AP Idaho

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors say the mother charged in a triple murder case took part in a complex conspiracy that included unusual spiritual beliefs and efforts to kill those who stood in the way of her goals. Here, a look at the defendants and some of the witnesses in

SEATTLE (AP) — A new unit aimed at solving cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people will be established in Washington state, a result of the latest law to address a decades-long crisis. House Bill 1177 was recommended by a state task force, passed unanimously in the Legislature and was signed last week by

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Why did 2,500 sheep cross the road? Because the grass was greener on the other side. In Idaho, it’s not unusual to see ranchers moving a bleating herd of sheep up to higher elevation at this time of year. But the sight of 2,500 wooly beasts trotting across a highway earlier

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Cracked windows, a bat colony in the ceiling, spotty heating and close proximity to hazardous contaminants in a long-dilapidated school brought over 100 tribal members to the Nevada Legislature on Thursday, where they said longstanding funding pleas for a new school have been

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Democrat who’s the heir apparent to the late Sen. Harry Reid’s role as chief defender of the mining industry across the West is for the first time feeling the wrath of environmentalists, who otherwise consider her an ally. National environmental groups, Native American tribes

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington governor signs legal protections for people who travel there seeking abortions, gender-affirming health care.

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP Education Writer DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Every decision Assata Salim makes for her young son is important. Amid a spike in mass killings, questions of safety were at the top of her mind when choosing a school. Next on her checklist was the school’s culture. Salim and her 6-year-old, Cho’Zen Waters,

By LISA BAUMANN and MANUEL VALDES Associated Press OLYMPIA Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a trio of bills meant to address gun violence Tuesday, one banning the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on firearms purchases and one clearing the way for lawsuits against gun makers or

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A leadership void is putting a nursing program in Portland, Oregon, at risk of closure, causing concern for students and faculty as the state grapples with a nursing shortage. The director of Portland Community College’s nursing program hasn’t been replaced since resigning last month, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The school has

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada Democratic U.S. senator is looking to Congress to ensure mining companies can use established mineral claims to dump waste on neighboring federal lands as they always had before a federal appeals court adopted a stricter interpretation of a 150-year-old law. Environmentalists widely praised the

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended her department’s approval of the contentious Willow oil project on Friday, saying that despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands, “We’re not going to turn the faucet off and say we’re not drilling anymore.” Speaking

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Thursday she has directed the state to obtain a supply of the most commonly used abortion medication in the U.S. amid fears that a court ruling could restrict access to it. The Democratic governor said regardless of the court’s decision about mifepristone’s availability, patients in Oregon

By LISA BAUMANN Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Washington state has officially abolished the death penalty. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5087 on Friday, which removes state laws that Washington’s Supreme Court determined are invalid or unconstitutional. The state’s high court struck down the death penalty in 2018, but the law remained

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration has identified more than 175,000 square miles (453,000 square kilometers) of old growth and mature forests on U.S. government land and plans to craft a new rule to better protect the nation’s woodlands from fires, insects and other side effects of climate change,

By LISA BAUMANN Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles cleared the Washington state Legislature on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The high-powered firearms — once banned nationwide — are now the weapon of choice among young men responsible for most of the

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Ban on many semi-automatic rifles passes Washington state Legislature as mass shootings soar; governor expected to sign.

By MEAD GRUVER and BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press LYONS, Colo. (AP) — Garrett Cammans and his brothers sometimes don’t talk about their toughest moments on the job in the cloud seeding business, like the time when one of them got stuck in deep mountain snow and had to hike out alone in the dark. “They’re

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The only surviving child of a woman charged in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival confronted his mother about his siblings’ deaths in an emotional phone call played for jurors on Tuesday in a trial that has touched on claims of

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors say the mother charged in a triple murder case took part in a complex conspiracy that included unusual spiritual beliefs and efforts to kill those who stood in the way of her goals. Here, a look at the defendants and the first witnesses in the

