Month: October 2026

Kaelyn Blessinger

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The Museum of Idaho will open its new Galileo Galilei exhibit this Saturday. It will showcase much of Galileo’s life and scientific experiments and offer an interactive experience for visitors.

“Galileo was this incredible scientist who lived in the 15 and 1600s, who contributed more than maybe anybody else in our history to the advancement of scientific knowledge,” Jeff Carr, the Executive Director for the Museum of Idaho, said.

Galileo contributed so much to our current knowledge of physics, mathematics, the arts, astronomy, and geometry. He made many of his discoveries through experiments, which the museum has recreated so visitors can experience them firsthand.

“As you’re sitting there, you start thinking, ‘why did that happen? Like, wait, this happened differently than the first time I tried it. Like, what’s going on?’ And realizing that the exact same thing Galileo was thinking,” said Chloe Doucette, the Museum of Idaho’s Managing Director.

Almost every item in the exhibit is interactive, giving all visitors a true hands-on learning experience.

“Actually being able to see and understand as a ball rolls down a ramp or as a pendulum swings, that it is key to kind of building your foundation of what physics is and how science works,” Doucette said. “And so getting hands-on with experiments like this makes a big difference in understanding these larger, bigger topics about astronomy and about physics.”

The exhibit opens this Saturday, October 3rd, and goes through January 10th, 2027.

Click here to follow the original article.

Seth Ratliff

JACKSON, WYO. (KIFI) — Following overwhelming community opposition and public concern, Major League Baseball has officially abandoned the possibility of hosting a special regular-season game inside Grand Teton National Park.

In a letter sent to the Teton County, Wyoming Board of Commissioners, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred assured the board members that the league has no active plans to move forward with the venue.

“It has become clear the local community does not want us to continue evaluating Grand Teton National Park as a potential site,” Manfred wrote. “We obviously would not bring a game to a community that has concerns about the venue, and will not continue to evaluate Grand Teton National Park as a potential site.”

Initial Talks and Potential Sites

The proposal was first reported by The Washington Post, which revealed that MLB officials and members of the Trump administration had explored potential locations within the park. According to sources familiar with the matter, three separate sites inside Grand Teton were visited as possible sites for a temporary baseball stadium.

The White House, however, noted that no decisions had been made and that the National Park Service had not issued any permits.

In his letter, Manfred emphasized that the league’s preliminary site visits were standard procedure and the league had “no formal plan to play a game in Grand Teton National Park.”

“Our team was conducting initial due diligence on many potential sites when this story was reported, and we had made no decision on the feasibility of staging a game in Grand Teton National Park,” wrote Manfred. “We also had not reached the stage in our due diligence in which we evaluated environmental impact or spoke to members of the community to solicit their views—steps that would have certainly been part of any process should it have moved forward.”

MLB’s Special Events Strategy

The Grand Teton proposal was part of MLB’s broader effort to hold regular-season games in parts of the country without access to a traditional Major League Stadium—similar to the league’s “Field of Dreams” games in Iowa, the “Little League Classic” this year, played inside the Bristol Motor Speedway, and a recent game held at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2024.

Manfred pointed to these past events as proof of the league’s commitment to environmental stewardship and community engagement. “I believe this track record demonstrates the care in which we approach these events and alleviates any concern that MLB would pursue a project that could damage or diminish a National Park,” Manfred added.

Although no concrete plans were in place, local resistance to the proposal in the surrounding Jackson Hole and Teton County communities was immediate.

Wyoming State Senator Mike Gierau strongly criticized the proposal, stating in a text to Seattle Sports that the idea was “abhorrent,” and “a national park is to be protected for its undeveloped and scenic values.”

Tiernan Sittenfeld, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, urged the Department of the Interior to reject the idea publicly and ensure no baseball stadium is built in Grand Teton now or in the future.

Faced with strong opposition, MLB opted to abandon the possibility before developing a solid plan or environmental studies for hosting a baseball game inside Grand Teton National Park.

A full copy of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s letter is available below.

Wyoming Officials LetterDownload

Click here to follow the original article.

Curtis Jackson

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Bureau of Land Management has temporarily closed a portion of the road leading to the top of Big Southern Butte.

BLM’s Idaho Falls District said recent severe rainstorms caused substantial damage to the road, including displaced boulders and significant erosion.

The agency said the gate at the base of Big Southern Butte will remain locked until repairs are completed. It’s unclear when the road will reopen.

Click here to follow the original article.

Hadley Bodell

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – As the weather turns colder, several major projects in Pocatello are expected to finish by the end of October. One is the new traffic signal at the intersection of Hiline Road and Pearl Street/El Rancho Boulevard. Since July, crews have been working to transform the cumbersome four-way stop into a stoplight interchange with dedicated turn lanes and ADA-approved pedestrian accomodations.

The signalization improvement project is thanks to a $2 million Strategic Initiatives Grant through the Idaho Transportation Department. The City of Pocatello fronted the cost of the design, while the grant covers the construction with no city match. This project aligns with other Pocatello construction updates to improve walkability, accessibility and ease of transportation throughout the city limits.

With this project, vehicle traffic will move easier on Hiline Rd with designated turn lanes while pedestrian traffic will enjoy fully functional sidewalks and landings.

“We’re signalizing the intersection as well as putting in turn lanes, sidewalks, curbs and gutters,” explained Tom Kirkman, City of Pocatello Public Works Director. “We’ll have ADA curb ramps on all four corners and the whole intersection is getting repaved and reformatted.”

The curbing on all four corners will mimic the ones put in earlier this summer by Pocatello High School. They slow down traffic and give pedestians a larger space to stand before crossing the road.

Kirkman said the City conducted studies and analysis before deciding to begin construction. According to their findings, the area near Hiline and El Rancho’s intersection has always been problematic.

“It was very congested and the biggest part there is there’s no pedestrian facilities at all,” Kirkman said. “It’s adjacent to a school, so we want to get that intersection a lot more safe for everybody.”

The construction site lies between Tendoy and Syringa Elementary Schools, as well as several neighborhoods that Kirkman said the crews are working to disturb as little as possible.

“We’re trying not to disturb them, it’s a very residential area,” he said. “We’re trying to make it as painless as possible for not only the traveling public, but the people that live in that neighborhood.”

On Wednesday, September 30, crews shifted to working on the south side of Hiline Road. The north side is reopen to traffic. Kirkman said crews will work simultaneously on Pearl Street.

There are detour signs to be aware of in the area as the project progresses. Kirkman said they will likely be dynamic and could change daily. As of October 1, the detour from the south side through the neighborhood to Pearl Street took 90 seconds. Speeds have also been reduced to 20mph in the detour zones.

“I think it’s overall going to be really beneficial to that part of town, we’ve seen a lot of cars getting backed up at that four-way stop,” Kirkman said. “It’ll help with that congestion and pedestrian movements immensely.”

The project is set to complete by the end of October, contingent on a smooth construction with little to no weather delays in its last month of progress. Kirkman said a 3-4 month construction period for a traffic light is pushing the crews and is set to be a major accomplishment.

“Anytime you do something like this, you find stuff on the ground that you didn’t know was there and so a lot of times you have to adapt on the fly and make some decisions,” he explained. “It’s been a really good project with just a few hiccups along the way.”

Click here to follow the original article.