Local News

The middle school teacher who was forced to remove a classroom sign that read, “Everyone is Welcome Here,” filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday seeking a declaration that an Idaho flag and banner law is unconstitutional.

Administrators for West Ada School District last year forced teacher Sarah Inama to remove the banner from her classroom. She quit her job in West Ada and now works for Boise School District.

Ron Martinez crashed his Porsche during a speed run at the annual Tour De Force event outside Sun Valley in 2024.

The fact that Martinez is alive — much less practicing martial arts at a high level — is remarkable.

The City of Victor announced Tuesday they will move forward in constructing its own wastewater treatment facility.

A crash on U.S. Highway 93 in southern Idaho sent two people to the hospital Friday morning.

The crash took place at around 8:00 AM at the intersection of US-93 and Golf Course Road in Jerome County. According to ISP reports, the driver of a black 2012 Ford Escape was attempting a left-hand turn onto Golf Course Road when they were struck by a blue 2022 Ford Bronco traveling southbound.

The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge canceled the 100-mile and the 300-mile Iditarod qualifier because of a lack of snow, but they were able to host the Warm Lake Stage Race.

The Warm Lake Stage Race is a two-day race where mushers and their teams run 26 miles. The course starts and ends at North Shore Lodge at Warm Lake about 26 miles east of Cascade.

A 74-year-old pilot walked away with only minor injuries Thursday afternoon after his aircraft clipped the ground and flipped into the snowy lake bed of the Palisades Reservoir.

At approximately 2:30 PM, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting a small, single-engine plane overturned in the reservoir lake bed, roughly a quarter-mile from the Alpine Airport.

A new legislative push in the Idaho Statehouse could strip 13 cities of their ability to enforce local anti-discrimination ordinances that protect residents based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

House Bill 557, introduced earlier this week, seeks to establish the “Uniformity in Local Antidiscrimination Ordinances Act.” Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) and written by the right-wing Idaho Family Policy Center, the bill would prohibit cities and counties from enacting civil rights protections that exceed those currently recognized under state law.

A coordinated, multi-agency narcotics investigation culminated in the arrest of two Teton County men and the seizure of a large cache of drugs, weapons, and cash.

On January 27, around 11:30 AM, Teton County Sheriff’s deputies—supported by federal and state partners—simultaneously executed search warrants at two separate homes. The suspects, identified as Jacob Alan Mitchell and Blaine Creigh Baldwin, were taken into custody without incident.

**Editor’s Note: The following article discusses incidents of sexual assault. Reader discretion advised.**

It was November 2023, in a staff break room at South Idaho Correctional Institution, when prison guard Blas Covarrubias unbuttoned Michele’s pants and sexually assaulted her, she told an investigator. She was one of six inmates that the corporal — known as “Covi” to the women he was entrusted with protecting — was accused of abusing in 2023 and 2024.  

Eight months later, Michele was sexually assaulted again. This time by someone else: a correctional officer named Justin Tillema, a witness reported.

In memory of the late Kali Randall, Teton County’s Family Safety Network has officially named its new emergency shelter in Driggs, Idaho, ‘Kalico Cottage,’ the nonprofit announced Tuesday. The naming honors the Greenville, Wis. native—along with her son Zeke and unborn daughter Freya, whose lives were lost to domestic violence in 2023—and the mission of Kalico Forest, the nonprofit founded in her name to protect women and children.

Idaho Democratic leaders are condemning a directive from Republican budget chairs that orders state agencies to prepare for additional mid-year budget cuts of 1% to 2%. The move aims to offset the estimated $155 million cost of adopting tax changes from the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” championed by the Trump administration.

The proposed reductions would come on top of a 3% holdback already imposed by Governor Brad Little last August to address a $40.3 million shortfall. Combined, state agencies could face total spending cuts of up to 5%, which Democratic leaders argue will “take a chainsaw” to essential services.