Author: KIFI

Par Kermani

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Taylor Swift herself may not be taking the stage in Idaho Falls, but a touring tribute show is giving local Swifties a chance to experience some of the spectacle closer to home.

Taylorville, an unofficial live Taylor Swift tribute band, is performing Friday at the Colonial Theater as the Idaho Falls Arts Council continues working to bring a wider variety of touring entertainment to Eastern Idaho.

For Arts Council Executive Director Gray Augustus, performances like Taylorville are about more than filling the theater for one night.

Augustus said bringing different types of touring acts to Idaho Falls can introduce people to the arts who may not otherwise think about attending a show at the historic Colonial Theater.

“If we can bring acts like Taylorville that are going to be geared towards a demographic of even 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-year-olds, we’re offering a gateway for someone who may have not given us a shot or wanted to come to the theater before,” Augustus said.

He said those first experiences can lead audiences to come back for other performances and explore more of what Idaho Falls’ arts community has to offer.

The demand for arts and entertainment has also grown alongside the city, Augustus said.

The Idaho Falls Arts Council was formed in 1999, and Augustus said interest in the arts has steadily increased since then. He pointed to the growth of the region, improved access to Idaho Falls and the expansion of local entertainment options as factors helping the community attract more performers.

“Our airport has done a fantastic job and our city is growing at a great rate,” Augustus said. “We’ve grown up a little bit over the years, and that’s made it easier.”

Rising costs still make touring in more rural areas challenging for performers, Augustus said, but growing demand and additional venues are helping create more opportunities throughout the region.

“Right now we have a really vibrant art scene in Idaho Falls,” Augustus said. “And it’s just at its infancy. It’s really starting to take off.”

For Taylorville lead singer Sinead Angele, smaller communities can provide something that larger venues sometimes cannot: a closer connection between performers and their audience.

“The small towns are really fun,” Angele said. “The smaller the stage, the closer it is to the people, the better for us.”

Angele said smaller shows allow the band to interact directly with fans through high fives, heart hands and even friendship-bracelet exchanges during performances.

That connection can be especially meaningful for some of Taylorville’s youngest fans.

Angele said children as young as 4, 5 and 6 attend the shows dressed as their favorite Taylor Swift era, and for some, Taylorville becomes their first concert.

“We are a lot of people’s first concert,” Angele said. “So it’s cool to know that we’re that core memory.”

Angele is also an indie singer-songwriter and said the performers behind tribute acts bring their own musical backgrounds to the production.

She said Taylorville has invested heavily in lighting, a video wall, costumes and other production elements. Angele herself has classical and jazz training, and the band rehearsed twice a week for about three months before its first show. She now makes eight or nine costume changes during a performance.

The goal, she said, is to give audiences the feeling of experiencing the different eras of Swift’s career — particularly those who never had an opportunity to attend Swift’s Eras Tour.

“I hope that it takes them back to that because it was such an iconic concert,” Angele said. “To be able to keep that alive is really cool.”

The production is an independent tribute and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Taylor Swift or her affiliated entities.

And if the growing demand is any indication, Idaho Falls may be becoming Taylor-made for the arts.

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David Pace

Recovery participant Jaykub Ary (right) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith Director Monty Burks (left) smile at the Community Roundtable Friday.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Homelessness, addiction, recovery, mental health and hope touch every one of us.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith Director Monty Burks visited Idaho Falls Friday to discuss how faith-based and private organizations can better serve the homeless and individuals struggling with addiction and mental health.

“For a significant amount of time, our houses of worship have responded to different addiction and support issues in the community,” Burks said. “They provided housing, transportation, resources, recovery support, and other ancillary resources to support people in their most vulnerable moments.”

A federal Point-In-Time study found at least 2,128 homeless people in Idaho in 2023, but according to the National Institute of Health, most cases go unreported.

Often individuals facing homelessness or mental health crises are overwhelmed and don’t know who to turn to.

“Where are the gaps? What is working? What can we do to strengthen what’s already existing? And most importantly, how can we work together as a community in ways that none of us could accomplish alone?” asked Stephanie Taylor-Thompson, Cornerstone Wellness & Recovery Chief Operating Officer, who has completely rebuilt her life after emerging from addiction and imprisonment.

