Author: KIFI

News Team

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — This Saturday, August 16, the City of Pocatello is calling all volunteers to roll up their sleeves and help with the annual Portneuf River Cleanup.

“Every year, we see more people enjoying the river,” said Hannah Sanger, Pocatello’s Science & Environment Administrator. “Events like this show how much our community cares about protecting and enhancing this natural treasure.”

The cleanup will take place along the river from Raymond Park to Simplot, with a specific focus on removing trash, debris, and invasive materials from both the riverbanks and the main channel. The event supports the long-term goals of the Portneuf River Vision, a community-wide effort to keep the river clean and beautiful.

Volunteers will meet at the Pacific Recycling Trailhead (on N. Main, just off Kraft Rd.) at 10 a.m. on Saturday. All are welcome, including individuals, business groups, and service clubs.

What to Bring

Work gloves (some extras will be provided)

Boots, waders, or water shoes

Handsaws and nets are optional (a limited number of extras will be available for use)

If you have your own boat and would like to use it for the cleanup, the City asks that you please contact stormwater@pocatello.gov or call 208-234-6519 in advance for important float route information.

“Together, we can keep the Portneuf River a vibrant part of Pocatello for generations to come,” said the City of Pocatello in a press release.

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Stephanie Lucas

IDAHO (KIFI) — A new effort is underway to repeal Idaho’s 6% sales tax on groceries, but this time, proponents are bypassing the legislature and taking their case directly to Gem State voters.

Howard Rynearson, Chairman of the Payette County Republicans, is leading a new initiative to gather enough signatures to place a repeal of the grocery tax on the November 2026 ballot. This move follows a series of failed attempts by lawmakers in past legislative sessions to pass a repeal.

The Idaho GOP recently passed a resolution in support of the initiative. Bryan Smith, a National Committeeman for the Idaho GOP, places the blame for previous failures squarely on legislative leadership.

“It’s the Republican leadership that’s preventing it. And so now the Republican Party has passed a resolution supporting an initiative. We need 70,000 signatures. It’s going to go on the ballot. And when that gets on the ballot, we will finally do an end run around the legislature to and we will get grocery sales tax repeal. People get grocery sales tax relief.”

During a visit to the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke, who has previously opposed a full repeal, defended his position. According to Bedke, Idaho’s current grocery tax credit effectively balances the impact of the tax for residents by providing a refund, while still collecting revenue from non-citizens and tourists.

“In my opinion, we have a situation where Idahoans pay the tax, but then they get it back. But non-Idahoans pay the tax, and that helps fund our services here in the state now,” explained Bedke. “So, just a straight-up removal of sales tax on food, while that may sound good, we’re basically doing that right now through the grocery tax credit.”

If passed, the “Repeal Idaho’s Grocery Tax” initiative would eliminate Idaho’s 6% sales tax on food items, effective fiscal year 2028. It would also eliminate the Idaho Grocery Tax Credit.

The debate now moves from the Statehouse to the public, where proponents of the initiative will need to convince Idahoans to sign on and bring the issue to a statewide vote. For more information on the petition, click HERE.

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Curtis Jackson

EASTERN IDAHO, Idaho (KIFI)— Candidates looking to run for city races will be able to file their Declaration of Candidacy beginning next Monday, August 18. The deadline to file is August 29, 2025. Election day is November 4, 2025.

Several eastern Idaho cities will be electing a Mayor and some city council members.

Candidates must file a Declaration of Candidacy with the City Clerk, accompanied by:

A nonrefundable filing fee of $40.00;

A petition of candidacy signed by at least five (5) qualified city electors, verified by the County Clerk’s Office.

In addition, candidates must affirm that they:

Have been a resident of the City for at least 30 days prior to filing

Are a qualified elector

Are at least 18 years of age

Are a U.S. citizen

Have their primary residence within the city limits

Have a voter registration address matching their residence address on the declaration

Below is a list of a few cities whose seats are up for election.

Blackfoot:

– Mayor – City Council Seat 1 – City Council Seat 2

Driggs:

– Mayor- Two (2) City Council Seats

Idaho Falls:

– Mayor – City Council Seat 2 – City Council Seat 4 – City Council Seat 6

Iona:

– Mayor – City Council (4-yr term) – City Council (4-yr term)

Pocatello:

– Mayor – City Council Seat 4 – City Council Seat 5 – City Council Seat 6

Rexburg:

– Three (3) City Council seats

St. Anthony:

– Mayor- Three (3) City Council seats

Rigby:

-Mayor- Three (3) City Council seats

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News Release

The following is a press release from Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office:

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Attorney General Raúl Labrador, as Chairman of the Idaho Medal of Honor Commission, presented the Idaho Medal of Honor to four law enforcement officers Tuesday, recognizing their extraordinary acts of courage in going above and beyond the call of duty to save lives while risking their own.

