5+ mon, 2+ week ago (959+ words) Idaho's libraries are preparing to end and restructure a digital access plan and the talking book service in response to the recent termination of federal grants. Idaho Board of Library Commissioners heard updates on federal funding reductions at its regular meeting Thursday. "I'm sorry it got hard," Board Chairperson Dave Mecham told commission staff at the meeting. "We had lots of dreams, and it got hard." Digital Access for All Idahoans The commission has ended its nearly four year effort to improve internet accessibility across the state after the termination of a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; the current presidential administration declared the grant, first awarded to Idaho in 2022, unconstitutional. "On May 9, everything was canceled, and that was a pretty major initiative we've been undertaking," Deputy State Librarian Dylan Baker told the board. "We were really " on…...

8+ mon, 4+ week ago (101+ words) The Tribune's Laura Guido and Matt Baney discuss the latest developments at the Idaho Legislature in this week's podcast. The biggest headline: Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill that will ... Lewiston Tribune Podcast: Checking in with the Idaho Legislature The Tribune's Laura Guido and Matt Baney discuss the latest developments at the Idaho Legislature in this week's podcast. The biggest headline: Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill that will give parents a tax credit to help pay for private school. The podcast can be found at bit.ly/3DezO1e or by scanning this QR code....

1+ mon, 2+ week ago (1838+ words) This is the first installment in an InvestigateWest series called "Guarded by Predators," exposing rape and abuse by Idaho's prison guards and the system that shields them. The entire series can be found at investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators. In January 2018, a woman imprisoned at South Idaho Correctional Institution outside Boise was taken to a medical clinic to get abnormal cervical tissue removed. A guard named Ricardo Quiroz " known among inmates as "Corporal Q" " was her only escort, and he let her sit up front in a white van. Afterward, still in pain and bleeding from the procedure, she and Quiroz walked back to the van. This time, she tells InvestigateWest, Quiroz told her to go all the way to the back. She complied. He followed her, telling her to take off her pants, says the woman, who asked to be referred…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago (681+ words) For the past few seasons, a big issue for the Idaho football team was the inconsistent play of the offensive line. Through the first three weeks of the 2025 season, it's looked the opposite as the offensive line has performed like an absolute strength. At the start of fall camp, sixth-year Vandal guard Nate Azzopardi said that the group is ready to get to work and is ready to stop being what people blame for Idaho's shortcomings. "We're all hungry right now, and we're tired of being the excuse people fall on when they talk about why the Vandals are going short the last few years," Azzopardi said. "So this room is hungry, and we're excited to kind of stack on that." The offensive line unit, from left to right, is made up of junior tackle Charlie Vliem, Azzopardi, junior center…...

10+ mon, 2+ day ago (244+ words) Lewis-Clark State College will have music students and educators for a concert and conference this week. Lewis-Clark State College to host Idaho Music Educators Association concert and conference Lewis-Clark State College will have music students and educators for a concert and conference this week. The Idaho Music Educators Association will have a concert 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. The LCSC Jazz Band will perform with the University of Idaho Ensemble at the Friday concert at the Lewiston High School P1FCU Performing Arts. More information about the concert, conference and tickets can be found at idahomusiced.org. The conference will be taking place throughout the week with more than 500 high school students. Students will rehearse for the programs during the week with conductors from around the country. Students will be rehearsing for honor groups including mixed choir, orchestra, band, jazz band, treble…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago (1809+ words) Just after 4 p.m. MDT on Friday, April 25, program directors across Idaho received an email from Serve Idaho, the state agency that administers federal AmeriCorps grants. BOISE " Sydnee Reyes had gone to bed early on a Sunday night to wake up at 3 a.m. Monday for her second job as a barista. Normally, after working 4-8 a.m. at the coffee shop, she'd head to her main position at the Foothills Learning Center as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Boise, where she educated children about the environment. But on Monday, she awoke to a text telling her not to come on that day or any day after. "I just thought, "I have to push through, this isn't real,' " said Reyes, 24. "I had six hours of work, and then after I got done with my shift, I just fell apart." Katie O'Dea, 25, had been winding down that Sunday night,…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago (503+ words) U.S. Forest Service officials announced additional cutbacks and temporary closures of ranger district offices in Idaho on Monday on the heels of retirements and deferred resignation programs offered by President Donald Trump. Effective immediately, the McCall, New Meadows and Weiser ranger district offices will temporarily close until further notice, Payette National Forest officials announced in a news release issued Tuesday. No reopening timeline was announced. The three temporary closures were announced less than two weeks after Sawtooth National Forest officials said they temporarily closed Sawtooth National Recreation Area offices in Stanley and Ketchum through June 16 due to staff reductions. Additionally, the Council Ranger District Office and the supervisors office in McCall are operating under new hours " from 8 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Payette National Forest officials said Tuesday. Officials with the Payette National Forest said forest leaders are adjusting…...

11+ mon, 4+ week ago (1293+ words) Avalanche forecasting isn't really an office job. Sure, Chris Bilbrey, the new director of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center, is going to spend plenty of time in the office. Someone has to type up the forecasts and get them online, for one thing. Then there's the scheduling, planning, thinking big picture about the center's growth " all of that needs to get done, and it's on Bilbrey to do it. But he's also going to be outside. Getting to know the region's snowpack intimately is part of the job. Watching the weather isn't enough. "I'm a believer that it's critically important that us as forecasters are out looking, touching, tasting the snow," Bilbrey said in an interview. Bilbrey, 44, moved to Sandpoint this summer to take the reins at IPAC, the avalanche forecasting and education outfit covering northern Idaho and far northwestern…...

5+ mon, 5+ day ago (836+ words) Four years after Name, Image and Likeness deals became available to college athletes in July 2021, the Idaho Vandals have an NIL collective of their own. The new Idaho 1889 Collective was announced Tuesday to support University of Idaho student-athletes through NIL opportunities. The 1889 Collective is an NIL collective " similar to the Cougar Collective at Washington State " that will serve to help garner NIL funds and opportunities for Vandal athletes. On the website, a supporter can choose which Vandal sports team they want to donate to, or they can choose to donate to the general fund. The website says that the donations go directly toward supporting NIL opportunities for Vandal athletes. Idaho football coach Thomas Ford Jr., men's basketball coach Alex Pribble, women's basketball coach Arthur Moreira and former Vandal football star Hogan Hatten, now of the Detroit Lions, were among the…...

9+ mon, 2+ week ago (628+ words) A bill to implement a $300 minimum fine for adults convicted of possessing three ounces or less of marijuana is headed to the Idaho Senate floor for a vote. The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee on Monday voted to advance House Bill 7 to the Senate floor, putting it one step closer to becoming law after already passing the Idaho House last week in a 54-14 vote. The committee voted along party lines, with its two Democrats, Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, and Sen. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, voting against it. Its sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, said Idaho remains one of the states with the strictest laws against marijuana usage, and a mandatory minimum fine for small amounts of marijuana would work as a deterrent for its usage. "A $300 fine is not too much if you can afford to buy this marijuana and concentrate,…...