasure Valley. But some of those building projects have ground to a halt, even if they have the go-ahead from city officials.

BoiseDev reporter Sydney Kidd dug into the apartment building market to find out why this was happening, and some of the reasons she found may surprise you.

(iStockphoto.com)It’s a special Labor Day version of “What to Watch” with our resident movie critic, and Morning Edition host, George Prentice!

The nose knows. There’s a controversy brewing over noses, specifically prosthetic noses that actors use when playing roles like the current movie Golda.

Actress Helen Mirren has been caught up in controversy as she plays Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. George takes a look at fake noses through movie history and at how the nose uproar is taking away from stellar acting and a fascinating historical story.

(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 gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Nicole Blanchard, outdoors reporter for the Idaho Statesman
Andrea Olson withEastIdahoNews.com
Logan Finney with Idaho Reports

(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 right to a "clean and healthful environment."

The case is the first of its kind in the U.S. holding state officials and agencies responsible for the carbon footprint of future fossil fuel projects and how those emissions may impact the climate. Flathead Beacon Reporter Micah Drew joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the landmark case.

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, tenants must find a way to get current on their rent, go to court or find a new place to live and all of those steps can have psychological effects on the families involved.

Statesman reporter Rachel Spacek took a deep dive into eviction cases in the Boise area and joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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 Bonners Ferry, nearly 400 students are being taught in a building that is falling apart.

There are cracks in the walls, water stains on the ceilings and a collapsing plumbing system. Without air conditioning or proper heating, classrooms are boiling in the summers and freezing in the winters. Not to mention the roof is failing.

But despite all of this Valley View Elementary School has been unable to get a bond approved that would make any significant changes. They're not the only school in Idaho that's dealing with this issue.

Other districts across the state are suffering from deteriorating schools without the funding to fix them.

Which is why ProPublica and the Idaho Statesman have embarked on a joint investigation, looking into the condition of Idaho schools and how those conditions are impacting students and teachers.

Idaho Statesman reporter Becca Savransky and ProPublica Reporter Asia Fields joined Idaho Mattes to talk more about this new effort.

(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 Matters to give us a preview of what he's planning to see.

As kids head back to school cities across America are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, leading to questions about how this new surge is going to be handled.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the results of the school bond and levy elections and what they mean for students and taxpayers.

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.

This fall could be many peoples last chance to see an annular solar eclipse in the U.S. for more than a decade.

A new study found that growing cities in the west are having a harmful impact on sagebrush ecosystems. Not only is urban growth negatively impacting the size of nearby rangeland, but the quality as well. However, there may be a silverlining.

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.

The federal government is spending billions on infrastructure projects, including ecosystem restoration. Idaho Matters takes a look at what those dollars are buying.

Blaine County is working to support teachers and students in the classroom by prohibiting cells phones and providing more affordable housing.

As wildfires become more common in the region people are needing to take more precautions to protect their homes. Idaho Matters talks with an expert on how to do that and where to start.

Every year migrant workers make their way to Idaho to help fill a gap in the agricultural industry. These are some of the most difficult jobs in the state and unfortunately seem to come with a variety of risks.

As technology continues to evolve more colleges are empowering students to use new tools, like artificial intelligence, in their everyday learning.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including why Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is pushing back on the results of an audit and an update on the AG's lawsuit against the State Board of Education.

The Food and Drug Administration approves a vaccine for pregnant people to protect their babies from the RSV virus.

The Latin Jazz and mambo musician comes to Boise.

From astronomy to Ice Age mammals, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute brings learning and fellowship together.

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.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the charges against former President Donald Trump and what it means for the rule of law, our constitution, and American democracy.

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.

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.

The International Climbers’ Festival was held in our region recently, and it offered an unusual clinic focused on mentally visualizing climbing routes, rather than depending on sight. It featured a champion climber who happens to be legally blind.

Idaho Matters takes a look at some of states most urgent health needs.

The remnants of hurricane Hilary have been bringing torrential rains and some flooding as the storm moves up the United States. As Idaho gets hit by the storms leftovers, Idaho Matters takes a look at the impact.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including how Medicaid unwinding is impacting children in the Gem State and why Idaho's law restricting transgender athletes from playing sports in school has been put on hold.

Getting a flat tire on your bike from a goathead is a summer time rite of passage in Idaho. These spikey plants are public enemy number one for many outdoor enthusiasts, which is why Jimmy Hallyburton, Founder of the Boise Bicycle Project, came up with the idea of the Boise Goathead Festival.

As Idaho colleges and universities gear up for another academic school year we're sitting down with some of the heads of those institutions to find out what's happening in Idaho higher education, starting with Boise State President Dr. Marlene Tromp.

Wildfire season is always tough for those who do the grueling work. This year federal firefighters are also facing the possibility o steep pay cuts.

Across the nation kids are suffering from a mental health crisis, experiencing increasing levels of anxiety and depression. And when it comes to looking at groups that are most at risk, reports found that students attending high performing schools fell into this category.

COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in the United States, Europe and Asia.

As yet another heat advisory blankets the region, ushering in some of the hottest temperatures of the season, a team of climate action activists, who are also Boise high school students, say it’s not too late to turn back the tide.

Next week, the Boise Contemporary Theater will be bringing playwrights, actors and directors together for the third annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival.

If you're looking for a book that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat, Idaho Matters has a recommendation for you!

This month, the first human case of West Nile virus was reported in Idaho. The infection is most commonly passed along by mosquitos and while some bites only lead to flu like symptoms others can lead to serious illness.

Students across the state are getting ready to head back to school and in Boise two principals are preparing their classrooms for a new year of learning.

Back in May we told you about Idaho's Air Guitar Champion and now he's heading to Finland to compete in the Air Guitar World Championships.

Idaho Matters sits down to talk with James McBride about his newest book.

For years national parks have been running into the same issue, overcrowding. Now many other places, like wildlife refuges, state parks and shorelines are also experiencing this problem.

The Albertsons Boise Open is back for another year of golfing, music, charity and fun!

The new head of the Sun Valley Museum of Art is making changes to the institution after a big renovation opened a new chapter at the museum.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including the open primary ballot initiative, a growing divide in the Idaho Republican Party and an update on the Perpetua-Nez Perce lawsuit settlement.

Just over a year ago people had a constitutional right to abortion in this country – a right that had been in effect for almost 50 years, until June 24, 2022 when that right was taken away. But this isn't a new chapter in our American history and just as people are fighting to get that right back today, so were a secret group of women back in the 1970s.

Changes are coming to the Idaho Statesman, including a cut back to their print edition.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including an increase in fatal shootings in Boise, a review of Lori Vallow Daybell's sentencing and how the McCall-Donnelly School District is working to support their employees.

During the warmer months its not uncommon to see yard sale signs throughout the neighborhood. However, before you decide to host your own it might be worth checking out whether or not you qualify for an occasional sales exemption.

Idaho Matters sits down to find out about the basics of seed saving.

Over the last three years more than 5,000 people in Idaho have died due to COVID-19. Across the U.S. that number increases to more than one million. In order to commemorate those who were lost to the pandemic and the workers who helped care for them Saint Alphonsus Health System has created several memorial gardens to help provide a little bit of hope.

There's a shortage of more than 150 drugs, some of them life-saving, that many people in Idaho have been unable to get from their pharmacies. Idaho Matters takes a look at why we are seeing these shortages, how hospitals are coping and what you can do if you can't find your medication.

Our Region offers endless opportunities for outdoor recreation. But Spanish Speakers can find it tough to enjoy the trails when there are no maps or other information in their primary language. So Latino groups are looking for solutions to get more members of their community outdoors.

LED is kicking off a new project, sparking imagination with movement and music.

This year marks a special time for the Boise Valley Square Dance Hall as it's celebrating its 45th anniversary.

Every state has a point that's higher than any other spot on the map. It's called a "high point" and one Idaho teenager has made it her mission to climb all 50 high points in the United States.

Stargazers are getting quite a treat this August: a double feature of two so-called supermoons.

It's no secret that our world is getting brighter, especially at night, as more artifical light is added to our environment. And that expanding brightness is having an effect, often a negative ecological impact on wildlife.

Here in Idaho everyone has been feeling the heat, including the animals! And because they can’t pop inside for a little air conditioning animals have adapted to the heat in different ways, including splooting.

When the new musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, opened in New York it took Broadway by storm and garnered no less than 12 Tony nominations. But because of the pandemic, not many people outside of New York have seen the musical. Now however, the musical is coming to Idaho an will be premiering at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival this weekend.

In todays climate and culture, discussions of female power and autonomy are incredibly important - especially when it comes to positions of leadership. Elizabeth Silvers newest book, "The Majority" looks at these topics, drawing inspiration from history as she follows one woman's journey to becoming a Supreme Court Justice.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including why Bowe Bergdahl's conviction was vacated, property tax relief for Idahoans and an update on U of I's acquisition of the University of Phoenix.

Much of Allison Gibson’s passion and profession has been defined by soccer. As a player, she was an All American and as a coach, she became the winningest coach in Idaho State University history.Now, as president and director of coaching with the Indie Chicas Football Club, she helps the next generation of players realize their potential on and off the field.

This weekend, some modern day ghostbusters will take over the Old Idaho Penitentiary to see if they hear from any of the 130 who died or were executed at the former Boise prison.

Officials broke ground recently on an ambitious power line project that will move renewable energy across our region. The 732-mile TransWest will supply electricity to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other areas. It's one way the Biden Administration is hoping to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2035.

Yellow Pine, Idaho may be small, but it sure is mighty - just ask its harmonica players! There will be hundreds of them this weekend as people head up to the Valley County for the annual Yellow Pine Music and Harmonica Festival.

If you love STEM and romance, Idaho Matters has a book recommendation for you!

The White House is launching a permanent office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response. The new office will work to prepare and respond to biological threats and pathogens that can lead to pandemic. The office replaces the COVID-19 Pandemic Response Office.

The Wood River Museum of History and Culture is hosting their grand opening, making Ketchum an important stop when it comes to exploring the region's past – from tribal history to Hemingway to becoming a global ski destination.

Idaho Matters sat down for a conversation with Jeff Golden about his debut book "Reclaiming the Sacred." The book looks at the science of happiness and the ways in which materialism impacts, not just ourselves, but our environment as well.

Across the country, health care professionals are experiencing burnout. Idaho Mattes finds out what's contributing to this problem and what can be done to help prevent it.

New changes to Idaho's voter laws has some folks confused so Idaho Matters sat down with the Secretary of State to help explain them.

Last year a few hundred crisis call centers across the country replaced their 1-800 numbers with a simpler three-digit code. Since then that number, which is the 988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, has answered over 12,000 calls, texts and chats from people in Idaho experiencing a mental health crisis.

Are you looking to add a bit of suspense to your summer reading list? Well, Idaho Matters has the perfect recommendation for you.

According to a recent report Crime in Canyon County went up more than 10 percent from 2021 to 2022 - with violent crimes, like murder and assault, rising dramatically.

Idaho Matters takes a look at a new wave of Indigenous cuisine.

How does a new nonprofit measure success? How about saving lives? Connecting kids to education, food and healthcare? That's exactly what's happening with the Boda Girls program.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including an update on school funding, a potential reroute of Idaho highway 55 and how climate change could lead to more rainfall.

Here in Idaho the second annual Latino Conservation Week has kicked off - helping to strengthen the Latino communities relationship with nature.

Here in Idaho 35 of the states 44 counties are rural, leaving many areas of the Gem state without sufficient access to healthcare or resources to help people make decisions about their health, like whether or not to be vaccinated.

This year, the Idaho Conservation League is celebrating 50 years of advocacy and hard work - protecting Idaho's public lands, waterways, air quality and wildlife.

There's growing interest in the potential mental health benefits of psychedelics. Now, scientists are trying to understand the substances and get them approved at the federal level and some of that research is happening in our region.

Earlier this month the new Exhibit "Katazome Today: Migrations of Japanese Art" opened at the Boise Art Museum. The exhibit centers around a unique Japanese process for dying fabrics and features seven artists who explore how this method has evolved over time and culture, sharing different interpretations of the technique.

The FDA has approved a new drug for babies and toddlers to fight the respiratory virus known as RSV and there are new guidelines for screening for breast cancer.

Every year rabid bats are found in Idaho. Last year, 27 bats with rabies were found in the Gem State. And while bats are very beneficial little mammals and shouldn’t be made into the bad guy, it is a good idea to protect yourself and your pets from coming into contact with a possibly rabid bat.

The Idaho State Department of agriculture has declared an outbreak of Mormon crickets and grasshoppers in four Idaho counties and dozens of farmers have already asked for help from the state.

When did horses become a part of Western indigenous communities? That's the focus of a recent study that challenges long-held ideas.

One third of women in the U.S. who have tried to get birth control have had trouble getting a prescription when they need one. The FDA has responded to this frustration by approving the first over-the-counter oral contraceptive.

Earlier this week, the 10th annual Latino Conservation Week kicked off. The celebration is nationwide and promotes access to the outdoors among the Latino community and recognition of their conservation efforts with a week full of activities geared towards protecting our environment and enjoying nature.

Up to 80 percent of cancer patients suffer from malnutrition while going through treatment, according to the Cancer Treatment Center of America. That's why Treasure Valley company Thomas Cuisine is partnering with a Mountain West cancer institute to help combat this issue.

It's time to grab your fishing poles because late last week the Boise River got a little more crowded as nearly 300 Chinook salmon were released into the water. And tomorrow, July 18 Idaho Fish and Game will be adding even more.

Parents of newborns like to keep their babies close using what’s known as body-worn baby carriers, but a new study coming out of Boise State’s Babi Lab says not all of those carriers are created equal and some may have troubling effects on your baby’s hips.

Farm and ranch lands across the west face many threats - like inflation and outside development, but the federal government is working with agricultural producers to preserve open space and the benefits it provides.

Imagine you’re resting alongside the Big Wood River in Sun Valley when suddenly you hear live classical music playing. That is exactly what will be happening next weekend as pianist Hunter Noack takes his Steinway into the wilderness for a concert.

Kids can now collect pieces of history at the Idaho State Museum, including parachuting beavers, lonesome sockeye salmon and a skiing spud!

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including why a new voter registration law is facing pushback and why Simplot is footing a big bill for environmental cleanup.

Last week, seven Attorney's General from different states, including Idaho's Raúl Labrador, addressed a letter to Target warning that products sold as part of its Pride Month Campaign could violate state protection laws.

Earlier this summer, Idaho history was made as the first chef from the Gem State won a James Beard Award.

When it comes to the northern lights, places like Iceland and Alaska are usually thought of as the best kind of spots to catch a glimpse of the famous Aurora Borealis. But this evening several states in the U.S. might have the opportunity to see the natural phenomenon thanks to a particularly strong solar storm.

While COVID-19 ravaged the country, the United States has also been experiencing a number disease outbreaks that we don't normally see, like Dengue Fever, Monkeypox, Measles, Malaria and even polio. Why are we seeing these diseases now? And what can we do about them?

Time in the sun can be fun, but if you're not carful it can also be dangerous. That's why we sat down with a doctor for some tips on how to stay safe in the heat!

Its was warm and balmy in early June in Idaho, but half a world away one Idaho reporter was freezing cold on the side of an African mountain.

In a tiny town on a lonely stretch of western highway, a glowing neon drugstore sign beckons as cars and loaded semi-trucks thunder past. A few travelers stop - maybe they're wondering about the vintage soda fountain visible through the window. Inside, they find a time capsule over 100 years in the making.

More than 40 million Americans will have to start paying back their student loans after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, just over a week ago, that the Biden Administration’s loan forgiveness plan isn’t legal.

Idaho Matters takes a look at how Black Idahoans compare economically with the rest of country.

Idaho Matters dives into a new podcast to find out all about some of the most famous crimes and murders in the Gem State.

This September history practitioners from all over will be coming to Idaho for the annual American Association for State and Local History Conference.

Could your clothes be making you sick? Idaho Matters finds out the answer to this question with award winning journalist Alden Wicker.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including why federal wildland firefighters are facing a big issue, insight into the Idaho Health Data Exchange and controversy surrounding the Fourth of July parade.

During World War II, thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to an internment camp near Twin Falls. Today the Minidoka National Historic Site preserves part of that site keeping the history of that time alive for visitors.

The rediscovery of a lost apple variety has brought new light to the life of one of Idaho's most famous pioneers and the race against time to find lost genetic varieties of the fruit.

Over the last few decades urban beekeeping has been on the rise with beehives popping up in cities and backyards all across America. And while this hobby can be fun, it also plays and important role in supporting local food and ecosystems.

This weekend, Julia Davis Park will be filled with music as Opera in the Park returns for its third year.

There is an obesity epidemic in the United States. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than two in five American adults are obese and nearly one in five American children are obese. So is a drug used to help decrease blood sugar levels in type two diabetics the answer to weight loss?

Playing at the park, on the swings or slide, is a regular part of childhood for most kids. But for those who do not have access to a park with the right kind of equipment playtime can be a challenge.

The allure of the American cowboy attracts many visitors to our region. But cowboys don’t only exist in the West. They’re known in Italy, where the tradition goes back centuries and has a surprising connection to Buffalo Bill Cody.

Our region is catching up to the pickleball boom. Sometimes described as a cross between ping-pong and tennis, the sport has expanded beyond retirement communities.

Rug hooking is an old art that’s seeing a resurgence. During the pandemic two women got together with some very talented folks to make 100 rugs based on fairy tales. And now those rugs are traveling the country.

There are so many struggles facing parents and children in today’s world, then throw in any type of difference and those struggles can multiply. Meg Zucker, who was born with a genetic condition herself, knows those struggles and she wanted to give parents and caregivers some tools on how to support their children.

Grace Cho emigrated to the U.S. as a baby and grew up in a small rural town in Washington state, the daughter of a White American father and a Korean mother. Idaho Matters talks with the author.

When it comes to learning, having the right kind of support inside and outside of the classroom is important. Which is why schools all over Idaho are taking part in a new strategy known as community schools to help aid their students.

In May, 100 teams of kids from around the country gathered outside Washington DC and shot chicken eggs into space as part of the American Rocketry Challenge. The middle and high-school-age kids that took part in this challenge were the best, beating out 800 teams and 4,500 students to get to the finals. And two teams from Idaho got to go this year, the Spudniks and the Rigby Rockets!

Blessing and planting seeds is a farming tradition for Latin America's indigenous people. KUER's Pamela McCall visited a ceremony held by a community garden and a cultural arts group in Utah.

Water is scarce in much of our region. So every spring, one tribe spends days cleaning ditches that are vital to irrigating their farmland. But aging infrastructure and the effects of climate change are making it harder for farmers to get enough water - even after the cleanings.

Idaho Matters sits down with New York Times bestselling author Ashely Poston to talk about her favorite summer reads.

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, in a 6 to 3 vote, the majority ruled race can't be a factor. This means colleges and universities must find new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including takeaways from the ID GOP summer meeting, an update on the Kohberger murder case and new laws that will take effect on July 1.

The high price of housing in the Treasure valley continues to leave many families out of reach of an affordable place to live. One Idaho nonprofit is working to help change this though, building and preserving affordable housing in places like Nampa and Caldwell.

Though historic snowfall eased drought conditions, threats of extended dry periods don’t let up in the arid west. That is why water managers across our region are working on creating sustainable water supplies.

Many native students go to class in schools that are old – and deteriorating, but one tribe in our region fought hard to improve a school plagued by a bat infestation and other problems. They secured $65 million from the state of Nevada to build a new school that would serve more than 300 students living on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Idaho and Nevada.

The waterfall known as the The Niagara of the West is showing off right now, as large amounts of water flow over Shoshone Falls.

The "City of Good" has distributed nearly 1,000 meals and 8,000 pounds of local produce to food insecure Idahoans. Now they have a new undertaking that they hope will help support even more people.

The United States has seen five cases of Malaria spread by mosquitos in the past two months, the first time there has been local spread in 20 years, and this has prompted authorities to issue a public health alert warning to doctors and public health authorities about the risk.

Idaho Mattes meets two young inventors who took home prizes in a national competition.

A tiny town in eastern Idaho is dealing with lead contamination from some very old silver mines.

When it comes to science, nature and birds Jennifer Ackerman can tell you a thing or two. For more than thirty years she's been exploring mysteries of the natural world and breaking them down for people to understand. And if all that wasn't enough, she's also a New York Times bestselling author.

Jane Doe, the woman who was raped by former republican state representative Aaron von Ehlinger, has told her story to the radio program "This American Life."

After almost 40 years, emission tests are going away in the Treasure Valley. Idaho Matters finds out why.

The University of Idaho's plan to purchase the for-profit University of Phoenix has been the focus of much criticism, especially from lawmakers and others who feel the process was rushed and say too much of the planning went on behind closed doors.

Author Annabel Monaghan is back with a new summer romance that you won't want to miss.

There are certain parts of Idaho where health issues like cancer and arthritis are more prevalent. Idaho Matters takes a look at new county by county health trends.

Two years ago the Pacific Northwest experienced a record breaking heat wave that resulted in hundreds of fatalities. Now one Oregon county is suing several fossil fuel companies and coal-producing corporations, saying that their products played a significant role in generating the heat dome and further intensifying it.

Over the last year gas prices in the Gem State have fallen, but AAA Idaho says those lower prices won't last long.

After 16 years of helping connect kids with bikes Jimmy Hallyburton is retiring from the role of director with the Boise Bicycle Project.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a look at the one year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and why one Boise city council member is stepping down.

Real estate prices in Ketchum skyrocketed during the pandemic. Now the community is trying to stop the bleed of local workers being priced out.

Animal agriculture produces more methane - a powerful greenhouse gas - than any other human activity in the U.S. Climate experts say we need to cut those down now. But the science on livestock emissions is just emerging, so it's not clear how to do that.

One program is providing free produce to seniors this summer. Fresh fruits and vegetables aren't the only perk for those participating though, so is the community.

It's time for summer blockbusters, including a new Indiana Jones movie and another installment of Mission: Impossible. And if you want a more intimate movie experience, we've got a couple of documentaries to talk about.

A new study is showing that the COVID-19 infection can result in the onset of hypertension, better known as high blood pressure.

When storyteller Arlie Sommer was young, her grandmother would regale tales of Harriet “Babe” Hanson, dubbed the “Annie Oakley of Idaho.”

Steven Rowley is back with his latest novel, "The Celebrants."

Back in January, some food bank officials started warning about the end of a COVID-era program that sent extra support to food stamp recipients. They expected a lot of people in our region to have a rough spring, and that's playing out now - especially with inflation driving food prices higher.

Since 2006, CATCH Idaho has been working to provide housing for families that are experiencing homelessness. Now the nonprofit is also connecting families with the healthcare they need.

Have you ever had a broken item that you've wanted to fix, but weren't sure how? Well the Repair Café is helping to solve that problem, pairing people and their broken household belongings with tinkerers and tools to help fix them.

You’ve heard of road rage, but have you ever had an emotional reaction to losing a parking spot? Parking can evoke a visceral reaction in ordinary people, despite the fact there is more housing for each car in the United States than there is housing for each person.

Gemma talks with New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink about his latest book,"The Power Of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.

Idaho Matters spoke with author Lizzie Damilola Blackburn about her novel.

'Raising Critical Thinkers:' An author interview with Julie Bogart

If you believe in fate or perhaps serendipity, the book "Just Haven't Met you Yet" will be one you'll want to add to TBR list.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including an update to Boise’s zoning code, the Nampa School District possibly banning the discussion of gender identity and expression, a Meridian man accused of firing shots at Hells Canyon Dam, and health disparities among the Hispanic community.

Saturday is World Refugee Day in Boise and we have a preview.

Officials want to raise Anderson Ranch Dam to provide more water storage to the Boise Basin.

A new video game teaches University of Idaho medical students how to keep patients healthy.

Indigenous art is often only viewed as a relic, a historical work of the past. But that’s not the case – their art and their people are present today. One Cochiti Pueblo artist showcases that concept in his latest exhibit.

The Payette Land Trust has been working to conserve Cougar Island.

Will monkeypox come back in force this summer?

The map includes bike lanes, topography, hazards, and trip recommendations.

We get an update on the trail, which has been fought in court since 2019.

It was four years ago that we got a chance to sit down with the owner of the Sun Valley Ranch about the lawsuit he filed against the U.S. Forest Service over the Stanley to Redfish Lake Trail. As the trail is about to open, despite his ongoing appeal in the 9th Circuit Court, we wanted to revisit that interview, where he outlines his concerns about the project.

Back in June of 2019 we spoke with the Idaho Conservation League about their Friend of the Court brief in the lawsuit over the Stanley to Redfish Lake Trail. Despite the ongoing lawsuit, the trail is about to open to the public and we wanted to revisit that interview to find out why the Conservation League felt the need to support the U.S. Forest Service in this case.

Dandelions are not as bad as their reputation and Boise is planning a festival to celebrate this maligned weed!

Overcrowding and vandalism may be putting Idaho public lands at risk.

A microgrant program to help parents with education costs is under scrutiny.

As the Federal Reserve meets, how is Idaho doing financially so far this year?

We look at towns that may see new nuke power plants and uranium mines and what it means for the economy and the environment.

Idaho Matters sits down to look at the history of Flag Day and why courageous people have stood up to defend the ideals it represents.

A mining company may have found the largest known deposit of rare earths in North America in Southeast Wyoming.

Boise has some very ambitious climate goals. We check in to see how the city is progressing.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including Idaho Medicaid, Branden Durst, hospital cyberattacks, Raul Labrador, Boise's bus service, and another Greater Idaho vote.