“These officers represent everything we admire about Idaho law enforcement—courage under fire, selfless service, and an unwavering commitment to protecting their community,” said Attorney General Labrador. “When lives hung in the balance, they didn’t hesitate to charge toward the danger and risk their own lives to save people they’d never met. This is the heroism that defines our men and women in blue, and Idaho is safer because of officers like them.”

The ceremony at the Idaho State Capitol honored Officer Brian Quiterio of Kimberly-Hansen Police, Sergeant Taylor Beach of Coeur d’Alene Police, and Garden City Police officers Sergeant Leon Dennis and Corporal Sikko Barghoorn.

Officer Quiterio rescued a suicidal individual from the Snake River Canyon edge on November 24, 2024, positioning himself mere inches from a 350-foot drop while the combative subject regained consciousness. Quiterio refused to leave the dangerous position until the person was secured and safe.

Officer Brian Quiterio of Kimberly-Hansen Police, Attorney General Raúl Labrador

Officer Brian Quiterio of Kimberly-Hansen Police, Attorney General Raúl Labrador

Sergeant Beach saved a wounded officer’s life during a February 2018 shooting incident, returning fire at an armed suspect before exposing herself to gunfire to extract her seriously injured colleague and transport him to the hospital for life-saving treatment.

Attorney General Raúl Labrador, Sergeant Beach of Coeur d’Alene Police

Sergeant Beach of Coeur d’Alene Police, Attorney General Raúl Labrador

Sergeant Dennis and Corporal Barghoorn entered a residence with an active shooter on August 9, 2023, to rescue an innocent person trapped inside. The officers came under immediate gunfire upon entry but continued toward the threat until they located and evacuated the victim safely.

Attorney General Raúl Labrador, Corporal Sikko Barghoorn, Sergeant Leon Dennis of Garden City Police

Since 2004, more than 85 Idaho law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel have received the Idaho Medal of Honor for acts of exceptional courage that distinguished them above their peers.

The Idaho Medal of Honor Commission was established by the Legislature to recognize public safety professionals who risk their lives to save others through acts of extraordinary heroism.

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Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho Museum of Natural History’s (IMNH’s) new Museum Everywhere Program will bring a slice of the museum experience to the entire Gem State with help from its flagship ‘Mobile Museum’ unit.

The Mobile Museum van is equipped with a full walk-through exhibit and hands-on activities featuring items from the IMNH’s collection. This summer, the traveling exhibit focuses on celebrating Idaho’s dinosaurs.

Museum managers said the new program and mobile unit are the IMNH’s way of fulfilling their responsibility as Idaho’s official natural history museum to bring the educational experience to everyone from Pocatello to the panhandle.

“We think that everyone in Idaho should have the chance to experience Idaho’s natural history,” said Robert Gay, education manager for the IMNH. “As the state’s official museum of natural history, we feel like we have that statewide duty, and it’s just really cool stuff; Idaho has really cool natural history.”

The Mobile Museum was made possible by a grant from the David B. Jones Foundation, a non-profit that supports research in paleontology and educational programs.

To keep track of the Mobile Museum’s upcoming tour locations, you can follow the Idaho Museum of Natural History on Facebook. To book a visit from the Mobile Museum at a library, school, or event, you can find details on the IMNH website.

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Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho Food Bank is starting its Back to School campaign to raise awareness and funds for its school-year programs.

Throughout the academic year, the food bank operates its School Pantry and Backpack programs to support students experiencing food insecurity.

The School Pantry program maintains a stockpile of food and toiletries at schools across the state, providing easy access to students in need. According to the Idaho Food Bank, approximately 15,000 Idaho households were supported by School Pantries last year.

The Backpack program provides children with healthy meals during school-year weekends. In 2024, the food bank supplied 68,000 backpacks to students across the state.

The Idaho Food Bank is accepting monetary and food donations at all area locations. To find a location near you, visit the Idaho Food Bank website.

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Curtis Jackson

The following is a news release from Yellowstone National Park.

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. (KIFI) — Yellowstone National Park hosted 975,109 recreation visits in July 2025, down 2% from July 2024 (992,352 recreation visits).

