AP Idaho

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer When the gender equity legislation known as Title IX became law in 1972, the politics of transgender sports was not even a blip in the national conversation. Today, it is one of the sharpest dividing points in American culture. As the transformational law heads into its second half-century on

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park will partially reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday, after catastrophic flooding destroyed bridges and roads and drove out thousands of tourists. The Park Service announced Saturday that visitors will once again be allowed on the park’s southern loop under a temporary license plate system designed to manage the crowds:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has increased the Port of Morrow’s groundwater contamination fine to $2.1 million following additional wastewater violations. The agency added $800,000 to the Port’s original $1.3 million fine Friday for over-applying nitrogen-rich wastewater on agricultural fields in the Lower Umatilla Basin, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press Created in 1872 as the United States was recovering from the Civil War, Yellowstone was the first of the national parks that came to be referred to as America’s best idea. Now, the home to gushing geysers, thundering waterfalls and some of the country’s most plentiful and

SEATTLE (AP) — A labor contractor denied 165 farm laborers more than $83,000 collectively in overtime pay for cleaning the Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington, according to a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. Investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division said some of the employees at Espinoza Contractor LLC, owned by Guillermo Espinoza, worked

By KALIE GREENBERG, JULIE CALHOUN KING5 SEATTLE (AP) — While the nation waits for the Supreme Court’s opinion on a blockbuster abortion case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood of Washington is getting ready for an increase in out-of-state patients seeking an abortion. “We are already seeing patients from Texas, from Oklahoma. I

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Seattle tech worker of several charges related to a massive hack of Capital One bank and other companies in 2019. Paige Thompson, 36, a former Amazon software engineer who used the online handle “erratic,” obtained the personal information of

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee is now among a growing number of people saying elected Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler should resign. The calls for the 78-year-old, six-term Democrat, to step down come after the Northwest News Network reported Wednesday that Kreidler’s office had fired employee Jon Noski. Noski in February submitted

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. is adding $103 million this year for wildfire risk reduction and burned-area rehabilitation throughout the country as well as establishing an interagency wildland firefighter health and well-being program, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Friday. Haaland made the announcement following a briefing on this year’s

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle resident critically injured by a driver during a Black Lives Matter demonstration has filed a lawsuit against the state, city and suspected driver. Dawit Kelete is accused of hitting two protesters, killing one of them, after driving around roadway barricades and taking an offramp onto Interstate 5 on July 4,

By MATTHEW BROWN and AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — As punishing floods tore through Yellowstone National Park and neighboring Montana communities, the state’s governor was nowhere to be seen. In the immediate aftermath, the state issued a disaster declaration attributed to the Republican governor, but for some reason it carried

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon health officials have reported the first probable case of monkeypox in the state. The Oregon Health Authority said in a statement Thursday the case was in an adult male who had travelled to a community with confirmed cases. He remains isolated and is following recommendations from public health officials and

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The organizer of a weekend gun show scheduled at an arena north of Seattle has postponed the event after public concerns that several Everett Public Schools graduations were set to happen in the building at the same time. “We don’t want students’ memory of graduation to be that of controversy,” said

KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Forest Service have signed an agreement allowing the two to team up on projects in the 6,250-square-mile (16,000-square-kilometer) Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in north-central Idaho. The Forest Service said Wednesday that the agreement through the Good Neighbor Authority will initially focus

STAR, Idaho (AP) — Police in a small southwestern Idaho town shot and killed a 39-year-old man Wednesday morning, authorities said. Star Police Chief Zach Hessing said Wednesday that the shooting occurred about 90 minutes after officers from the Star Police Department were responded to a report of a man who was acting erratically and

By MATTHEW BROWN and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — This gateway town to Yellowstone National Park has become a dead end, a casualty of the severe flooding that tore through one of America’s most beloved natural attractions and swept away roads, bridges and homes. The unprecedented flood has closed the entire

SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — A judge has dropped a cannibalism charge against a northern Idaho man after finding that there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward to a trial, but said the man will still face a first-degree murder charge. James David Russell, 40, was arrested Sept. 10, 2021, and charged with killing David Milton

By MATTHEW BROWN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Devastating floodwaters that wiped out miles of roads and hundreds of bridges in Yellowstone National Park and swamped scores of homes in surrounding communities moved downstream Wednesday and threatened to cut off fresh drinking water to residents of Montana’s largest city. Heavy weekend

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon health officials say the impacts of climate change, including more devastating wildfires, heat waves, drought and poor air quality, are fueling “climate anxiety” among young people. Their findings have been published in a report that highlights youth feelings of distress, anger and frustration

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Six environmental groups sued officials of the Biden administration Tuesday, saying a Trump-era rule change that allowed logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates federal laws and was politically motivated. “Large and old trees have outsized ecological and social importance. They provide critical ecosystem

