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PUBLIC RECORDS-OMBUDSMAN
Idaho governor posts public records ombudsman
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has appointed a public records ombudsman to review how state agencies handle records requests and to look at ways to improve Idaho's public records laws.
Cally Younger, the associate attorney for the governor's office, is filling the post, Otter announced Wednesday.
The governor said the move comes in response to a request from the Newspaper Association of Idaho, in hopes of creating an option that can resolve public records disputes without the expense of taking it to the court system. Currently, Idaho public record laws state that if a person feels that a request was wrongly denied, their only option is to sue.
Otter says Younger will start by surveying state agencies on the number of records requests received and the reasons any are denied.
SCHOOL BUS EVACUATED
SW Idaho school bus evacuated due to smoke
MARSING, Idaho (AP) — A southwest Idaho school bus with 35 children aboard had to be evacuated Wednesday morning when the driver noticed smoke from an electrical short.
Marsing School District Superintendent Norm Stewart says no one was injured in the evacuation that occurred about 7:15 a.m. in downtown Marsing as the bus neared the completion of its 21-mile route.
He says the bus carried students from kindergarten through high school.
Stewart says another school bus picked up the kids within 15 minutes and took them to school.
He says as part of school safety procedures firefighters responded but the electrical short produced mostly just smoke.
SUSPICIOUS DEATH
SW Idaho woman sentenced in Nampa man's slaying
(Information in the following story is from: Idaho Press-Tribune, http://www.idahopress.com)
NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — A Melba woman will spend between nine and 30 years in prison in the shooting death of a 59-year-old Nampa man.
The Idaho Press-Tribune reports that District Judge George Southworth sentenced 35-year-old Nicole Kirtley Tuesday to 15 years in prison with nine years fixed for involuntary manslaughter.
He gave also Kirtley a 15-year indeterminate sentence for use of a deadly weapon while committing a felony.
Kirtley pleaded guilty in January in the February 2013 slaying of George Richardson Jr.
Authorities found Richardson dead with multiple gunshot wounds. Kirtley had left a bar with Richardson earlier and was taken into custody shortly afterward.
Authorities say Kirtley killed Richardson and stole his Jeep Wrangler, which was later found partially submerged in the Snake River two miles from Kirtley's home.
IDAHO PARKS-DIRECTOR
Director of Idaho state parks retiring in July
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The director of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation is retiring.
Nancy Merrill says she will leave the post in the middle of July.
The 66-year-old Merrill became the director in 2009 just as the state was cutting the agency's budget from 17.7 million in 2008 down to $1.3 million this year.
Merrill says the agency worked hard the past few years to reinvent itself to keep parks open. The state has 30 of them.
Lawmakers this year approved a $3.5 million budget for state parks.
State officials say a national search is being launched to replace her.
BICYCLIST HIT
Girl dies of injuries from bike-car collision
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A 13-year-old girl struck by a car while riding her bike in Boise has died.
Officials say Olivia Schnacker died Tuesday evening.
She was hit about 6:30 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of Ustick Road and North Jullion Street.
Police say Schnacker was traveling south across Ustick Road with two other children in a crosswalk that has a signal.
She wasn't wearing a helmet.
Police are continuing to investigate.
BIG RIDERS-BIG HORSES
Big riders mean big horses on Western trails
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Wranglers in the West for decades have cashed in on the allure of getting on a horse and setting out on an open trail. But they say they've had to add bigger horses to their stables to help carry larger tourists over the rugged terrain.
Draft horses, the diesels of the horse world, are being used in ever greater numbers to make sure wranglers don't lose out on income from potential customers of any size who come out to get closer to the West of yesteryear.
Ranch operators say they began adding the bigger horses in the 1990s, but the pace has picked up in recent years. Horses of 1,800 pounds now hit the trail, giving riders of more than 300 pounds an opportunity to experience life in the saddle.
INL-NEW LAB
Energy Innovation Laboratory dedicated in E. Idaho
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A new facility intended to help with clean energy research and support work to develop new materials for advanced nuclear reactors has been dedicated in Idaho Falls.
Lab officials say the 148,000-square-foot Energy Innovation Laboratory dedicated on Tuesday at the Idaho National Laboratory's Research and Education Campus can be reconfigured depending on the project.
The three-story facility also includes a meeting center for educational events.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson attended the event and says the world-class research facility will attract world-class scientists.
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter also took part and says the facility will help Idaho National Laboratory continue as a top regional and national energy-research hub.
U.S. Department of Energy officials say the facility can help companies gain knowledge to beat overseas competitors.
GRIZZLY BEARS-LAWSUIT
Group sues to reclassify Montana bear population
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A conservation group is suing the federal government for failing to reclassify a small population of grizzly bears as endangered.
The estimated 42 Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bears in northwestern Montana are considered a threatened species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year issued a decision that said changing the bears' status from threatened to endangered was warranted but precluded by higher-priority species.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies says in its lawsuit filed Tuesday the population needs to be at least 100 to be considered viable.
The group says an endangered species classification would require federal officials to designate critical habitat for the bears to aid with their recovery.
The lawsuit argues the "endangered-but-precluded" designation is a loophole that allows federal officials to delay their obligations.
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