Idaho is getting more EV charging stations and they want your help to figure out where to put them.

Grab your rain coats, because it looks like we have some storms headed our way!

Have you ever wondered how Boise trails get their names? Well, it turns out there are many different origins, from the sentimental to the practical.

Believe it or not, Broadway depends a lot on television for its survival and it turns out the ongoing writers strike in Hollywood almost derailed this weeks Tony awards.

You know about COVID-19 and the effect it has had on the world, but what about the other coronaviruses out there? Turns out there are more than you might think.

Next Saturday, 7,000 athletes from around the world will gather in Berlin for the Special Olympics World Games and two athletes from Idaho will be there to compete with folks from 170 countries.

It's something many current and former Wildland firefighter ask themselves: What does all this smoke, dust and ash I've been breathing for months on end mean for my health? A new national registry for all firefighters could eventually shed a great deal more light on that largely unanswered question.

Japanese beetles have invaded Canyon County. Well, at least one small residential area of Caldwell and the Idaho Department of Agriculture is working to eliminate these nasty pests.

Approximately 390 acres of land west of Midvale are now in public hands as part of a cooperative effort to help Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.

Have you ever held a wild songbird in the palm of your hand? It turns out that a group of research's are asking you to come and do just that.

State health officials are giving high marks to first responders in McCall for containing what could have been a significant health issue. One woman saw something was wrong and before long officials had found and contained a chemical spill in Payette Lake.

Doctor takes a sample of a patient's blood.(BURGER / Getty Images)Back in April, we told you about how more than 23,000 people had been dropped from Idaho's Medicaid program.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government put "Medicaid Protection" in place which kept folks on health insurance even if they had lost eligibility. But that protection ran out on April 1.

Since then, Idaho Health and Welfare has been re-evaluating the cases of almost 154,000 people to see who is still eligible and who is not and must be dropped from the program.

So far, the number of people who have been dropped was over 23,000. Now, it's more than 35,000 and the number is expected to keep going up.

Many of those folks who have been dropped are turning to the few free health clinics in Idaho for their health care and those clinics are feeling the strain.

Steve Davis, Clinic Director for the Genesis Free and Charitable Clinics in Caldwell and Garden City, and Sherrie Joseph, who directs the Pocatello Clinic joined Idaho Matters to give us an update on the situation.

Trash left on public lands. ( Recreating Responsibly Idaho / Idaho Department of Lands)Maybe you've seen pictures or maybe you've seen it in person: trash littering your favorite campsite, old junk dumped along your hiking trail, beautiful public lands trashed and left a mess.

Sometimes it's deliberate, but often it's simply ignorance and a lack of understanding of what to do or not to do on public lands.

The "Recreating Responsibly Idaho" program is hoping to fix at least part of the problem. Robbie Johnson, Senior Public Information Officer with the Idaho Department of Lands and Idaho outdoor author Steve Stuebner, who has worked on the Recreating Responsibly campaign joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this issue.

Spring has finally sprung and it's warming up and greening up all around Idaho. Along with all that green, we're starting to see some color as wildflowers start to bloom and show off, especially in the backcountry.

Idaho outdoor author Steve Stuebner joined Idaho Matters to give us ideas on where to spot these magnificent wildflowers.

Heyburn residents Steven Hill and Fred Sayre were completing a property clean out in 2022 when they made a fascinating discovery: a Burley postal uniform from 1927 in almost perfect condition.

Now in their line of work, it's not unusual to find relics of the past, but this discovery was special, especially because it gave them a chance to help preserve a small piece of the town's history. Hill joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his unique find.

Boise Airport( iflyboise.com Boise Airport Facebook)Lori Vallow Daybell wants a new trial, you can no longer take a direct flight from Boise to Houston, homeless services could be running out of funding, a look at why there is no insanity legal defense in Idaho and we get a little insight into how some communities are helping to protect public lands.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kaleb Roedel, Reporter for KUNR’s Mountain West News Bureau
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
Gretchen Parsons, Managing Editor with BoiseDev.com
Troy Oppie, host of All Things Considered with Boise State Public Radio

A tornado forms and touches down. (Orlin Wagner / AP)When it comes to the weather, Idahoans have seen their fair share of wildfires, winter storms and droughts. What they may not have seen though are tornadoes. That doesn't mean they're not happening though.

BoiseDev reporter Anna Daly joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this often unnoticed weather event.

Starbelly Belly Dancers Cecilia Rinn and Tori King visited the Idaho Matters studio to do a little dancing, shaking and a lot of teaching about Arabic Culture and dance.

(iStockphoto)Across America, only half of the women, infants, and children who are eligible to access the WIC nutrition program are actually getting the healthy foods and education that are available to them.

In Idaho that ratio is even worse, with just 40 percent of this vulnerable population accessing the WIC program.

A new half million dollar grant hopes to change that by reaching out to the women and children who qualify for the federal program and helping them sign up, especially the immigrant and refugee communities in Boise, Elmore, Valley and Ada counties.

Emily Waddoups is the Central District Health WIC Program Manager and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Viking Publishing)It's probably fair to say that, at some point, we all need a little bit of advice and guidance in our lives.

New York Times Bestselling author Kevin Kelly has written a new book that offers just that. It's called, "Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier." Kelly Joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his newest book.

Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier

A doctor administers a dose of the monkeypox vaccine.(Hollie Adams / Getty Images)Less than a month after the World Health Organization said Monkeypox is no longer a global public health emergency, the CDC is reporting an increase in cases. Oregon officials are urging folks in that state to get vaccinated before a possible summer surge in cases. And the CDC says at least one study could show drug-resistant mutations of Monkeypox.

Also, if you thought COVID-19 was over, think again. You may still have COVID in your heart and your brain and that could mean very bad things for the future.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about all of this.

People float down the Boise River on a warm day. (Talo Pinto / Flickr)With the official start of summer just around the corner, many people are gearing up to float the Boise River.

In order to help keep people safe while they have fun this summer, Ada County and the City of Boise have teamed up to create a new resource that will prepare people for their float.

Doug Holloway, Boise Parks and Recreation Director and Bonnie Shelton, Communication and Marketing Superintendent for Boise Parks and Recreation, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this new resource.

Ever wanted to spot a kingfisher or a yellow-headed blackbird or a kestrel? What about herons, flickers and yellow-rumped warblers? Even if you are an experienced birder, it can be tricky to spot and identify all of the amazing bird species in southern Idaho.

The Golden Eagle Audubon Society has a birding field trip for you, no matter if you’re an experienced birder, an eager newbie or you just want to spot a few cool birds and learn more about them.

The society and its bird volunteers host a ton of different birding field trips this time of year and Liz Paul, who coordinates the program and field trippers Katie Crooks, Lorraine Poor and Jim James joined Idaho Matters to tell us more about them.

( G.P. Putnam's Sons )After the success of her first two novels "The Layover" and "From the Jump," author Lacie Waldon has been hard at work on her newest book, "The Only Game in Town." Waldon joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her most recent release.

The Layover

St. Luke’s Children’s Mobile Care Clinic.( Photo courtesy of St. Luke's)Here in Idaho, not every family has easy access to a doctor.

This can create a gap, leaving children without regular medical care. That's why St. Luke's has stocked a mobile care clinic with everything it needs to hit the road and bring the health professionals to the kids that need them most.

Pediatrician Dr. Noreen Womack and St. Luke's Community Health Manager Jean Mutchie joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the traveling care clinic.

Water sparkles on a shrinking Lake Powell near the Cathedral in the Desert in Glen Canyon.(Claire Harbage/NPR / NPR)This year, Lake Powell will get a big boost from melting snow. The nation’s second-largest reservoir on the Colorado River needed the water because it was at a record low earlier this year.

Before the spring rise, KUNC’s Alex Hager met up with a crew of adventurers to document the historic moment.

"Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World that Misunderstands Males" book cover. ( Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)As parents we can probably all agree that we want to raise well-rounded, emotionally intelligent and kind human beings. But in the culture and the climate that we live in, that can be tough, especially when we're raising boys in a world that often rewards stereotypical masculinity.

Parenting expert Jennifer Fink joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this, as well as her new book "Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World that Misunderstands Males."

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This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on October 24, 2022.

What do Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald and E.E. Cummings all have in common? The modernist writers all lived in Paris in the 1920s.

And the person who brought them together was Sylvia Beach, an American woman who owned the bookstore Shakespeare & Company. Idaho Matters talks with author Keri Mare about her new novel, which chronicles that time through Sylvia Beach's eyes.

(berny-s / Flickr)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on July 29, 2022.

The Editor-in-Chief of CrimeReads, Dwyer Murphy, is debuting his new novel - a gripping crime fiction titled, "An Honest Living." Dwyer joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his book.

"I Didn't Do the Thing Today" book cover. (Avery Publishing)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired in 2022.

Do you ever feel like you haven't gotten enough accomplished in the day, in the month or even the year? Well, you are not alone in those feelings.

Author Madeleine Dore has some ideas on how to let go of what she calls "productivity guilt." She recently released "I Didn't Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt" and joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

I Didn't Do The Thing Today

This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 24, 2022.

Dr. Rita Woods won the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction last year for her novel "Remembrance." NPR called the book "A complex story of loss and survival told across 200 years by four women, united by the color of their skin." Dr. Woods is coming to Storyfort in downtown Boise this week. She talked earlier with host Gemma Gaudette.

Micron's Boise headquarters. ( Micron Technology)A look at the University of Phoenix deal, Micron is expanding in Idaho, lawmakers are trying to protect more land in the Mountain West, student loan relief is being provided to some rural health care professionals and its possible we could see an increase in wildfires this year.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Murphy Woodhouse, Mountain West News Bureau Boise Reporter
Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com
Will Walkey, Reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau and Wyoming Public Media

American flags flap in the in the wind. (Lynne Gilbert / Getty Images)Monday is Memorial Day and events are planned all over Idaho.

On this day of remembering our fallen our Morning Edition host George Prentice wanted to spend some time finding out how Idaho veterans are doing in the Gem State.

The night sky.(Shutter Runner / Flickr)Bruneau Dunes State Park is celebrating the opening of their new observatory to give folks a chance to peek into the far reaches of the cosmos.

The new telescope will be the second one at the park and features state-of-the-art technology for looking at the stars.

Bryce Bealba, Manager of Bruneau Dunes State Park and Craig Quintana, Public Information Officer for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Dennis the Cat has the only marked grave inside the walls of the Old Idaho Penitentiary.( Idaho State Historical Society)In the past, we’ve told you about some of the fascinating history of the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise, from haunted cells to rose gardens to notable prisoners who lived behind the stone walls.

But we haven’t talked about one of the best-liked and most respected residents of the Old Pen, Dennis.

Dennis lived at the prison between 1952 and 1968 and when he died, the prison population buried him in the only marked grave inside the prison walls. And oh yeah, it might be worth mentioning that Dennis was a cat.

This Sunday marks the third annual Dennis the Cat Day at the Old Idaho Penitentiary and we wanted to find out what all the fuss over this feline was about. So we asked Alexandra Polidori, the event coordinator at the Old Idaho Pen, to join Idaho Matters.

(iStockphoto)You may have noticed a change this week if you've been using a friend or family member's Netflix login to watch your favorite movies. And Netflix is not alone, all the primary streaming services are tinkering with their deals.

Plus there's a new docuseries out that you just can't miss. Here to help us figure out What to Watch is our resident movie critic and Morning Edition Host George Prentice.

A computer rendering of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.(Radoslav Zilinsky / Getty Images)China is facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections that could see as many as 65 million cases per week by the end of June, as a new Omicron variant has been hitting the country since last month.

So what does this mean for the United States and Idaho?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to help us answer this question.

Dutch National Ballet dancers performing Hans van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes.(Dutch National Ballet / Hans Gerritsen)This July, the Dutch National Ballet will be taking the stage for its first U.S. tour in 40 years.

The company will be kicking off its tour in Idaho with two unforgettable nights of dance at Ballet Sun Valley. Dutch National Ballet's Director Ted Brandsen and Associate Artistic Director Rachel Beaujean joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming performances.

Jere Hodgin and Chantelle DeGroat in "Flowers for Hank" by student playwright Abigail Griffith.(Sarah Jessup)Next month the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference will be returning to McCall for its 23rd year, bringing together directors, actors, playwrights and more for two weeks of new plays and workshops.

Producing Artistic Director Jeni Mahoney joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming conference.

Idaho Air Guitar Boise Championships 2022 at The Shredder with RickDICKulous the 2020 champion. ( Idaho Air Guitar)Tell the truth, have you ever played a little air guitar in the privacy of your own home? It’s a guilty pleasure many of us indulge in, but we don’t usually admit to it.

Turns out there’s a national competition for folks who have no guitar, no ability to play one, but plenty of musical heart and soul! And the competition is coming to Idaho!

Idaho’s Air Guitar champion from last year, Brian "Fan Airnation" Dunn and Lloyd "Stonehenge" Weema, who is a member of the US Air Guitar production crew, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the competition.

These are just some of the items seized during the first month the OSS Unit was in operation.( Caldwell Police Department)The Caldwell Police Department has created a new, specialized gang unit to reduce gang-related crimes in the Treasure Valley.

The five-member unit is called “Operation Safe Streets,” or OSS.

In just one month, the new unit made 21 arrests, pulling meth, fentanyl and guns off the streets. And they’re networking with other agencies and interacting with schools, families and local businesses to work to keep gangs out of Caldwell.

Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram and OSS Sergeant Andrew Holmes joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new unit.

A hummingbird hovers above a flower drinking nectar. ( Noah Comet)Hundreds of migratory hummingbirds have already arrived in the Boise Foothills, the West Central Mountains and Treasure Valley backyards.

These tiny birds are a delight to watch but it turns out that flapping their wings 80 times a second and traveling more than five thousand miles to start a family are just the start of their achievements.

Their cultural place in our human history is often overlooked, leaving us unaware of their affect on the pre-Columbian Americas or even during World War II!

Noah Comet will be speaking tonight about The Cultural History of Hummingbirds in Boise at the invitation of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society. He’s a professor of English at the U.S. Naval Academy and joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his upcoming lecture.

( The Boise Bicycle Project)This week, the Boise Bicycle Project is launching a program that will offer families a new way to purchase bikes for their kids.

The goal of the nonprofit is to provide access to bikes in an affordable, reliable and sustainable way. In order to help achieve this goal, BBP is introducing a sliding-scale payment method where parents pay what they can afford in exchange for a new summer ride for their kids.

BBP Volunteer Manager Benton Smith and Programs Director Devin McComas joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new program and how it will work.

Lori Vallow Daybell stands and listens as the jury's verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho on Friday May 12, 2023. The Idaho jury convicted Daybell of murder in the deaths of her two youngest children and a romantic rival, a verdict that marks the end of a three-year investigation that included bizarre claims of zombie children, apocalyptic prophesies and illicit affairs. (Kyle Green / Associated Press)Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty on all charges after her murder trial wrapped up earlier this month. The jury found her guilty of murdering two of her children, Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, among other charges.

And now one of the jurors in the case, juror number eight, has come forward to talk about sitting in the courtroom with Daybell for five weeks. The juror sat directly across from Daybell and said “If there is a face to evil, it was hers."

Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A small herd of elk cross a busy road. ( Idaho Transportation Department)Every year, dozens of deer and other animals are hit by cars on Highway 21 between Lucky Peak and Idaho City.

As the wildlife tries to cross the busy highway, animals die, people are injured or killed and drivers face thousands of dollars in damage to their vehicles.

In an effort to slow the carnage, the Idaho Transportation Department built an underpass back in 2010 to funnel mule deer, elk and other animals safely under the highway. Six months after it was completed the number of deer hit by cars dropped dramatically.

Now officials are preparing to build a second one, this time a wildlife overpass a mile away, to save more animals and drivers from collisions.

Environmental Planner, Scott Rudel and Brian Rick with the Idaho Transporation Department joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A glass of water sits on a grey surface. (Zelda Richardson / Flickr)Pouring a glass of water in your kitchen isn’t always easy on tribal lands.

Overall, Native American families are 19 times more likely than a White family to lack indoor plumbing. And it’s a big problem in our region.

Emma Gibson of the Mountain West News Bureau takes a look at a project designed to help.

The book cover of author Sidney Karger's debut novel, "Best Men."( Berkley)What happens when the boy meets the girl's fiance's brother?

Award-winning screenwriter Sidney Karger, former writer and director with Comedy Central, MTV, AMC and contributing writer for Saturday Night Live has written his debut novel about what its like to be gay and looking for love. Karger joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his new book, "Best Men."

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Lead investigator Mike Bromwich introduces himself to the City of Boise Council Member. He and his team will be looking into the behavior of retired officer Matthew Bryngelson following revelations he had ties to a white supremacy organization and expressed racist views while still on duty. The results of the BoisePolice investigation into potential racism are out, a look at Native American education in Idaho, the fate of a senior living facility is uncertain, an update on the state budget and a breakdown of the Boise State of the City address.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Carly Flandro, reporter withIdaho Ed News
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
Ian Max Stevenson, reporter with the Idaho Statesman
Rachel Cohen with Boise State Public Radio

(iStockphoto.com)This week 33 out of 44 Idaho counties held elections to raise taxes for schools, sewers and libraries.

Not all of them were successful, including the failure of the $500 million West Ada school levy. This week’s vote comes after the Idaho legislature made changes to when schools can hold bond and levy elections.

What do Tuesday's results mean for schools, growth, and kids? Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Education News, joined Idaho Matters to help us answer those questions.

Last year's Raptor Fest was a big hit with raptors and attendees!( Jim Max)It’s finally springtime and that means there are baby birds, ducks and geese all over the place. If you live in Boise you will see them all over the parks and around the edges of downtown.

Springtime means it’s also time for baby birds to start hatching in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, which is where eagles, hawks, owls and falcons come to nest and raise their young.

The Birds of Prey NCA Partnership is a nonprofit group that works to help the birds and educate folks about the public land south of Kuna.

The group’s Raptor Fest is set for June 3 and partnership board member, Matthew Podolsky and partnership president Steve Alsup join Idaho Matters to talk more.

If you're a fan of the Boise Foothills, you'll want to check out the most recent addition to the area's trails, located in the Hawkins Range Reserve. The added space gives the public official access to 393 acres of new recreational land.

The new trail is a one-way, 5.7 mile loop with a cutoff to a shorter 1.5 mile trek. The trail will be managed by Ridge to Rivers and is subject to seasonal closures like all foothills trails. Dogs are also required to stay leashed until mid-June to protect elk in the area.

Director of Parks and Recreation Doug Holloway and Open Space Superintendent Lisa Duplessie joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the reserve.

International Museum Day on the Basque Block May 22, 2022. ( Arlie Sommer)International Museum Day is May 18 and on May 21, museums in the Treasure Valley will be celebrating with events for the whole family.

Joining Idaho Matters to talk more about what you can expect to see at Sunday's celebration are Cindy Busche, Education Manager of the WaterShed and Boise Museum Association President, as well as Tate Mason, Director of the World Center for Birds of Prey and BMA member.

A flaky red circle is shown on the body of a person with ringworm. (doctorgod.org / Flickr)There’s a nasty strain of a highly contagious, drug-resistant ringworm that is impacting a part of the United States. What does that mean for the rest of us?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System, joined Idaho Matters to help us answer this question.

(NataKo. / Flickr)Kids are flocking to their local playgrounds as it starts to warm up. But for some kids, finding a park they can access can be challenging.

Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau met one family trying to create a park where everyone can play at.

Addie Boswell created E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), the mural resides within the 8th Street Tunnel, located near the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial.( Visionkit Studio / Photography courtesy of Boise City Department of Arts & History)If you’ve visited the Boise Greenbelt recently, you may have noticed a new addition to the 8th Street tunnel. A vibrant mural from artist Addie Boswell now encompasses the space.

After anti-semitic graffiti was found in the tunnel last year, the City of Boise wanted to spread a message of acceptance and belonging.

Boswell and the executive director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, Christina Bruce-Bennion, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the mural and what it means to be part of the Boise community.

A Small Light( Disney +)In June 1996, Miep Gies came to Boise to plant a tree in memory of her friend Anne Frank. She was 80-years-old at the time.

Later, the only Anne Frank Memorial in the United States was built on that spot.

Thanks to a new mini-series many people are now learning about the heroism of a young Gies and how she and her husband hid the Frank family as Nazis took control of Amsterdam.

The series is called "A Small Light" and our Morning Edition host George Prentice found out more about it.

(iStockphoto.com)Idaho’s climate is changing and that will have a range of impacts on the Gem State, including an increase in temperatures, more extreme weather and wildfires, just to name a few.

Those impacts translate into health and economic effects for the people who live and work in Idaho. As part of their spring series on health and climate change, St. Luke's is hosting a talk tomorrow titled, “Idaho Climate Economic Impacts."

Dr. Bill Weppner, a primary care provider and clinician-educator with the Boise VA, who was on the advisory committee for the McClure Center's Idaho Climate Economic Impact Assessment and Dr. Megan Foster with the University of Idaho, who managed the assessment join Idaho Matters to talk more.

If you knew you only had a short time left on this earth, what would you want to do most with your remaining moments?

That’s the question Wish Granters asks of terminally ill adults and their caregivers in Idaho – then they find a way to grant those last wishes.

For Dave, his last wish was a chance to go to the Oregon coast with his kids. Betty wanted to spend some time with horses on a farm. Kami wanted to learn how to fly fish and Goldie wanted her four kids to have enough money to go to college.

All of these folks got their wishes granted by Wish Granters. So how do they do it? And how can you help? Olivia Kviklys and Kristin Jackson from Wish Granters join Idaho Matters to tell us more.

Director Jessica Dorr stands with the Boise Public Library mascot.( Boise Public Library)This Saturday the Boise Public Library and Ada Community Library will be hosting their second annual "Summer Reading and Learning Celebration."

The event shares a mix of local summers programs for kids to participate in, while also offering up quite a bit of fun.

Ryan Peck, the Managing Director and co-founder of Boise Rock School and Joshua Shapel, the event coordinator for Boise Public Library, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

"The Three of Us" book cover. ( G.P. Putnam's Sons )If you’ve been looking for a book that will be tough to put down "The Three of Us" may be just what you’re looking for.

This debut novel by Ore Agbaje-Williams has been named one of Lit Hub’s and Nylon’s most anticipated books of 2023, as well as Elle's best new books for summer. The author joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book.

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(Lacey Daley / Boise State Public Radio)In April, Boise State Public Radio learned an independent investigation tasked with probing the racist agenda of a retired Boise Police Captain had tapped out of allotted funding – approximately $500,000. But now, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean tells us the public will soon learn the results of that investigation.

McLean visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the probe, her decision to make Ron Winegar the full-time chief at BPD and Ada County Commissioners' decision to pull funding from a plan to house homeless men, women and children who may be medically fragile at a downtown Boise hotel.

(Lacey Daley / Boise State Public Radio)The November election is six months away and already the race for Boise mayor is heating up.

Former Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson has tossed his hat into the ring for the job, giving current Boise Mayor Lauren McLean some competition. Masterson retired as police chief in 2015 and our Morning Edition host George Prentice wanted to find out why he wanted to be mayor of Idaho’s capital city.

(BES Photo / Flickr Creative Commons)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on April 17, 2023.

All across the southwest, there’s a problem. There’s not enough water to go around and the water that does arrive often falls far away from where people live, leading to tense conversations about how and where it should be used.

A new project is trying to bridge the gap, starting with the youngest water users. KUNC’s Alex Hager reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(Boise National Forest)According to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, an average of 17 wildland firefighters die every year while fighting fires and many others are injured.

The foundation works to help firefighters and their families during these tragedies and this month they launched their Wildland Firefighter Mental Health Program, which provides counseling services to both firefighters and their families for free.

Burk Minor, the Executive Director of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and counselor Ashley Taylor who will be providing services to the program joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Berkley )If you’re looking for the perfect book to kick off an early summer with, look no further! Emily Henry is back with her latest novel, Happy Place which is a story full of humor, friendship, romance and seaside charm.

Henry joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her newest book.

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(Frankie Barnhill / Boise State Public Radio)It’s Friday, which means it's time to take a look at the news that made headlines this week, including an update on the Lori Vallow Daybell case and why a new coalition that is looking to open Idaho's primaries.

Our journalist panel today:

Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com

A nighttime rehearsal in central London for the coronation of King Charles III, which will take place this weekend.(James Manning / PA Images via Getty Images)After 70 years as heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales will officially become King Charles III this weekend.

Millions of people will be watching the pageantry and ceremony, including two British transplants who are currently in Idaho. Cathy Rushton and Victoria Sunderland are both Daughters of the British Empire and they’re making big plans for the event.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with them to talk about the coronation, the royal family and getting up early to watch the ceremony.

( Poder of Idaho)Next week, PODER of Idaho will be hosting its 2nd annual Latinos Unidos Conference.

The organization is dedicated to empowering immigrant communities in Idaho. The theme of the conference is “Building Latino Power," which will focus on strengthening equity, justice and economic prosperity for the state's Latino community.

Jacky Vazquez, communication manager with PODER and Director of Programs and Operations Raquel Reyes joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

(Richard Carter / Flickr Creative Commons)The City of McCall has a longstanding wild deer problem. Idaho Fish and Game said they counted 258 wild deer in city limits several weeks ago, and that number is only growing.