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The man who fatally shot a police officer in Everett, Washington, last year was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Richard Rotter, 51, apologized during his sentencing for killing officer Dan Rocha, 41, in a Starbucks parking lot in Everett, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A bill in Washington state to establish a minimum marriage age of 18 has stalled again in the Legislature. According to nonprofit organization Unchained At Last, between 2000 and 2018 nearly 300,000 children were married in the U.S., and most of the marriages were between girls and adult men. In Washington

ONTARIO, Oregon (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting an eastern Oregon reserve police officer after a car chase over the weekend, prosecutors said Monday. Officer Joseph Johnson, a 43-year-old reserve officer for the Nyssa Police Department, was unable to return fire before he died Saturday night. The suspect fled, and

NYSSA, Ore. (AP) — Authorities were looking for a man they believe shot and killed an eastern Oregon reserve police officer. Nyssa officer Joseph Johnson, 43, died Saturday night after a man he had pursued in a car shot at him. The man fled and Johnson was dead when sheriff’s officers and medical workers arrived,

By PETER ORSI Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A passenger ferry carrying hundreds of people ran aground near Bainbridge Island west of Seattle on Saturday but there were no reports of injuries or contamination, authorities said. The Walla Walla ran aground in Rich Passage around 4:30 p.m. as it was traveling from the city of

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A mom accused of killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival described some people as possessed or “zombies,” four of whom were later killed or shot at, the woman’s former friend told jurors. Melanie Gibb testified Thursday in the Idaho trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, telling jurors that the

SEATTLE (AP) — A judge has ruled against a suburban Seattle gun shop owner who sold high-capacity ammunition magazines despite a state ban. The King County judge’s decision last week granted state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s motion for partial summary judgment, finding Federal Way Discount Guns and owner Mohammed Reza Baghai in violation of Washington’s

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Dozens of scientists from universities and environmental groups are pushing for the removal of the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming she lacks the educational background required to run the agency despite securing Senate confirmation last year. The concerns

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Several hundred people rallied against plans for a large-scale wind energy project in southern Idaho, hoping to convince federal agencies to reject the proposal by Magic Valley Energy. “I hope that this is enough to put a plug in this and stop these projects from desecrating our public lands,” Twin

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Another judge has adopted a U.S. appellate court’s stricter interpretation of a century-and-a-half-old mining law in a new ruling that blocks a metals mine in Nevada. The ruling could have ramifications for a huge lithium mine near the Nevada-Oregon line and other future mines on public

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a federal rule in 24 states that is intended to protect thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways throughout the nation. U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck, North Dakota, halted the regulations from the U.S.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A federal appeals court has kept an abortion pill available, clarifying the U.S. abortion landscape but not settling it. The court’s decision late Wednesday preserved but narrowed access to an abortion pill across the U.S. It was a major development in a fast-shifting landscape in flux since June, when the

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Jurors in the triple murder trial of a woman accused in the deaths of her two children and a romantic rival were shown gruesome photographs of the slain children Tuesday afternoon, as the grandfather of one of the kids sobbed in the back of the courtroom.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon State Police trooper exchanged gunfire with a man who was holding the driver of a semitrailer at gunpoint Monday morning along Interstate 5 in Salem, leaving the suspect dead, authorities said. Trooper Andrew Tuttle stopped to help the driver of the disabled semitrailer at about 8:45 a.m. when he

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and JOHN HANNA Associated Press Abortion is banned in Idaho at all stages of pregnancy, but the governor on Wednesday signed another law making it illegal to provide help within the state’s boundaries to minors seeking an abortion without parental consent. The new law is obviously aimed at abortions obtained in other

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A mother accused in the triple murder of her two youngest children as well as her new husband’s previous wife was willing to “remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants,” a prosecutor told jurors Monday morning. “The defendant used money, power and

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A legal battle over a dress code for bikini baristas at coffee stands is ending after a city north of Seattle agreed to pay $500,000 to the owner and employees who sued over it six years ago. The Everett City Council voted unanimously this week to authorize Mayor Cassie Franklin to

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man who has been serving a life sentence for the murder of an Oregon couple decades ago died Friday in prison, officials said. The Oregon Department of Corrections said in a news release that Michael Robert Tucker, 67, died at the state penitentiary in the infirmary while on hospice care,

