Author: KIFI

Seth Ratliff

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad and the City Council are holding a Town Hall meeting near the end of June to discuss fireworks safety and enforcement. The discussion comes as the region prepares for the upcoming July festivities, including Independence Day and Pioneer Day, both periods when fireworks use is common.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It will take place in the City Council Chambers, located at 911 North 7th Avenue.

There will be a question-and-answer session for those attending. Speakers are instructed to sign up before 6 pm and will be allotted two minutes.

The Town Hall Meeting will be available the following day on the City’s YouTube channel, HERE.

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Sam Ross

INKOM, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) will close Main Street in Inkom overnight on Tuesday, June 10, and Wednesday, June 1, to demolish the I-15 bridge over the road.

Main street traffic will be diverted onto Old Highway 91 and will only be accessible to vehicles with a height of less than 13 feet. ITD also said the demolition will cause a “considerable amount of noise”.

Main Street in Inkom will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. For more information, you can visit the Idaho Transportation Department website.

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Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– Gateway Transitional Care Center is remodeling its facility to include a new ‘Vent/Trach Unit’ for patients recovering from injuries or respiratory illness; the unit will be the first of its kind in Southeast Idaho.

Gavin Monteath, CEO of Gateway Transitional Care Center, said over the past seven years, the basement levels of their building have gone through multiple potential project designs, but the care center settled on a respiratory rehabilitation wing when they saw patients coming out of the hospital traveling out-of-state to get care for breathing problems before they could return home.

“There’s not another one of these units from Salt Lake to Boise,” said Monteath. “There’s a lot of patients that are actually from this area, that have families here, that want to be back in Southeast Idaho that haven’t had the capacity to do it because they don’t have a long term care space where they can get enough therapy, or [they] need a long term care setting to be able to help them breathe. This unit will be able to help some of those patients get back to Southeast Idaho.”

Along with the Vent/Trach Unit, the remodel will also add a new 10,000 square foot Outpatient Therapy Gym, and space for Medicaid-only patient care coming in the future.

Monteath said the new unit has been a long time coming, and the COVID-19 pandemic set development on the back burner while the care center transitioned to helping Coronavirus patients. But project contractor, Headwaters Construction, expects to have the unit open and ready to provide pioneering care to the Portneuf Valley in late summer 2026.

“It’s been seven years that we’ve been working on this, and Covid kind of threw a wrench in a few things for us,” said Monteath “…But my team here at Gateway has been stellar and stayed consistent and been able to move the needle to be able to do something like this… to put this kind of an investment into the building to help the community.”

Gateway Transitional Care Center is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for their new Vent/Trach Unit on Thursday, June 12, at 11:30 a.m. at 527 Memorial Dr. in Pocatello.

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News Team

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) — While Lori Vallow-Daybell is on trial in Arizona for the attempted murder of her niece’s ex-husband, her attorney in Idaho has filed an appeal with the Idaho Supreme Court to have her conviction on all charges in Idaho, including three murder charges, overturned.

In the court filing, her attorney gives five reasons:

First, he argues, Vallow-Daybell was deprived of her 6th amendment right to counsel of her choice when the court disqualified her retained attorney.

Second, the court filing suggests she was deprived of her 6th amendment right to assistance of counsel during pretrial hearings on the state’s motion to disqualify her counsel after the court denied her attorney’s request to participate. 

Third, the documents contend she was deprived of her right to due process under the 14th Amendment when the court held pretrial hearings that affected her rights in her absence and while she was incompetent. 

Fourth, her attorney suggests that the court erred in allowing the state to introduce evidence from the Arizona case into her Idaho trial.

And fifth, the court filing argues that the court erred in denying Vallow-Daybell’s motion to dismiss based on a violation of her rights to a speedy trial.

Vallow Daybell was sentenced on July 31st, 2023, to three life sentences without the possibility of parole for the deaths of her children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and the death of her husband, Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy.

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News Release

The following is a news release from the City of Pocatello:

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — The final phase of the Center Street Underpass construction project is set to begin in January 2026. This phase will include the installation of shoring and the placement of a pedestrian bridge spanning Center Street.