That’s why city officials need the public’s input. On Thursday, May 4, the wild deer issue will be a topic of discussion at a town hall meeting.

Regan Berkley is a regional wildlife manager and she works out of the Idaho Fish and Game office in McCall. She sat down with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the deer numbers, an infestation of “exotic” lice and what options may be in front of the resort community.

(Dustin Jones / Flickr)Our region is known for beautiful mountain trails, but for those with a disability, hiking can be difficult. One state park in Colorado has worked to fix that.

Emma Vandeneinde of the Mountain West News Bureau takes us on a hike there with some new technology that they hope to expand to other outdoor areas.

Brenda Stanley is a writer and journalist who spent more than two decades as a news anchor and investigative reporter with the NBC affiliate in eastern Idaho.

Her work has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Hearst Journalism Awards. She joined Idaho Matters to talk about her latest novel, "The Still Small Voice."

(ZapWizard / Flickr)The impact of a wildfire doesn't go away once the flames are out. By scarring the Earth, a fire can leave an area vulnerable to floods.

That’s a real risk this year when the snowpack is high in Colorado, Utah and Idaho, which is already facing threats of flooding across several parts of the Gem state.

KUER’s Curtis Booker reports from Utah, which has had a number of big fires, for the Mountain West News Bureau.

A nurse fills a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine. (Orlin Wagner / AP)The Biden administration will end most federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week, rolling back a vast assertion of government power that helped bring an end to the worst public health threat in 100 years. So what does that mean moving forward?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help answer this question.

(CCAC North Library / Flickr)"If you know a librarian, hug them." That’s the advice of Erin Downey who says librarians have been caught in the crossfire of politics this year and are having trouble struggling their way through a new political landscape.

Downey is the Boise School District Library consultant and she sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about how librarians are coping.

Summer is right around the corner and two Boise dog owners teamed up to write a book about 80 trails, paths and parks that are great to explore with your furry friends.

Matt Clark and Diana Burrell love to hike with their dogs and found sometimes they are on a trail and there's either not enough shade, water or the tread wasn't quite right for paws. Their book "The Hiker's Guide: Treasure Valley Dog Hikes & Walks" came about after they talked to Scott Marchant, who has been writing hiker's guidebooks for several years.

The book discusses topics like safety, preparation and bringing enough water for your dogs. They also gave trail ideas for older dogs or dogs with short legs, like Barbara Park Path, the Greenbelt and trails by Celebration Park in Canyon County.

Burrell said all the trails mentioned in the book, like Table Rock and Anchor Butte near Swan Falls Dam, are within 90 minutes of Meridian. Their favorite places to go with their dogs are Seaman's Gulch Complex, Pinnacle Point and Amity Dog Park in Nampa.

Clark and Burrell will be at Rediscovered Books in downtown Boise for a book signing on Thursday, May 4, so bring your dogs and pick up a copy before your next hike.

( Berkley )Author Laura Hankin is known for delivering witty, smart and funny women's fiction and she is back with her latest novel, The Daydreams. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her newest book.

(iStockphoto)Approximately half of all Americans will go through menopause. However, it remains an under-discussed topic, leaving many scared and uninformed about the changes they are experiencing.

It also leaves them in the dark when it comes to perimenopause symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and hormone therapy.

Idaho Matters spent an hour talking about this important topic with three experts in the field:

Jill Gustafson, a certified nurse midwife and menopause specialist with Quantum Women's Health
Dr. Paru David, internist and women's health specialist at the Mayo Clinic and menopause-certified practitioner by the North American Menopause Society
Dr. Tali Sobel, women's health internist at the Mayo Clinic and menopause-certified practitioner by the North American Menopause Society

The experts spoke with Gemma about the difference between early perimenopause, perimenopause and menopause; symptoms and temporary treatments; misinformation around hormone replacement therapy; sexual health and how to advocate for yourself to get the help and treatment you need.

( Idaho Gives)Idaho nonprofits are struggling, especially after demand for their services increased dramatically as part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But this is the time of year when non-profits get a lifeline from the community with Idaho Gives. It’s a four-day fundraiser where you can help your favorite nonprofit.

Kevin Bailey with the Idaho Nonprofit Center says it’s vital, especially for tiny groups that struggle to stay afloat monetarily. He spoke with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about how nonprofits are doing and how Idaho Gives works.

(iStockphoto)One organization in our region is examining water quality and access on tribal lands. Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau took a trip to the border of Arizona and New Mexico to see how.

(Richard Drury / Getty Images)Now more than ever, kids are needing the support of the adults in their life. This is why St. Luke's is hosting a virtual health talk on "How to Show up for Young People with Compassion and Understanding."

This talk will look at how we can create safe environments for kids to share their feelings so that we can better listen and support them, while also helping them find a way forward.

Erin Pfaeffle, the Senior Director of Community Health and Engagement with St. Luke's joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this and the upcoming event.

(iStockphoto)At some point in our life, many of us think about the kind of legacy we would like to leave behind or the things we want our loved ones to know.

And what better way to communicate these thoughts and desires than through a letter, which is exactly how some people are choosing to pass on their life lessons and values to the next generation? Jay Sherwin, the founder of the Life Reflections Project joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

You can pick up a mix of plants at this year's Treasure Valley Pollinator Project that will help beetles thrive! Mix 4 includes ruby grass, blue flax, Bunny Tails and blue fescue.( Treasure Valley Pollinator Project)Two years ago the folks at the Ada Soil and Water Conservation District were worried. They were watching rampant growth and development spread across the Treasure Valley and that growth was taking out the plants and green spaces that pollinators need to survive.

Those bees and butterflies are what pollinate plants, including the plants we use for food, and without them around humans will be in big trouble.

So they created the Treasure Valley Pollinator Project and grew 64,000 flowers and plants. Then they recruited people from all across the valley to plant those flowers and learn how to help pollinators survive and thrive.

It’s time for year three of the Pollinator Project and Jessica Harrold joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Lacey Daley / Boise State Public Radio)A former Boise City Council member is fighting to get her seat back, students are suffering from a mental health crisis, an Idaho Falls therapist has been charged with sexual abuse and a look at why North Idaho College could lose its accreditation.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Ian Max Stevenson covers the City of Boise and climate change for the Idaho Statesman
Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman
Andrea Olson with EastIdahoNews.com

(CCAC North Library / Flickr)Last year, tests revealed a slight improvement in literacy among Idaho’s K-3 students, but the state continues to lag behind a number of neighboring states and at-risk students lag even further behind their peers.

A trio from the College of Idaho got the unique chance to talk about new research on the subject at this month’s World Literacy Summit at Oxford University.

They sat down with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about their once-in-a-lifetime moment at Oxford, what Idaho can do sooner than later to improve literacy and how their research particularly focuses on pre-service teachers

(LA Johnson / NPR)How often are your kids on the internet? How long each day are they looking at their phone or computer or playing internet video games?

And this is the more important question: who are they talking to when they’re online? Are they chatting with friends or with people who want to harm your kids? How do you know who they’re talking to and how do you keep them safe from internet predators?

This is why the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was created, to protect kids on the internet and to teach parents and kids how to be safe from predators online.

A special training on how to keep kids safe will take place Friday in Nampa and everyone is invited to learn about things like cyberbullying, sexting and concrete ways to keep your kids safe.

Jeannie Strohmeyer, the Executive Director of the Nampa Family Justice Center and child advocate Mandi Jimenez joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these issues and ways to keep our children safe.

Tilly Erskine. The premier of Open Arms Dance Project's performance of THREADS at the Morrison Center in Boise, Idaho, April 28, 2022.(Gregg Mizuta/Gregg Mizuta / Open Arms)Since 2009, the Open Arms Project has been redefining dance and what it means to move and make art.

The group includes dancers of all ages and abilities and this week, they will be wrapping up their latest season with two final performances exploring themes of civility and compassion and how they are cultivated.

The founding artistic director of the Open Arms Dance Project Megan Brandel and Dance Ambassador Heather Marie joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming performances.

Here's a video from one year ago, thanks to createid on Idaho Public Television:

A great new miniseries, a fine new film and the weirdest tv series title ever. It's time for What to Watch with our resident movie expert, George Prentice!

( Johns Hopkins University Press )It’s time for our weekly Doctors Roundtable, which grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic that started just over three years ago in Idaho.

While we still struggle with cases of COVID-19 and its variants, many are looking back over the past three years to figure out what we did right and what we did wrong, with an eye toward the next global outbreak of a virus.

Dr. David Pate, who has hosted our Doctor’s Roundtable since it began and Dr. Ted Epperly just wrote a book that looks at the last three years of the pandemic and provides over 100 recommendations designed to help everyone prepare for and survive the next outbreak.

The book is called "Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak: A Guide to Planning from the Schoolhouse to the White House" and it’s out now.

Dr. Pate and Dr. Epperly joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( G.P. Putnam's Sons)So many folks are hooked on reality tv, especially reality tv dating shows. So what is it about them that draws us in and makes us watch and invest so much time and attention?

Well, author Julia Argy delves into all of this in her newest novel, The One. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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(stewie811 / Flickr)The City of Boise wants to rewrite the zoning code that governs how and where new building will happen. It’s the first major rewrite of the code in years and it will reshape how things like houses, apartments and other buildings are built in Idaho’s capital city.

The city says the new code is needed to guide growth better and create more affordable housing. Opponents say the proposal would change the shape of residential neighborhoods and favors developers over neighbors.

The new code will come under scrutiny starting Monday night as the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission begins four days of public hearings on the rewrite and we wanted to find out what the code says and how folks feel about it. So we turned to the experts who’ve been writing about the code for months.

Don Day, the founder and editor of BoiseDev.com and Senior Reporter Margaret Carmel joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on January 18, 2023.

Acclaimed author Leah Konen is back with a new domestic thriller, "You Should Have Told Me." She joined Idaho Matters to talk about her latest novel.

( ‎ Dutton)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on February 21, 2023.

Author Cheryl Head is known for her page turning novels and her newest book, "Time’s Undoing", is her most personal yet. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about how her outrage over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 compelled her to write her latest novel.

Ammon Bundy speaks to the media in front of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters on Jan. 6 near Burns, Ore. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)An arrest warrant has been issued for Ammon Bundy, Gov. Brad Little shares his thoughts on the 2023 legislative session, a new community set to be built in Kuna is receiving pushback, there is a split in the United Methodist Church and we give you an update on the Lori Vallow Daybell case.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman

( G.P. Putnam's Sons)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on February 7, 2022.

Last time we spoke with author Falon Ballard she had just released her first novel "Lease on Love." And it was a hit, receiving praise from USA Today, US Weekly, POPSUGAR and BuzzFeed, just to name a few. Now she is back with her second novel, "Just My Type."

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This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 2, 2023.

Along the banks of the Boise River a scrubby, weedy landscape is being transformed back to a living, vibrant ecosystem thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers from across the Treasure Valley.

It’s called the Boise River ReWild Project and it’s the brainchild of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society. The goal is to restore more than 50 acres of habitat along the river.

Idaho Matters producers Samantha Wright and Hannah Gardoski drove down to the river on a very windy day and walked along the bank and many rows of tubes of plastic webbing with tiny plant sprouts inside.

They were joined by Danae Fails with the Golden Eagle Audubon Society who is the project coordinator for the Boise River ReWild Project and Sean Finn, who volunteers as the Project Lead.

A stretch of the Boise River, not far from Barber Park. ( Hannah Gardoski)Finn says the whole idea is to increase the native biodiversity along the Boise River. He says we’ve lost that biodiversity since the very first days of the Oregon Trail.

“There were people who were on the Oregon Trail who were camping right here. It's hard to believe, but it's true. And of course, those people, they stopped here, their horses and their cattle fed up on the grass and the other plants. And when they were done and ready, they moved on,” says Finn.

He says that’s been the story of the river for decades. Each time someone used the river for its resources and then moved on, leaving an area behind that degraded over time.

“All those native plants that were out here, from time immemorial until about 1850, have slowly been lost just because we weren't paying attention. And now we want to pay attention.”

As the native plants died, weeds took over. And Finn says those weeds should not be there.

“The weeds serve no purpose to our pollinators and our other insects, very little purpose to our small mammals. They do nothing for the birds. They don't carry high energy nectar. They don't provide high energy berries,” Finn says.

So one of the goals of the project is to bring back the native biodiversity of wildflowers, native grasses, native shrubs that bear berries and other kinds of fruit. And they’re taking out the weeds and invasive species like Russian Olive trees.

Jon Mathews is a volunteer with the project. As a Plot Lead, he coordinates dozens of volunteers who weed the areas and plant the new sprouts.

“We planted about 2000 plants in our plots and then we go back out and kind of nurture them, throw water at them and cage them up and protect them from the deer and everything so they grow,” says Mathews.

Each plot is about half an acre. Volunteers plant dozens of kinds of plants including several kinds of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, chokecherry, bitterbrush, gooseberry leaf, globemallow, and a ton of milkweed plants.

Inside each plastic mesh tube is a tiny native plant sprout. The plastic tubing protects the plant from becoming a "chicken nugget" for deer, according to Sean Finn. ( Hannah Gardoski)They rely on experts to help them figure out what plants to plant and where to plant them. Other experts donate their time to help teach the volunteers “who maybe don't have the knowledge but have the passion about caring for the river and caring for wild things. And so that's how we try and build communities,” says Finn.

The project relies on hundreds of volunteers, from dozens of classrooms of kids to people who grow some of the seeds and sprouts in their backyard to folks who come down to the river and pull the weeds up by hand.

Finn says they’ll maintain the plots for two years to let the native plants get established.

( Hannah Gardoski)“We will be monitoring plant survival. We're monitoring pollinators, our attendance at these plots, and we're monitoring bird populations around these plots. And we'll do that through the end of 2024 to evaluate what our actual conservation outcomes are,” says Finn.

He says our big government agencies are working on big restoration projects but the smaller areas can fall through the cracks, like a five-acre plot of weeds along the Boise River.

The project needs more volunteers to restore 60 more plots this year. You can sign up online, adopt a plot, or find out more at the Golden Eagle Audubon Society.

Beavers have already started to rewild this section of the river. ( Hannah Gardoski)

(Visit Idaho / Visit Idaho)Tracy Stone-Manning served as Montana's Director of the Department of Environmental Quality and she served with the National Wildlife Federation. Then in 2021, President Biden asked her to become the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

She spends a lot of time on the road, including this week as the guest of the Cecil Andrus Center for Public Policy and the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Boise. She sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk more.

( Penguin Life)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 6, 2023.

Author Cyndie Spiegel is back with another book "Microjoys: Finding Hope When Life is Not Okay."

The book is filled with essays about the microjoys that have kept Cyndie moving forward, even in the toughest times of her life. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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( Riverhead Books)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 1, 2023.

New York Times bestselling author Katherine May is back with a new book, "Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age."

In this book, May explores how we can re-awaken our sense of wonder, instead of always feeling burned out. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 23, 2023.

Since the World Center for Birds of Prey opened its doors in 1994 in south Boise, over 500,000 students have come to the facility to learn about birds, the environment and hands-on science.

The center and the Peregrine Fund are dedicated to saving bird species, helping them thrive and teaching the next generation how to prevent extinction and protect the habitat of these creatures.

To help with that mission, the center is about to hold a grand opening of the new addition to its facility. It will dramatically increase the number of students and visitors who can come to learn about raptors and expand the center’s research facilities.

Tate Mason, the Director of the World Center for Birds of Prey and Stephanie Ashley, the Curator of Birds, along with Star, a peregrine falcon, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new campus.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)A new COVID-19 booster dose is about to be approved, just in time for a new variant that’s making the rounds. Plus, many hospitals and health clinics in Idaho and other parts of the country are dropping their mask requirements as mask fatigue continues to grow.

But is that a good idea? How do folks in the high-risk category for COVID-19 feel about this move?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help us answer some of these questions.

( Pamela Dorman Books)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 21, 2023.

Jenny Jackson, in the early days of the pandemic, decided to move her family out of New York City and go stay with her in-laws in Connecticut.

When she did this, she also decided, hey, what a great time to write a book! So that's what she did.

Jackson sat down with Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book "Pineapple Street."

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( TarcherPerigee)This episode of Idaho Matters originally aired on March 9, 2023.

There are so many struggles facing parents and children in today’s world, then throw in any type of difference and those struggles can multiply.

Meg Zucker, who was born with a genetic condition herself, knows those struggles and she wanted to give parents and caregivers some tools on how to support their children. And that's exactly what she did, with her new book, "Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities."

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(Shawn Kinkade / Flickr)The Columbia River basin watershed is one of the biggest in the United States covering 260,000 square miles and that includes creeks, streams and rivers across Idaho and six other states, as well as parts of Canada.

The basin has struggled with issues like water quality, toxic pollution and fish conservation.

There are many who want to help clean up and preserve the river basin, but that can be tricky because there’s no one overarching entity in charge of this sprawling watershed. This water system, like many in America, is governed by a complex web of local, state and federal authorities.

The 32nd annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists taking place in Boise this week will look at who governs watersheds and new ways to collaborate among concerned parties to help river basins like the Columbia.

Mary Lou Soscia is the former Columbia River Restoration Program Manager in region 10 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She’ll be part of a panel Wednesday titled “Watersheds Governance and Power Structures” and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman)For over three decades, there have been those who have argued for taking down four Snake River hydropower dams to help save struggling salmon. But for years, efforts to remove the dams have stalled for a variety of reasons.

Now there are some very concrete efforts, including in the U.S. Congress, to try to get all the players to the table and to consider a way to take the dams down. The 32nd annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists taking place in Boise this week will look at the chances of taking down the dams and restoring salmon habitat.

Veteran Idaho environmental journalist Rocky Barker will be leading a conversation Wednesday called Swimming Upstream and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(iStockphoto.com)How prepared are you for a cyberattack? In this digital age, cybersecurity preparedness is a constant battle and our only defense against hackers trying to steal our information and our identities.

That’s a question that Toby King considers every day. He is the Chief Information Officer of CapEd Credit Union and part of his job is to train folks to keep their computers, phones, and personal information safe online.

He’ll be speaking at the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State on April 25 and he joined Idaho Matters to discuss his upcoming lecture.

(BES Photo / Flickr Creative Commons)All across the southwest, there’s a problem. There’s not enough water to go around and the water that does arrive often falls far away from where people live, leading to tense conversations about how and where it should be used.

A new project is trying to bridge the gap, starting with the youngest water users. KUNC’s Alex Hager reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Chelsea Green Publishing)Believe it or not: bugs are in trouble.

Despite how you may feel about most bugs, they are very good for the environment and are being threatened by pollution, habitat loss, a changing climate and even the kinds of clothes you buy.

Vicki Hird is the author of the book “Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates)Do — And Why We Need To Love Them More." She’ll be talking Thursday as part of this year’s Treasure Valley Pollinator Project.

She joined Idaho Matters, along with the Program Coordinator at the Ada Soil & Water Conservation District Jessica Harrold, to talk more.

(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio)A look at Idaho's role in the 2024 presidential race, a former Boise City Council member is suing the city, drought conditions are improving in the Mountain West, a Boise program is helping new moms and an East Idaho GOP committee is auctioning off a chance to "shoot with Kyle Rittenhouse".

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Logan Finney, Associate Producer with Idaho Reports
Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun
Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com
Kaleb Roedel, Reporter for KUNR’s Mountain West News Bureau

Stethoscopes are pictured in an intensive care unit.Since April 1, over 23,000 people have lost their Medicaid health insurance in Idaho.

According to Idaho Health and Welfare, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the department was not allowed to drop people from Medicaid even if they were no longer eligible for the coverage. It was called "Medicaid Protection."

But last December, Congress reversed that decision and said states could remove people who no longer qualified, and since then Health and Welfare has been re-evaluating the cases of over 153,000 people to see if they can stay on the program.

So what happens now for the already dropped from Idaho Medicaid? And for the thousands more expected to lose coverage in the coming weeks?

Mindy Hong, the Executive Director of the Idaho Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and Steve Davis, the Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Community Health, joined Idaho Matters to help answer these questions.

(Andrew Moore / Idaho Shakespeare Festival)Next month, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival will start a new season on the grassy hillside in South Boise.

This year includes the return of a carnivorous plant, an electropop comet and Dracula. Oh, and there will be some Shakespeare too!

Charlie Fee is the producing artistic director of the festival and will be directing two of the plays this season. He sat down with Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming productions.

( Boise Contemporary Theater)Next week, the Boise Contemporary Theater will begin previews for its latest production, The Christians. The play is about a pastor, a congregation and one sermon that will challenge the faith of its church.

Producing Artistic Director Benjamin Burdick joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming performance.

( Habitat for Humanity)Earlier this year, we told you how our local Habitat for Humanity was working to get people into homes and found out how they were working with Congress to try and find more solutions to Idaho's growing housing crisis.

The program is planning to build a new home in Star and they are taking applications from families hoping to own their own home. Janessa Chastain, the Executive Director of Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity, joined Idaho Matters to tell us more about this process works.

President Biden removes his mask before speaking about the pandemic outside of the White House on Tuesday afternoon.(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)For the last three years, the United States has been under a national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close just weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency.

So what does this mean moving forward? Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help us answer this question.

( City of Boise)When COVID-19 hit Idaho three years ago officials were looking for ways to determine how hard the virus was hitting cities like Boise.

It was in May 2020 when the City of Boise started analyzing its wastewater for the virus because people can shed the virus in wastewater before they get sick. This became a useful tool for many trying to track and treat the illness.

Haley Falconer, the Environmental Division Manager with the City of Boise, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Garden City Public Library / Idaho Children's Trust Fund)Idaho gets almost 23,000 calls every year from people that suspect child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, according to Health and Welfare.

Even though not all those calls indicate child abuse, that’s a really scary number.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Roger Sherman, the Executive Director of the Idaho Children's Trust Fund and Grants Manager, Kim Hemmert, who has been coordinating statewide activities for the month joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Tim Stewart / Flickr)Our region is known for its stunning hiking trails, like those in the Boise foothills.

Another famous and well loved hiking system is the Colorado Trail, stretching hundreds of miles from Denver to Durango. Now, a new archival collection is shining a light on the woman who spearheaded its completion. KUNC's Natalie Skowlund reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

(JGI/Tom Grill / Getty Images/Tetra images RF)When Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, allowing states to decide how far they want to ban abortions, Idaho’s near total abortion ban went into effect. The only exceptions are in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

This law, and others in Idaho restricting abortion, have caused some doctors who practice in the state to consider moving. Some medical students also are rethinking coming to Idaho to practice medicine.

A recent survey asks how Idaho's abortion laws are affecting the state’s maternal healthcare doctors and the results are concerning, especially for women considering pregnancy.

Dr. Lauren Miller, who leads the Idaho Coalition for Safe Reproductive Health Care and who conducted the survey, professor and attorney McKay Cunningham, the Director of On-Campus Experiential Learning at the College of Idaho and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, Dr. Maria Palmquist joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A community corn field at the Jemez Pueblo in north-central New Mexico, seen here on March 17, 2023. The Pueblo, which is largely supported by farming, irrigates its farms with snowmelt from the surrounding mountains. (Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau )For 40 years, a tribe in our region has been working to access the water they feel they’re owed by the federal government. And those efforts are more urgent than ever as climate change and development continue to affect their water supplies.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports.

( Dutton)Natural Beauty is the debut novel by Ling Ling Huang. This behind-the-scenes look at the beauty industry examines issues of consumerism, race, identity and self-worth.

The book has already been optioned for a tv series. Huang joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book.

(CCAC North Library / Flickr)The Idaho Legislature wrapped up last week after trying and failing to pass a bill to address a growing controversy in Idaho and across the nation, removing books from libraries that some consider obscene or inappropriate for kids.

More and more libraries and librarians are caught up in what is becoming a more polarized world.

Next week Emily Drabinski will be speaking to the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute in Boise. She’s an Associate Professor and Critical Pedagogy Librarian, Graduate Center, City University of New York and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's exhibit, "Americans and the Holocaust," surfaces the complexity of national attitudes and concerns that weighed heavily on the nation's role during the Holocaust.(Eslah Attar/NPR)On Monday evening, historian Rebecca Erbelding will be looking back at how young Americans responded to the Nazi Holocaust.

The lecture is part of the traveling Americans and the Holocaust Exhibition currently being hosted by the Albertsons Library at Boise State University.

The exhibition explores the different influences that formed America's response to the crisis in Europe during the 1930s and 40s. Historian Rebecca Erbelding and Albertsons Archivist, Librarian and Exhibit Manager Gwyn Hervochon joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, can carry Lyme disease.(Kenneth H Thomas / Science Source/Getty Images)As the planet continues to warm and seasons begin to change many people are starting to see warmer winters and earlier springs which makes it easier to spread infectious diseases, especially as insects have more time to reproduce and expand into new territory.

St. Luke’s is hosting a series of talks on climate change and medicine and the talk this Wednesday is titled “Climate Change: Expansion of Infectious Borne Disease."

Dr. Christine Hahn, Idaho state epidemiologist and medical director in the Division of Public Health, Teresa Bradford, the student chapter president of Idaho Clinicians for Climate Health and Dr. Sky Blue, an Infectious Disease Specialist working in hospital epidemiology and infection prevention joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Twelve)Opening statements began Monday in Boise in the murder and conspiracy trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. She’s charged with the deaths of two of her children.

Portland-based journalist and author Leah Sottile has written a book about the case, called “When the Moon Turns to Blood.” She sat down with All Things Considered host Troy Oppie.