The Center for Faith Director, who hails from Nashville, Tennessee, experienced his own bouts with club drugs and addiction as a young college student, before he was invited by a 60-year-old woman to a recovery meeting at a local Christian church.

He since went on to found Tennessee’s Certified Recovery Congregation Initiative, which yielded 30,000 treatment referrals in seven years after providing training to more than 1,000 houses of worship.

Burks spoke at a community roundtable discussion with counselors, the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, elected City Council members, state legislators, and law enforcement to address how the federal government can better support individuals in crisis.

“In my role, I connect our faith communities to support, provide technical assistance and also bridge gaps between our houses of worship and government,” Burks said.

Today, he mentors and speaks to others with lived experience about hiring people with previous convictions, law enforcement records or addictions, and welcoming them as part of the community.

“It’s important to make sure [organizations] have resources, access to people and access to support so they can support people on their own grounds, people from their own culture in their community,” Burks said.

Burks and U.S. Health and Human Services Regional Director Victoria Seaman also highlighted federal resources and tools that professionals can use to assist in their work.

“Recently, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of National Drug Control Policies and HUD released a ‘Treatment-First’ model tool kit. The goal is to provide treatment and resources to people as you provide housing,” Burks said. “This is the type of program that ensures for long term support, and also equals development for a person while they walk the journey and creates opportunity for them to go back into the workforce, be reunited with their family, and also become a community advocate and use that experience to support other people.”

The program, in tandem with the Trump Administration’s “Great American Recovery Initiative“, provides more than $700 million in funding for STREETS (Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support) and behavioral health. 

“I did spend six years on the City Council in Las Vegas, so this issue of homelessness is near and dear to my heart as well,” Seaman said, “and the Administration has a heart for recovery.”

Cornerstone Wellness and Recovery CEO Jeremy Manwaring, COO Stephanie Taylor-Thompson and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Director Victoria Seamon and HHS Center for Faith Director Monty Burks hosted a community roundtable discussion for the mental health, addiction recovery and homeless resource providers on Friday at Brad Hall Companies’ headquarters.

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William Syslo

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) – The Rigby Trojans high school football team is preparing for the upcoming season in Idaho’s 6A division under Head Coach Armando Gonzalez, relying on the pillars of what Rigby football is all about to prepare this season’s squad for what’s ahead.

The program emphasizes physical and mental preparation to compete in Idaho’s highest classification. Gonzalez said the coaching staff focuses on building mental toughness and managing high-stress game conditions.

“We have a certain identity. We want to be the most dominant team in Idaho physically, mentally…” Gonzalez said. He added that success depends on focus: “Can we focus better than everybody else and can we operate in a stressful environment because varsity football, especially in 6A is pretty competitive. We want to be the mentally Toughest team in Idaho. We want to play with perfect effort. And, if we focus on what’s, you know, happening right in front of us, Then the rest will take care of itself.”

Rigby is replacing a talented senior class from last season that included quarterback Jacob Flowers, running back Amani Morel and defensive back Cannon Korth to name just a few. A new group of upperclassmen has stepped into leadership roles for the upcoming season.

Senior running back Kue Kofe was named a team captain this summer. Last season, he earned first-team all conference honors. Kofe noted that the program relies heavily on player leadership.

“Every day you’re doing the best you got,” Kofe said. “Other places, it’s the coaches that run everything. And I’m sure [coach Gonzalez] talked about it, but he wants things to be team led, leader led by our captains. And that’s what we try to do. And that’s how it was when I first got here. And I’ve appreciated it as I’ve come up through the program.”

Senior tight end and slot receiver Jaxon Nelson was also appointed a team captain during the summer following an honorable mention all-conference selection last year. Nelson mentioned how impactful roster turnovers make outsiders ask questions, but is confident that this year’s team is filled with talent and competitors.

“People always say, oh, they lost a lot. We’ll see how they do,” Nelson said. “The program that we’ve built, it just builds people. That’s how we do it… we ‘build men for others’ that’s our motto,” he said with a chuckle, as he pointed to head coach Gonzalez, acknowledging the team’s internal slogan. He continued, “we build the warriors to fill the positions.”

