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IDAHO WELFARE-AUDIT
State auditors: Idaho misspent some welfare funds
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State auditors say the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare misspent $2.5 million in federal welfare funding on salaries instead of using it to help pay for food, housing and other benefits provided to Idaho's poorest residents.
But department officials say the money was used properly to help keep extremely low-income children out of foster care.
The money used for social worker salaries in 2013 was left over from the 2008 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families budget. In the report from the Legislative Service Office, auditors said the federal rules from 2008 required carry-over funds be spent directly on benefits like cash to help meet the basic needs of extremely low-income families. Department officials counter that the rules changed in 2009, expanding the way the state can use carry-over money.
OTTER CAMPAIGN
Idaho governor announces re-election campaign
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's governor officially announced his re-election campaign Wednesday.
C.L. "Butch" Otter will tour across the state with stops at businesses in Meridian, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, and Coeur d'Alene.
Otter filed for a third term in early March.
In a press release, he called his years in office an "honor" but said there was more he wanted to accomplish for Idaho.
Otter will face off in the primary against Republican Sen. Russ Fulcher of Meridian, as well as Walt Bayes and Harley Brown.
Democratic primary candidates are A.J. Balukoff, an accountant and the Boise School Board chairman and Terry Kerr of Idaho Falls.
Libertarian John Bujak, Independent Jill Humble and Constitution Party candidate Steve Pankey round out the race.
RATHDRUM PACKAGE PRANK
Police: Suspicious package, threat was prank
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A suspicious package left outside a northern Idaho apartment was likely meant as an April Fools' Day joke, Rathdrum police say.
The Coeur d'Alene Press reports residents were evacuated and the Spokane Bomb Squad was called in to investigate Tuesday evening.
Writing on the outside of the package — a shoebox taped shut — warned it was filled with a poison that would kill anyone who opened it.
But when the bomb squad used an X-ray to look at the box's contents, it was empty.
SEXUAL ABUSE-SENTENCE
S. Idaho man sentenced for sexually abusing girl
(Information in the following story is from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com)
BURLEY, Idaho (AP) — A 36-year-old south-central Idaho man who used duct tape to pin a 10-year-old girl's arms behind her back before sexually abusing her has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The Times-News reports that Gregg Neal Bedke of Burley received the sentence Tuesday in 5th District Court.
Bedke received two concurrent terms of 10 years on two felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor under age 16 and battery with the intent to commit a serious felony. He must serve at least six years before becoming eligible for parole.
But those sentences won't start until after he serves a sentence from 2007 of two to 10 years for felony aggravated battery.
Bedke was on parole for that crime when he abused the girl.
BOISE STRANGULATION-SENTENCE
Boise man sentenced to 15 years for killing wife
(Information in the following story is from: KBOI-TV, http://www.kboi2.com)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A 62-year-old Boise man who strangled his wife to death has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
KBOI-TV reports in a story on Tuesday that Bruce Macomb received the sentence for killing 58-year-old Barb Macomb in February 2013.
Macomb pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after initially being charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors say Macomb strangled his wife to death before trying to kill himself. Court records say Macomb slashed his neck and wrists.
MISSING MOM
Missing mom's statements may be banned from trial
(Information in the following story is from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com)
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors in northern Idaho say statements made by a woman before she disappeared should be allowed in the first-degree murder trial of her estranged husband.
The Lewiston Tribune reports that the Latah County Prosecutor's Office earlier this week challenged motions filed by attorneys for Charles A. Capone seeking to keep the statements out.
Rachael Anderson, a 40-year-old mother of four from Clarkston, Wash., was in the process of getting divorced when she disappeared April 16, 2010.
Authorities say she was lured to a Moscow, Idaho, auto repair shop owned by Capone where she was drugged and killed. Her body hasn't been found.
Court documents say that Anderson before disappearing was in what prosecutors call a state of ongoing emergency because she didn't know who was stalking her.
BOOK BANNED
Meridian School District votes to remove novel
(Information in the following story is from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com)
MERIDIAN, Idaho (AP) — Trustees at the Meridian School District in southwest Idaho have voted to remove an award winning novel after some parents complained.
The Idaho Statesman reports in a story on Wednesday that trustees voted 2-1 to keep in place a hold on "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie.
The National Book Award winning novel is narrated by a 14-year-old whose transfer makes him the only Native American in an all-white school.
Objections are based on discussions of sex, abuse, alcoholism, or on racist or profane statements from some characters.
Mountain View High School student Brady Kissel brought a petition with 350 signatures asking the board to keep the book.
But most of the 100 people who came to the meeting spoke against keeping the book.
AIR TANKERS-BID PROTEST
Agency upholds bid protests over 2 air tankers
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal auditing agency has upheld a challenge to a U.S. Forest Service contract for two next-generation air tankers to fight wildfires.
But what that means for the federal air tanker fleet this summer is not yet clear.
Competing air tanker companies objected to a sole-source contract the Forest Service awarded to Neptune Aviation Services in Montana. It would be worth $496 million over nine years.
The Government Accountability Office said Wednesday the Forest Service should either bolster its justification for considering just one company or redo the bidding.
Forest Service spokeswoman Jennifer Jones says the agency is evaluating that choice.
She says the agency still has 10 large air tankers ready for fire season, including two of the next-generation type that fly faster with bigger payloads of fire retardant.
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