(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio)The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is being questioned by the Attorney General's office, efforts to override Gov. Little's library veto failed, Idaho's population continues to grow and we take a look at why Planned Parenthood Northwest is suing AG Raúl Labrador.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun
Nate Sunderland, Managing Editor, EastIdahoNews.com
Nicole Blanchard, Outdoors Reporter with the Idaho Statesman
Kelcie Moseley-Morris, National Reproductive Rights Reporter with States Newsroom

Sylvia Poggioli is hanging up her headphones. Yes, that Sylvia Poggioli, NPR's longest-serving reporter on the international desk.

She’s covered three popes, war in the Balkans, immigration in Europe and so much more in her 51 years in journalism. She joined Idaho Matters from Rome to talk more.

Teachers will learn experiments like this one, which shows how things rust.(Jessica L. Economy / Boise State University)Dr. Harold Ackler pours salt and hydrogen peroxide into beakers of water in a science lab on the campus of Boise State University.

“So this one is a corrosion experiment,” says Dr. Ackler, the Clinical Assistant Professor and Materials Teaching Lab Coordinator, as he starts ripping apart a scrubby pad of steel wool.

The four beakers are filled with solutions of water, salt and hydrogen peroxide before the steel wool is added to the mix.(Jessica Economy / Boise State University)“It's intended to give students an idea of what happens to a metal when you put it in different kinds of solutions, different environments, basically corrosion or rusting, things like that,” he says as he puts a hunk of steel wool into four beakers and stands back to watch what happens.

This is just one experiment that teachers will learn how to do this summer at a special workshop designed to teach teachers how to make STEM more fun for kids.

Dr. Harold Ackler is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Materials Teaching Lab Coordinator at Boise State. (Jessica Economy / Boise State University)“So the teachers at this summer camp are going to be learning how to do this, to do it with their students back at their schools,” says Dr. Ackler.

Each beaker has a different liquid solution. The fourth beaker has a mix of water, salt and hydrogen peroxide. After a few minutes, that beaker starts to bubble and turn an orange/brown color.

“The one with both peroxide and salt is kind of a nice, rusty, frothy brew,” he says. The beaker keeps turning a darker brown, with bits of rust floating on the steel wool.

“It's nasty,” says Dr. Amy Moll, professor and director of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering as she peers at the icky solution in the fourth beaker. The third beaker, with just hydrogen peroxide, is starting to turn yellow, also showing some signs of rusting.

The ASM Materials Camp gives teachers the tools they need to create these simple, safe and inexpensive experiments for their students.

The goal, said Dr. Moll, is to get kids thinking about how and why things happen.

“Understanding how things rust, why they rust, how to make that better, that's applied science, right? That's what material science is. So you can see how it applies to your real life and we can make it fun,” says Dr. Moll.

Beaker four has turned into a rusty, bubbling brew after just a few minutes.(Jessica Economy / Boise State University)Dr. Ackler says the rust experiment was a success.

“I think the one with salt and peroxide actually surprised me. It was faster and more aggressive than I thought it would be.”

Dr. Moll says they’re still looking for teachers to sign up for the free workshop this July at Boise State and encourages educators to take advantage of the camp and what it has to offer.

(Alan Krakauer / Flickr Creative Commons)In two week,s hundreds of journalists, scientists and government representatives will gather in Boise to talk about everything from climate change, wildfires, biology and the natural environment.

The Society of Environmental Journalists Conference is a chance to exchange ideas and learn more about the issues affecting our planet. Meaghan Parker, the Executive Director of the Society of Environmental Journalists, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(chuwy / Getty Images)Chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve heard about the benefits of practicing mindfulness. These benefits include reducing stress, decreasing depression, lowering anxiety - the list goes on.

Dr. Cara Gallegos, an Associate Professor at Boise State's School of Nursing, wanted to see if practicing mindfulness could have these same benefits for parents, particularly parents who have children with complex medical conditions.

That's why she is working on a new study that looks at whether or not these practices could help improve their mental health. Gallegos joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this study and how it works.

An image the Marburg virus made with an electron microscope and then colorized.(BSIP/UIG / Getty Images)A deadly virus is spreading out of Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. It’s a form of hemorrhagic fever, which has no cure.

How concerned should we be here in Idaho? We’ll answer that question and take a look at your questions about Shingles and COVID-19.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help answer these questions.

( Les Bois Film Festival)How many times have you heard us say, "paint me a word picture? or describe what it looks like?" Well, this time, I just don’t think we can do that.

Imagine a six foot high tortoise, crawling along a rocky landscape or a pair of 12 foot high bighorn sheep playfully bumping heads on a huge cliff. That’s just a small part of the amazing nature scenes you’ll see this weekend at the 7th annual Les Bois Film Festival at JUMP in downtown Boise.

Matt Podolsky, one of the festival organizers, joins Idaho Matters to try and describe all this lush, beautiful nature footage.

( Sun Valley Museum of Art)What happens when you combine improv comedy, a group of slightly wacky singer-songwriters and dinner theater?

On Friday in Ketchum, you’ll get Parlor in the Round, a night of singing, song creation, fun, and storytelling - thanks to the Sun Valley Museum of Art!

The founder and host of Parlor in the Round, Kevin Worrell, singer and songwriter Barbra Lica and American-folk singer-songwriter and filmmaker Korby Lenker joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Ute Grabowsky / Photothek via Getty Images)It’s no secret that many kids in America are struggling with mental health issues. Studies from across the country and in Idaho are showing an alarming rise in the number of children and teens who struggle with sadness, depression and even thoughts of suicide.

The number of mental health professionals is dropping, thanks to a growing shortage of experts and a growing number of people who quit the profession because of burnout and lack of support.

The Idaho Youth Ranch wants to fill that gap with a new website designed to help support and celebrate the folks who take care of our kids when they are in crisis, it’s called Leading Edge for Youth.

Scott Curtis, the CEO of Idaho Youth Ranch and Camille Anderson, their Chief People Officer, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new online community.

(Talo Pinto / Flickr)Here in Idaho, collaboration is a big part of,
not just protecting public lands but solving natural resource issues, wilderness designation, restoration and protection issues - from the Owyhee's to the panhandle.

And these collaborative efforts are being used as a model to help resolve other natural resource problems facing the west.

John Robison, the Public Lands Director for the Idaho Conservation League, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii)(giocalde/Getty Images/iStockphoto / iStockphoto)Red Swamp Crayfish have invaded Idaho.

These invasive crustaceans shouldn’t be here and they could harm native species and water quality if they are allowed to spread.

These red, bumpy creatures were found where the Snake Clearwater Rivers meet and were discovered by a group of Lewiston High School students who were taking part in a special hands-on learning project from the University of Idaho Extension Department.

Jim Ekins, U of I Extension Water Educator and Director of IDAH20 joins Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Thomas Hawk / Flickr)The Boise City Council considers the cost of sending a Boise employee to Europe, Idaho lawmakers overrode Gov. Brad Little's veto on property tax relief, drag show legislation stalls in the 2023 Idaho Legislature and we take a look at a bill on gender affirming care.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Troy Oppie, host of All Things Considered with Boise State Public Radio
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com

Earlier this week, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law what’s been dubbed the Clean Slate Act.

The bipartisan legislation allows people with “minor non-violent, non-sexual offenses” to ask to shield their criminal record from public view if they meet certain conditions.

Even a conviction for a minor offense can create barriers to renting an apartment or finding a job. Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise), who championed the bill, and Sen. Dave Lent (R-Idaho Falls) joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)If you haven’t voted in a few years, your registration may have been dropped from the voter rolls.

Every other year, Idaho’s 44 county clerks and the Secretary of State are required to do a review of the voter registration system and drop the voters who have moved, who haven’t been voting and who have become ineligible to vote.

During this year’s review, more than 74,000 names were removed from the system and officials want to get the word out to folks who may have dropped off so they can re-register if they’re able to.

Idaho Secretary of State, Phil McGrane joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Marketplace)The energy landscape in our region is changing with coal plants scheduled to close and fossil fuel production facing new challenges.

Meanwhile, renewable energy projects are taking shape – including a nuclear plant funded by Bill Gates and job training programs are adjusting to the shift.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Caitlin Tan reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Berkley )USA Today bestselling author Colleen Oakley is back with a new novel, The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise. It’s being called wildly surprising and entertaining, just the book many of us need right now.

Colleen Joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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Adderall is a stimulant used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.(J.B. Reed / Bloomberg via Getty Images)In October last year, the FDA announced a shortage of Adderall due to manufacturing delays.

Now six months later, there is a severe shortage of not just Adderall, but similar drugs that treat ADHD. And it’s wreaking havoc on the lives of the children and adults who have this disease.

So, what's going on and what can be done to fix the problem? Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the issue.

(Ken Whytock / Flickr Creative Commons)More winter weather is pouring into the area this week, especially in the mountains and eastern Oregon. Livestock producers in our region have been hit hard by all this cold, snowy weather.

That’s why several states have asked the federal government for relief. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel visited a cattle operation to see how they’re weathering the storms.

(Visit Idaho / Visit Idaho)Are we loving Idaho lands to death? Is it time for a conversation about "re-creating" recreation?

The Andrus Center for Public Policy thinks so and is going to ask these questions on April 18 with a program called "Re-creating Public Land Recreation."

Dr. Emily Wakild is the Cecil Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands and she says recreation on Idaho public lands is no longer simply an afterthought or weekend diversion. She joined Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview the event, talk about the intersection of best practices and tension and Idaho’s delicate balance with endangered species.

Next week, the City of Meridian is asking everyone to perform an act of kindness, from the small to the large, to spread some compassion throughout the community.

April 6 will be the eighth annual Do The Right day in Meridian and Sahand Keshavarz, the Programs and Events Specialist, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Jamie Grill / Tetra images RF/Getty Images)This month Bonner General Health, the only hospital in a city of around 9,000 people, announced that they would no longer be delivering babies or providing other pregnancy and childbirth care.

Located in Sandpoint the hospital provided several reasons for discontinuing the service, one of them being “Idaho's legal and political climate." Without labor and delivery services in the city expecting mothers will now have to drive to the next closest hospital for care, which is 46 miles away.

Kelcie Mosley-Morris, a national reproductive rights reporter with States Newsroom reported on this story and joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(PixelsEffect / Getty Images)When you think of climate change you might not think about people who suffer from asthma, but many of the inhalers that help people with lung issues breathe can create greenhouse gasses.

St. Luke’s Regional Health System is holding a series of talks on medicine and climate change and the first one, "Climate Smart Asthma Care" is happening on Wednesday and will include some possible alternatives that might reduce the carbon footprint of folks with asthma.

Dr. Ethan Sims, an Emergency Department Physician with St. Luke's and Medical Director of Sustainability, along with Dr. Gregg Furie, a Primary Care Physician and Medical Director for Climate and Sustainability at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Jennifer Perry)According to an annual report from the Idaho Legislature, the number of cases filed by prosecutors in Idaho involving sexual abuse against children has once again gone up, this time to 1,043 cases.

A letter in the report stated that lawmakers were unsure why the numbers are so high. Regardless though, the problem of child abuse is not going away.

This is why this Saturday, the Nampa Family Justice Center and the Canyon County Law Enforcement Foundation are joining together to host this year's "Superhero Walk," an event that works to prevent and bring awareness to child abuse.

Jennifer Perry, the Child Advocacy Center Manager with the Nampa Family Justice Center and Camp Hope graduate, Jazmyn Lopez joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the "Superhero Walk."

(sun valley/facebook)This has been a historic season for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, holding more world cup events on domestic soil in its history. And the season comes to a big finish with the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships in Sun Valley starting April 2.

Eric Webster is the Director of Events for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. Just prior to Sun Valley hosting the best of the best men and women skiers in the nation, Webster visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview the event.

Colette DePhelps is helping to change the way we see farmers and ranchers in Idaho. ( Colette DePhelps)In the United States, 36% of farmers are female and in Idaho, that number goes up to 39%.

Despite these numbers though when many of us close our eyes to imagine what a farmer or a rancher looks like, we picture a man.

This is an image that Colette DePhelps is trying to change. She is an Area Extension Educator with the University of Idaho who specializes in community food systems and she is working on a project that focuses on understanding and supporting women in agriculture, specifically farm operators and ranchers here in Idaho.

She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the project.

Alley Orr started the "Women in STEM, Medicine, and Law Scholarship" in 2021.( Ally Orr)In 2021, Boise State professor Scott Yenor made national news after giving a speech at the 2021 "National Conservatism Conference," calling independent women, “more medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome than women need to be."

He then went on to say that “every effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto for med school, and the law and every trade.”

That made headlines, but so did how one Boise State student responded. Ally Orr decided to take action, starting a GoFundMe page that raised over $200,000 that went towards creating a scholarship for women interested in pursuing STEM, medicine or law.

Fast forward to today and Ally is back at it again, fundraising to help support women in their field of choice. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her latest GoFundMe.

(Amy / Flickr)As the world continues to leap forward with advances in technology, medicine and science the moral and ethical considerations of these advances often lag behind.

Bioethics is the study of the issues that come up with science, not just ethical issues but legal, social and religious issues that our rapid evolution of fields, like biomedical research, can outpace.

Dr. Bryan Williams, a bioethicist and the president of McCall College, teaches and helps people understand these issues, especially in the healthcare community. He’ll be teaching a multi-part class on bioethics at the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State starting next week and we asked him to join Idaho Matters to talk more about bioethics.

(thomasjphotos / Flickr)It’s been a tough year for cryptocurrency – especially with the collapse of the massive exchange FTX. Yet, some Mountain West states are still courting crypto companies.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Will Walkey reports.

(J. Stephen Conn / Flickr Creative Commons)Libraries remain a hot topic this week as the petition to dissolve the Meridian Library District received two public hearings, the property tax relief bill may not provide as much relief as some may have hoped, the firing squad bill moves to Governor Brad Little's desk and the Idaho House has passed a higher education budget.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News
Gretchen Parsons, Managing Editor with BoiseDev.com
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman

Here’s a question that isn’t easy to answer, how do owls pick a spot to nest? You can’t just ask them, and as night creatures, it can be tricky to track them down to study them.

University of Idaho student Annie Vaage spent her summer in southeastern Arizona studying six kinds of owls to find out how they use their habitat and how a changing environment might affect how they live.

She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her research.

Since the World Center for Birds of Prey opened its doors in 1994 in south Boise, over 500,000 students have come to the facility to learn about birds, the environment and hands-on science.

The center and the Peregrine Fund are dedicated to saving bird species, helping them thrive and teaching the next generation how to prevent extinction and protect the habitat of these creatures.

To help with that mission, the center is about to hold a grand opening of the new addition to its facility. It will dramatically increase the number of students and visitors who can come to learn about raptors and expand the center’s research facilities.

Tate Mason, the Director of the World Center for Birds of Prey and Stephanie Ashley, the Curator of Birds, along with Star, a peregrine falcon, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the new campus.

(The Flicks)The Oscars are behind us so now we can get ready for the rest of 2023, at least when it comes to movies and tv shows.

George Prentice, our resident movie critic, joins Idaho Matters to help us figure out what to watch.

(Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact Idaho)This week, the price of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is going up and what we know about long COVID may not be as accurate as we first thought.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help break this all down.

(Mark Teasdale / Flickr)One of the hardest endurance adventure races in the lower 48 is in our region. It’s over 100 miles and includes a slog through the snowy Wind River Mountains.

This year was especially grueling due to the extreme weather. Wyoming Public Radio’s Caitlin Tan reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Sun Valley Film Festival)It’s time once again for the Sun Valley Film Festival when some of the upcoming year’s best movies come to Idaho, along with stars, producers and directors.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice is always a key part of events during the festival and he recently sat down for a preview of this year’s films with Teddy Grennan, the founder of the festival and Executive Director Candice Pate.

(Sun Valley Film Festival)Producer and Director Heather Rae is known for such films as "Frozen River," "Tallulah" and "Bull." She has a new film called "Fancy Dance" which looks at Native American themes.

She sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about "Fancy Dance" and how streaming is creating a more global perspective in filmmaking.

(ROB HARTLEY / Flickr)Water levels in Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir on the Colorado River, are at a record low. To keep it from declining further, federal officials are ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to incentivize farmers and other water users in the river’s upper basin to conserve.

But not everyone agrees that paying farmers not to farm is the way forward. Chris Clements of KSJD reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

( Keegan Webb)How do you tell one giraffe from another giraffe? That was the question for University of Idaho biology major Keegan Webb when he traveled to South Africa as part of an internship.

Webb ended up in Zingela, which is home to many animals, including giraffes. He was there to help researchers tell giraffes apart, which can be tricky! Webb joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his experience and research.

This weekend, you can fight alongside the Rebel Alliance or join the Galactic Empire because the largest Star Wars fan exhibition is in town.

The Fans Strike Back is an exhibition curated by fans for fans, with life-size figurines, light sabers, blasters, costumes, photos and more.

Erin Seymour, the Education Manager with the Discovery Center of Idaho and Alina Svidagal, the center's Marketing and Communications Manager joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the exhibit.

A quick disclaimer: The Fans Strike Back Exhibition is in no way linked to Disney Enterprises, INC., Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, Lucas Licensing Ltd.; Lucas Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC or The Lego Group TM or Hasbro or any of their trademarks and/or businesses. All images used are reproductions of private works belonging to the exhibition.

( Pamela Dorman Books)Jenny Jackson, in the early days of the pandemic, decided to move her family out of New York City and go stay with her in-laws in Connecticut.

When she did this, she also decided, hey, what a great time to write a book! So that's what she did.

Jackson sat down with Idaho Matters to talk more about her new book "Pineapple Street."

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( Boise State University)What would happen if a group of people with diverse backgrounds, religions and political ideologies sat down together in a room and just talked about their experiences in Idaho?

Well, turns out, we don’t have to guess what might happen because last fall, 11 regular people sat down at Boise State and talked about their lives. The audience agreed to sit and listen without cheering or jeering, just respectfully listening.

It’s called Idaho Listens and it’s designed to get to know people, just ordinary people, without using labels or categories - and most of all to listen during a time when most people turn a deaf ear to anything they don’t know or like or understand.

Idaho Public Television turned that listening session into the Idaho Listens documentary and they’re going to show it tonight at the Idaho Legislature and it will air on IPTV on Friday night at 8:30.

Bill Manny, Executive Producer at Idaho Public Television and Andrew Finstuen, the Dean of the Honors Collect at Boise State and the Director of the Institute for Advancing American Values.

Sen Frank Church( Frank Church Institute)Frank Church was a U.S. Senator for Idaho in the 1950s, 60’s and 70’s. He left a vast legacy in creating wilderness areas, national security and foreign relations and his legacy as a Democrat working with republicans.

Garry Wenske is the former Executive Director of the Frank Church Institute at Boise State University. He’ll be talking about the life and career of Sen. Church next Thursday as part of the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State.

(Courtesy of Storyfort Facebook / Storyfort Facebook Page)Treefort Music Fest is coming back to Boise, bringing hundreds of bands, group yoga and stories. Lots of stories.

The Storyfort section of the week-long music festival brings together local, national and international storytellers, to not only tell stories but talk about how to tell them.

Boise State Public Radio is hosting our own Storyfort event with reporters Troy Oppie, who also hosts 'All Things Considered' and reporter Julie Luchetta. They sat down with Idaho Matters and Storyforts Co-Director, Sam Berman to talk more about the upcoming event.

(Daniel Lévesque / Flickr)It’s hard to say what happens to our souls after we die. But it’s a little more straightforward to know what happens to our bodies.

Some people now have a new option that’s seen as more environmentally friendly. Alex Hager with the Mountain West News Bureau takes a look at a funeral home offering a technology that uses water instead of fire.

(Jim and Jamie Dutcher / The Hidden Life of Wolves)Ada County declines request for funds to help pay for emergency housing, an update on the Lori and Chad Daybell murder case, there's a shortage of direct care workers, a look at how Idaho counts wolves, 'inappropriate' behavior from a junior high social worker was kept secret and the latest bill targeting 'obscene' materials in libraries has cleared the House committee.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kalama Hines with EastIdahoNews.com
Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun
Ian Max Stevenson covers the City of Boise and climate change for the Idaho Statesman
Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Nicole Blanchard with the Idaho Statesman
Christina Lords, Editor-in-Chief of Idaho Capital Sun

Empty classroom with no students(iStockphoto)A program that gave federal coronavirus grant money to groups and schools in Idaho is under scrutiny from state lawmakers and the Idaho attorney general.

The Community Partner Grant Program was designed to address learning loss in kids ages 5-13 that happened due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 80 Idaho groups got the grants, from school districts in Marsing and Nampa to the United Way to the Boys and Girls Club, and spent it on kids.

But the Idaho Capitol Sun reported last month that some lawmakers in the Idaho Legislature raised concerns about the program. They’re worried that some of the money might have gone to kids under the age of five, instead of to kids 5-13, those lawmakers asked Idaho Health and Welfare, which was in charge of the program, for an audit of where the money went.

Fast forward to last week, when Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador sent what's known as “Civil Investigative Demands” or CID's to all the groups that got the grant demanding all the records, including personnel lists involved with the program.

Yesterday 35 of those school districts and non-profits filed a complaint against Attorney General Labrador saying his actions were " an over-reach of government power."

Greg Chaney, a former republican member of the Idaho House and an attorney representing the plaintiffs, and Norm Stewart, the Superintendent of Marsing schools, who received one of the grants, joins Idaho Matters to talk more.

Just a quick note, we invited Attorney General Labrador or someone from his office to come on the show today but due to the short notice they told us they couldn’t make it. We’re hoping to have them on at a later date to talk about this case. We will post his comments once we receive them.

Updated at 2:03 p.m.:
The Idaho Attorney General's Office gave us this statement Thursday afternoon:
“This investigation is in its preliminary phase. A civil investigatory demand is a fact finding tool. The authority to issue a CID comes from Idaho Code Sections 48-1908, 48-1203 & 1204, and 48-611(11). We have had productive and cooperative conversations with several entities. Those who have cooperated understand that the purpose of the investigation is not to punish childcare providers but to enlist their help to determine whether state law was followed. We will zealously defend the powers the legislature has given us to ensure compliance with Idaho law.”

(Matt Guilhem / Boise State Public Radio)Idaho could become the latest state in the country to ban gender-affirming care for anyone under 18.

Last month, House lawmakers passed a bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to prescribe hormones or puberty blockers for trans minors. It also bans sex-reassignment surgery – something that isn’t done in Idaho.

Lawmakers supporting the bill paint these treatments as ineffective and harmful with high rates of regret. But as James Dawson reports, research shows the opposite.

Dancer: Ashley Baker( Quinn Wharton / Photo courtesy of Ballet Idaho)Earlier this month, Ballet Idaho was recognized for its role in promoting gender equity within the world of dance by the Dance Data Project.

The project assesses “how dance companies measure up in terms of commissioning female creators, promoting women to leadership positions, and fostering a transparent and accountable culture."

Ballet Idaho's Artistic Director, Garrett Anderson and company dancer and choreographer,Ashley Baker joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this special recognition.

Ernest Hemingway first visited Sun Valley in the fall of 1939, and he kept returning for the rest of his life. He worked on "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "A Moveable Feast" in the Wood River Valley.

Some of his best years were in Idaho. But his final days were also in the home that he and his wife Mary lived in, along the Big Wood River.

The Hemingway House is managed by The Community Library as a "contemplative, creative, non-commercial space." It is the site of ongoing research and a residency program for writers, scholars, and artists.

Morning Edition host George Prentice dropped by to visit the house and took Idaho Matters along for the trip.

(Russell Tate / United Nations COVID-19 Response Creative Content Hub)This week marks the third year of COVID-19 in Idaho. The virus was officially found in the state on March 13, 2020 and Gov. Brad Little signed an emergency declaration and held the first of dozens of news conferences to talk about his response to the virus.

Now, there’s more on the origins of COVID-19 according to Congress. Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help break this all down.

Los Caminos de la Vida exhibits photographs of migrants' shoes, paired with first person accounts of their journeys to America.(Julie Luchetta / Boise State Public Radio)Carmen, Carlos, Maria, Juan, and Gloria. These are just some of the eleven names of Idahoans that represent the 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S. today.

That’s the premise of a traveling art exhibit from the ACLU of Idaho. Julie Luchetta reports.

(Anna Keller / Flickr)There's a problem with the mail in Ketchum and while mail issues aren't new to the area, this latest one has more than a few people puzzled, really upset or a combination of both.

To find out more, our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Ketchum Councilman Michael David to find out what’s going on.

( Photo courtesy Idaho State Historical Society)The Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise was built in 1870 and has a long and sometimes creepy history.

You may have taken a tour or been to an event on the grounds of the old prison, but there’s an even darker side to the Old Pen you may not be familiar with: the cemetery. Over half of the markers in the cemetery have no names, and some that do can’t be found on any of the prison records.

Which begs the question, who is buried there?

Anthony Parry is the Historic Sites Administrator with the Idaho State Historical Society and next week there will be tours of the cemetery. He joined Idaho Matters to tell us more about it.

(JakeOlimb / iStock)Resort towns across the west saw record-breaking real estate prices last year. Housing has always been hard to come by in the region, but new data shows the problem is getting worse.

Will Walkey of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.

Money(Pictures of Money / Flickr)Last Thursday, depositors were lining up outside Silicon Valley Bank in California after pulling out $42 billion before the bank closed down and was taken over by federal regulators.

Then on Sunday, New York's signature bank went under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. So what does that mean for Idahoans and Idaho banks and credit unions?

