AP Idaho

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Firefighters are working to quash new fires ignited by lightning after thunderstorms with mostly small but welcome amounts of rain rumbled across drought-stricken Northern California, where forests have been burning for weeks. Firefighters were diverted from the huge Caldor Fire south of Lake Tahoe to fight multiple overnight lightning fires throughout

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A Vancouver, Washington, man has been sentenced in Clark County Superior Court to 20 years in prison for the murder of transgender teen Nikki Kuhnhausen. The Columbian reports a jury found David Bogdanov guilty in August of second-degree murder and malicious harassment. Kuhnhausen, 17, was reported missing in June 2019, and

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Roughly 11,000 kids in Coeur d’Alene were getting ready for their first day of school when Idaho public health officials announced this week that northern hospitals were so crowded with coronavirus patients that they would be allowed to ration health care. Coeur d’Alene School District spokesman

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — A judge has decided an Idaho woman charged with conspiring with her new husband to kill her two children is still not fit to participate in her own court proceedings. District Judge Steven Boyce made the decision Wednesday to extend Lori Vallow Daybell’s time in a state mental hospital by

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A judge in southwest Washington state has granted an injunction prohibiting protests, rallies or other gatherings that “disrupt educational services” near public schools. Vancouver Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Snell said Wednesday that he sought an injunction after anti-mask protesters came onto campus at Skyview High School on Friday. That prompted lockdowns

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nearly three weeks after armed far-right and far-left protesters violently clashed in the streets of a diverse neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, the city’s mayor says the lack of police intervention was “not the right strategy.”  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Chuck Lovell

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The City Council in Portland, Oregon, has delayed a vote on an expected emergency resolution that would ban the purchase of goods and services from Texas in response to a new law there prohibiting most abortions. The resolution if passed would also bar city

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Authorities have positively identified five bodies found at a Pocatello, Idaho, funeral home that is under investigation and are working to identify seven others and the remains of approximately 50 fetuses have been turned over to the Ada County Coroner. The Downard Funeral Home was being scrutinized by police after a

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — A recent increase in COVID-19 deaths has overwhelmed a southwest Washington county’s storage capacity, prompting the coroner to ask the commissioners declare an emergency to allow the county to bring in a refrigeration trailer. Cowlitz County commissioners agreed Tuesday  to the request to help expand capacity until the new morgue is

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few has been cited for driving under the influence and said he exhibited “poor judgement” operating a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol. Few released a statement Tuesday night apologizing for the “hurt caused to those most important to me – my family, my players, and my

BOISE, Idaho. (AP) — An Idaho man charged with assaulting police in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has pleaded guilty. The Idaho Statesman reports Duke Edward Wilson pleaded guilty Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees;

SEATTLE (AP) — King County is working to set up a COVID-19 vaccine verification system that could go into effect next month at certain non-essential, high-risk settings. The Seattle Times reports this would make it easier for places like clubs, theaters and stadiums to check the vaccination status of their patrons. King County’s announcement Tuesday

By MANDY GODWIN InvestigateWest Biochar ambassadors hope to save Washington state’s Methow Valley, which has been ravaged by the effects of wildfires this summer. A couple plans to accelerate forest restoration by creating a local market for the small-diameter trees that are a symptom of unhealthy forests and fuel for giant fires. They’ll make biochar,

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho public health leaders are letting the state’s northern hospitals ration health care because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement Tuesday and warned residents that they may not get all the care

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho enacts ‘crisis standards of care’ as COVID surge overwhelms hospitals, warns some patients won’t get needed care.

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer The Indiana Hoosiers took soaring hopes into their season opener. At No. 17, they had their highest preseason ranking in more than half a century. They routinely spoke about the goal of winning a Big Ten Conference title. Now, after getting blown out 34-6 at No. 18 Iowa, the

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Thousands of wildfires burn in the U.S. each year, and each one requires firefighters to make many decisions. Russ Lane is fire operations chief for the Washington state Department of Natural Resources. He says dry lightning puts dozens of fires on the landscape, and wind

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press SARATOGA, Wyo. (AP) — The North Platte River in southern Wyoming is flowing low, slow and warm — not great conditions for trout fishing. After two dry summers in a row, low water and hot weather have spelled trouble for trout streams in the Rocky Mountain west. Warm water, especially,

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Idaho State University says bodies that were to be donated to the school for educational purposes were never received from a funeral home where authorities recently found decomposing bodies. Police searched Downard Funeral Home in Pocatello on Friday, two days after a state licensing inspector reported finding a decomposing body at