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (AP) — A Democratic candidate for Oregon House District 38 has won his party’s primary by just 28 votes. The OregonianLive reports that Lake Oswego City Councilor and small businessman Daniel Nguyen topped school board member Neelam Gupta, according to certified results submitted to the secretary of state’s office. Ben Morris, a

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A popular state-owned recreation area in southeastern Idaho will close to camping and utility terrain vehicles due to visitors leaving behind trash and human waste, state officials said Tuesday. Idaho Department of Lands officials also said UTV drivers have been going off trails and damaging the area, leaving it susceptible to

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As hate speech targeting LGBTQ people increases among some far-right influencers and others online, experts are warning that extremist groups may see the rhetoric as a call to action. Such may have been the case when 31 members of the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front were arrested

By MATTHEW BROWN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nation’s oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads and sweeping an employee bunkhouse miles downstream, officials said Tuesday. Remarkably, no one was

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say three members of a Puyallup, Washington, family have been charged with a series of misdemeanors for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Seattle Times reports the charges include counts of destruction of government property, disorderly conduct and participating in acts of violence in the U.S. Capitol. Kevin

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A few weeks before 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested for allegedly planning to riot at a northern Idaho LGBTQ pride event, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government. Around

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Massive floodwaters ravaged Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities Monday, washing out roads and bridges, cutting off electricity and forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the iconic park at the height of summer tourist season. All entrances to Yellowstone were closed due to the deluge,

SEATTLE (AP) — Citing low wages and COVID risk, King County and the City of Seattle will grant $7 million in one-time payments to child care workers. The Seattle Times reports that Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine on Monday announced a batch of jointly funded one-time payments for child care workers.

KENT, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say officers in Kent, Washington, fatally shot a man who had stopped a car in the middle of a roadway, then drew a gun. KOMO reports police received several 911 calls, just after 4 a.m. Monday, reporting that a driver stopped on Pacific Highway South. When officers arrived, they found

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A self-published romance novelist who once wrote an online essay called “How to Murder Your Husband” was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago. Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was convicted of second-degree murder on May

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments on whether the state’s constitution gives a governor the power to reject a state commission’s clemency decision for a death row inmate, but held off making a ruling. Gerald Pizzuto Jr. has spent more than three decades on

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and SAM METZ Associated Press After the arrest of more than two dozen members of a white supremacist group near a northern Idaho pride event, including one identified as its founder, LGBTQ advocates said Sunday that polarization and a fraught political climate are putting their community increasingly at risk. The 31 Patriot

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press Authorities arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Forensic psychiatric evaluations of Caleb Sharpe, who pleaded guilty to killing a classmate and injuring others in a shooting at Freeman High School in 2017, won’t be made public ahead of his August sentencing. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price granted Sharpe’s motion to seal evaluations by mental health professionals

BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — Officials in Oregon’s Morrow County along the Columbia River have declared a local state of emergency after private well testing showed high levels of nitrate contamination. During a Thursday special meeting, Morrow County commissioners voted 3-0 in favor of the measure, which will allow the county to take immediate action to

SEATTLE (AP) — The rain that fell on the Seattle area Thursday was so much that records for the date were set across all six climate-reporting sites in the region, the National Weather Service of Seattle said. The Seattle Times reports 1.1 inches (2.8 centimeters) of rain was recorded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Officials in the eastern Idaho city of Idaho Falls have agreed to pay $11.7 million to a man who spent about two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted. The Idaho Falls City Council voted Thursday to accept the settlement agreement with Christopher Tapp. Tapp was convicted of rape and

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A government panel has renamed a Yellowstone National Park mountain that had been named for a U.S. Army officer who helped lead a massacre of Native Americans. Mount Doane will now be called First Peoples Mountain after the unanimous vote by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the National

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A woman accused of intentionally providing wrong information in the search for a missing Irish hiker in Grand Teton National Park has been banned from the park and ordered to pay restitution. Heather Mycoskie, 40, must stay out of the park in northeastern Wyoming for five years and pay $17,600 under

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A 29-year-old Idaho woman convicted of torturing and killing her 9-year-old stepson has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Monique Osuna received the sentence Thursday in Fourth District Court. KTVB-TV reports that Osuna previously pleaded guilty to murdering Emrik Osuna in a deal that eliminated the death penalty. Erik

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle has paid $500,000 to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the father of a 19-year-old man shot and killed after police abandoned a precinct in the city during racial justice protests in June 2020. The Seattle Times reports that Horace Anderson and the estate of his late son, Horace Lorenzo Anderson,

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — When Raevahnna Richardson spotted a woman standing outside a library in Salem, Oregon, gathering signatures for a gun-safety initiative, she made a beeline to her and added her name. “I signed it to keep our kids safe, because something needs to change. I have a kid