Jason Norris, the Principal of Research and Portfolio Management at Ferguson Wellman, joined Idaho Matters to help answer those questions.

(Christopher Irwin / Flickr)The company that provides the water for much of the Treasure Valley is asking for a 24% rate hike to help pay for improvements to the large system that provides drinking water to over 105,000 homes and businesses.

Some of that includes paying for a new tank for the Columbia Water Treatment Plant, plus the Whistle Pig Storage Tank, and for something called “ice pigging” on the Bench. All that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting drinking water to your tap.

So we wanted to start with a question, where does our water come from? And how does it get our kitchens and bathrooms?

Madeline Wyatt, the Manager of Communications, Community Relations and Conservation for the Idaho Operation of Veolia North America joined Idaho Matters to help us out.

Idaho Theater for Youth's 2023 production of 'Air Heart' is visiting elementary schools across the Gem State.( Theater for Youth, George Prentice)How do you bring Amelia Earhart and a haunted radio to kids in all parts of Idaho? Plus, teach them about trust and taking chances, with a little bit of history thrown in?

Theater For Youth is doing exactly that, with a traveling production for 100,000 K-5 students, including refugees from Africa, Mexico, and Columbia - many of whom are watching their very first theater production.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice got the unique opportunity to watch this roadshow and Idaho Matters tags along as he heads into Silver Sage Elementary to find out more.

( Jamie Truppi)Food can act as a bridge, bringing people together. But it can also be a barrier, especially when food limitations cause conflict in your life.

Author Jamie Truppi has been on a food journey since she moved back to Idaho in her early 20s. As she went from being lactose intolerant to vegetarian to vegan - she also became a wife, a mother, dealt with career changes, travel and death and she’s written about all this in her new food memoir "Clean Food, Messy Life: A Food Lover's Conscious Journey Back to Self."

Truppi will be at Rediscovered Books "Read Local" gathering at the Boise Towne Square Mall on Friday. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her book and the upcoming event.

(Richard Rodriguez / Boise State Public Radio)Native American law is a complex and complicated section of law for any college legal student - with the intersection of state and federal agencies and tribal courts and nations.

The University of Idaho has created a College of Law Program with a Native American Law Emphasis, which students can only apply for after completing one full year of law school. The U of I says the program is “for indigenous people instead of simply about them.”

Director of the Native American Law Program, Dylan Hedden-Nicely, who is an associate professor at the College of Law, along with three students who graduated from the program, Cody Artis from the Navajo Nation and Jeannette Moody and Winter Hayes with the Nez Perce Tribe joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A picture of Latanya Mapp Frett.( Bethanie Hines)It’s been almost nine months since the overturning of Roe v. Wade here in the United States.

Since then restrictions on reproductive health care have often been devastating for women, as we navigate a post-Roe America. Latanya Mapp Frett is the CEO of the Global Fund for Women. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the issue.

(Kelsey Thomson / Boise State Public Radio)A new bill could provide $500 million in property tax relief to Idaho residents, agricultural producers are asking the USDA for relief , the Boise cruise has some new regulations and we take a look at Idaho's liquor license laws.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Kaleb Roedel, Reporter for KUNR’s Mountain West News Bureau
Troy Oppie, host of All Things Considered with Boise State Public Radio
Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman
Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com

(Philippe Desmazes / AFP/Getty Images)Our region has some of the world's most famous ski resorts and there’s a push for more diversity on their slopes.

Ski Utah has a program addressing an imbalance that shows just around 10% of the population on the mountains to be non-white. KUER'S Curtis Booker reports for the Mountain West News Bureau on another initiative in our region.

( Megan McCaleb)This Saturday, six Idaho innovators will take the stage at this weekend's Ovation Speakers Series to share their professional expertise, life experience and passion with the local community.

It’s sort of like a TED Talk and it’s part of a training workshop that provides support and coaching for those looking to make an impact and hone their skills as a public speaker. Creator of the Ovation Speaker Series, Megan McCaleb, along with Ovation speakers Tonya Herb and David Rush joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( TarcherPerigee)There are so many struggles facing parents and children in today’s world, then throw in any type of difference and those struggles can multiply.

Meg Zucker, who was born with a genetic condition herself, knows those struggles and she wanted to give parents and caregivers some tools on how to support their children. And that's exactly what she did, with her new book, "Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities."

Marissa Price (upper right) co-stars in, and Donna Jean Fogel (lower right) directs "Tiny Beautiful Things."( Boise Contemporarhy Theater)“Tiny Beautiful Things” was already a runaway bestseller in 2012, before it was adapted into a play and opened in New York in 2017.

It’s one of the most anticipated productions in recent memory for Boise Contemporary Theater. And the production’s director, Donna Jean Fogel and Marissa Price who plays sugar, the anonymous advice columnist at the center of the play, visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview BCT’s soon-to-open show.

(Alex E. Proimos / Flickr Creative Commons)It’s been a rough winter for many Americans, from RSV to the Flu to COVID-19, some folks have been hit hard. So will we soon see a slow down and what about vaccines for viruses like RSV?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins Idaho Matters to help us answer these questions.

(iStockphoto)A recent New York Times article asked the question, "have women been misled about menopause?" We thought that was an important conversation to have, so we invited a local expert to help us answer the question.

Jill Gustafson is a certified nurse midwife, as well as a menopause and sexual health specialist, and the founder of a private menopause practice in Boise, Quantum Women’s Health. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Michael Johnson / Flickr)The lifeblood of an organization, especially an arts organization, is to extend its reach.

For the Boise Philharmonic has led to something called “Sonic Boom!" It’s made up of some familiar inspiration but in a very new format.

To find out more our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Andrew Martin, Boise Phil's Education Coordinator and Community Engagement Manager.

( Viking)Rebecca Makkai’s last book "The Great Believers," was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and readers and critics alike have been anxiously awaiting her next book.

Her new novel, "I Have Some Questions for You," is out now and Makkai describes her most recent creation as, "the literary feminist boarding school murder mystery you didn’t know you needed!" Makkai joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her enthralling novel.

The Great Believers

Former Gov. Phil Batt, right, with former governors Cecil Andrus, center, and Butch Otter, left, at a ceremony dedicating the Idaho Transportation Department headquarters in his name. Batt died Saturday on his 96th birthday.(John Miller / AP)Former Republican Gov. Phil Batt, widely viewed as one of the driving legislative forces behind Idaho's human rights laws and a respected onion farmer, has died at 96.

Stephani Witt, Professor and Director of Training at the Boise State School of Public Service, joined Idaho Matters as we look back at Gov. Batt's life and legacy.

( Ranch Studios)One woman is challenging the way our society, for decades, has viewed anorexia.

Dawn Brockett, a college professor who struggled with the disease for years has written a new book called "Unrestricted: How I Stepped Off the Tightrope, Learned to Say No, and Silenced Anorexia." Brockett joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her new novel.

(Mel / Flickr)Idaho may be best known for its iconic potatoes, but the Gem State also has a long history of making candy and sweet treats.

From Lee’s Candies to Reed’s Dairy and Idaho Candy Company, Idaho is no stranger to the sweeter side of life.

Idaho Public Television decided to do a little research on the state’s candy tradition so we asked Joan Cartan-Hansen, who produced the "Sweet Idaho" episode and "Idaho Experience" series producer Bill Manny to join Idaho Matters and tell us more.

(Liz West / Flickr)Idaho legal scholar Dr. David Adler is worried about the U.S. Constitution and he wants to talk about it.

On March 7 and 8, 2023, he'll be looking at women's rights in Idaho and at new ways in which the historic document is being challenged. Adler will revisit the landmark Reed v. Reed case, which changed the way our legal system looks at the fourteenth amendment.

He'll also explore whether or not our constitution is under threat and what new challenges could be facing our fundamental rights and protections. Adler joined Idaho Matters to give a preview of the educational events.

(CLIVE SLACK / Flickr)Idaho is home to a large variety of birds of prey, including two kinds of eagles, eleven kinds of hawks and six falcons.

Spotting them around the Gem State is fairly easy, but figuring out which one is which can be trickier, especially if you’re not a bird expert. Lucky for us though birds are Terry Rich's specialty and he has a class perfect for those interested in learning more about them.

Rich is an ornithologist, environmental educator and writer. He’s hosting a class at Boise State’s OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute starting March 7.

He joined Idaho Matters to talk more about where to find birds, how to identify their calls and about raptor conservation programs.

( Penguin Life)Author Cyndie Spiegel is back with another book "Microjoys: Finding Hope When Life is Not Okay."

The book is filled with essays about the microjoys that have kept Cyndie moving forward, even in the toughest times of her life. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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(Frank Schulenburg/wikimedia)The Daybell trial has been severed, a new bill could restrict minors from attending drag shows, "harmful materials" could lead to libraries being fined, the Idaho Senate voted against education savings accounts and the Idaho Legislature is looking to bring back the firing squad.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com
James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News
Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun
Sadie Dittenber, Reporter with Idaho Ed News
Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman

Along the banks of the Boise River a scrubby, weedy landscape is being transformed back to a living, vibrant ecosystem thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers from across the Treasure Valley.

It’s called the Boise River ReWild Project and it’s the brainchild of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society. The goal is to restore more than 50 acres of habitat along the river.

Idaho Matters producers Samantha Wright and Hannah Gardoski drove down to the river on a very windy day and walked along the bank and many rows of tubes of plastic webbing with tiny plant sprouts inside.

They were joined by Danae Fails with the Golden Eagle Audubon Society who is the project coordinator for the Boise River ReWild Project and Sean Finn, who works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by day, and volunteers as the Project Lead.

A stretch of the Boise River, not far from Barber Park. ( Hannah Gardoski)Finn says the whole idea is to increase the native biodiversity along the Boise River. He says we’ve lost that biodiversity since the very first days of the Oregon Trail.

“There were people who were on the Oregon Trail who were camping right here. It's hard to believe, but it's true. And of course, those people, they stopped here, their horses and their cattle fed up on the grass and the other plants. And when they were done and ready, they moved on,” says Finn.

He says that’s been the story of the river for decades. Each time someone used the river for its resources and then moved on, leaving an area behind that degraded over time.

“All those native plants that were out here, from time immemorial until about 1850, have slowly been lost just because we weren't paying attention. And now we want to pay attention.”

As the native plants died, weeds took over. And Finn says those weeds should not be there.

“The weeds serve no purpose to our pollinators and our other insects, very little purpose to our small mammals. They do nothing for the birds. They don't carry high energy nectar. They don't provide high energy berries,” Finn says.

So one of the goals of the project is to bring back the native biodiversity of wildflowers, native grasses, native shrubs that bear berries and other kinds of fruit. And they’re taking out the weeds and invasive species like Russian Olive trees.

Jon Mathews is a volunteer with the project. As a Plot Lead, he coordinates dozens of volunteers who weed the areas and plant the new sprouts.

“We planted about 2000 plants in our plots and then we go back out and kind of nurture them, throw water at them and cage them up and protect them from the deer and everything so they grow,” says Mathews.

Each plot is about half an acre. Volunteers plant dozens of kinds of plants including several kinds of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, chokecherry, bitterbrush, gooseberry leaf, globemallow, and a ton of milkweed plants.

Inside each plastic mesh tube is a tiny native plant sprout. The plastic tubing protects the plant from becoming a "chicken nugget" for deer, according to Sean Finn. ( Hannah Gardoski)They rely on experts to help them figure out what plants to plant and where to plant them. Other experts donate their time to help teach the volunteers “who maybe don't have the knowledge but have the passion about caring for the river and caring for wild things. And so that's how we try and build communities,” says Finn.

The project relies on hundreds of volunteers, from dozens of classrooms of kids to people who grow some of the seeds and sprouts in their backyard to folks who come down to the river and pull the weeds up by hand.

Finn says they’ll maintain the plots for two years to let the native plants get established.

( Hannah Gardoski)“We will be monitoring plant survival. We're monitoring pollinators, our attendance at these plots, and we're monitoring bird populations around these plots. And we'll do that through the end of 2024 to evaluate what our actual conservation outcomes are,” says Finn.

He says our big government agencies are working on big restoration projects but the smaller areas can fall through the cracks, like a five-acre plot of weeds along the Boise River.

The project needs more volunteers to restore 60 more plots this year. You can sign up online or drop by the Boise River ReWild 2023 Kickoff Friday, March 3 at the Boise Public Library.

Beavers have already started to rewild this section of the river. ( Hannah Gardoski)

(Alexandre Magalhaes / Flickr)For years, police in our region have dealt with crimes triggered by methamphetamine abuse. Now there’s a surprising new problem – meth contamination in libraries.

A number of libraries have closed recently for cleanup, including the main branch in Boulder, Colorado. KUNC's Leigh Paterson reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Oscar statues are seen backstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California.(Christopher Polk / Getty Images)The Oscars are less than two weeks away and we have questions! Who will win, who will lose, will there be another scandal and since viewership has gone down over recent years, will it be a good show to watch?

Our resident movie expert, George Prentice joined Idaho Matters to help us find the answers to some of these questions.

A computer rendering of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.(Radoslav Zilinsky / Getty Images)Earlier this week the Director of the FBI said the bureau believes COVID-19 most likely originated in a Chinese government-controlled lab and that there was a leak, which caused the virus to spread.

However, the White House has said there is no consensus across the U.S. government on the virus’ origins. And a joint China-World Health Organization investigation in 2021 called the lab leak theory extremely unlikely. So how have we gotten back to this theory?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help break this all down.

(istock)When Fortune Magazine published “Waking up at 5 a.m. every day could improve your life,” it raised more than a few eyebrows. But sleep specialists say there's a lot more to consider and that getting enough sleep is critical.

Dr. Nikole Benders-Hadi is a psychiatrist and medical director at Included Health and she joined Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about our sleep habits.

(Fiona Goodall / Getty Images)If you’ve been to the supermarket lately you’re aware of the dramatic rise in the cost of food, and Idaho is not alone in feeling this pain.

A new survey shows that most of the Mountain West is paying more for food than the national average. Emma VandenEinde is the Mountain West reporter for KUNC and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Riverhead Books)New York Times bestselling author Katherine May is back with a new book, "Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age."

In this book, May explores how we can re-awaken our sense of wonder, instead of always feeling burned out. She joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

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(iStockphoto)A committee that studies maternal mortality found that over a three-year period, 26 Idaho moms died while pregnant or in the year after they gave birth and those deaths could have been prevented.

According to at least one committee member future moms might be saved using the knowledge they’re gathering. But the committee, and the work they do, could go away after a bill stalled in the Idaho legislature earlier this month.

Rachel Cohen is the south-central Idaho reporter for Boise State Public Radio news. She wrote about this story and joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(AFP/Getty Images)Spy balloons, the war in Ukraine and trade tensions are all issues that have relations between China and the U.S. at a critical point.

In Idaho, there are many reasons to pay attention to the global concerns swirling around China, specifically millions of dollars in trade in and out of the Gem State.

Dr. Jack Marr is a clinical associate professor of International Business and the Global Programs Director of Boise State’s College of Business and Economics. He sat down with our George Prentice to talk about trade relations with China and Idaho's role in it.

(Gary O. Grimm / Flickr)If you’ve ever floated the Boise River, had a picnic at Barber Park or walked part of the Boise Greenbelt you’ve been to an Ada County park.

Ada County Parks and Waterways manages a wide variety of spots, including 11 miles of the Greenbelt and the launching point for 125,000 people who float the Boise River each year. The department is putting together a new long-term plan and they want to hear from you about what to do with the properties they manage.

The Department is holding a Public Forum on March 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Barber Park Education and Event Center about the plan. Everyone is invited to the forum and you will be able to share your thoughts with those in charge.

Robbie Sosin is a Program and Education Specialist with Ada County Parks and Waterways and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

(Jason Finn / Getty Images)The market for eco-friendly products is growing. And that’s keeping companies that make insulation out of materials like wool and hemp busy.

As Americans are increasing their focus on health and the environment there’s a growing market for sustainable home-building materials – like insulation. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel looked into companies in our region trying to meet that demand.

Contemporary reprints of original Green Books from 1940 (front) and 1954.Black Americans used the Green Book in the mid-1900s to find safe places to travel. Now an organization in our region is highlighting many of these locations.

Emma Vandeneinde of the Mountain West News Bureau joins one woman as she shares her family’s history with the book.

Downtown Boise( Kelsey Thomson)The next few months promise to be busier than usual at Boise City Hall. The city will be hiring a new director of the Office of Police Accountability and Boise will need to fill two empty seats on the City Council.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the process of selecting new members of the council, the city’s next steps in its huge zoning code rewrite, what it would take for Amtrak to return to southern Idaho and unexpected changes at the Office of Police Accountability.

A painting of the Idaho Capitol. ( Idaho State Historical Society)In 1905, Idaho lawmakers asked an architectural firm to draw the plans for the state’s new Capitol building. The company drew the floor plans, sketches, drawings and specifications for the central part of what became the Idaho Statehouse.

Now, over 100 of those original drawings and paintings, still held by Hummel Architects, are being donated to the Idaho State Archives. Idaho State Historical Society Executive Director Janet Gallimore and Carrie Applegate with Hummel Architects joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

A picture from the book "Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace." ( Anna Don)This Thursday, Dr. Tamara Venit-Shelton will be looking back at Chinese medicine and the influence it had on the United States over the last 200 years.

Discussing her most recent book, "Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace," she’ll explore how we decide what reputable medicine looks like, as well as the role that cultural stereotypes play in impacting who we trust to perform that medicine.

Dr. Venit-Shelton joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace

(Kevin Nicholson (TubaPresident) / Flickr)As we inch closer to warmer weather, many of us are looking forward to more sunshine. But for one particular group here in Idaho, this summer is going to be all about the brass.

This July, the Boise State Trombone Choir has been invited to perform at the 2023 International Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Sarah Paradis and choir member Logan Dominguez joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this upcoming performance.

A former Boise city police chief is looking at running for mayor, there are two vacant seats on the Boise City Council, criminal charges have been filed against the former Jefferson County prosecutor, an update on the proposed Albertsons-Kroger merger and the latest news on the house where four U of I students were killed last year.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Ian Max Stevenson, Reporter for the Idaho Statesman
Gretchen Parsons, Managing Editor with BoiseDev.com
Troy Oppie, host of All Things Considered with Boise State Public Radio
Nate Sunderland, Managing Editor, EastIdahoNews.com

One of the proposed maps for folding counties in Oregon into Idaho.( GreaterIdaho.org)The Idaho Legislature is considering a bill that would ask the Oregon legislature to have discussions about moving the Idaho-Oregon state line.

It’s part of the Greater Idaho movement, which wants to move several Oregon counties into Idaho. A few years ago, the idea was just that, an idea.

But since then, 11 Oregon counties have taken non-binding votes in favor of moving to Idaho and the idea has gained some support among republican leaders in Idaho.

There are a lot of hurdles to making something like this happen but the movement thinks they can be overcome. Joining Idaho Matters to talk more about this movement is Mike McCarter and Matt McCaw.

Pancho the spider monkey was so traumatized by the black market animal trade that he wouldn't let his new handlers remove the orange rope around his neck when he arrived at his new sanctuary. ( Sarah Otterstrom / Zoo Boise)In El Salvador, baby Spider Monkeys are stolen from their mothers by unscrupulous wildlife traders and sold on the black market as pets.

When those monkeys are lucky enough to be rescued, they come to zoos traumatized and mentally scarred, sometimes aggressive and always terrified. Thanks to past partnerships with Zoo Boise's conservation program in the region, the zoo was asked to help set up El Salvador’s first Spider Monkey sanctuary.

Zoo Boise Director Gene Peacock joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the work they are doing.

( Rob Grabow)This Friday, a new film will be opening in select theaters across the country.

It's called "The Year of the Dog” and it follows the story of a man struggling with sobriety as he works to honor his mother’s dying wish. Along the way he meets a stray husky and makes an unlikely connection, discovering that he may not be as alone as he once thought.

Filmmaker Rob Grabow joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the movie and its upcoming release.

(Alexander Spatari / Getty Images)So you think you’re a book nerd? Time to put your money where your mouth is.

It’s time once again for the Boise Public Library's "Ultimate Book Nerd Book Club Challenge." The challenge is to read 50 books within the year, based on 50 different challenge categories.

Maggie Dumont and Eliza Ruby are librarians in the Boise Public Library System who oversee the club. They sat down with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about how the club has caught fire in the Treasure Valley.

(AP Images)The Idaho Legislature is considering a bill to make it a misdemeanor to give a shot of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. What does that mean for Idaho's doctors and nurses?

Plus, levels of COVID-19 are up and down in Boise's wastewater, should we be concerned?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joined Idaho Matters to help break this all down.

Jane Chu will be the keynote at the 15th annual Idaho Conference on Refugees( Idaho Office for Refugees, Jane Chu)Jane Chu is a New York-based illustrator and artist. She spent time as chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts and now she travels around the country to share stories of refugees and immigrants.

She’ll be in Boise on Feb. 23 as the keynote speaker at the 15th Annual Idaho Conference on Refugees at Boise State University and she sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice.

Utah Wild & Seattle Tempest(Photo by Jim Max / Jim Max)Last February, we told you about a new sports team that competes across the Mountain West and includes players from Idaho and other states.

We wanted to check in with Utah Wild, a professional ultimate frisbee team, which has made it its mission to provide playing opportunities for women and nonbinary people in the Mountain West. Erica Bindas, one of the founders of Utah Wild and long-time player Cori Bigham joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

( Penguin Press)The secret inner workings of public companies, in particular media empires, usually stay secret. However, that wasn’t the case in 2016 when the fate of Paramount Global, the company that included Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime hung in the balance.

A new book, "Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy" delves into what really happened. The authors of the book, New York Times Journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

Bring Amtrak service back to Southern Idaho and link it to Salt Lake City, that’s the hope of the city of Boise and they’re looking for some public input on the idea.

A new podcast is helping people escape the noises of everyday life and, instead, find peace in nature.

Across the country people are fascinated by the details of true crime stories, but there's no one more invested in the details than forensic artists. They help to solve crimes with sketch composites, crime scene renderings and even skull reconstructions. Idaho Matters sits down to find out why this work is so important and how it is done.

Author Cheryl Head is known for her page turning novels and her newest book, "Time’s Undoing," is her most personal yet. She joins Idaho Matters to talk more about how her outrage over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 compelled her to write her latest novel.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a new bill criminalizing health care for trans youth, a petition to dissolve the Meridian Library District and some alarming warming trends in the Mountain West.

There’s a controversy brewing in the Idaho Legislature, this time about public schools and the phrase “in God We Trust."

A proposal working its way through the Idaho legislature would change the way a citizens initiative gets on the ballot.

Skiing and horses are two things the Mountain West has no shortage of, so why not combine them? Well, there’s already a sport for that. It’s called skijoring – and competitions are held across our region. A horse and rider pull a skier by a rope - like water skiing, but on snow.

This weekend the annual Wood River Extreme Skijoring races kick off in Bellevue bringing skiers, cowboys and horses pair together to have a blast in the Wood River Valley!

One Idaho company is creating unique toys with the goal of spreading a very important message, which that “what makes us different makes all the difference in the world.”

Idaho Matters takes a look at the latest with COVID-19, Avian Influenza and Hemorrhagic Fever.

In the new bestseller "Screaming on the Inside," author Jessica Grose chronicles how unreasonable expectations of motherhood are baked into our culture, along with stereotypes that feed that narrative.

A new study says we could lose 97% of all western bumblebees in the next 30 years. Thanks to the help of a new vaccine though it might be possible to help save them.

As the cost of housing and inflation continues to rise families across the U.S. are struggling to make ends meet, especially here in Idaho. That's why one local author has written a new book called The Bright Side opening up a conversation around important topics like housing insecurity, food insecurity and socioeconomic differences, while also finding the good in things.

The cost of housing has gone up significantly in Idaho, making it harder to find an affordable home. Idaho Matters takes a look at a new report to see how housing costs are impacting people across the state.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the life of Toshio Mori, an early Japanese American fiction writer, and his legacy.

The "Boise Weekly" is a staple, but Covid hit the publication hard and as a result there are some changes being made. Idaho Matters sits down with editor Jeanne Huff to find out what's next for the newspaper.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the importance of embracing your emotions.

The Whitebark Pine is in trouble, thanks to a variety of factors. Idaho Matters takes look at why the tree is being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The just-released film "Freedom’s Path" – telling the story of a runaway civil war soldier who encounters a secret community of freed slaves – is more than a reflection of history. It’s also making its own history. A portion of the film’s profits are going to historically black colleges and universities.

With four wine regions and over 70 wineries Idaho has more than a few wines that you might want to try. So to help make sure everyone has a chance to taste the states best varieties the Idaho Wine Commission is hosting a series of events called Idaho Winter Wine Weekends.

As Valentine's day approaches many of us are thinking about love, in all its many forms, and what better way to express love than through a letter?

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a bill banning gender affirming care for youth, a shortage of school counselors and a look at why some repbulican-lawmakers want to make cuts to Idaho's state unemployment benefits.

For those experiencing homelessness fulfilling immediate needs around food, shelter and safety are incredibly important. However, it’s also important, that as people, we are able to fulfill needs that aren't just centered around survival, but also joy.

Idaho Matters takes a look at some of the current controversies in public education, from Critical Race Theory to censorship to arguments over school funding and school choice.

Concentrating in the classroom can be hard if you’re struggling with basic needs like food, clothing or medicine. That's why schools all over the Treasure Valley have joined an initiative that helps provide resources to students and families that are struggling.

