Month: June 2025

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– Crews from Pocatello Parks and Rec and Artisan Skateparks are putting the finishing touches on the brand new Optimist Skatepark with plans for it to be open to skaters later this summer.

The Optimist Skatepark boasts around 8,000 square feet of skateable surface and includes a six-foot-deep bowl, quarter pipe, stairs, rails, several metal-rimmed ledges, and a large vertical ledge feature in the shape of the State of Idaho.

“This is something that we’ve been waiting for for a long time,” said Anne Butler, director of Pocatello Parks and Recreation. “I know the skaters in this community are ecstatic for this opportunity.”

Butler said crews will finish the park and move on to installing new sprinkler lines before Parks and Rec announces a grand opening date for Optimist Skatepark.

Officials are asking people to stay off of the skatepark until it is officially open to avoid damaging fresh concrete and newly-laid sod coming in the next few weeks.

For updates on the Optimist Skatepark project, you can follow the City of Pocatello on Facebook.

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Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — The Idaho State Board of Examiners has unanimously approved $300,000 in funding to the Idaho State Police (ISP) for transporting convicted criminals who are in the country illegally to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. The decision, made on Tuesday, allocates money from the Governor’s emergency fund.

Chaired by Governor Brad Little, the board approved the funding without discussion, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun. The funds will enable ISP to begin transports under a new partnership with ICE.

In a letter to ISP Colonel Bill Gardiner requesting transport cost estimates, Governor Little asserted, “An untold number of illegal immigrants poured into our country across an unchecked border for years under the Biden Administration. But with President Trump back in the White House, we are seeing a solution to this public safety emergency as more and more dangerous criminals here illegally are being taken off our streets.”

Earlier this month, ISP entered into the federal 287(g) program. This agreement grants ISP troopers the authority to transport hundreds of convicted criminals in the country illegally directly from Idaho jails to ICE facilities for deportation proceedings.

Governor Little has emphasized that the program will focus on removing “dangerous illegal alien criminals” from Idaho communities, targeting individuals who have already been convicted of a crime.

“I want to further strengthen our state’s partnership with President Trump to help address the national emergency posed by years of reckless border policies under the previous administration,” Little reiterated in his letter.

ACLU of Idaho Expresses Disappointment

The partnership between ISP and ICE, along with the board’s funding approval, has drawn significant criticism from the ACLU of Idaho.

“We are disappointed but not surprised that Idaho is directing money away from an emergency fund to support the increase in mass deportations of immigrants in our state, rather than spending it on actual emergencies,” stated Rebecca De Leon, spokesperson for the ACLU of Idaho, to Local News 8.

Governor Little has maintained that the ISP-ICE partnership ‘follows in the spirit’ of House Bill 83, the Idaho Immigration Cooperation and Enforcement Act, which he signed into law on March 27. However, the ACLU of Idaho successfully halted the enforcement of this bill in late April after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in the case of IORC v. Labrador.

De Leon further criticized the state’s priorities, commenting, “As our school buildings crumble, our child care system buckles, the funding gap for special needs education increases, prioritizing increased funds for transporting immigrants is not what we would consider fiscal responsibility. We call on our government officials to do better.”

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Linda Larsen

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — The Perez family and their San Francisco-based legal team will hold the press conference on June 26th to discuss the filing of a lawsuit and their request for independent investigations in the shooting death of Pocatello teen Victor Perez, who was shot nine times by Pocatello police on April 5th.

They will also talk about the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation town hall meeting.

That meeting will take place on Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. To  5:00 p.m. At the Pond Student Union building on the Idaho State University campus. The town hall meeting is open to the public.

During the meeting, several speakers, including national and local attorneys, as well as mediators and certified healing practitioners, will hold workshops and talk to people who attend.

Truth and Reconciliation Town Hall Speakers:

John Burris, Civil Rights Attorney – Burris the founder of the BNCL firm. He has represented numerous high-profile clients during the course of his 40 year career. Some notable cases include Rodney King, Oscar Grant, Tupac Shakur, actor Delroy Lindo, NBA players Gary Payton and Jason Kidd, and NFL player Keyshawn Johnson.