Nelson highlighted a team tradition known as the Long Gold Line, which emphasizes mentorship between graduating players and incoming seniors.

“It’s kind of the tradition we have of like loving each other and being for each other, being a brotherhood,” Nelson said. “Right. So there’s like this big brotherhood. And so they… took care of each other and took care of us and like, mentored us, it’s just kind of how it is.”

The Rigby Trojans travel to Utah on Friday, Aug. 21, to open their season against the Roy Royals.

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News Team

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – Portneuf Health announced Saturday afternoon they reached a new agreement with Regence BlueShield of Idaho insurance, calling it a “long-term” deal for all Regence members that restores in-network access and rates.

The agreement restores in-network access for Regence members at all Portneuf Health facilities, including physicians and advanced practice providers. Members can once again receive care at in-network rates. Portneuf says this helps alleviate any further disruption and the ability for families to continue seeing providers they know and trust at Portneuf Health.

The agreement is also retroactive to June 15, meaning all claims within the time when Portneuf Health was out of network will be covered at in-network rates. Along with the reimbursement, Portneuf said the agreement will help simplify administrative processes and “enhance the experience for patients and providers.”

In a press release from August 15 sent by Portneuf Health, CEO Nate Carter stated, “This agreement is an important step forward for patients who rely on our teams for care. It restores in-network access, provides greater certainty for patients and families, and establishes a foundation that supports the long-term delivery of high-quality care in our region.”

In the same press release, Mark Ruszczyk, president of Regence BlueShield of Idaho said, “We appreciate Portneuf’s willingness to work with us on an agreement that allows our members to continue access to in-network care at Portneuf Health. We are also grateful to the Pocatello community for its patience as we advocated for affordability on behalf of our members and customers.”

Patients who have questions about their coverage at Portneuf are encouraged to contact Regence or visit their website at regence.com.

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Hadley Bodell

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – The mission for Bannock County Veteran Services is simple: gather resources for veterans to assist in employment, education and entrepreneurship opportunities post-service. The Mission 3E Summit at The Village in Pocatello provided training sessions and expert advice for veterans in the community.

“Often times, veterans find that it’s time to transition into something new, but they don’t know where to begin,” said Melissa Hartman, coordinator with Bannock County Veteran Services. “It’s overwhelming and a lot of information to take in, and we just need a spot to start.”

The three pillars of the future presented by Bannock County are employment, education and entrepreneurship. Hartman said most veterans are interested in one of the tracks, and some combine them. Specialists and organizations were on site at The Village on Saturday, August 15 for the summit event.

“They can learn how to apply to a federal position or how to write a resume,” Hartman said. “Or if they’re ready to start delving into school and what that process looks like, we can help and have professionals in those areas.”

One mentionable booth at the summit was TRIO with Idaho State University, the local organization committed to helping veterans attend university and graduate with their degree. They can help with on the job training, first generation students and more at their office space on the ISU campus.

Hartman said officials from the Idaho Department of Labor were also presenting at the event, teaching veterans about job interviews and applications.

“We also have many people here who are business owners and investors and can help you if you’re thinking about starting your own business and what those challenges are,” she said.

The organizers said they wanted to build an in-person network for veterans in the community, going “old-school” instead of shepherding them all to an online portal with resources. Hartman said it’s important to have face-to-face conversations with local resources and employers, making connections to put to use for veterans’ futures.

She also said the readjustment period when any kind of service member returns home is extremely complicated and veterans may feel overstimulated by all the things to do.

“If we can just give them a tiny bit of an edge by bringing all of that together and say, hey, we’re here,” Hartman said. “They’re used to having that platoon or that squad mentality, we’re here now. We’re your support system. We want veterans to succeed.”

Hartman said this is the first Mission 3E Summit in Pocatello and was grateful for the food trucks and vendors who volunteered to be a part of it. For community members who want to support veterans and get involved, Bannnock County has a Military Affairs Committee that meets monthly.

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Par Kermani

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) — The Jefferson County Fair wrapped up its week in Rigby Saturday, marking the end of days of livestock competitions, community events and months of work for local 4-H and FFA members.

For some young exhibitors, the final day also meant saying goodbye to animals they had spent much of the year raising.

