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PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
Idaho prosecutors question governor's plan for federal funds
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors from more than half of Idaho’s counties questioned whether Gov. Brad Little’s plan to use $200 million in federal aid for property tax relief is legal under the federal coronavirus aid package. The Times-News reported Friday that prosecutors in 16 counties signed a letter that asks Little’s office to request a legal opinion from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Idaho attorney general’s office. The letter asserts that the governor’s plan “does not appear to meet legal requirements” of the federal rescue package.
REDFISH-STANLEY TRAIL
U.S. drops injunction request in dispute over trail project
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its request asking a federal judge to prohibit an Idaho man from flying his helicopter near work crews building a public trail on an easement crossing private land. The department says it has accepted Michael Boren's statements that he won't again fly near the work crew that's building a trail connecting the popular tourist destinations of Redfish Lake and Stanley in central Idaho. The trail is at the center of a federal lawsuit seeking to have the project stopped. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the June 20 incident.
WOLVES-SOUTH CASCADES
Search finds zero wolves in South Cascades
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A scientist says a two-year search for wolves in Washington’s South Cascades has found none. The Capital Press reports researchers tested the DNA of thousands of scat piles sniffed out by dogs. University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology director Samuel Wasser says many piles looked like wolf droppings, but all turned out to be from dogs. He says if wolves are in the South Cascades, they are lone wolves. State lawmakers funded the study in part to learn how far west and south wolves have wolves have advanced in Washington. The state's wolf plan says recovery won’t be complete until at least four packs are producing pups in the South Cascades.
BALLOT INITIATIVE-PANDEMIC LAWSUIT
Idaho to appeal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little says he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling rejecting his request to put on hold a court order forcing the state to count online signatures for an initiative backers hope to get on the November ballot. The Republican governor announced the decision on Thursday not long after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his request to put the case on hold. The education funding initiative seeks to raise $170 million for K-12 education by raising Idaho’s corporate tax rate and increasing taxes on individuals making $250,000 a year or higher. The ruling from the appeals court means Reclaim Idaho can begin collecting online signatures for the initiative.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IDAHO-SCHOOLS
Idaho schools get OK to open to students this fall
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. Brad Little says Idaho’s 300,000 schoolkids in grades K-12 can return to schools this fall but with flexible learning strategies to protect them and their communities during the coronavirus pandemic. The plan released Thursday says schools must be prepared to teach students with traditional face-to-face methods in the classroom, distance learning online, or a hybrid combination of the two. The State Board of Education unanimously approved the plan a few hours before Little’s announcement. The release of the plan coincides with surging infections in the state and some half-dozen cities making face coverings mandatory, including the state’s largest city, Boise.
WILDERNESS-GRAZING CLOSED
U.S. ends sheep grazing in parts of Idaho wilderness areas
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. officials have permanently closed four sheep and goat grazing allotments in and near central Idaho wilderness areas that are important habitat for wolves, bighorn sheep and other wildlife. The 140 square miles contained in the allotments are northeast of Ketchum in the Sawtooth National Forest and Salmon-Challis National Forest. The Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund and Lava Lake Land & Livestock announced the agreement last week. A provision in a 2015 bill passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama creating three wilderness areas allows the voluntary and permanent closure of grazing allotments. How much the conservation fund paid the sheep grower to retire the allotments wasn't disclosed.
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