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A person’s race and ethnicity must be taken into account when deciding whether they were free to leave an encounter with police, the Washington Supreme Court said Thursday in its latest decision seeking to counteract bias in the justice system. The unanimous ruling concerned Palla Sum, a

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A wolf pack in northeastern Washington state has killed another calf, forcing the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine whether to cull the pack, officials said. The Togo pack of wolves has attacked three calves over the past 30 days, surpassing the threshold of livestock kills for the department

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers have hired a Utah company to appraise federal land in three counties to determine how much tax revenue the land would generate if it was privately owned and subject to property taxes. Republican Sen. Steve Vick and Republican Rep. Sage Dixon, co-chairmen of the

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The City Council in Vancouver, Washington, has passed a measure that would make it illegal to picket outside the homes of city employees and elected officials. Opponents of the move called it an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. Protests targeting public officials at their homes have become increasingly popular as

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Federal Communications Commissions has proposed a $34,000 fine against an Idaho man that the agency says interfered with firefighters’ radio communications during a wildfire last year when he alerted them to hazards in the region. The FCC said alleged interference happened while the U.S. Forest

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington Attorney General’s office has filed a complaint against a Sequim lawyer who has filed lawsuits making meritless claims of widespread voter fraud in Washington. The complaint to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel takes issue with attorney Virginia Shogren for a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Inslee that was recently rejected as

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) — Three men accused of killing a Washington state family five years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday, as detectives asserted the killings were about “drugs and money” and warned that further arrests could come for “people who were dishonest with us.” The four members of the blended Careaga family were found

OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — The results of a state House race are still unclear nearly a month after Oregon’s primary election because of vote-counting delays in Clackamas County. County Clerk Sherry Hall said election results won’t be updated until June 13 — the state’s election certification deadline — leaving the outcome of the Democratic

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. officials have initiated a licensing process for a water, wind and solar energy project in southwestern Idaho that could power nearly 300,000 homes. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday said it’s starting consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over Endangered Species Act

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — Three people have been arrested in connection with the quadruple murder five years ago of a prominent family that owned a restaurant in Bremerton, Washington, authorities said Monday. The Kitsap County Sheriff’s office said a 43-year-old man and a 49-year-old man, both from Bremerton, and a 50-year-old Gig Harbor man face

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Coronavirus cases are again on the rise in Idaho, according to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, but the numbers are likely an undercount. The statewide positivity rate was 9% on June 5, Boise television station KTVB reported. That’s above the state’s goal of 5% and is consistent

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington State trooper sustained minor injuries when he was struck by a vehicle while investigating a collision Sunday in Pierce County, authorities said. Trooper Pedro Martos, 25, was standing at the scene of the collision on State Route 512 at about 3:15 a.m. when a pickup truck struck Martos’ vehicle,

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a Wapato man to nearly five years in prison for a 2019 driving under the influence crash that killed four citizens of the Yakama Nation. Leland James Finley, 28, had pleaded guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault resulting in serious

BONNER, Mont. (AP) — Montana wildlife officials captured two young female sibling grizzly bears, releasing one back into the wild and euthanizing the other due to an infection stemming from losing a front left paw. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Friday it captured the 2-year-old females on May 29 after they remained close to

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A former lawmaker in Oregon who as a young woman flew a helicopter around an erupting Mount St. Helens is aiming to shake up state politics by running as an unaffiliated candidate for governor. Betsy Johnson, who served in both the Oregon Senate and House and

By BRADLEY W. PARKS Oregon Public Broadcasting The pond is full again at Upingaksraq Spring Alaska Schreiner’s high desert farm. It’s a welcome sight for Schreiner, who owns Sakari Farms north of Bend, Oregon. Last summer, as drought punished Central Oregon, Schreiner’s irrigation district stopped delivering water. She watched as the pond gradually disappeared, leaving

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A wildlife agency that lost key court rulings over its denial of petitions to protect Yellowstone National Park bison will undertake a comprehensive study over whether the animals should be covered under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday. The decision follows a federal court ruling

By ALEX HASENSTAB Oregon Public Broadcasting PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — During migration season, millions of birds fly though Oregon as they head north for the summer. “We’re talking about songbirds, we’re talking about waterfowl, we’re talking about birds of prey,” Portland Audubon Society conservation director Bob Sallinger told Oregon Public Broadcasting. Most of their journey

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service violated environmental laws in approving exploratory drilling by a Canadian company hoping to build a gold mine in Idaho west of Yellowstone National Park, two environmental groups said. The Idaho Conservation League and Greater Yellowstone Coalition filed a lawsuit in U.S. District

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell says the police department’s low staffing in its sexual assault unit that has led to a backlog of dozens of stalled cases is “unacceptable.” Harrell made his comments Thursday following a report by The Seattle Times and KUOW-FM of an internal memo that showed the unit stopped investigating