Fifteen-year-old Tenley Walker raised her steer, “Big Guns,” and the pair earned Grand Champion Market Steer. As exhibitors prepared to load their animals Saturday, Walker said the end of the fair was emotional.

“I’ve had a really good year with him,” Walker said. “We’re about to load them on the trailer and I’m already getting a little bit worked up. But it’s okay, just the way it goes.”

Walker said participating in 4-H has taught her about hard work, setting goals, keeping records and taking responsibility for an animal.

Those lessons are a major part of what organizers say they want young people to take away from the program.

Lex Godfrey, an agricultural educator at Rigby High School and chairman of the fair’s Market Animal Sale Committee, said the animals may be the most visible part of the program, but the young people raising them are its real focus.

“Often people look at these as market animal projects. They are,” Godfrey said. “But the true product is these young people that are developing and learning what it takes to take care of something and be responsible for something.”

The fair began its livestock events with a horse show Monday, followed by market animal weigh-ins Tuesday and events throughout the week. Godfrey said the fair also included activities outside livestock, including exhibits featuring produce, baked goods and art.

Organizers say the fair continues to grow. Austin Davis, a local agricultural teacher and livestock committee chairman, said organizers expanded into a tent this year after running out of barn space. The fair has also added new pens, arenas and an auction block.

Friday night’s Market Animal Sale brought in more than $800,000 in livestock sales, according to Godfrey. He said additional contributions, known as boosts, could push the total above $1 million.

“That will go back to these youth in our community,” Godfrey said. “That makes me feel very good about the future we have and the investment we’re putting into our youth.”

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Par Kermani

RIRIE, Idaho (KIFI) — Musicians, artists, filmmakers and families gathered near Ririe this weekend as South Fork Fest celebrated its fifth year.

Held at Aspen Grove Inn, the festival combines live performances with film screenings, open mics, songwriter rounds and workshops covering music, art, photography and other activities.

Caleb Brown, South Fork Fest’s creative director, said the event is intentionally designed to be more than a traditional music festival.

“We’ve got workshops, film screenings, kids activities, open mics, songwriter rounds, and then obviously the main stage and B-stage acts,” Brown said.

The festival also includes activities such as fly-fishing instruction for children and opportunities for emerging artists and filmmakers to interact with more experienced professionals.

Brown said the idea has roots in his own experience growing up in eastern Idaho. When he was 13, he performed in a punk rock band at a local music festival where young creators were able to interact with older musicians and artists.

He said members of that group went on to careers as touring and studio musicians, screenwriters, directors, published authors and other creative professions.

Years later, Brown and his friends decided to recreate that experience. What began as a gathering of friends and family five years ago eventually grew into South Fork Fest and the creation of the nonprofit South Fork Arts Foundation.

Brown said one of the festival’s goals is to create a similar pathway for a new generation.

“We open every festival with youth talent,” Brown said. “One of the kids that did the talent show, now they’re playing the open mic, and in five more years they’ll be playing the main stage with their band.”

The festival is hosted at Aspen Grove Inn, where owner Sharon Perry said the property is intended to provide visitors with a place for “peace and calm” where people can heal, bond and reconnect.

Perry said the setting among trees and outdoor gathering spaces has become part of the experience for visitors.

“We love the people that come here. We love the music, the food vendors,” Perry said. “It’s a great feeling of peace and calm here that I have not been able to find anywhere else.”

This year’s festival also came shortly after the fire in Heise. Perry said Aspen Grove Inn was not threatened by the fire and the festival went forward without delays. She also said organizers were seeing an increase in attendance this year.

Brown said organizers hope the festival continues giving young people a place to share their work while interacting with professionals doing the jobs they may someday want to pursue.

He said that could mean a child singing before an audience for the first time, a teenager sharing a short film or a young musician getting advice from a touring artist.

For organizers, Brown said, the goal is for those opportunities to continue growing along with the festival.

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Danielle Mullenix

A good chance of storms still lingers into Saturday and the weekend forecast around Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming. Local heavy rainfall could be sporadic, as some remaining thunderstorms still sit above the region, leaving a flash flood watch in effect for Saturday. These isolated storms could carry into the first portion of next week, with high temperatures remaining below average until the storms subside. 