The Mountain West is seeing more snow than it has in years, which means more powder-hungry skiers and snowmobilers heading for the backcountry. But that means risking an avalanche and there have already been several deadly avalanches this winter.

Water officials across the West have been negotiating a crisis on the Colorado River. Drought is putting pressure on the seven-state basin, and the nation’s two largest reservoirs recently reached record lows.

As the cost of housing continues to increase more and more people are finding themselves without a place to call home. Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity is trying to change that though. They have built more than 80 homes and helped many more folks who are growing older and want to stay in their houses.

It wasn’t just inside-the-beltway pundits who were deconstructing Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. In fact, two Boise High School students were also listening intently to President Biden. But instead of politics, their big takeaways were more “kitchen table” issues.

With the official end of the Coronavirus Public Health Emergency coming in May it means a complex set of policy changes, as well as a new move forward for the United States.

Settle in because this new romantic comedy might be just your type.

Every picture tells a story. In his newest book, "Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait," author Leonard Marcus takes a closer look at four iconic portraits and the stories behind them.

Idaho is not immune to the effects of of the fentanyl crisis.

Many animal shelters in our region are bursting with unwanted cats and dogs and the problem is linked to the nation’s housing crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ketchum turns to local option tax to help raise money for affordable housing.

The Iranian Revolution in 1979 marked a turning point in the country’s history, leading to destabilization, protests and government crackdowns, especially on protesters. Years later conflict has continued to increase and Boise State faculty are trying to help raise of awareness of the crisis.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a proposed bill that could eliminate marriage licenses, a modification to the Idaho legislatures ban on testimony from minors and why there is a push for more career technical education funding.

The debate over school choice is heating up in Idaho.

Netflix subscribers listen up because there are changes afoot! There’s also a big controversy going on over an Oscar nomination and Harrison Ford has been very busy.

Earlier this week the Biden administration announced it plans to let the Coronavirus Public Health Emergency expire in May.

Starting today 150,000 people in Idaho who are on Medicaid will get a letter in the mail that says if they can’t prove they are still eligible for coverage they’ll be kicked out of the health insurance program. That could leave tens of thousands of people without health care coverage.

The company that supplies drinking water to most of the Treasure Valley wants to raise their rates by 24%.

A new play at the Morrison Center in Boise explores some of the themes that came out of the Salem Witch trials in puritan New England in 1691.

The shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall in 2021 caused shock and anger in the Treasure Valley after Jacob Berquest shot and killed two people. A new investigative report found that Berquist’s home was littered with bullet casings and covered in bullet holes.

Boise State Public Radio turns 45 years old this year and we are continuing to grow.

A new novel, The Hunter, puts to rest some tropes about suspense novels, small town crime, women and police corruption.

The number of Idahoans who feel the state is on the wrong track is growing.

This Thursday, Feb. 2 the Fettucine Forum will be hosting an event that looks at the history of queer space throughout Idaho.

Restoring ecosystems is no easy task as we try to repair some of the damage humans have done to planet earth. And food production can be very hard on nature, especially if those practices don’t take whole ecosystems into account.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a bill banning "vaccine materials" in food, what will happen if Medicaid expansion ends and why the Attorney General is questioning the legality of LGBTQ+ policies that are in place in many schools.

Over the last year the Boise Police Department has seen its fair share of scandal with a relatively new Boise Police Chief being asked to resign and a former captain giving voice to racism, which triggered an independent investigation into the department. Interim Police Chief Ron Winegar sits down to talk the investigation into former BPD captain Matt Bryngelson, rebuilding trust and the future.

Electric vehicles are everywhere. However, a lack of infrastructure is making it hard to keep the car charged, especially on long roadtrips.

A nationwide shortage of over-the-counter children’s medicine is impacting the supply in the Treasure Valley.

Here in the Treasure Valley, many girls do not have enough money for menstrual products. One group is working to address this problem though, by providing free period kits to middle schools and high schools.

A historic comet will soon be passing through the night sky and this may be the only chance you have to see it, ever.

The U.S. Supreme Court was dubbed the least dangerous branch of government by Alexander Hamilton. But the court has lately been in the middle of some of America's biggest controversies.

The fifth annual Idaho Sled Dog Challenge brings dog mushers from around the world to McCall.

Idaho Matters talks with local author Jan M. Flynn about her chapters in the newest instalment of "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Dog."

Harvest and Hearth will be holding their third annual event on Feb. 10, bringing local producers together for a day of classes and networking.

Here in Idaho two groups are helping to prevent evictions and keep people housed.

On another rather cold January morning here in Idaho, we consider ice, not so much what the natural elements have delivered to our doorstep, but the ice that we create for our comfort, for our consumption, our leisure for so much of our lives. But at what cost?

Author Erika Bolstad sits down with Idaho Matters to talk about her debut novel.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including a bill that would change the legal definition of abortion, the impact of location on teachers' pay and why one Idaho lawmaker is saying he doesn't want to hear from anyone under the age of 18.

The crisis has been a focus for the Biden Administration but the rollout of federal solutions has been slow.

Dogs running off leash in the Boise Foothills can mean the death of deer and elk who winter there. Matt O'Connell with Idaho Fish and Game and he joins Idaho Matters to explain why keeping your dog on their leash is so important to big game.

There aren't enough Big Brothers to go around and BBBS is asking for volunteers. CEO Hillary Xoumanivong joins Idaho Matters to tell us more.

We delve into the Oscar nomination process, plus what has Avatar director James Cameron been up to? Our resident movie critic and Morning Edition host George Prentice returns to Idaho Matters.

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins Idaho Matters to discuss the flurry of news reports after the CDC said Friday they were investigating whether the bivalent Pfizer vaccine could be linked to a higher risk of stroke in people 65 and older.

FARE Idaho is celebrating local food and drink with a unique event connecting Idaho producers and retailers. FARE Idaho's executive director Katie Baker joins tells us more.

Idaho Matters sits down with the author of "You Should Have Told Me" to talk about her new page-turning thriller.

A new house subcommittee is investigating what they call the weaponization of the federal government and speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy and other republicans insist on comparing their subcommittee to the "Church Committee," the highly regarded bipartisan inquiry of the 1970s.

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month and a group of folks have gotten together to offer training on how to spot and prevent this crime from occurring.

After nearly five decades of advocacy four dams are about to be demolished to help salmon, but they’re not the dams we’re usually talking about.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including new information on the University of Idaho murder investigation and how a Caldwell School Board meeting fell apart.

Last year the economy saw a steep decline in consumer sentiment, an increase in inflation and added pressure to the cost of living crisis. This year economists, like Robert Spendlove, are visiting with Idaho lawmakers to discuss these trends and provide insight into how they may change or stay the same in the coming months.

There may be new hope for the College of Western Idaho as it looks to build a campus on the Boise River.

A new exhibit at the Idaho State Museum combines indigenous knowledge with Western scientific knowledge.

A new year means new clinics in Homedale and Meridian for Terry Reilly Health Services.

The latest on COVID-19 including variants, testing, and vaccines.

Idaho is still seeing very high flu activity in the state and the Centers for Disease Control says that many flu seasons have a second wave.

Federal and state officials try to build trust and better combat hate crimes in Idaho.

Idaho Matters breaks down the 2023 State of the State address, looking at the Governors proposed budgets and policies.

The Idaho Legislature kicks off its 2023 session today and unlike in past years no one is quite sure what’s going to happen inside the walls of the Idaho Statehouse.

On January 5, Idaho's new Attorney General, Raúl Labrador announced that he was moving to dismiss charges against Sara Brady.

Our region has a large number of Mexican immigrants – and many have been unable to see their relatives for years.

Idaho Matters is branching further out into Eastern Idaho as we debut the show on KISU FM.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including new information on the University of Idaho murder investigation and a ruling from the Idaho Supreme Court on abortion laws. Our journalist panel today includes Audrey Dutton with the Idaho Capital Sun, Kevin Richert with Idaho Ed News, Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun and Don Day of BoiseDev.com.

Thursday morning, the Idaho Press Club hosted its legislative preview with Governor Brad Little and a panel of lawmakers, who took questions on the record about their priorities for the 2023 Idaho Legislative Session, which starts Monday.

During the daytime it can be difficult for those experiencing homelessness to find a place to get out of the cold or heat. However, one organization in Boise is helping to fill this need.

This was a bad year for the Colorado River. The long drought in the southwest grew worse, and demand for the river’s water continued to outstrip supply. States are scrambling to find some compromise and cut back on demand before 2026, when the current guidelines for the river expire, but climate change is only making that job harder, shrinking supplies with no end in sight.

Along with COVID, RSV, and the flu - the Centers for Disease Control is now worried about an outbreak of strep throat.

Near the end of 2022, the National Park Service purchased 105 acres of land neighboring the City of Rocks National Reserve.

When the pandemic started, many items flew off the shelves – including toys. Now, years later, toy stores are still seeing their sales grow, and consumer bases expand.

On Friday police in Pennsylvania arrested a suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students.

The Idaho Legislature starts next week and the topic of school vouchers will likely take up a large chunk of time and effort.

Here in Idaho, and around the country, students are struggling with their mental health and schools are in short supply of professionals that are equipped to handle their needs. That's why resources like The Student and Family Assistance Program are so important.

When we think about water conservation we don’t often think about schools, but that's exactly where one charity organization is focusing. Smart Rain for Smart Kids is a program committed to saving water and here in Idaho the Nampa School District has partnered with them to help in that conservation.

Idaho Matters is looking back at the big stories from 2022 in Idaho politics, culture, education and more.

It’s been 5 years since a gunman killed 60 people and injured hundreds more at a Las Vegas music festival. what does life look like now, for the people affected by the shootings? We wanted to share the experiences of survivors, first responders and those who lost someone.

It’s been some 80 years since thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to live in internment camps in places like Minidoka, Idaho. Now the National Park Service is developing plans to restore one of those sites.

The isolated Basque language has puzzled scholars for centuries. For many years, it was believed to only be spoken, and showed up in writing about 500 years ago. Julie Luchetta reports on a new discovery, announced in November, that has rocked the Basque community in Idaho and across the world.

Idaho Matters takes a look back at the last year of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a new series from Boise State Public Radio our reporters are sharing stories that take place at nighttime and that bring you to spaces that are bustling – or undisturbed – after the sun sets.

Idaho Matters is looking back at the big stories from 2022 in Idaho politics, culture, education and more.

As we start to wrap up the year we wanted to look back at some of the music that made 2022 great.

During the holidays Secret Santa's are everywhere, but over in East Idaho there is one particular Secret Santa who's been serving up some extra holiday cheer to some very deserving folks.

As 2022 comes to a close we wanted to look back at some of the films and television that inspired and entertained us.

As a tripledemic of respiratory illnesses takes hold some pharmacies here in the United States are placing limits on the number of over the counter medicines customers can purchase to help with their symptoms, in particular children’s pain relief medication.

Idaho Matters sat down to find out how we can help wildlife through the colder seasons.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down with the co-owner of "Rediscovered Books" to ask what we should be adding to our bookshelves.

In 2021 antisemitism peaked, increasing 34% from previous years, reaching an all time high. Instead of intimidating the Jewish community though it's brought them closer together, at least here in Idaho.

This year Idaho native, Kaya Evans, became one of just 32 people in the United States to be named a Rhodes Scholar.

Some precious metals dealers have seen a recent uptick in people interested in alternative currencies as inflation has risen.

The movie “The Whale” is gaining critical acclaim around the globe. Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down for a conversation with playwright Sam Hunter.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including property tax relief, overcrowded schools and the latest on the Boise Police Department investigation.

Hospitals in Idaho are seeing a large influx of people suffering from respiratory illnesses, including the flu, RSV and COVID-19.

In 1912 a llama named Spook was living in New York's Central Park Zoo, far from his home in the South American highlands, and his story along with others like him are the basis for a new article that traces the llama diaspora through and beyond South America.

With snow, comes avalanches! Two specialists join Idaho Matters to give us some do's and don'ts during ski season.

In 2018, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation purchased land in Southeastern Idaho. For decades it was used for farming. But that hid a much darker history.

A look at the latest viruses people should be watching out for, as well as the long-term effects of COVID-19.

Here in Boise, one woman is helping to spread holiday cheer by painting windows.

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival takes a look back at the last year of performances and gives us an idea of what we can expect to see in 2023.

Idaho Matters talks with researcher Maggie Holahan about what would happen if Yellowstone erupted and how it would affect Idaho.

Ridley Pearson joins Idaho Matters to talk about his new book release, "Cautionary Tales."

Paulina Porizkova joins Idaho Matters to talk about the release of her new book.

Idaho Matters sits down with sleep scientist, Dr. Aric Prather to talk about the science behind getting a good nights rest.

Across the country books are once again being challenged in schools and libraries. Idaho Matters takes a look at who decides what materials are appropriate and why.

We explore Boise's history of segregation through archeology.

Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge visited with Idaho Matters to talk about life, music and her new tour.

It's the holiday season, which is great time to curl up with loved ones and watch something good. So grab your blanket and some popcorn because we've got recommendations!

Idaho Matters takes a look at the latest with RSV, COVID-19 and the flu.

Holidays are fun, but they can also be stressful. Counselor Laurie Strand joins Idaho Matters to give us a little advice on how to handle that stress.

It can be challenging for musicians to get their songs on the radio, but one station in Idaho is trying to help change that.

The Boise Police Chief is asked to resign, a former Boise Police captain is confirmed to have made numerous racist comments, along with participating in a conference for white supremacists, prompting an investigation into those allegations - and just days ago Mayor McLean put the Director of Police Accountability on administrative leave.

The Nampa street division has a fleet of snowplows ready to take on the snow this year and for the very first time those snow plows have names!

As temperatures drop and Idaho starts to see more snow, some trails are being closed to help protect popular recreation spots within the Boise Foothills.

Julia Tai is one of the most dynamic young conductors on stages across the planet, conducting in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico and here in the Northwest – Seattle. Now Tai will be conducting the Boise Philharmonic for this year's holiday performances of Messiah.

Next year’s session of the Idaho legislature will look very different from this year’s after November's election replaced almost half of the 105 legislators at the Idaho statehouse.

Betsy Russell sits down with Idaho Matters to talk about her 40 year career and what's next for her.

As the Orion spacecraft nears the end of its first mission Idaho Matters takes a look at the journey and what's next.

For 16 years, the Boise Bicycle Project has been making kids dreams come true through the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway. This year they still need your help to make sure each child who is dreaming of a bicycle this holiday season gets one.

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman; Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun; Alex Duggan, Investigative Reporter with KTVB.

The Ruth Melichar Center in Boise gives more than 3,000 birds a second chance each year.

The Boise Kitchen Collective is helping fill a gap in Boise when it comes to food insecurity.

Researchers are studying the Cassia Crossbill bird and how climate change is impacting its habitat.

Thousands of birds have flown over our region as they migrate south but bird watchers are noticing fewer species and fewer birds than last year.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean hires outside firm to investigate former Captain Matt Bryngelson following racist comments.

Central District Health says a local high school student has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Health officials say the student attends Centennial High School, and the department is investigating and sending letters to anyone who may have had close contact.

It's time to break out the Christmas ornaments and tinsel!

The holidays are fast approaching, which means gift-shopping is in full swing.

It’s one of those topics nobody likes to talk about, but millions of Americans have issues like urinary incontinence or an overactive bladder. Dr. Jennifer Gruenenfelder joins Idaho Matters to talk about these common problems and find resources to help fix them.

The Great Salt Lake and Colorado River are both drying up and surrounding communities are under pressure to find a solution.

Since 2020 the nonprofit City of Good has provided more than 80,000 meals to Idaho residents experiencing food insecurity. Today they are continuing to support community needs with a sustainable food system.

Last week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the latest arguments in a case involving Idaho's law that bans trans athletes from competing on sex-segregated teams.

One nonprofit is helping refugee students in Idaho navigate college and their careers after graduation.

Since 1946, the Owyhee Motorcycle Club has trained and competed on a track in the Boise Foothills. Now the club has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first one to do so in the United States.

Story Story Night returns on November 29 with a feast for the senses. The show's 13th season will kick-off with an exploration of taste, from finger-licking good food to cocktails.

Idaho Matters takes a look back at the last year of the coronavirus pandemic.

A former Boise Police captain has been linked to a white supremacist group. Idaho Matters takes a look at what the City of Boise is doing about this and talk with the police union.

Over the last few months, the nonprofit Land Trust of the Treasure Valley has been working to raise funds to purchase an important piece of Boise Foothills land east of Avimor. Eric Grace, the Executive Director of Land Trust of the Treasure Valley, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about this open space and why it's important to protect it.

This could be the most expensive Thanksgiving in recent memory. Food prices continue to go up and shoppers are doing their best to stretch their dollar at the grocery store.

Reporter James Dawson joins Idaho Matters for an update about the case of four University of Idaho students who were murdered.

People who give blood in Idaho helped save the life of one mother in Twin Falls.

Ally Repertory Theater is back up and running this season with new classics like Cabaret and In the Next Room. Artistic Director Buffie Main joins Idaho Matters to discuss the Theater's new line up.

Paulina Porizkova joins Idaho Matters to talk about the release of her new book.

It’s Friday - which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

After four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death Sunday morning, Moscow Police spent almost three days telling students and the broader community there was no threat then reversed course Wednesday during a news conference.

The Idaho Water Supply Committee held its fall meeting last week and experts said that much of the state is in trouble when it comes to having enough water.

A crew of folks gathered northeast of Wendell recently to clean up piles of trash illegally dumped on public land. Trailers and pickups were filled to the brim with trash, including couches, mattresses and even an old freezer.

Last year Torena Sauer wasn't sure is she would live. This year she returned to the hospital and staff that helped save her life, to say thank you.

A look at this years flu season and it's impact on the Gem state.

Some states in our region and around the U.S. are restricting abortions. Now efforts are underway to connect women with abortion medications – a dose of two pills that can be taken at home. A mobile clinic is operating along Colorado's border, so women from out-of-state can pick up the pills. KUNC’s Leigh Paterson reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

A new film is looking at the impact of cyberbullying and how to stop it.

Fruitland police spent the weekend digging up the backyard of a home and reports say they’re looking for the remains of Michael Vaughan, who was five years old when he went missing in July of 2021.

Idaho Matters looks at the current outbreak of RSV in Idaho, particularly among kids.

Last week we had our first snowfall in the treasure valley and ski areas across Idaho are beginning to open, meaning only one thing, it's time to break out your winter coats and snowboards.

Demand for places to play pickleball is up, especially in Meridian, and in response the city got together with the owners of a local apartment complex to build four new pickleball courts at Kleiner Memorial Park.

Idaho Matters takes a look at a new book about the city of Boise.

Four students from the University of Idaho were found dead on Sunday in a Moscow apartment. KTVB-TV is reporting that police are investigating it as a homicide.

Former Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee left his post in September under a cloud of controversy. Now, a former Internal Affairs Captain has filed a lawsuit against the city of Boise, saying officials did not protect police officers working under Lee. KTVB reporter Alex Duggan has been following this story and joins Idaho Matters to talk more about this story.

Just when we thought the cost of housing was dropping - home prices in Ada County increased once again.

Idaho Matters sits down with the Wassmuth Center’s new Executive Director, Christina Bruce-Bennion to talk about the centers future.

A look at election results and their impact on the legislature, Treefort is coming back to Boise, farmworkers in Idaho are struggling with wages, a new poll reveals that the legislature's stance on abortion is unpopular with Idahoans and former lieutenant governor candidate, Terri Pickens Manweiler will soon begin work on an abortions right initiative. Our journalist panel today is Joe Parris with KTVB TV, Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun, Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press, Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman and Rachel Spacek with Idaho Statesman.

Idaho's six percent grocery tax is back in the news and the majority of Idahoans are not happy about it.

Idaho Matters sits down with sleep scientist, Dr. Aric Prather to talk about the science behind getting a good nights rest.

Spend some time in the lobby of the Flicks with George Prentice as he talks to people about going back to the theatre.

Idaho Matters breaks down the results of Tuesday's elections with Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News, Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun, Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman and James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News.

Idaho Matters takes a look at ADHD and how it affects both children and adults.

Idaho Matters is answering your questions about voting in the 2022 midterm elections. This week, listeners asked us about same-day voter registration and how it works.

Just another day at work: Idaho conservation officer picks up alligator from New Plymouth residence.

Many artists and creative organization where hit hard by the pandemic. However, more than two and half years later these artists and organization are finding their way back to audiences, including LED.

Older folks who can’t find a place to live, and adults who can’t take care of themselves, are living on the street in Boise. And they are at serious risk of harm or even death.

Half American is a new book written by civil rights expert and Dartmouth history professor Matthew Delmont. It looks at American history in a whole new light, from the perspective of African Americans who fought in World War II, both abroad and at home.

Can city rooftops become a source of food? One professor in our region thinks so – she’s researching how plants grow under rooftop solar panels and the synergy between the two could offer more accessible food for cities. Meanwhile, more and more buildings are being built with a green roof. Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.

A new hobby has adventurers armed with black lights and overturning rocks in the middle of the night - all in the pursuit of scorpions.

A look at what's being spent on Idaho's 2022 elections, North Idaho College will soon vote in three new trustees, an overview of next weeks elections and Albertsons faces pushback on a $4 billion special dividend. Troy Oppie, host of All Things Considered with Boise State Public Radio; Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun break down the news of the week.

Many of our region’s family-owned ranches and farms don’t always have an easy go of it – especially in the off-season. But some are starting to look to agritourism for some supplemental income.

Russia has had a long history of taking over territory as it moved eastward, but for many, that’s all it was, history. Until Russia invaded Ukraine this year. Dr. Megan Dixon joins Idaho Matters to give us a historical perspective on the expansion of Russia and talk a little about what's happening on the ground right now.

A team at Boise State University is researching volcanic mudflows in Guatemala in hopes of creating an early warning system that will help protect people and property. Dr. Jeffery Johnson, a Professor of Geophysics along with Ph.D. candidate Ashley Bosa and Master's student Jerry Mock joins Idaho Matters to talk more about their research.

Idaho non-profits are struggling to meet the needs of folks who are coming through their doors. The CEO of the Idaho Nonprofit Center, Kevin Bailey sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about a new report.

In celebration of the enduring power of Beethoven's music OSHER will be hosting a performance of one of his famous quartets. Dr. Brian Hodges, Professor of Cello and Coordinator of Chamber of Music at Boise State University joins Idaho Matters to talk more about this upcoming performance and lecture.

Now that November has arrived we are that much closer to the holidays, there could be more outbreaks of COVID-19, the flu and RSV, which is affecting thousands of kids around the country. Dr. Davide Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins Idaho Matters to talk about what we should be looking out for over the next few months.

Smoke from wildfires can travel hundreds and even thousands of miles away, carrying with it pollutants that contribute to poor air quality and bad health. It was recently discovered smoke may have one other passenger, living microorganisms. University of Idaho fire sciences professor Leda Kobziar and doctoral student Phinehas Lampman joined Idaho Matters to talk more about these live microbes and what they could mean for our environment and health.

Wildfire season has stretched longer and become more damaging in our region. Now researchers are looking at how microbes in the soil can be restored to health – so it can support plant life.

In 1863, near what is now Preston Idaho, a group of U.S. soldiers attacked a Shoshone village. Today the attack is called the Bear River Massacre and over 450 Shoshone men, women and children were killed. Darren Parry will be talking about Bear River this week as part of Boise's Fettuccine Forum and joins Idaho Matter to discuss this important piece of history.

The mid-October arrest of a Boise man, accused of assault including the use of his vehicle as a weapon, garnered plenty of media attention. A short time later, he was also accused of burning a Pride flag that had been flying outside a Boise home. But what was not widely known at the time of the arrest of Matthew Lehigh, was that his first alleged assault was on a transgender woman at her workplace – the Boise Downtown Public Library.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the difference between Cicada Killer Wasps and Murder Hornets and why it's important to be able to tell them apart.

It's been just over a year since the Boise Towne Square Mall shooting, we take a look at what we've since found out about the shooter. The race for Idaho's next lieutenant governor is underway, a former sheriff received sentencing after assaulting an LDS youth group and with the end of elections quickly approaching so is the deadline to request your absentee ballot. Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com; Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun; Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman; Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun get you caught up on the news from the week.

The Wood River Valley has a long, rich history with Peruvians. So, post-pandemic, it was not surprising to see a new stream of Peruvian families to the Sun Valley region. But something is very different this year.

Looking for some new movies and tv to stay warm with this weekend? we've got you covered.

There are dozens of details within our day-to-day lives that we don’t write down or share with family members, which can make a death or serious illness even more traumatic for those we love. That's why making a plan for those close to you is important. Dr. Jessica Evert and Nurse Practitioner Emily Getlein-Marques, hospice and palliative medicine specialists with St. Luke’s Health system, join Idaho Matters to talk about health care planning and getting your affairs in order.

Could the United States be headed towards a tripledemic, where we see the flu, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, like RSV, spreading at the same time? Dr. Davide Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins us to answer that question.

St. Luke's Health System has created its own insurance plan, saying it wants to make health care coverage more efficient with less stress. St. Luke's Health Plan President, Matt Wolff and Health Plan COO, Amy Johnson join Idaho Matters to talk more about the new insurance plan.

Idaho Matters is answering your questions about voting in the 2022 midterm elections. This week, listeners asked us about the advisory question on this year's ballot. Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun and Boise State Public Radio reporter James Dawson helped answer these questions.

