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JUVENILE JAILER SENTENCING
Former jailer sentenced for sex with teen boy
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The former safety and security supervisor at the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections facility in Nampa could spend only a year behind bars after admitting to sexually abusing a teenage inmate.
Thirty-one-year-old Julie McCormick of Nampa was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison, with five years fixed.
But the judge retained jurisdiction in the case, meaning McCormick could be free as early as 2015 if she successfully completes a prison program.
McCormick, who pleaded guilty to lewd conduct with a minor in 2012, began having sex with the 15-year-old victim while he was incarcerated at the facility.
The teen has filed a claim against the state.
A group of employees is moving forward with a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the department did nothing to stop rampant sexual abuse and cronyism.
TRADE-RUSSIA
Ukraine crisis complicates trade
(Information in the following story is from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, the resulting crisis disrupted the trade plans of some Idaho businesses.
Representatives from 17 Idaho businesses had joined Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on a trade mission to Russia last November.
The Idaho Statesman reports many of their hopes of developing new business are now on hold.
Idaho exports to Russia totaled $20.5 million in 2013.
ID-XGR-AGRICULTURE BILLS
Idaho lawmakers' bills boost agriculture industry
(Information in the following story is from: The Capital Press (Ore.), http://the capital press (ore.))
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's farmers, ranchers and producers say they're happy with the outcome of the 2014 Legislature.
The Capitol Press reports a lot of things went right for the agricultural industry during the 74-day session, where numerous industry-boosting bills found a foothold.
That included the Agriculture Security Act, a dairy-backed bill that punishes those who film agricultural operations, and is designed to protect farmers from spying activists.
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed the bill into law despite protestations from opponents who say it hinders free speech and will allow animal abusers to go unpunished.
Lawmakers also approved a bill to use inmates as field workers during fruit-picking season, and approved $620,000 in funding for a wolf control board aimed at killing off some of the predators that plague Idaho's ranchers.
IDAHO POPULATION
Population shift to urban areas slows
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The shift of Idaho's population from rural counties to urban areas slowed last year.
Estimates released by the Census Bureau on Thursday showed the 33 rural counties saw their combined population increase for the first time in three years.
The population of the rural counties rose two-tenths of a percent from mid-2012 to mid-2013, or about 1,200 people.
The population of the 11 urban counties increased 1.5 percent.
Statewide, Idaho's population rose 1 percent to just over 1.6 million, resuming a growth rate higher than the national rate of seven-tenths of a percent.
The Pocatello metro area was the only one of the five metro areas to lose population, dropping a half percent.
FISH-EATING BIRDS
Army Corps to begin killing birds
(Information in the following story is from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com)
CLARKSTON, Wash. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers this spring will begin killing birds at some Snake and Columbia river dams to help protect juvenile salmon and steelhead.
The agency unveiled a plan Thursday that will allow as many as 1,200 California gulls, 650 ring-billed gulls and 150 double-crested cormorants to be killed.
The Lewiston Tribune says the action will occur at McNary Dam on the Columbia River and Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams on the Snake River.
The corps says birds are typically the single largest cause of juvenile salmon and steelhead mortality. A 2009 study estimated that between 4 percent and 21 percent of smolts passing through the dams are eaten by birds.
The corps has long used non-lethal methods to scare away birds.
MURDER-SUICIDE
Montana police investigate apparent murder-suicide
(Information in the following story is from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com)
GARDINER, Mont. (AP) — The Park County Sheriff's Office in southwestern Montana is investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Gardiner.
The Billings Gazette reports that deputies and Yellowstone National Park rangers responded Thursday to a home after a woman reported a man had shot at her and was trying to break in.
Authorities say they found the man dead and a woman still alive but who died at the scene.
Authorities identified them Friday as 63-year-old Steve A. Cole and 59-year-old Debi J. Roberts.
Undersheriff Scott Hamilton says autopsies are planned in Bozeman. He didn't provide a possible cause of death.
Authorities say Cole and Roberts had previously been in a relationship, and that Cole had a previous charge of domestic violence.
FALSIFIED RECORDS
Alaska jury indicts Idaho firm over cleanup
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Anchorage grand jury has indicted an Idaho company accused of falsifying records related to the cleanup of a contaminated pad on Alaska's North Slope.
The Alaska attorney general's office said Friday that DMC Technologies Inc., of Rexburg was indicted Tuesday, along with CEO Daniel McNair and McNair's son, Daniel Ross McNair. Each faces 14 felony counts.
In a statement, the elder McNair's lawyer says his client and DMC "emphatically deny engaging in any criminal conduct whatsoever." Lawyer Robert Herz says McNair will fight the charges and "looks forward to vindicating himself in court."
Prosecutors claim the parties submitted falsified lab data to the state and to Little Red Services, which hired DMC Technologies to clean up the pad.
The state says the company submitted reports showing the pad was cleaned, but an investigation revealed the pad remained contaminated and that further cleanup is required. The state says that cost Little Red Services $900,000.
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