Monsoonal moisture will push through the region on Saturday, bringing pop-up rain showers to many residents, especially in Southeastern Idaho. The overall weather outlook shows primarily minor impacts from these storms, aside from the possible flash flood watch still in effect for the Big Rock burn scar. While high gusts may accompany some of the pop-up thunderstorms, conditions are expected to ease as we move into the middle of next week. There will still be slight chances of storms through Tuesday afternoon.

High temperatures on Saturday will range from the upper 70s to low 80s, with the highest chance of precipitation occurring near the central mountains. Wind gusts may increase slightly as storms pass through, with speeds reaching 15-25 mph, particularly in the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to intensify after 4 p.m., while overnight lows will drop quickly to the lower 50s and 40s, signaling the approaching end of summer.

Clearer conditions are forecast for Sunday, with more sun and a high near 80°F and an overnight low around 50°F. A few isolated thunderstorms may still occur on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Monday is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high near 82°F. However, storm activity is predicted to return Monday night, bringing a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, along with rain after midnight, and a low near 52°F.

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Kaelyn Blessinger

IRWIN, Idaho (KIFI)– From offering free flu shots at his clinics, to his weekly segments on our show called “No Appointment Necessary”, where he offered free medical to viewers: Doctor David Bowman has been a long time member of the Southeast Idaho Health Care Community.

Earlier this year, he was admitted to the hospital for a severe case of Pneumonia. His oxygen levels dropped to around 40 in his system. Now he is on the lung donation list, awaiting a match.

“When I got to the emergency room, I basically all I remember is them saying, are you okay if we intubate you? And I said, yes, you can intubate me. And and then it was ten days later that I woke up. the nurses and doctors would tell my wife and family that that they would leave at night, not expecting me to be alive in the morning.”

Doctor Bowman said he died for 53 seconds during his coma, but the doctors and nurses were able to restart his heart and keep him alive. He was bedridden for months, and could not walk or eat. He had to relearn all of these skills while maintaining a brave face for his family.

“The first time I saw my dad in the ICU, I was just bawling,” Anna recalled. “He would raise his hands up and say, I’m strong, I can do this.  And that gave us some hope to see that he is trying to be strong for us so we can be strong for him.”

Now, he faces a wait for a lung donation match, which inspired Anna to create the GoFundMe.

“And finally he got home and we learned that he needs a lung transplant. So that freaked us all out, and we didn’t really know what that meant for us. We’re expecting for him to not be able to work for like, 3 to 4 months after the lung transplant, so it’s just not realistic for for us to go without a little bit of help.”

As they wait, they ask for your thoughts and prayers as he continues to recover.

“Just knowing that I’ve got friends out there that are that are helping me it.” Dr. Bowman said. “You know, every share, every thought, every prayer is just so appreciated that I don’t know if I could truly express how much I appreciate it.”

Here is a link to the family’s GoFundMe page, if you are willing and able to donate or to leave comments of encouragement.

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Danielle Mullenix

Isolated thunderstorms continue to move through, with lingering monsoonal moisture and a trough moving into the top of the week’s forecast. Most of these isolated storms will dodge the Snake River Plain and impact the Central Mountains and Southeastern Idaho, as well as the Southwest Wyoming border.

The thunderstorms seen and felt this Monday will be very similar to what has been observed over the last few days in the region, meaning brief, intense downpours and gusty winds. Winds today under these storm clouds could reach up to 45 mph this afternoon, so you may want to bring any outdoor items inside later today.

High temperatures starting off this Monday and through the top of the week are still slightly below average, as we will work our way back up into the upper 80s this early evening across the region. Relatively low humidity overall, of course, with the exception of the tiny pockets of rain from the overhead thunderstorms passing through. The highest wind gust we will observe this afternoon (outside of the storm wind gusts) will sit in the upper teens, making for overall easy breezes. Overnight lows will cool into the upper 50s and 60s.

Slightly cooler temperatures all around the region on Tuesday as the trough pushes that last stretch of wet weather across Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming toward the Montana divide. As high pressure returns by Wednesday and dry conditions become the pattern for the second half of the week, expect a shift back into the upper 80s and 90s.

We could potentially see monsoonal moisture return this upcoming weekend, bringing chances of rain and lower temperatures back into the region.

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