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An attack by two wolves panicked a flock of sheep and 143 died after they ran into a steep gully where they were crushed and suffocated, Idaho wildlife officials said Thursday. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Idaho State assistant football coach DaVonte’ Neal has been arrested on suspicion of killing a man in Arizona and the school intends to terminate his contract. Neal has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of drive-by-shooting, and one count of discharging a firearm at a structure in

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Efforts to get millions of dollars in funding to treatment centers and related services as part of Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization have been botched even as drug addictions and overdoses increase, state officials and lawmakers said on Thursday. Oregonians passed Ballot Measure 110 in 2020 decriminalizing

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit over the state’s newest anti-abortion law in August — but probably after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling that could overturn the right to legalized abortion nationwide. The Idaho Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A audit of Idaho’s May primary found only six variations from initial results of about 20,000 ballots chosen at random from precincts in eight counties, officials said Wednesday. The Idaho secretary of state’s office released a third and final set of results from the three-day audit

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Every public school district in Oregon last year was given the option to ban guns from their properties. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that most have declined to do so. Since a change to Oregon law in September, only 13% of the state’s public school districts have opted to close an exemption

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A bison gored a 25-year-old woman in Yellowstone National Park. The bison was walking near a boardwalk at Black Sand Basin, just north of Old Faithful, when the woman approached it on Monday, according to a park statement. She got within 10 feet (3 meters) before the animal gored

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure that pushes app-based companies like food delivery services to improve wages and other working conditions for gig workers. Among other things, the legislation that was approved by a 9-0 vote would ensure app-based workers are paid minimum wage plus expenses and tips.

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle will create a database of homeless camps and provide more than $100 million to a regional group trying to tackle the region’s ongoing crisis of people without homes, the city’s mayor announced Tuesday. “Issues created over decades cannot be solved overnight, but we must reject the status quo where people are

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A cougar attacked a 9-year-old girl who was playing hide-and-seek at a church camp in Washington state, seriously wounding her and sending her friends running in fear. Lily A. Kryzhanivskyy and two other children were playing in the woods Saturday at the camp near the

SEATTLE (AP) — Researchers say the newest member of a group of endangered southern resident orcas is a female. The Center for Whale Research says the southern residents’ population growth is largely limited by the number of reproductively aged females. The Seattle Times reports that on May 26, the center encountered J pod during a

OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Officials in Clackamas County, Oregon, said Tuesday they have finished duplicating the majority of primary election ballots that were rejected by vote-counting machines because of a printing error that resulted in blurred barcodes on tens of thousands of ballots. Elections officials were forced to transfer the voter’s intent from a

RIGBY, Idaho (AP) — A 12-year-old girl who shot three people at an eastern Idaho junior high school last year will remain in juvenile detention until her 19th birthday or until a review board deems her rehabilitated, according to newly released court documents. The girl was charged with three counts of attempted murder after she

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington State Patrol says drivers are increasingly refusing to stop for troopers – and other law enforcement agencies also say this is becoming a common occurrence. The Northwest News Network reports that from January 1 to May 17 of this year, the agency logged 934 failure-to-yield incidents. While the patrol

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council will vote Tuesday on the first in a series of policies that would ask app-based companies like food delivery services to improve wages, transparency and other working conditions for gig workers. The Seattle Times reports if the bills pass they would require companies to pay per-minute and per-mile

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A suburban Portland, Oregon, man was arraigned in court Friday for allegedly placing a white-supremacist, neo-Nazi sticker near an immigrant community center in east Portland, and police said more than a dozen guns were found during a search of his car and residence. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office said Friday

By AMY RADIL KUOW SEATTLE (AP) — People convicted under Washington’s longtime felony drug possession law are starting to get their records cleared, and their court-imposed fines refunded. It’s a consequence of the Washington Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision to strike down the law in February 2021. But the remedy so far has been complicated, as

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and SARA CLINE Associated Press OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Voters in an Oregon county where a ballot-printing error delayed primary results for nearly two weeks have elected the same county clerk five times in the past 20 years despite missteps that impacted two previous elections and cost taxpayers at least $100,000.

SEATTLE (AP) — Health officials in Washington state say a case of the monkeypox virus has been confirmed in the Seattle area. On Friday the state Department of Health and Public Health — Seattle & King County confirmed the infection in a King County man who recently traveled to a country where other monkeypox cases

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A woman charged in Idaho with killing her two youngest children and her new husband’s previous wife will be tried alongside her husband and their trial has been delayed until early next year because the judge says that will give her lawyers enough time to effectively prepare a defense. Judge Steven

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jo Rae Perkins has won Oregon’s Republican U.S. Senate primary. Perkins, a frequent candidate for public office, has been criticized for her belief in QAnon, a wide-ranging and baseless conspiracy theory that depicts former President Donald Trump as a hero fighting a secret battle against a sect of devil-worshipping pedophiles who