SEATTLE (AP) — The new, billion-dollar international terminal at Seattle’s airport that opened last year was supposed to fit 20 large planes side by side. But it can only fit 16 long-haul aircraft simultaneously because of flaws in the design, sparking a legal battle between the Port of Seattle and the lead contractor for the

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is changing a half-century-old land-use law to make room for semiconductor development and gain an edge in attracting the multi-billion-dollar industry, upsetting farmers who see their livelihoods at risk. Lawmakers backing a bill that also provides about $200 million in grants to chipmakers said it’s

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho governor signs ‘abortion trafficking’ bill making it illegal to help minors get abortion without parental consent.

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Prosecutors in Washington state have dropped a long-running harassment case against a man who had been accused of making threats to kill four women and a judge involved in a prior cyberstalking case against him. The man, Sloan Stanley, was released from custody after a Mason County

By ARLEIGH RODGERS Associated Press/Report for America INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican governors in Indiana and Idaho have signed into law bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, making those states the latest to restrict transgender health care as Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights this year. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday that will

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Starting next year, anyone in Idaho who provides gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth could end up a convicted felon, after the state’s Republican governor signed legislation banning the treatment late Tuesday. At least one organization has already promised to sue over the new law. The

By LISA BAUMANN Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Washington state has purchased a three-year supply of a leading abortion medication in anticipation of a court ruling that could limit its availability, Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday. The Democratic governor said he ordered the Department of Corrections, which has a pharmacy license, to buy 30,000

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington state man accused of entering the U.S. Capitol with a pro-Trump mob during the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection has pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Jeffrey Grace, 64, entered the plea on Monday and had three other charges dropped as part of a

OXBOW, Ore. (AP) — Two men died in a small plane crash near the Oregon-Idaho border on Sunday, according to the Baker County Sheriffs Office. Two deputies spotted an airplane just before 10 a.m. that appeared to be in distress and then crashed into a hillside in the Oxbow area, the sheriff’s office said in

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A man accused of killing a police officer in Washington state last year has been convicted of aggravated first-degree murder. A jury found Richard Rotter guilty Monday in the death of Everett police officer Dan Rocha, the Daily Herald reported. The verdict means the 51-year-old Kennewick man faces life in prison

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As the trial of a woman charged in three killings in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot began Monday, attorneys asked potential jurors if they would have trouble being impartial after viewing autopsy photos of children. “This is a case that deals with murder. This

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — It has been more than three years since police announced that two kids were missing from a rural eastern Idaho town, and each twist in the grim investigation has seemed stranger than the last. Their mother claimed to be a deity, her estranged husband wrote in

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The man named as a person of interest in the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter was charged with two counts of murder in their deaths, police in Washington state said Friday. Detectives from the Vancouver Police Department booked Kirkland Warren for two counts of first-degree murder Friday after

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers pass bill that would criminalize helping minors get abortions without parental consent.

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle-area megachurch that counts celebrities such as Russell Wilson and Justin Bieber among its thousands of members has been accused in a lawsuit of requiring employees to donate some of their earnings back to the religious organization or risk being fired. Employee Rachel Kellogg alleges Churchome and its leaders “engaged in

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and JOHN HANNA Associated Press Idaho lawmakers are considering making it illegal for an adult to help a minor procure an abortion without parental consent. The measure would create a new crime of “abortion trafficking,” barring adults from obtaining abortion pills for a minor and “recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor.”

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday that BNSF Railway intentionally violated the terms of an easement agreement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington state by running 100-car trains carrying crude oil over the reservation. The ruling in the civil case comes after two BNSF engines derailed on Swinomish land earlier this

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — People who were sexually abused as children in Washington state may soon be able to bring lawsuits against the state, schools or other institutions for failing to stop the abuse, no matter when it happened. House Bill 1618 would remove time limits that have stymied lawsuits by some people who frequently

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill that would have provided free menstrual products in girls bathrooms in Idaho public schools failed in the state House, with at least one Republican lawmaker calling the proposal “very liberal.” The measure advanced earlier this month from the House Education Committee with a “do pass” recommendation. It failed on