The Idaho State Historical Society is looking for pictures of Boise's old State Penitentiary as part of a new project. Jacey Brain, Visitor Services Coordinator at the Idaho State Historical Society and Interim Historic Sites Administrator, Anthony Parry joins Idaho Matters to tell us more.

Idaho Dance Theatre kicks off a special performance with some exciting new additions. Artistic Director, Marla Hansen and Associate Artistic Director Nathan Powell joined Idaho Matters to talk about upcoming performances and what audiences can expect to see.

Many hunters are finding that their favorite hunting spots, on private land, are becoming a bit crowded. Idaho Matters takes a look at why this is happening.

Dr. Katherine Doyon has a plan. She wants to create the building blocks for what will be a first-of-its-kind bridge between Idaho healthcare providers and refugees.

Idaho Matters talks with author Keri Mare about her new novel on American writers in Paris during the 1920s.

Since 1972, Ballet Idaho has been celebrating stories of the human spirit through dance. 50 years later they are commemorating this accomplishment with the performance of four very special programs. Laura Curry, Executive Director of the company and the Artistic Director, Garret Anderson joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the history of Ballet Idaho and what they have in store for us this season.

A look at the Kroger-Albertsons merger and what it means for Idaho, Boise City Council reads complaints against former police chief Ryan Lee, a Rexburg man who was killed while fighting in Ukraine and the Idaho Legislature will consider a bill prohibiting public drag performances. Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com; Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun; Andrea Olson with EastIdahoNews.com; Alex Duggan Investigative Reporter with KTVB in Boise join Idaho Matters to break down the news of the week.

Boise City Council woman Lisa Sánchez talks about race and how she feels she's being left out of important issues on the council.

Has it been hard to get into the dentist lately? Idaho Matters takes a look at why wait times have been longer and what's being done to help solve the problem.

Ned Evett is a pioneer in playing and building fretless guitars.

Idaho Matters takes a look at a new COVID variant and how concerned we should be about it.

Now that the fall season has arrived in the Gem State, so has the flu. Our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Dr. Leslie Tengelson with Idaho Health and Welfare to find out more about this year's flu season.

This summer, Yellowstone National Park was hit by a historic flood that made international headlines. Now, construction crews are in a race to rebuild roadways before winter sets in.

Idaho Matters takes a look at what happens when teens in the Gem state are experiencing a mental health crisis and how a youth crisis center could help.

With the midterm elections less than a month away, there’s an energized push to get the vote out, and an equally energized effort to register new voters – particularly, young voters.

Water rights and public access to land are two of the biggest issues in parts of the rural west. Idaho Matters takes a look at some recent conflicts and possible solutions.

A new grant, awarded to the University of Idaho, will soon help Gem state farmers grow crops that will be more resistant to climate change.

The College of Idaho is hosting its first Idaho Policy and Politics Forum, bringing together a wide group of speakers to talk about the problems currently facing Idaho.

In Ada County and several other areas there is a shortage of Court Appointed Special Advocates. These advocates help speak in the best interest of children who find themselves in foster care. Idaho Matters finds out more about this need and the CASA program.

Bronco fireworks were temporarily suspended after a mishap at a Boise State football game in September.

Cameras have been banned from the upcoming Daybell hearings, Gov. Little is facing four challengers on the November ballot, the White House responds to U of I memo, State Superintendent Sherri Ybarra gives out record high bonuses and an update in the case of former state representative Aaron Von Ehlinger

The White House is calling the Gem State's abortion policies ”extreme and backwards" after a memo was leaked from the University of Idaho in regards to abortion.

People in the Treasure Valley are finding it increasingly difficult to schedule veterinary appointments for their pets. Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, CEO of the Idaho Humane Society in Boise, joins Idaho Matters to talk about the shortage of veterinarians.

It started as a song about the beauty of the mountains – and became an anthem for our region.

Fall is officially here, and with a new season comes new movie and tv recommendations!

From COVID-19 to a global outbreak of Monkeypox to a resurgence of Polio, Idaho Matters takes a look at what we have learned about public health in the last two years.

The city of Boise is re-writing its zoning codes, using a unique form of outreach to get a more diverse representation of the Idaho residents that live in the area.

It's not uncommon to find toxic mushrooms in the Mountain West. However, it is unusual to find death cap mushrooms, until recently.

Idaho Matters sits down for a conversation about the past, present and future of the Gem States Latino community.

St. Luke's is working to provide more mental health resources to rural parts of Idaho with a series of community events.

Each year, during the fall, families come together to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos honoring loved ones who have passed away, an for a small window of time, welcoming their souls back for a brief reunion with the living. This year the Sun Valley Museum of Art is commemorating the day of the dead with a series of events featuring artists, authors, music and workshops.

Breaking down the investigation into Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee's resignation.

Governor Brad Little and other candidates refuse to debate their challengers in the November election.

A new program is helping to get Amtrak back on the tracks.

Rachel Spacek with Idaho Statesman; Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun; Nate Eaton, News Director at EastIdahoNews.com; Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman; Madelyn Beck, Mountain West News Bureau Reporter with Boise State Public Radio.

Resident film critic George Prentice joins Idaho Matters from the Toronto International Film Festival.

Idaho College students are working on innovative, community-centered and scalable responses to our world's pressing issues by participating in the Davis Projects for Peace.

Liz Hobson, the Director of the Idaho State Museum, and Mari Ramos with the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce join Idaho Matters to talk more about the roots of Hispanic Heritage month.

During the heart of the pandemic assistance was offered to those experiencing food insecurity. However, some of those program are now coming to an end. Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with the Director of Community Partnerships here in Boise to talk about new grants that could help offer some relief to our local food systems.

A pilot system at the University of Idaho is working to find new ways to use waste, turning cow manure into biodegradable plastic. Erik Coats, Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Idaho, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about this unique commodity.

In an interview from last weekend, President Biden said the COVID-19pandemic was over. We check in with our Doctors Roundtable to see what health experts are saying.

CWI students are back with their annual Farm to Fork dinner which features a five-course meal using produce from their campus garden.

In today's world, children have access to technology from an early age. Author Catherine Pearlman joins Idaho Matters to talk about her newest book "First Phone" and how you can help keep your kids safe while online.

Idaho professor, Dr. David Adler joins Idaho Matters to discuss the U.S. Supremes Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the January 6 hearings.

Across the country books are once again being challenged in schools and libraries. Idaho Matters takes a look at who decides what materials are appropriate and why.

Idaho made national news last week when a Fox news host and a conservative media outlet reported that the state was teaching elementary students about. Idaho Matters takes a look at where that message came from.

Idaho Matters takes a look what Monkeypox is, how it spreads and who is most at risk.

A look at how drier weather can affect wildfires and how taking stock of plant moisture can help predict its behavior.

As the water in the Colorado river continues to diminish experts are looking to reuse wastewater.

Sit back and take a trip to the wine country in Jasmin Guillory's latest book.

Author of the book “Sisters of Mokama" joins Idaho Matters to talk about her process for researching Nazareth Hospital and the most surprising things she learned along the way.

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman; Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun.

Now hear this: Boise Philharmonic's new executive director, Tim Young, talks about his roots.

A look at Idaho legislatures special session and how it may affect the Quality Education Act in November.

Micron Technology will build its new $15 billion dollar chip manufacturing plant in Boise.

Next week A-10 fighter jet crews will compete against each other in the desert outside Boise, think NASCAR but with fighter jets.

Resident movie critic George Prentice joins Idaho Matters for a preview of the Toronto Film Festival and some of its most anticipated films.

The Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to new and updated COVID booster shots.

After two years of virtual events, Boise Entrepreneur Week will be returning in-person.

Boise City Council member Lisa Sanchez shares her struggles during the Great Recession.

Thefts in Nampa have recently gone up, leaving an increasing number of people with missing catalytic converters.

Mosquito season is in full swing, which means it's time to break out the bug spray.

Join us for lunch at Grandpa's Southern BBQ!

Have you ever wondered what aliens might look like? Well, you're not alone.

The city of Boise works to preserve affordable housing.

Idaho's affordable housing crisis is impacting more than just peoples living situation.

A new art exhibit is examining the impact of dams in Idaho and other western regions.

From the transatlantic slave trade to Putin and the future of Russia - Idaho Matters takes a look at how to continue learning after you get out of school.

A special session of the Idaho Legislature has been called, a new Free-Market Think Tank is coming to Idaho, an investigation into one irrigation district and a trip into the Zone of Death. Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press and the voice of the Eye on Boise Blog; Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun; Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman; Margaret Carmel, Senior Reporter with BoiseDev.com joined Idaho Matters to talk about the news of the week.

A new ruling from Judge B. Lynn Winmill partially blocked Idaho's near-total abortion ban. Idaho Matters breaks down what this means and what's next in the case.

A new resource helps break down barriers between people who are deaf and law enforcement.

Rattlesnakes may not be as bad as many think.

Take a trip with us to the Yuma County Fair where we learn a little about the agricultural tradition of one county.

An update on where we're at with COVID-19 and the number of Monkeypox cases in Idaho.

Thomas tells his daughter Hannah how…at just two-years-old…she helped convince him to stop drinking.

Idaho Matters takes a look at population growth in the Gem State and how those numbers have changed over the last 10 years.

Numbers from the 2022 Kids Count Databook show that children in Idaho are suffering from anxiety and depression more than ever before.

If you’re worried about climate change, you’ve got a lot more in common with Idahoans than you think.

A new grant will help ACHD to help improve safety and access to transportation in Ada County.

Idaho Matters breaks down the first hearing in the federal case against Idaho's abortion law.

Colorado abortion providers are seeing a sharp rise in demand from out-of-state patients, including from Idaho.

One Idaho program is helping women navigate through the transition of menopause and all the symptoms that come with it.

Join us for a trip from Twin Falls to the moon!

Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television; Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com; Rebecca Boone, Associated Press Supervisory Correspondent Boise Bureau; Christina Lords, editor-in-chief of Idaho Capital Sun; Anteia McCollum, intern with the Idaho Capital Sun.

We take you on a trip to a wilderness paradise to look at the past, present and future of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

Ready for a new series binge? We've got you covered with a summer wrap up of the best TV and streaming shows.

As kids head back to school we take a look at the new CDC guidelines and how they may affect transmission rates, as well as an update on Monkeypox and Polio.

As the school year starts in Idaho, there aren't enough teachers to go around.

A new study corroborates what struggling Idahoans already know: affordable housing is hard to find in the Gem State.

One school in Boise is encouraging both kids and adults to dig, plant and grow.

The environmental impacts of climate change include our health and well being.

Idaho Matters takes a trip to the Salmon River with a fish biologist.

A ruling by the Idaho Supreme Court Friday means the state’s abortion laws will go into effect while Planned Parenthood fights against them.

Recent events of hate in Idaho have some worried that Idaho is falling into old patterns of anger and divisiveness.

Its a busy time of year, especially for those getting ready to head back to the classroom! Our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with two Boise principals to talk about the upcoming school year.

Are dandelions really that bad? We didn't think so until we heard from Idaho's Plant Doctor.

Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun; Rebecca Boone, Associated Press Supervisory Correspondent Boise Bureau; Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press and the voice of the Eye on Boise Blog; Mia Maldonado, intern with the Idaho Capital Sun.

A shocking true story about discrimination, class warfare, immigration and shrimp. Author Kirk Wallace joins the show.

As populations grow and housing options shrink, one author looks at how density is changing in cities like Boise.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June there have been many different responses, including an increased in interest vasectomies.

The Boise Goathead Festival is back for its 5th year and they've got one mission, cracking down on those troublesome tire-deflators!

If you've taken a trip to the grocery store lately, were they out of potatoes? That's exactly what happened to our Morning Edition host, George Prentice. He sits down with Idaho Matters to dig into the issue.

Idaho Matters answers your questions about COVID-19 and Monkeypox.

In 2020 the city of Boise started a three-year pilot program that focused on cutting back on pesticide use in parks. Idaho Matters talks about the differences you may have started to notice.

Idaho Business Review reporter Caite Clark profiled the Idaho Human Rights Commission and how they investigate claims of discrimination. She joins Idaho Matters.

The University of Idaho has partnered with four Native American tribes to help change the way STEM courses are taught and discussed. Project leader and U of I Associate Professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Dr Vanessa Anthony-Stevens and Shoshone-Bannock Fisheries Research biologist Dr. Sammy Matsaw join Idaho Matters to talk more about the program.

A crossover story for fans of true crime and romance that is sure to thrill! Author Alicia Thompson joins Idaho Matters to talk about her book, Love in the Time of Serial Killers.

What's in the Quality Education Act and what's all this we're hearing about reversing tax cuts? Reclaim Idaho Founder Luke Mayville joins Idaho Matters to break it down.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the "salmon wars" and where the struggling fish stand today. Writer Rocky Barker joins Gemma to talk about his newest article Will Salmon Finally Win This Year?, which is out now.

KUNC’s Luke Runyon took a boat trip to report on the changing landscape for the Mountain West News Bureau as part of his ongoing coverage of the Colorado river. Join him on a boat tour of Lake Powell as drought, climate change and overuse drop the water level dramatically.

Among many things, Boise is especially known for its kindness. And one nonprofit is working to keep it that way. Rourke O'brien, co-founder of the Boise Nice Project, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the friendliness of the city and how the Boise Nice Project is helping to enhance it.

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Bryan Clark, opinion writer with the Idaho Statesman; Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun; and Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com.

Trying to beat the summer heat? Well, sit back and relax with these new movie and tv recommendations.

This week arguments were heard from Planned Parenthood by the Idaho Supreme Court over the state's abortion law. Idaho Matters takes a look at those arguments, what the state's response was and what's next.

Idaho Matters takes a look at why the Biden administration is suing Idaho over its abortion law, what they hope to accomplish, and what the reaction was from Idaho lawmakers.

Senator Melissa Wintrow and House Minority Leader Represantive Ilana Rubel share their thoughts on the federal lawsuit facing Idaho, as well as their concerns when it comes to state rights.

New Mexico creates largest state-owned recreation area to date.

School is almost back in session. Idaho Matters takes a look at the Boise School Districts Health and Safety plan for the upcoming year, as well as long COVID here in Idaho.

Idaho Matters takes a look at Monkeypox. What it is, where it comes from and why it's spreading so quickly.

Another cult classic take the stage at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival!

Reporter James Dawson joins Idaho Matters to break down court challenges to Idaho's abortion laws.

Idaho's neighbor, Wyoming, is in the middle of a lawsuit over an abortion ban. Idaho Matters gets an update.

If you love a good conversation, you're in luck because StoryCorps is back in Idaho!

The Sawtooth Society has been working to protect the Sawtooth National Recreation Area for 25 years. Idaho Matters sat down to learn a little about the history of the society and why preserving the SNRA is so important.

Morning Edition host George Prentice takes a look at the history of the air quality board, the future of electric vehicles and where the city currently is in attaining its 2050 goal of being carbon neutral.

Idaho Matters sits down with the author of 'Reading for Our Lives' to discuss children's literacy and the importance of tackling the reading gap early on.

For the first time researchers have mapped the genome of sagebrush, which could mean big things for the plants habitat, especially when it comes to combating the effects of climate change.

A look at the dangers of working in the heat and what you can do to stay safe.

Margaret Carmel, Senior Reporter with BoiseDev.com; Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television; Nicole Blanchard Outdoors Reporter with the Idaho Statesman; Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun.

Before he was the Editor-in-Chief at CrimeReads, Dwyer Murphy was a lawyer. Now, he is also an author. Dwyer joined Idaho Matters to talk more about his new novel and why he gave up law for writing crime fiction.

Von Ehlinger's rape conviction is not the first time the former Idaho House Member broke the law.

The six day long BIPOC Playwrights Festival is back with new performances and stories.

If you like ghost stories and romance, well this book might just be for you.

Director of the Boise Young Rider Development Squad, Douglas Tobin and 13-year-old Tessa Beebe join Idaho Matters to talk all things cycling.

Could mask mandates be coming back in some places? Idaho Matters finds out.

Idaho Matters talks with researcher Maggie Holahan about what would happen if Yellowstone erupted and how it would affect Idaho.

Publishing a book is no easy feat, let alone during a world-wide pandemic. Three local authors join Idaho Matters to talk about their experience of writing and releasing books during a global shut-down and an upcoming event that is finally allowing them to celebrate their new books in person.

For a long time, “scaring kids straight” was the idea behind putting non-violent kids in detention. However, that model is now changing.

Kaleb Rondel follows one group as they work to create defensible space around homes and reduce the risk of wildfires.

Gregory Ripke will be heading to Uganda as the Peace Corps restarts operations after the COVID-19 shutdown.

Dr. Fenton is the only psychiatrist in the history of the United States to be publicly revealed as the doctor of a mass shooter. She sat down with Idaho Matters to discuss the consequences of her identity being unmasked, the vilification by the media and her personal experience with James Holmes.

A budget surplus in Idaho, some shakeups in the Boise School Board elections, a postponed trial for the Bingham County Sheriff, takeaways from the GOP convention and an update on alternate flyers that were passed out during the event. Kelcie Moseley-Morris with the Idaho Capital Sun; Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Rachel Spacek with Idaho Statesman; Kalama Hines with East Idaho News talk about the big news stories of the week.

The Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has been around for more than 100 years and is now the first property to be added to the National Register of Historic Places under African American Civil Rights in Idaho.

Emily Henry is out with her newest novel, Book Lovers, a story that brings new life to the small-town romance trope we all know and love.

Take a break from the heat with these new movie and tv recommendations.

The Novavax vaccine and why its considered more traditional, as well as nasal vaccines and when we can expect to see them.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down with Boises mayor to talk budget, gun violence, abortion and the city's response to the recent heatwave.

Annabel Monaghan joins Idaho Matters to talk about her latest book, a fun summer read equipped with romance, humor and new beginnings.

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade case and gave abortion rights back to individual states, including Idaho. In the past, Idaho's conservative legislature has passed abortion laws, which have been successfully challenged by groups like Planned Parenthood. Idaho Matters sits down to talk about two laws that will directly impact the ability to get an abortion in Idaho and how these laws may impact medical professionals.

Three months ago, four women embarked on a 1,000-mile conservation campaign in an effort to protect Idaho's endangered salmon from extinction. They've now finished their trip and joined Idaho Matters to talk about what they learned and saw.

One nonprofit is helping to protect Idaho residents from being illegally evicted from their homes.

Monarch butterflies are on the decline. Idaho Matters finds out why they are in trouble and what people can do to help.

Idaho Matters sits down with immigration lawyer Monica Salazar to talk about the 10th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and how it affects Idaho.

Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun; Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press and the voice of the Eye on Boise Blog and Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman join our reporter roundtable today.

Idaho heats up as one of the greatest love stories hits the Idaho Shakespeare stage.

Idaho Matters hears from two experts on why Yellowstone flooded during a drought.

Boise film lovers will see Ukraine through a very personal lens.

One woman's harrowing journey from Peru to Idaho and how the Alliance of Idaho is helping to protect the rights of immigrants.

Poetry inspired by the sounds of nature.

According to the World Health Organization's emergency committee, COVID-19 has remained a public health emergency of international concern.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down with author Elizabeth Kolbert to talk about her book "Under a White Sky, the Nature of the Future."

A new series on PBS examines America's outdoor landscapes and people.

University of Idaho students create a robot to help people who have suffered from a stroke.

Idaho Matters takes a look inside of Erma Hayman House, a 115 year old single family home that is being preserved as a cultural site in Downtown Boise.

An update on the highway 55 project, a fiber-optic revolution, affordable housing in Meridian, an increase in reading scores, repealing federal tax on guns, another project at the Boise Airport and Reclaim Idaho is working to get a new initiative on the ballot. Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Margaret Carmel, Senior Reporter with BoiseDev.com; Bryan Clark Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman joined Idaho Matters to talk about the top news of the week.

A new law lets homeowners remove racial covenants from their houses.

First-grader Daniel Kang won the 2022 U.S. Nationals at Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention with a watch that warns kids if cars are approaching.

Idaho Matters takes a special trip to Twin Falls for a preview of today's All Things Considered.

COVID-19 transmission levels are once again high in Ada County and Idaho Matters takes a closer look at the causes behind long COVID.

The history and family story behind one woman's love of decorative painting.

A new rule now allows debt collectors to reach out to you on social media.

A six-month investigation into rockslides on Highway 55.

Paxlovid Rebound and a new kind of booster are front and center on today's Doctor Roundtable.

There's a new candidate running for a spot on the Boise School Board and he's a high school student!

Higher education in Idaho works to overcome enrollment challenges.

Idaho Power works to protect habitat and salmon in the Snake River.

Two towns in Wyoming lose drinking water after a water main break.

When questions at the library turn personal, the new mental health coordinator can help.

Shaakirrah Sanders, a law professor at the University of Idaho, breaks down what the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court means for Idahoans and Americans.

While many of Idaho's political leaders celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel said the ruling reversed 50 years of precedent. She joins Idaho Matters to discuss her reaction to the ruling and the law it sets in motion in Idaho.

Morning Edition Host George Prentice spoke with Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, the Idaho State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates about the U.S. Supreme Court decision. She says Planned Parenthood will continue to provide abortion care in Idaho as long as it's legally able to.

Why federal officials say seven Western states must conserve water now.

Boise Police Department Chief Ryan Lee talks about tips from the public.

Interest rates, inflation, and the housing crisis are all a concern for Idaho this year.

Gemma Gaudette and George Prentice talk about What to Watch in movies and TV this weekend!

Parents of kids under five are now able to get their kids vaccinated. Dr. Pate joins Idaho Matters to talk about safety, side effects and more.

After two years away the World Village Festival is back!

Scientists say beavers and their handiwork could be helpful tools in fending off the worst effects of climate change.

Heath Druzin with Boise State Public Radio News and Producer of the Extremely American Podcast; Margaret Carmel, Senior Reporter with BoiseDev.com; Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press and the voice of the Eye on Boise Blog.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down to talk with one Idaho family about the meaning of Juneteenth.

Testing for COVID-19, protecting your immune system and vaccines for Kids five and under. Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St Luke's Health System and a current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins Idaho Matters to break down all the latest news on COVID and answer your questions.

For some, flamenco dancing is more than just an art form, it's a way to heal.

Idaho has been in the national news quite a bit this past week for attacks against the LGBTQ community and all this attention has the internet asking: What is Idaho known for? Is Idaho racist? Why is Idaho so conservative? To understand how we got here today and what steps we can take to be a more inclusive and equitable place for everyone means, we’ve got to take a critical look at our past.

Idaho Matters sits down with the Executive Director of Zoo Boise to find out how they are protecting their birds from bird flu and what people can do to help.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the history of the Gem States wildflowers, from how they're discovered to what they can be used for.

Idaho Matters takes a look at efforts being made to help fish recovery and migration in the Mountain West.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down with the creator of the musical Ain't Misbehavin to talk about it's history and journey to Idaho.

The smoke we often see in the summer months may seem more like a nuisance than a hazard, but there are risks associated with poor air quality. Idaho Matters sits down to find out what those risks are and how you can protect yourself.

Idaho Matters takes a look at how White-nose syndrome is impacting bat populations, what people can do to help and how the fungus may be affecting other parts of the Gem state.

Have you ever been in the mood to kickback, eat a pastry and just talk about death? Well, nows your chance.

One rancher is turning saddles into art.

A new center has opened in Nampa to help assist Ukrainians who have come to Idaho in search of a safe haven.

Idaho Matters takes a look at whether Idaho irrigators and cities will have enough water this summer.

Idaho Matters gets a taste of Broadway and some of the best live tv moments over the years.

Idaho Matters gets to know the first astronomer in residence for Idaho's Dark Sky Reserve.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the Novavax vaccine and the CDC's changing definition of what "fully vaccinated" means.

COVID numbers have reportedly remained low in Mountain West psychiatric hospitals however, there are a few that are skeptical of this number.

Morning Edition host, George Prentice sits down with this years keynote speaker of the Sun Valley Wellness Festival.

Buyers are nervous and now sellers might be feeling a little uneasy as well.

Idaho Matters takes a look at rising gas prices and what you can do to try and save a little money on your next trip.

Learning new lessons from the past when it comes to saving animals about to go extinct.

Morning Edition host George Prentice sits down with Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates to take a look at the current state of Idaho's abortion rights and what they could look like in the future.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the history behind Preservation Idaho and why saving the state's historical character is so important.

Students at Timberline High School are working to protect Idaho's wolves after pups from the Timberline Pack were killed last year by Wildlife Services biologists.

Idaho Matters takes a look at warning signs to watch out for in cases of elder abuse.

Idaho Matters Reporter Roundtable: Margaret Carmel, Senior Reporter with BoiseDev.com; Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at The Idaho Statesman; Kelcie Moseley-Morris with The Idaho Capital Sun; Clark Corbin with The Idaho Capital Sun.

How big is the universe? How much does it weigh? Is it expanding? Idaho Matters asks a cosmologist these questions.

Senator Michelle Sennett takes a look back at her time at the Statehouse, the path that led her there and the future.

CEO and best-selling author Minda Harts sits down to talk with Gemma Gaudette about her book "You Are More Than Magic."

The Capitol Classic Children's Race in Boise encourages kids of all abilities to run for fun.

Some experts say you're likely to get COVID over and over and over again.

The Boise Airport is bouncing back, with a resurgence of passenger travel and a few reminders for those who may not have flown in a while.

Raptors all around the world are in danger, Idaho Matters finds out why.

Idaho Matters talks with the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area to find out why the area is so important for raptors and people.