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — CJ Jordan passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and the Idaho Vandals posted their first shutout victory since 2010 with a 68-0 win over Division II Simon Fraser in a season opener. The 68 points were the most scored by the Vandals since a 79-30 victory over Weber State

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Three schools in Vancouver, Washington, were placed in lockdown Friday after anti-mask protesters tried to access school ground. Pat Nuzzo, communications director for Vancouver Public Schools, said the lockdowns were a safety precaution. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports Patriot Prayer, a far-right extremist group, and other far-right activists made posts online incorrectly

SEATTLE (AP) — A charter amendment that would change Seattle’s approach to homelessness will not appear on the November ballot, after an appeals court rejected an emergency motion from the measure’s backers. The Washington Court of Appeals declined the appeal from Compassion Seattle on Friday, a week after a King County Superior Court judge blocked

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate action to improve fish passage at dams in Oregon’s Willamette Basin. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that in a final opinion and order issued this week, U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez said the Corps had for years failed

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Police in Pocatello, Idaho, are investigating a local funeral home after they said a state health inspector contacted them about the business and a badly decomposed body was found there. The Idaho State Journal reports the Ada County Coroner’s office is delivering a mass casualty refrigeration trailer to the Downard Funeral

By ANDREW SELSKY and SARA CLINE Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With Oregon getting an additional congressional seat based on population growth, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers have presented differing visions on where that new district should be. The Oregon House interim committee on redistricting met via video and also offered vastly different maps

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIS Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Isaiah Bowser rushed 172 yards including the the go-ahead touchdown with 4:16 remaining and UCF rallied to beat Boise State 36-31 in a game that began almost three hours late because of lightning-caused delays. Boise State stormed out to a 21-0 lead before UCF cut the

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Intensive care beds are full of unvaccinated coronavirus patients at a hospital in Boise, Idaho. Doctors now are bracing to have to conserve scarce resources for those most likely to survive. At St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center, the view in every direction is heartbreaking. In one

SEATTLE (AP) — Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases Washington state’s most populous county is reinstating outdoor mask mandates for large events and strongly encouraging people to wear masks in other outdoor settings when they can’t remain 6 feet apart. In a statement Thursday Public Health – Seattle & King County said as of

SEATTLE (AP) — Sports betting in tribal casinos in Washington could be offered in some by the opening week of the NFL season. The Seattle Times reports the U.S. Department of the Interior approved sports gambling compact amendments for the Puyallup, Tulalip, Snoqualmie, Spokane, Cowlitz, Squaxin, Suquamish, Stillaguamish and Lummi tribes. Momentum has surged to

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Workers in an area at the center of the Hanford nuclear reservation were ordered to take cover for several hours. The Tri-City Herald reports the order was issued from about 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday and access to the site was restricted. The Department of Energy says no action was necessary

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — At least two Idaho state lawmakers received threatening letters concerning their votes on a law intended to drastically reduce wolf numbers. The anonymous letters to Republican Sen. Dan Johnson and Republican Rep. Caroline Troy say that “just as the wolf went from predator to prey, so shall you.” It’s not clear

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appeals court’s decision allowing a Texas fetal heartbeat law to take effect Wednesday isn’t enough to trigger Idaho’s similar fetal heartbeat law, but backers say it’s a near miss that bodes well for banning nearly all abortions in Idaho. The Idaho law signed by

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Tina Kotek, the Speaker of the Oregon House, is running for governor. Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat like Kotek, cannot run for re-election in 2022 due to term limits. Kotek, a Portland lawmaker, has led the state House since 2013. Kotek said Thursday she would focus on issues like affordable housing,

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Hanford nuclear reservation workers who do not provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required to be tested at least weekly to be allowed on site. The Tri-City Herald reports the policy announced Monday will cover about 11,000 Department of Energy, contractor and subcontractor workers. Many workers could be required to

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — A wildfire burning a few miles north of Moscow, Idaho, was threatening buildings and prompting mandatory evacuations. The fire had burned about 150 acres by Tuesday morning and was not contained. KREM-TV reported that mandatory evacuations were issued for Idlers Rest, West Twin Roads and Moscow Mountain Road. One home had

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The backers of a measure that would change Seattle’s approach to homelessness are appealing a judge’s decision that blocked it from the November ballot. The Compassion Seattle campaign initially said it would not appeal the decision Friday from King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer, who said

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little is calling in 220 medical workers available through federal programs and mobilizing 150 Idaho National Guard soldiers to deal with a surge in unvaccinated COVID-19 patients who are overwhelming the state’s hospitals. The Republican governor said Tuesday the moves are a last-ditch

