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IDAHO UNEMPLOYMENT
Idaho's unemployment rate reaches record high in April
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s unemployment rate swung from a record low to a record high in the span of a month, spurred by job losses from the coronavirus pandemic. Idaho Department of Labor officials say April’s unemployment rate reached 11.5%. That’s a 9 point jump in the seasonally-adjusted number compared to the record low 2.5% rate recorded in March. Nearly 103,000 Idaho residents were unemployed last month, according to the department, an 81,000 person increase. A tally from Johns Hopkins University shows that there have been more than 2,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state so far.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-OREGON
Judge won't dismiss order tossing out virus restrictions
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A rural Oregon judge says he won’t dismiss his ruling which tossed out Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home orders to fight the spread of the coronavirus. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew B. Shirtcliff told the state Supreme Court Tuesday he will not alter the preliminary injunction that declared Brown’s directives “null and void.″ The Supreme Court last week stayed Shirtcliff’s original ruling. The state Supreme Court will now accept further legal briefing until June 2 before it decides whether it should uphold or dismiss Shirtcliff’s preliminary injunction.
AP-US-TRANSGENDER-SPORTS-BAN-IDAHO-LAWSUIT
Idaho State track athletes want transgender lawsuit tossed
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Two female track athletes at Idaho State University want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a new state law banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports. It's the first such law in the nation. Attorneys for 19-year-old Madison Kenyon of Johnston, Colorado, and 20-year-old Mary Marshall of Twin Falls, Idaho, filed a request Tuesday to side with Idaho in fighting the lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Voice filed the lawsuit in April, contending the law violates the U.S. Constitution. Kenyon and Marshall say they've lost to a transgender athlete and that transgender athletes are unfair competition.
MOUNTAIN LION KILLED
Injured mountain lion found near Rexburg was euthanized
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A young mountain lion was found injured near Rexburg and officials came to the decision that it had to be euthanized a day later. CBS2 reports the Idaho Department of Fish and Game found the young male lion injured on the outskirts of Rexburg on Saturday. The lion had an injury on his right flank. It was watched overnight and given antibiotics. IDFG decided the injury was too severe and euthanized the animal.
SEX CASE OVERTURNED
An Idaho Appeals court rules judge abused court’s discretion
POST FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A 25-year-old Post Falls man who was sentenced to prison three years ago for having sex with a 14-year-old girl got a reprieve this week as a state appellate court ruled the sentencing decision may have been too hasty. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports the Idaho Court of Appeals overturned a decision by First District Judge John Mitchell and sent the case back to district court in Kootenai County. Brandon M. Thompson, who is in the Idaho State Correctional Institution Medical Unit in Boise, wasn’t scheduled for a parole hearing until 2025 after Mitchell sentenced him to two 10-year prison terms.
CARJACKING-SENTENCING
2 Idaho men sentenced for a 2018 carjacking
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Two East Idaho men have been sentenced for a carjacking that occurred in September 2018 in Blackfoot. Rockit Rodriguez of Blackfoot was recently sentenced in U.S. District Court in Pocatello to 130 months in prison for carjacking and possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge David Nye also ordered Rodriguez to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence. His codefendant, Antonio Ray Sesma-Lopez of Fort Hall, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for carjacking, followed by three years of supervised release. Both men pleaded guilty in 2019.
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