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison at a condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era. But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill this week seeking to add the state

By LISA BAUMANN Associated Press A rural hospital in northern Idaho will stop delivering babies or providing other obstetrical care, citing a shifting legal climate in which recently enacted state laws could subject physicians to prosecution for providing abortions, among other reasons. Bonner General Health in Sandpoint will discontinue obstetrical services in mid-May. It also

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s governor on Wednesday signed legislation expanding access to abortion and putting into law recent executive orders protecting local health care providers from prosecution by out-of-state authorities. State Sen. Joy San Buenaventura, a Democrat, told a bill-signing ceremony that three generations of women have grown up with

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has issued its first license under its new system that offers controlled use of psilocybin to the public. The Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday that it had issued a manufacturer license to Satori Farms PDX LLC, owned by Tori Armbrust. Oregon Psilocybin Services, which falls under the health authority, began

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon lawmakers passed a sweeping $200 million housing and homelessness package on Tuesday, displaying a bipartisan will to tackle two of the state’s most pressing crises. The vast majority of the funding — about $157 million — is aimed at boosting homelessness and eviction

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A federal judge paused the Biden administration’s waterway protections in Texas and Idaho as Republicans across the country challenge the environmental regulations as vague and argue the rules would create economic burdens. The preliminary injunction by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown of Texas surrounds a rule finalized in December that

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers pass bill with veto-proof majority that would allow execution by firing squad.

ST. REGIS, Mont. (AP) — A suspect in an Idaho armed robbery was killed by law enforcement after shooting a hostage near a travel center in western Montana, authorities said. Two suspects involved in the Saturday morning robbery in Osburn, Idaho were seen by witnesses later that day in St. Regis, Montana, the Mineral County

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jake O’Neil has 15 points and 12 rebounds and College of Idaho blew most of a 23-point second-half lead before holding on to beat Indiana Tech 73-71 Saturday night in the NAIA national championship game. College of Idaho (36-1) has won 36 games in a row — a program record

SEATTLE (AP) — A Black woman who has worked for decades as a Seattle police officer filed a $10 million claim with the city against its Police Department on Friday, alleging racial and gender discrimination. Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin says in the claim that she has faced daily discrimination during her 43 years with the

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press States that rely on water from the over-tapped Colorado River want the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lawsuit from the Navajo Nation that could upend how water is shared in the Western U.S. The tribe doesn’t have enough water and says that the federal government is at fault. Roughly

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Led by tough-talking Republican governors weighing presidential runs, Texas and Florida are debating especially strict legislation on border security as the GOP tests federal authority over immigration. The moves in the two GOP-controlled statehouses come against a backdrop of polarization in Congress that makes any national immigration

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Boo Buie scored 22 points to lead Northwestern to a win in the school’s second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament, 75-67 over Boise State on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Wildcats (22-11) previously made it to the Big Dance in 2017, and just like that time,

EASTON, Wash. (AP) — Three people died in a vehicle crash Thursday on Interstate 90 east of Snoqualmie Pass near Easton. KOMO reported that Michaela Buckholt, 27, Justin Poole, 40, and a 10-year-old child, all of Yakima, were killed early Thursday morning, according to the Washington State Patrol. Another child and another adult in the

LA PINE, Ore. (AP) — A snowboarder died after an avalanche south of Bend, Oregon, at Paulina Peak Wednesday afternoon. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Wall told KTVZ that a person had died several hours after a call for help was received by dispatchers. Three snowboarders had used snowmobiles to reach the area and were

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In Idaho, an art exhibit was censored and teens were told they couldn’t testify in some legislative hearings. In Washington state, a lawmaker proposed a hotline so the government could track offensively biased statements, as well as hate crimes. In Florida, bloggers are fighting a bill

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to stalking a lawmaker in Washington state. Isaiah Long, 34, of Bremerton, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony stalking in Kitsap County Superior Court earlier this month, the Kitsap Sun reported Sunday. Starting in 2021, Long harassed Republican Rep. Michelle Caldier, of Port Orchard, and