Following a comprehensive construction review and the required approvals from Union Pacific Railroad, the City of Pocatello has decided to delay construction until 2026. The intent behind this decision is to minimize disruptions to Historic Downtown businesses, particularly during the important summer and winter retail seasons. The revised timeline also allows the contractor sufficient time to secure the necessary materials and allow crews to place concrete during more favorable weather conditions.

Originally constructed in 1943, the Center Street Underpass replaced an elevated viaduct to improve east-west connectivity in Pocatello. In the past year, the City has completed several key infrastructure improvements, including replacement of the waterline beneath the underpass, repairs and preservation of the abutments, and installation of a storm line and manhole to alleviate flooding issues

The City of Pocatello appreciates the continued patience and support of the community and local businesses as work progresses on this important infrastructure project.

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Noah Farley

BINGHAM COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — A proposed 150-acre gun range complex in Bingham County is igniting significant opposition from rural homeowners in the agricultural community surrounding Blackfoot. The planned development, spearheaded by a private developer, is slated for a site near 1600 W Taber Road, just outside Blackfoot.

Area residents are concerned that the complex would bring environmental risks, loud noise, and pose a danger to their neighborhood.

“This is a full-scale business with rotating outsiders, elevated noise levels, environmental risks, and legal protections that will strip our rights as neighbors if it’s approved,” said Jason Cook, who started the petition against the project.

Cook says since the site is in an agricultural zone, building the gun range there would be a direct violation of Bingham County’s Comprehensive Plan and Idaho Law.

The Bingham County Planning & Zoning Commission will make the final decision on whether the gun range will be built at the planned location or not.

More information on the planned gun range and the public’s opinion can be found here.

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Seth Ratliff

CLEARWATER COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — An 18-year-old from Lewiston, Sheldon Medford, died Saturday evening, June 7th, after being crushed by a large boulder.

According to reports, the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office, Nez Perce Tribal Police, and first responders located Medford pinned under the boulder around 9:35 PM on Northfork Drive in Ahsahka.

The 18-year-old had been camping in the area and was declared dead at the scene. His next of kin have been notified.

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News Team

HEISE, Idaho (KIFI)- A firefighter has been injured while fighting a fire just west of Wolf Flats Campground on Heise River road.

The injured fire fighter was taken to the Idaho Falls Community Hospital.

Multiple crews are on scene, such as the Central Fire Department, Rire Fire, Swan Valley Fire, Shelley Fire, Ucon Fire, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Crews will be on scene throughout the night and into tomorrow.

The size of the fire is about one acre.

It is unknown how the fire started.

Officials are asking people to avoid the area.

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Noah Farley

TETON COUNTY, Wyoming (KIFI) — June 8, 2025 is the one-year anniversary of when the Teton Pass collapsed.

The pass connects Jackson, Wyoming, and Victor, Idaho. Nobody was on the pass when it collapsed.

While some people suspected earthquakes caused the landslide, the Wyoming Department of Transportation says it was caused by water from springs and snow melt.

Authorities noticed cracks in the pass’ asphalt two days before the collapse. They closed it off to assess the situation and opened it back up that same evening. The next day, a mudslide at milepost 15 blocked the road. the pass collapsed on Saturday, June 8th.

Losing the pass didn’t just affect tourists. Several people used the pass to get to work, so they had to take much longer alternate routes.

Despite the extra long drive, many commuters still enjoyed spending more time traveling through the beautiful landscape.

Twenty days after the the collapse, Highway 22 reopened to traffic and crews started working on a long-term solution.

WYDOT says the hope is for the new Teton Pass to be fully open to the public by the end of July. More information on the project’s progress can be found here.

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Noah Farley

AMMON, Idaho (KIFI) — We’re in the 100 Deadliest Days, which means more motor crashes on the roads. That’s why Idaho State Police hosted its annual Shiny Side Up Motorcycle Safety Rally today.

People got to visit Hillcrest High School to practice their motorcycle driving skills and learn how to handle different kinds of road conditions and respond to emergencies.

Idaho State Police say while cars get into crashes more often than motorcycles, not as many people are trained before driving a motorcycle.

“When you look at the motorcycle crashes, the large proportion of those riders do not have an actual training course underneath their belt,” said Idaho State Police Motor Officer, Travis Gurney.

Gurney says only 10% of Idaho motorcycle riders have passed a safety training course and 50% do not have an endorsement. He says getting the proper motorcycle training can save lives for both the riders and those around them on the roads.

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