Jennifer Call, Local Attorney on the case – Call is a trial attorney based in Pocatello, Idaho, and serves as local counsel for the BNCL firm in the Victor Perez case. She is a graduate of the University of Utah College of Law and a former social worker. Her legal career includes work as a Legal Aid attorney, public defender, and prosecutor. She now owns Snake River Criminal Defense, PLLC, where she focuses primarily on criminal defense law. For more information, click HERE.

Alice Shikina, Moderator/ ADR and Mediation Specialist – Shikina is a divorce and workplace conflict mediator. Recently, she was awarded the 2025 Peacemaker Award from San Francisco’s Community Boards. This award is given to someone dedicated to resolving conflict in the city of San Francisco. She is also a communication/negotiation trainer, international speaker, and podcast host. Alice is a 2nd generation Okinawan-American with over twenty years of experience in the theatre as an actress, director, producer, and writer. Shikina also hosts the podcast, called ‘Negotiation with Alice’, on Spotify and Apple. Alice operates a trauma-informed and NVC mediation practice- Shikina Mediation and Arbitration. She lives in Oakland, CA, with her two sons. In her spare time, she enjoys rowing on a team and playing violin in an orchestra. For contact information: alice.shikina@shikinamediation.com

Carmilita Yupe, Community Activist

Kyla Mitsunaga, Family Conciliation Facilitator – Mitsunaga is a multi-certified healing practitioner and subconscious mind expert who helps humans break generational patterns, heal at the subconscious level, and redefine success on their own terms. After experiencing depression in 2016, she explored over 25 healing modalities and got certified in the most effective: Family Constellations, Theta Healing®, and Integrative Hypnosis. A former award-winning Harvard professor and TED@Seoul speaker, Kyla combines deep emotional intelligence with academic rigor to guide clients through transformational breakthroughs. She is the creator of The Mitsunaga Method™, a trauma-informed process that helps clients heal and embody their inner light—no matter how dark life gets. Named one of the “Top 51 Most Fabulous Global Happiness Leaders” by World HRD Congress and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, Kyla has led workshops in 16 countries across 3 continents, coached clients worldwide, and currently resides in California. She loves a good matcha latte. To learn more, click HERE.

Desere Rowley, Community Activist and Tribal Member

The conference will allow Pocatello citizens and members of the Fort Hall reservation to voice concerns regarding the Victor Perez shooting, as well as any other community-related issues. Another goal of the conference is to match attorneys with citizens and reservation members who need representation.

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News Team

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors, the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, is now fully enforceable following the dismissal of the lawsuit Poe v. Labrador. The legislation bans gender-affirming care—including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transition surgeries—for individuals under the age of 18.

The dismissal of Poe v. Labrador comes shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18, 2025, decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld a similar law in Tennessee that restricts gender-affirming care for minors.

Attorney General Raúl Labrador emphasized the state’s position on the matter: “No one has the right to harm children. For two years, my office defended Idaho’s common-sense law that protects kids from experimental procedures with lifelong, irreversible consequences. Idaho’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act recognizes that children suffering from gender dysphoria need love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality, not life-altering drugs and surgeries. With this lawsuit now dismissed, Idaho can fully enforce our law protecting children, families, and biological reality.”

Various reactions to the Supreme Court ruling

The ACLU of Idaho, which filed the Poe v. Labrador lawsuit on behalf of two transgender minors, expressed significant disappointment with the Supreme Court’s broader ruling and the dismissal of the Idaho case.

Paul Carlos Southwick, ACLU of Idaho Legal Director, stated, “Transgender people deserve access to lifesaving medical care, full stop. This ruling sidesteps the protections our Constitution affords to our transgender community. We will continue fighting to uphold the Constitution and to ensure everyone is treated equally and can access medically necessary medical care.”

In contrast, the Idaho Family Policy Center applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Blaine Conzatti, President of the Idaho Family Policy Center, said, “State legislatures across the country are reviewing the data and coming to the conclusion that it’s time to ban mutilating sex change drugs and surgeries for gender-confused children. The evidence is clear: these so-called ‘gender-affirming treatments’ wreak havoc on developing bodies. Laws like these are necessary to protect gender-confused children from medically unnecessary drugs and procedures that result in lifelong harms.”