Idaho's Wine and Cider Month kicks off tomorrow, so Idaho Matters sat down with the Executive Director of the Idaho Wine Commission, Moya Dolsby and Crystal Potter, the Co-Owner of Potter Wines and a Board Chair with the Idaho Wine Commission.

The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead has cast a shadow over much of the nation. And in the wake of this tragedy, a lot of our children are turning to us with questions. We're bringing you this conversation with Gemma Gaudette and Cody Ward, the clinical director at the Idaho Youth Ranch, about how to talk with our kids about events like these. This interview originally aired on October 26, 2021 – just a day after the shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall.

On this special podcast exclusive, Gemma shares an interview our Boise State Public Radio News Director Sáša Woodruff had with NPR's Consider This team about a personal medical decision she made, what life's been like since then and the ethics behind genetic testing.

Idaho Matters sits down with Senator Melissa Wintrow to discuss a resolution from students combating gun violence and public safety standards

Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News; Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun; Nate Sunderland, Managing Editor, EastIdahoNews.com.

Meridian Public Works Director Laurelei Mcvey says the city has a “robust and stable supply” of drinking water. She joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the city’s drinking and irrigation water supply.

Dr. Robert Farivar at Saint Alphonsus in Boise has become the first surgeon in this region to use a new type of heart pump in surgery. Idaho Matters sits down to find out more about this new piece of technology and why it is so significant.

It's getting hot outside, which means you might be looking to cool down, and what better place to do that then at the movies!

Idaho Matters takes a look at what happened at the Central District Health Department Board meeting on Friday and what it means.

The Program Director at Surel's Place and Producer of "Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed," sit down with Morning Edition host, George Prentice to talk about a very special performance.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the hazards of prescribed burns, as well as their importance.

Idaho Matters sits down with National Geographic photographer Steve Winter to discuss his adventures taking pictures of the world's big cats while trying to save them from extinction.

Idaho Matters sits down with the creator of the Wild Thing podcast to discuss nuclear power and the 1961 meltdown of an experimental reactor in Idaho Falls.

Wild Thing podcast host and creator Laura Krantz grew up in Idaho Falls, so maybe it's not shocking that the third season of her podcast starts with a little-known meltdown of an experimental reactor in Idaho Falls in 1961. We've got the entire first episode for you to listen to, right here.

Idaho Matters sits down with the author of A Place to Belong to discuss how to teach hard history in an age-appropriate way.

The baby formula shortage, more apartments coming to downtown Boise, election results statewide and in the legislature. Our journalist panel includes Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television; Rebecca Boone, Associated Press Supervisory Correspondent Boise Bureau; Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman and Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com

Idaho Matters takes a look at the role new vaccines will play in COVID and FDA approved boosters for 5-11 year old's.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the history of the SNRA and the cities seeking to commemorate its anniversary.

Idaho Matters takes a deep dive into the primary election results with Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News, Clark Corbin with the Idaho Capital Sun, and our own James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News.

A special group of aerial firefighters are likely to be very busy this summer. Idaho Matters sits down with reporter Madelyn Beck to find out why.

Apollo 11 celebrates its 53rd anniversary at the Discovery Center.

A new bilingual voters resource is helping provide more information to Hispanic voters ahead of Idaho's primary election. Antonio Hernandez, the civic engagement coordinator of Conservation Voters for Idaho, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about Contamos Idaho.

Sunday, May 22 Boise will be celebrating International Museum Day on the Basque Block. Joining Idaho Matters to talk more about what you can expect to see at the celebration are Cindy Busche with the City of Boise and Annie Gavica with the Basque Museum.

Fundraising ahead of next weeks elections, campaign ad rhetoric, a surprising endorsement, and new growth in Caldwell – all on this week's Reporter Roundtable with Gemma Gaudette featuring Kevin Richert with Idaho Ed News, Rachel Spacek with Idaho Statesman and Betsy Russell, the Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press.

Idaho Matters sits down to talk with the co-founder of the worlds biggest gift economy and find out how it works.

A pilot program is working to remove barriers in the food market by directly connecting farmers from the refugee community to local restaurants.

Idaho Matters takes a look at a customizable voters' guide that consolidates all the information you might want to know in one place.

Idaho Matters sits down for a What to Watch update with George Prentice.

The White House is worried that a potential spike in cases this summer could leave the country short of COVID-19 tests and antiviral drugs.

Carter Bays joins Idaho Matters to talk about his first novel, Mutual Friends.

Idaho Matters sits down with reporter Margaret Carmel to discuss how the city is working to create more affordable housing in Boise.

A new kind of event is coming to Boise, one that includes books, music, and brews! You won't want to miss it.

A research lab at Boise State University is trying to find out the number of children who go missing each year around the planet.

Idaho Matters talks with a local program working to set up families, who are at risk of eviction, for long-term success.

After 15 years of renovation a historic church is getting a new shot at life.

An investigation into Dr. Ryan Cole and his alleged misuse of COVID-19 funds, the possible sell of Cougar Island in McCall, “modest” housing and women's health in Idaho if Roe v Wade is overturned. Our journalist panel today includes Don Day, the Founder and Editor of BoiseDev.com; Audrey Dutton, Senior Investigative Reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun and Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor at the Idaho Statesman.

Idaho Matters takes a closer look at Idaho's past abortion bill and how it could foreshadow the future for other states. Historian and columnist Marc Johnson and political scientist at the University of Montana, Robert Saldin join Idaho Matters to talk more about the past and what we might expect to see in the future.

Idaho's primaries are less than two weeks away. On the GOP side, eight candidates are running for governor. The Boise Bureau Chief at the Idaho Press, Betsy Russell, and historian Marc Johnson both wrote recent articles about the race and its historical connections. They both joined Idaho Matters to give us a history lesson and talk about the upcoming primary election.

Idaho Matters discusses why more vaccinated people are dying, the immunocompromised, and why you should still be wearing a mask when you travel.

A deadly mushroom has popped up in the Treasure Valley. Find out how to spot it and what you should do with it.

The U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. What does that mean for Idaho? University of Idaho law professor, Shaakirah Sanders joins Idaho Matters to break it down.

Have you ever heard of a battery farm? Well, Idaho Power wants to build one to help keep your A/C on in the summer. Adam Richins, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Operating Officer of Idaho Powers, joins Idaho Matters to tell us exactly where our power comes from and why the company wants to build its first battery storage facility.

Idaho Matters looks at how the pandemic impacted downtown Boise and what events you can expect to see coming back. Executive Director of the Downtown Boise Association Jennifer Hensley joins us to talk about what we can expect this summer.

Idaho Matters sits down with reporter James Dawson to talk about details of the von Ehlinger trial, Jane Doe's testimony and what's next for the case.

Supporters of an initiative to inject millions of dollars to Idaho schools said they have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

For many ranchers their connection and control of their livestock ends when the animals are shipped off the ranch to either be grain-finished and fattened up in a feedlot or sent to slaughter and processing at a large corporate-owned facility. But that's starting to change as women carve out their place in the meat supply chain.Ashley Ahearn has been visiting working ranches across the West in her podcast Women's Work and today we listen in on one episode where she meets rancher Cory Carman who is leading the charge, marketing her beef – and the beef of other ranchers she’s partnered with in the Northwest – to urban, eco-minded consumers.You can listen to all of the Women's Work series wherever you get your podcasts.

Candidate debates, the latest on North Idaho College, and college enrollment. It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable where Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Idaho Matters looks at how Interfaith Sanctuary received the green light from the Boise City Council to move to State Street, as well as what’s next for the shelter.

An exhibit on Idaho’s Constitution hits the road so that you can take a peek!

Whether you're in the mood for a thriller or something a bit more upbeat, George Prentice has you covered! Our resident critic gives Idaho Matters the run down on what we should all be watching.

Idaho Matters discusses the increase of COVID-19 cases in Idaho hospitals, a new drug that could cut your hospitalization chances by 90 percent, how the coronavirus is impacting children and more.

This May, 24 comics will compete over three days for the title of "Idaho's Best Comedian." Idaho Matters talks with the three comedians who put this event together and finds out everything you'll want to know about the upcoming competition.

Idaho Matters talks to a few panel members currently discussing the issue of faith healing and why it should not be exempt from Idaho law.

The Open Arms Dance Project brings dancers with diverse bodies, ages, and abilities together to create joy and compassion.

Four women take on over a 1,000 miles of wilderness all in the name of salmon! Kayaker Brooke Hess and river guide Alia Payne join the show to talk about their upcoming trip and how they plan to raise awareness of the shrinking salmon populations in the Snake River Basin.

Nicole Blanchard joins Idaho Matters to give us the latest update on the October 25, 2021 Boise Towne Square Mall shooting.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Reporters James Dawson and Audrey Dutton talk about their in-depth look at the doxxing of people in Idaho.

Idaho Matters talks about how you can help save Monarch Butterflies with flowers and why nature is so important for your brain.

Author of the book “Sisters of Mokama" joins Idaho Matters to talk about her process for researching Nazareth Hospital and the most surprising things she learned along the way.

From book to film to opera, "Dead Man Walking" tackles the age old theme of redemption in a new way.

The travel mask mandate is over but concern regarding the spread of COVID-19 is not. Dr. Pate joins Idaho Matters to talk about whether or not we should leave our masks behind when traveling.

Laugh, cry, and sing along with one of the darkest parts of Boise's history

Saving baby ducks and eliminating food waste are top of mind for students at West Middle School

Controversy and unrest at North Idaho College threaten its future

Interfaith Sanctuary faces the Boise City Council as housing crunch continues

Some news stories from the week: Lori Vallow Daybell is found competent to stand trial, a spat between developers and neighbors in Boise, and a challenge to the new abortion law. Our panel of local reporters join Gemma Gaudette to break down these headlines and more.

Juliana Soltis is somewhat of a rebel – in her music, she improvises around classics written for the cello by composers like Johann Bach. She believes the notes Bach wrote are not static instructions, but rather living works of art.

George Prentice chats with Idaho Matters about his conversation with Amy Poehler in Sun Valley and what you should be watching this weekend.

More than 4,000 Idahoans have officially tested positive for omicron.Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St Luke's Health System and a current member of the Idaho coronavirus task force, joins Gemma Gaudette on the weekly Doctors Roundtable to talk about the dominant COVID-19 strain in Idaho.

According to the Associated Press, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have been warning of a mental health crisis that will face American children. That crisis is now playing out.

From the BA.2 surge to kids and boosters there’s a lot to talk about on Idaho Matters with our medical experts.

The COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation have put a strain on many households in the Treasure Valley. Many have found some relief in the form of food distributions put together by various groups.One of those groups, WICAP, had been holding these free events in Caldwell until they lost their distribution site. After a short hiatus, they will be back in action soon.

As "Porcupine Caribou" flowed around her tent, Dr. Sara Dant suddenly knew how to write about climate change in the West.

As "Porcupine Caribou" flowed around her tent, Dr. Sara Dant suddenly knew how to write about climate change in the West.She will be speaking about her trip and her book, "Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West," at the city of Boise's Fettuccine Forum on Thursday night.

The value of early childhood education continues to be debated here in Idaho. Research is showing that it's more than only preparing for a child for primary school. It aims to develop a child's social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs so a solid foundation can be built for lifelong learning and well being. Today we're joined by Beth Oppenheimer and Shearlynn Bauder with the Idaho Association for the Education of young children to talk more about the Week of the Young Child.

A new book called, "Generation Sleepless", uncovers one of the biggest threats to our teens physical and mental health...sleep deprivation. One of the authors, Heather Turgeon, is here to talk more about what's impacting our kids sleep and what we can do to help them get better rest.

The 2022 Idaho Legislature officially ended last week after three months in Boise. Today we are taking a deep dive into what did and didn't get done in this year's session. We're talking with three reporters who covered the action closely, Betsy Russell, the Boise bureau chief at the Idaho Press and the voice of the eye on Boise Blog, Margaret Carmel, senior reporter with Boisedev.com and our own James Dawson from Boise State Public Radio News.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers' new novel, "Bewilderment", looks at climate change and animal extinction through the eyes of a widowed father and his nine-year-old son. Powers is coming to the Egyptian Theater in Boise on April 18th as part of The Cabin's Readings and Conversations Series and he joins Gemma now.

The new regional head of the U.S. Small Business Administration has been traveling around the Pacific Northwest listening to small business owners to find out what they're struggling with during the pandemic recovery. Mike Fong is in Boise today to hear from women business owners and others.

Idaho's new abortion law is facing a lawsuit. Wednesday, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, filed a petition in Idaho Supreme Court to block the law which is set to go into effect April 22nd. The Idaho Legislation bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before most women are aware they're pregnant. It also allows family members of what the law calls a "preborn child" to sue the abortion provider. University of Idaho law professor Shaakirah Sanders is here to talk about the law as well as the lawsuit.

BA.2 is spreading around the world and now in the United States - the Idaho Matters Doctors Roundtable takes a closer look.

There are only a few days left to enter the 12th Annual "Art and Soul of the Magic Valley" art festival. This festival is a little different from most because any artist from anywhere in the world can enter. Joining us are Melissa Crane, the executive director of the Magic Valley Arts Council and Art Hoag, who helped create the festival.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of tragedy and turmoil dominated by stories of death, anger and fear. But at times that uncertainty and confusion caused some people to pull together to solve the problems that the coronavirus created. We wanted to tell one of those stories so we asked Amy Bowman with the Nampa mayor's office, Mitch Minnette, CEO of the Nampa Chamber of Commerce and Mari Ramos, the director of operations at the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to help us.

For generations, artists in Mexico have used printmaking as a way to share news and political opinions as well as to celebrate cultural traditions. The Sun Valley Museum of Art is opening a new exhibit on Friday called "The Mexican Graphic Tradition: Printmaking and the Political". Joining us are Courtney Gilbert, Sun Valley Museum of Art curator of visual arts and artist Christie Tirado.

This segment we'll break down some of the numbers from a new report by the Alzheimer's Association and talk about what they mean for people and their families affected by the disease. Our guest is Adrean Cavener, the executive director of the Greater Idaho Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

With rising interest rates, inflation and high gas prices many folks are nervous about finances as we head into the second quarter of 2022. Jason Norris with Ferguson Wellman will walk us through what we need to know.

Idaho musician Charlie Sutton tackles the theme of fishing and fish with his new album "Trout Takes". It features everything from the peace that comes with fishing to a song that's sung from a trout's perspective. Charlie joins Gemma to talk about his new collection of songs.

Reclaim Idaho has just over a month to collect enough signatures to get their "Quality Education Act" initiative on the ballot. Their goal is to pass the initiative which would raise taxes for some tax brackets and invest that money into the state's K-12 education system. Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho and Sam Sandmire, the volunteer organizer for the group, join Gemma to talk more about their efforts.

The Idaho legislature made big investments this year in the state's K-12 education system. They approved an eleven percent increase to the K-12 budget, bumping it up to $2.3 billion dollars. Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Education News, has an update on where that money will go.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Dr. Rita Woods won the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction last year for her novel "Remembrance." NPR called the book "A complex story of loss and survival told across 200 years by four women, united by the color of their skin." Dr. Woods is coming to Storyfort in downtown Boise this week. She talked earlier with host Gemma Gaudette.

Two women are working on a new book that will profile 50 inspiring latinas who are shaping Idaho and the next generation. Maria Gonzalez Cardenas and Emily Wakild, a professor of history at Boise State University are creating the new book and join Samantha Wright now.

Two women are working on a new book that will profile 50 inspiring latinas who are shaping Idaho and the next generation. Maria Gonzalez Cardenas and Emily Wakild, a professor of history at Boise State University are creating the new book and join Samantha Wright now.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Affordable housing is a crisis in Idaho and it's also the greatest barrier to housing people who are experiencing homelessness. However, one local organization, CATCH, has had some success. Here to talk more about that are Stephanie Day, executive director of "CATCH" and Caleb Roope with the Pacific Companies, who makes home a possibility for families.

More than 40 at-risk shelter dogs from shelters in Louisiana boarded a plane this morning and started their flight to new homes in Boise. When they land they'll head to the Idaho Humane Society and will soon be up for adoption. The non-profit group "Greater Good Charities" put this "Flight to Freedom" together and we're joined by their chief marketing officer Noah Horton.

Today Idaho Matters takes a closer look at this year's Sun Valley Film Festival. Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler are on the list to be honored by the festival. Our resident film critic and Morning Edition host George Prentice joins us for a preview.

Idaho Matters Doctors Roundtable: March 16, 2022

Idaho's Governor files lawsuit against tent encampment near Idaho Statehouse.

The Treefort Music Festival starts next week in downtown Boise and alongside all the bands and music, festival-goers will hear from authors, journalists and podcasters at Storyfort. Joining us now is Christian Winn, the organizer of Storyfort and one of this year's storytellers, Carissa Wolf, a lecturer in the Boise State Sociology Department who also co-directs the Idaho Media Initiative.

Idaho farms produce the second-most hops in the country - now 16% of domestic production - more than four times what Idaho produced in 2012. Joining us to talk about the business of hops and beer are Diane Gooding from Gooding Farms in Parma, Jeff Alworth, author and journalist who runs the Beervana Blog and Stan Hieronymus, journalist and author of "For the Love of Hops".

Daylight Savings Time has arrived again. The twice-a-year clock change can be a grueling adjustment affecting sleep, productivity and even safety. Dr. Karin Johnson is a sleep medicine specialist and asn associate professor of Neurology at U-Mass Chan Medical School Baystate. She looks at how "springing forward" can affect your health and has some tips to make the switch a little easier.

Over the last few years there's been a growing political tide threatening to take away gender affirming healthcare for minors...including the advancement of House Bill 675 here in Idaho. Joining Idaho Matters are two licensed professional therapists, Jamie Lange-LPC and Dianne Piggott, along with Shannon Mclean, mother of a trans child and Shauna Jones, also the mother of a trans child and Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln, the Idaho Programs Manager, Legal voices and Dr Jeffrey Pennings, a family medicine physician.

There's a new exhibit of Idaho artist James Castle called "Ways of Knowing" at the James Castle House Museum. Joining Gemma today are Andrea Merrell, the collection manager for the James Castle Collection and Archive and Kristin Hill, cultural sites program coordinator with Boise's Arts & History Department.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Primary Health Medical Group, Dr. David Peterman is on a mission to change the way we react to the next pandemic. He talks with Gemma Gaudette about his thoughts on what went wrong with the process.

Sagebrush is on the decline in the west including Idaho, thanks in part to wildfires and loss of habitat.Leonora Bittleston is an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences at Boise State University and she's studying the bacteria and other microscopic "bugs" that live on the leaves of the sagebrush plants in the Boise foothills. She's here to talk with Gemma about the study.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

From long COVID to the BA.2 variant, there's a lot to talk about on Idaho Matters with our medical experts.

If you've gone by any park, golf course or pond in Boise you've seen them. Canada Geese are everywhere. Honking, sometimes hissing and always pooping! Next, we'll get to know them a little better. Joining us is Victoria Runnoe with Idaho Fish and Game & the MK Nature Center. She's an environmental educator and goose expert.

Earlier this year, Boise State Ph.D. geophysics student Zach Keskinen studied very low-frequency sounds up at Banner Summit not far from Stanley. As part of his research, he buried special microphones in the snowpack to record the sounds of things like avalanches. It just so happens those mics also captured the sound made by an erupting underwater volcano in the island nation of Tonga. Zach joins Samatha Wright along with Volcanologist Dr. Jeffrey Johnson who co-operates BSU’s infrasound lab and spends his time studying volcanoes to talk about their experience.

Last year, the non-profit group Jesse Tree helped 668 families at risk of losing their homes and that's more than double the number they were able to help in 2020. They have a 95% success rate when it comes to keeping the folks they help in housing. Ali Rabe is here to talk more about the dramatic growth of the organization.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

March is the month for the Oscars and this year's ceremony is set for Sunday March 27th. This year's broadcast will be dramatically different according to our resident movie expert & Morning Edition host George Prentice.

Next month the Boise City Council will decide whether Interfaith Sanctuary can move from downtown Boise to a new building on State Street. A group of 39 clergy and lay leaders of faith from around the Treasure Valley have written a letter in support of Interfaith's move. Today we've invited three of those leaders to join us to talk about homelessness in the Treasure Valley along with the impact of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and about matters of faith.

From new CDC mask guidelines to the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine, there’s a lot to talk about on Idaho Matters with our medical experts.

Dog-friendly Idaho now has its first Flyball team. Judy Metcalf is founder of the Boise Flydogs and she talks about the sport with Gemma.

Dr. Bradley Snow spent 10 years researching the history of mining in the Silver Valley. He's a teaching professor in Montana State University's Department of History & Philosophy. He'll be talking about that history at the City of Boise's Fettuccine Forum on Thursday and he's here to talk with us now.

An experiment by students at J. Russell Elementary School in Moscow has become a research project at the University of Idaho that was sent into space. It could one day help astronauts on the International Space Station.

A man living in Ukraine flees his Kyiv home after Russia invades

Tips and resources for Idaho caregivers who may be struggling

Experts from the University of Idaho talk about the causes and consequences of the war in Ukraine

Idaho Matters gets your COVID-19 questions answered from two medical experts about face masks and 2nd booster shots.

Gemma talks with New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink about his latest book,"The Power Of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.

It's the Friday Reporter Roundtable when we get you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

As we head into the weekend our very own George Prentice is here to talk about what to watch on tv and in the theater.

For the sixth year in a row, "Filmed By Bike", is back for a stop in Boise. This film festival showcases all things bicycle related. Nina Schaeffer, development and communication specialist for the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance and Ayleen Crotty, Filmed By Bike Festival Director, talk with host Gemma Gaudette.

A new Boise State project is planting sagebrush in the Boise Foothills.

The Ada County landfill works hard to make itself as "green" as possible. A new project will make the process cleaner while reducing greenhouse gas emissions & making more money to keep the landfill going. Ada County Commissioners Rod Beck and Kendra Kenyon are here to talk more about it.

Omicron still a concern in Idaho

Idaho Education News is investigating a $3.5 million dollar state contract to create a "data dashboard" so parents and teachers could see everything from how their kids are doing in school to how the pandemic has effected their education. But the dashboard isn't up and Governor Brad Little's point person for the project has left his state job to work for the company building the new site. Idaho Ed News senior reporter Kevin Richert joins us to talk more about this story.

Idaho's crime lab in Meridian struggles to keep up with more fentanyl coming into the Gem State.

Five Idaho women and non-binary players will play on the professional ultimate frisbee team "Utah Wild" this March

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

In Idaho, masking in schools has at times been a divisive issue among parents and was even debated in the legislature this week.

Treefort Music Fest is returning to its regular March timeslot this year. After the pandemic disrupted the event in 2020 and 2021, organizers are hoping for a smooth event this spring — but with added COVID-19 precautions in place.

As parts of Idaho continue to be under crisis standards of care and the state's test positivity rate is at 34%, could we be seeing a decrease in the current surge?

On January 31, Governor Brad Little deployed the Idaho National Guard for the third time in this pandemic.

Last week the Boise City Council unanimously approved the Pathways Masterplan. According to the proposed plan, once finished more than 75% of Boise residents will live within half a mile of a pathway.

Idaho Matters talks with social psychologist Tess West about in her new book "Jerks Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do about Them."

Last year there were nearly 900 eviction hearings in the Treasure Valley and 2,500 people were left without a place to live. In an effort to help those at risk of eviction in Idaho, a new collaboration has emerged.

A new bill working its way through the Idaho legislature would let homeowners get rid of discriminatory and racist language on their housing deeds.

Idaho Matters talks with author Lizzie Damilola Blackburn about her new novel.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

With the cold snap of winter still upon us, you may be looking for new films and TV to fill up your evenings. Idaho Matters has new recommendations from our resident critic George Prentice to give us fresh recommendations this month.

In Idaho, the number of kids in the hospital with COVID-19 is higher than any other time during the pandemic.

Idaho Matters has a sneak peak of Boise State Public Radio's new podcast called 'Women’s Work,' which takes an in-depth look at how women ranchers are leading the charge in sustainable and regenerative ranching.

Dr. Jen Pierce is a professor at Boise State’s Department of Geosciences and she studies the effects of climate change in Idaho, and she looks at real solutions. Idaho Matters talks with Pierce about her research.

On Saturday, around 200 people went to a potluck outside the former Ada County Courthouse in Boise. They were there to support a homeless demonstration which has been on the lawn for two weeks.

Today on Idaho Matters, podcast host Heath Druzin gives us a close-up look at the story of a well-known figure in the movement: Ammon Bundy.

Catch up on the news of the week on the latest edition of the Idaho Matters Reporter Roundtable.

Adult butterflies have struggled with a loss of habitat, pesticides, interruptions to their migration cycle, and finding nectar for food. But baby butterflies — caterpillars — only eat milkweed.

On Monday, 25 mushers and dog teams will gather in cascade for the fourth Idaho Sled Dog Challenge. That’s right: Idaho has a sled dog race and it’s one of the toughest around.

Idaho Matters gets your COVID-19 questions answered from two medical experts after the southern half of the state re-enters crisis standards of care in hospitals.

The seventh annual report asked a range of questions to help determine what motivates people who call the Gem State home, and potentially influence policy at the statehouse.

The ground is frosty and Idaho winter is in full effect. But Jamie Brennan with Gold Feather Gardens in Boise says it's not too early to think about spring — specifically — spring veggie gardens.

As our region deals with the highest number of COVID-19 cases we’ve seen since the pandemic started, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare activated crisis standards of care this morning for all of southern Idaho.