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — A search of Olympic National Park for an armed and “potentially dangerous” man has kept parts of the park near Port Angeles closed since Sunday. The Seattle Times reports Deer Park Road remained closed Tuesday near the park boundary. Nearby, Hurricane Ridge Road remains closed above the Heart O’ Hills

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The parents of a former south-central Idaho middle school student have filed a lawsuit against the school district contending a teacher instructed other children to wrap their child tightly in a sheet and push her down concrete stairs while the teacher recorded video on his cellphone. The complaint filed earlier

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — City employees in Portland, Oregon, must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus — or obtain a medical or religious exemption — by the middle of October or they will be fired. Mayor Ted Wheeler and all four City Commissioners wrote about the ultimatum Monday in a letter to municipal workers.  

REEDSPORT, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a 54-year-old man was rescued from the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area after being stranded for five days. KOIN reports the Coos County Sheriff’s Office said hikers found the stranded and injured man on the John Dellenback trail. He had fallen off a dune and had back and neck

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Attorneys general from 20 states have sued President Joe Biden’s administration seeking to halt directives that extend federal sex discrimination protections to LGBTQ people, ranging from transgender girls participating in school sports to the use of school and workplace bathrooms that align with a person’s gender

COLFAX, Wash. (AP) — The longtime chief of the Colfax, Washington, fire department died from an apparent heart attack while fighting a wildfire over the weekend. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports  Chief Jim Krouse died Saturday afternoon. Krouse, who served as a volunteer firefighter in Colfax for 52 years — 40 of them as chief

CHUBBUCK, Idaho (AP) — An elderly woman was injured and dozens of residents were displaced in a Sunday evening fire at a Chubbuck apartment complex. The Idaho State Journal reports Chubbuck firefighters had the fire under control in less than 30 minutes after it was reported by a passerby just after 8 p.m. Roughly 50

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State officials are boosting pay and offering bonuses to try to attract and maintain correctional officers. The Idaho Department of Correction says 24% of its correctional officer positions were vacant last month, including 190 vacancies at its prisons in Kuna. New correctional officers will receive $19 an hour, up from the

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Hilary Knight had two goals and an assist to break Cammi Granato’s U.S. points record in women’s world hockey championship play, helping the Americans beat Japan 10-2 in the quarterfinals. Knight tied Granato at 78 points with a goal in the first and broke the mark with an assist in the

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press BEND, Ore. (AP) — The death toll from COVID-19 in Oregon is climbing so rapidly in some counties that the state has organized delivery of one refrigerated truck to hold the bodies and is sending a second one. The state emergency management department says refrigerated trucks to hold bodies have

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Record low numbers of steelhead are returning to the Columbia River this year, prompting conservationists and anglers alike to call for a halt to recreational fishing for the sea-run fish. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that as of this week, just 29,000 steelhead passed the Bonneville Dam since July 1 — less

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Empty cow pastures on one day can be bustling with hundreds of firefighters the next as fire camps with colorful tent cities spring up. More than 20,000 wildland firefighters are battling some 100 large wildfires in the U.S. West, and truckloads of supplies and equipment are

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press Health investigators across the U.S. are finding it nearly impossible to keep up with the deluge of new COVID-19 infections and carry out contact tracing efforts that were once seen as a pillar in the nation’s pandemic response. States are hiring new staff and seeking volunteers to bolster the

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state judge has struck a Seattle measure on homelessness from the November ballot even as the city remains mired in a long-term humanitarian crisis. King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer said Friday she and other voters might like what the measure’s proponents are trying

By ANDREW SELSKY and SARA CLINE Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Noting that the COVID delta variant is spreading like wildfire among the unvaccinated, the leaders of an Oregon coastal county say they no longer have capacity to store the bodies of those who have died. They are now asking the state for a

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A new study presented to state officials say students suffered significant academic setbacks during the coronavirus pandemic, especially those in school districts that used hybrid or online learning models. The chief researcher for the Idaho State Board of Education presented the results to the board on Thursday. Cathleen McHugh told the

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An environmental group that wants to end public-land grazing has outbid a rancher in central Idaho for a grazing lease on state land that includes habitat for bull trout and steelhead. Western Watersheds Project’s bid of $8,200 last week won the 20-year grazing lease on 620

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The far-right Proud Boys and far-left antifascists clashed last weekend for nearly 30 minutes in the streets, business parking lots and school grounds of a diverse neighborhood in northeast Portland, Oregon. Noticeably missing was the Portland Police Department. The lack of intervention by law