Background of the Vulnerable Child Protection Act/ Poe v. Labrador

The Vulnerable Child Protection Act (House Bill 71) passed the Idaho Legislature in 2023. The legislation makes providing gender-affirming care to minors a felony for doctors. Supporters of the bill argued that children cannot consent to experimental treatments with permanent consequences.

Following the bill’s passage, the ACLU of Idaho filed Poe v. Labrador, arguing that the law would cause unnecessary harm to transgender individuals in the state. The court initially granted a preliminary injunction, blocking the law’s enforcement statewide.

However, Attorney General Labrador appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In April 2024, the Supreme Court narrowed the injunction, applying it only to the two families involved in the lawsuit and allowing the law to be enforced for all other minors statewide.

The Poe v. Labrador lawsuit was ultimately dismissed because both plaintiff families moved out of state.

“Idaho has done what it set out to do – drive out transgender people who don’t want to tolerate the unnecessary hostility toward them,” said Jenna Damron, ACLU of Idaho Advocacy Fellow.

The ACLU of Idaho says they are still advancing other lawsuits to protect trans rights, including Hecox v. Little and Robinson v. Labrador.  

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Phillip Willis

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A bill contains a controversial proposal that could result in millions of acres of public land being sold to private buyers. That includes public land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service in Idaho and Wyoming.

The bill is spearheaded by United States senator Mike Lee. The legislator from Utah has amended the language in the bill to mandate the sale of millions of acres of public land to, according to multiple wilderness alliances, pay for tax-cuts for the ultra-wealthy.

The bill is not without it’s opposition. John Robinson, the Public Lands and Wildlife Director of the Idaho Conservation League says “keep public land in public hands.”

“This is part of a massive budget reconciliation bill… There are 2 million acres in Idaho that could be permanently sold off,” says Robison. “We don’t know which of these acres could be selected, but this sets a horrible precedent that would lead to permanent losses of access and of our heritage.”

Robison believes that there will be “NO TRESPASSING” signs and locked gates on trailheads if the bill passes.

According to The Wilderness Society, 250 million acres of land in total will be able to be purchased. They say the land that is up for grabs includes “recreation areas, wilderness study areas, inventoried roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors.”

Here’s a link to an interactive map, showing in detail the parcels of public land that go up for sale if the bill passes in it’s current form. It shows 1,200 acres of Forest Service land to the south of Pocatello, a 90,000 acre parcel of BLM property to the north of Blackfoot and to the west of Idaho Falls, and a 21,000 chunk of BLM land to the north of Ashton, all of which could be privatized.

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Phillip Willis

IDAHO FALLS/POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — City offices, county offices, libraries and even banks will be closing in remembrance of Juneteenth on Thursday. Events are planned in the cities of Idaho Falls and Pocatello for the holiday.

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln went into effect. Because of the Civil War, word of the passed legislation was slow moving. It wasn’t until June 19 of 1865 — almost two months after the conclusion of the war — that slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom from the Union soldiers who arrived in the town.

Since then, Juneteenth has become a federal holiday, commemorating the effective end of slavery in the United States.

Idaho Falls Event

The city of Idaho Falls is holding the Second Annual Juneteenth Com’Unity’ Heritage Music Festival to celebrate the holiday. Part one of the event took place on June 14 with live music by the river.

The second part of the event will be taking place at the Colonial Theater in Downtown Idaho Falls on June 19 from 7 p.m.–9 p.m. The program, which is free to the public, will include a readers theater and musical performances that explore themes in African American music throughout the 20th century.

Click here for more information on this event.

Pocatello Event

NAACP in Pocatello will be celebrating a belated Juneteenth, holding their event on June 21 from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Senior Activity Center.

Attendees can enjoy activities such as a barbecue picnic with ethnic and traditional foods, kid-friendly games, an auction, raffles and the announcement of the NAACP scholarship winners.

Tickets are required if you plan on eating at the barbecue, but otherwise, the event is free to the public.

Click here for more information on this event.

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