Grocery tax repeal veto prompts debate in Idaho over powers of…

After Idaho Gov. Butch Otter vetoed a popular bill to remove the state's 6 percent sales tax from groceries, North Idaho Sen. Steve Vick is renewing his push to change the Idaho Constitution to allow lawmakers to reconvene to override a veto that's issued after they adjourn for the year. "It's not uncommon, it's not some sort of strange idea," said Vick, R-Dalton Gardens.

Idaho federal courts administrator Libby Smith to leave for 9th Circuit post

Elizabeth "Libby" Smith, clerk of court for the federal courts in Idaho, has been named the new circuit executive of the 9th Circuit; she will start her new job next month. Smith has managed administrative services for the U.S. District Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho since 2009, including federal court operations in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow and Pocatello.

School budget set, reflects 6.3% increase in state funding

Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, led a group of legislative budget writers who crafted the public school budget that won approval in the Idaho Legislature's joint budget committee on Monday morning, Feb. 27, 2017, With no disagreement on the final divisions of the public school budget, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has now set the public schools budget for next year at $2.041 billion, a 6.3 percent increase in state general funds. Gov. Butch Otter had called for a 6.4 percent increase.

Western States Remember Internment 75 Years on

States in the American West are marking the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that forced 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans into internment camps. Adults, including the elderly, and children could only bring what they could carry and were transported by bus and train, often with blacked-out windows, They were sent, ostensibly to avoid sabotage and spying, to camps in California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and other states as far away as Arkansas.

Ice jam breaks, allowing some Idaho flood waters to recede

The Weiser River in Weiser, Idaho, overflowed early Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, flooding areas south of the river near Cove and Couper roads with ice and water. The Weiser River overflowed early Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, flooding areas south of the river near Cove and Couper roads with ice and water.

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Otter for interior secretary? The speculation continues…

Might Idaho Gov. Butch Otter be considered for interior secretary in a Trump administration? Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker explored the possibilities in a column over the holiday; you can read it here . Two previous Idaho governors were appointed secretary of the interior Cecil Andrus under President Jimmy Carter, and Dirk Kempthorne under President George W. Bush.

Idaho’s glass ceiling

A place for the writings and the ideas of the people in and around the Ridenbaugh Press. Now that Hillary Clinton is about to shatter the glass ceiling hanging over the White House' Oval Office, one has to ask when is Idaho going to get with the program? All of the states touching Idaho's border save Nevada, have had at least one female governor.