By COLLIN BINKLEY and CAMILLE FASSETT Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — While many schools scrambled to shift to online classes last year, the nation’s virtual charter schools faced little disruption. For them, online learning was already the norm. Most have few physical classrooms, or none at all. Yet when Congress sent $190 billion in pandemic

By BEN FINLEY and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The latest surge in coronavirus cases is overwhelming many of the nation’s intensive care units. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that nearly 80% of the country’s ICU beds were in use. About 30 percent of those were filled by

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Jamie Lee Rattray scored twice and Canada overwhelmed the United States 5-1 on Thursday night in the women’s world hockey championship, ending the Americans’ winning streak in the event at 29 games. Canada took the top spot in Group A to set up a quarterfinal Saturday against Germany, the third-place team

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Hospital facilities and public health agencies are scrambling to add capacity as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise statewide. But many Idaho residents don’t seem to feel the same urgency. Volunteers are helping with contract tracing at the Central District Health Department, and health

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Connecticut woman has been sentenced to seven days in jail and is banned from Yellowstone National Park for two years after other tourists captured photos and video of her walking on thermal features in the Norris Geyser Basin. The 26-year-old woman pleaded guilty to

REDMOND, Ore. (AP) — A school board in central Oregon, where COVID-19 is surging, has passed a resolution protesting statewide school mask mandates and teacher vaccines. The resolution that passed on a 3-2 vote in Redmond on Wednesday says the district will fight to regain local control of decisions around mask-wearing and vaccines in its

SEATTLE (AP) — Judges say crime and public safety issues around the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle are causing potential jurors to decline to serve, making it more difficult to fill juries. The Seattle Times reports public safety issues around the downtown courthouse, the seat of county government, have festered for years but have

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state of Washington has ordered the killing of one or two wolves from the Togo pack in Ferry County in response to repeated attacks on cattle. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday that nonlethal deterrents used by three different ranchers had

By SUDHIN THANAWALA and JAY REEVES Associated Press Kentucky and Texas have joined a growing list of states that have surpassed their record for hospitalized coronavirus patients. The two states on Wednesday reported the most COVID-19 patients in their hospitals since the pandemic began. At least six other states have already surpassed their records amid

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — State wildlife officials have authorized a fish salvage and eliminated limits on how many fish can be taken at two southeastern Idaho reservoirs that are being drained due to irrigation demands. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game issued the salvage order this month for Condie and Winder reservoirs near

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — State officials have destroyed the first Asian giant hornet nest of the season, which was located near the town of Blaine along the Canadian border. The Washington state Department of Agriculture said it eradicated the nest on Wednesday. The nest was located in the base

By SAM METZ and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — A community on the shore of Lake Tahoe issued an emergency declaration and a tourism group discouraged visitors from coming amid smoky skies from a major wildfire nearby. South Lake Tahoe declared an emergency Thursday to be better prepared if evacuations

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — Authorities believe one gunman killed three people and wounded another during a spree of shootings and arsons in eastern Washington. KEPR reports that police were called about several fires and a shooting just before 4 a.m. Wednesday in Finley, Washington. Police say they believe the suspect in the arsons in Finley

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A 68-year-old woman who owned and operated massage parlors in Montana has pleaded guilty to federal charges alleging she enticed women to provide prostitution services to customers. Kyong Cha Roberts pleaded guilty Wednesday to coercion and enticement. A sentencing date has not been set. Federal prosecutors alleged Roberts placed an ad

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — The hot, dry and smoky growing season has left some Idaho potato farmers bracing for a poor crop. Randy Hardy of Oakley told the Idaho State Journal that his harvest will likely be the worst of his career. Statewide, spud farmers conducting test digs or early harvest are uprooting plants supporting

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon will deploy “crisis teams” of hundreds of nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics and nursing assistants to regions of the state hardest hit by a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations that have stretched hospitals to the limit. Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday that up to 500 health care

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With COVID-19 cases surging in Oregon, at least four school districts have delayed their start date. The Alsea School District in Benton County was set to start Monday. But on Aug. 21, Superintendent Marc Thielman announced the school would being Aug. 30 because an elementary staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Fire chiefs and union leaders in Pierce County, Washington, say about 30 percent of their departments or membership have yet to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and they worry what a vaccinate mandate will do to their workforce. The News Tribune reports some firefighters have told coworkers they are looking at other

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — An electric utility has completed its plan to more than double the amount of potential wind power it can send to customers in the Rocky Mountain region and Northwest. Rocky Mountain Power announced its Energy Vision 2020 plan in 2017. The program included four Wyoming wind projects with a combined capacity