This July’s visitation showed an 10% decrease from July 2021 (1,080,767 recreation visits). The park’s record-breaking year was 2021, with over 4.8 million recreation visits.

So far in 2025, the park has hosted 2,666,031 recreation visits, up 1.5% from 2024 (2,626,091 recreation visits), and down 0.1% from 2021 (2,668,765 recreation visits).

The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through July):

2025 – 2,666,031

2024 – 2,626,091

2023 – 2,462,535

2022 – 1,855,396 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21 due to the historic flood event. Three entrances opened on June 22.)

2021 – 2,668,765

2020 – 1,674,699 (The park was closed March 24 through May 17 due to COVID-19. Two entrances opened on May 18 and the remaining three opened on June 1.)

Visiting Yellowstone National Park during the busy summer months? Plan ahead by browsing our top things to know and downloading the free NPS app. Protect yourself and the park by taking the Yellowstone Pledge, act responsibly and safely, and set a good example for others.

More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.

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CNN Newsource

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — Eastman Kodak, the 133-year-old photography company, is warning investors that it might not survive much longer.

In its earnings report Monday, the company warned that it doesn’t have “committed financing or available liquidity” to pay its roughly $500 million in upcoming debt obligations. “These conditions raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Kodak said in a filing.

Kodak aims to conjure up cash by ceasing payments for its retirement pension plan. It also said that it doesn’t expect tariffs to have “material impacts” on its business because it manufactures its many of its products, includings cameras, inks and film in the United States.

“In the second quarter, Kodak continued to make progress against our long-term plan despite the challenges of an uncertain business environment,” said Kodak CEO Jim Continenza in the earnings release.

In a statement to CNN Tuesday, a Kodak spokesperson said that it’s “confident it will be able to pay off a significant portion of its term loan well before it becomes due, and amend, extend or refinance our remaining debt and/or preferred stock obligations.”

Shares of Eastman Kodak (KODK) slumped more than 25% in midday trading Tuesday.

Rise and fall

The Eastman Kodak Company incorporated in 1892, but the company traces its roots back to 1879, when George Eastman obtained hist first patent for a plate-coating machine. In 1888, Eastman sold the first Kodak camera for $25.

At the time, photography was not a mass business because of the technical skills and equipment needed to do it, but the Kodak camera was designed to make photography more widely accessible. Eastman coined the slogan: “You push the button, we do the rest.”

The name was largely meaningless, with the word “Kodak,” according to the company, being invented by Eastman out thin air: “The letter ‘K’ had been a favorite with me — it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter.”

Kodak had a century of success producing cameras and film. At one point in the 1970s, it was was responsible for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in the United States, according to The Economist. Paul Simon’s hit song “Kodachrome” topped the charts in 1973.

But that powerful market position would not last because of technology that the company invented: Kodak introduced the first digital camera in 1975.

Kodak failed to capitalize on the rise of the digital technology. In 2012, it filed for bankruptcy. At the time of its Chapter 11 filing, it had 100,000 creditors and debts totaling $6.75 billion.

In 2020, Kodak had a brief moment of reprieve when the US government tapped it to transform into a pharmaceutical ingredients producer. Kodak’s stock price rose so fast it tripped 20 circuit breakers throughout the trading session.

Despite its recent losses, Kodak recently said it aims to expand that part of its business. The company continues to manufacture films and chemicals for businesses, including the movie industry, and it licenses its brand for a variety of consumer products.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.

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Chris Nestman

Artificial intelligence is rapidly growing in use and focus around the country and we are no exception here in Idaho. What once was reserved for large corporations and the tech industry, is being used more and more by small businesses.

“AI uses such strong computing power, it’s able to do millions of processes almost simultaneously,” said Ryan Smith, an AI expert and founder of Teton AI Solutions. “And so it’s it’s much more efficient and much faster in many tasks.”

Smith’s company Teton AI Solutions exclusively uses AI to create programs and processes that help other companies run smoother.

“A lot of businesses are using what we call AI receptionists. These are essentially AI that answers your phone calls,” said Smith. “So let’s say you a business owner is interacting with a customer and someone calls your business. AI actually answers the call, talks to them just like you would, and its able to get the customer’s information, answer calls, book appointments, etc., for you.”

Such tools help small business owners to meet the demands of customers even when they have limited staff or employees on hand.

Another example of AI in the workplace is in research and networking.

“So the other day I actually came up with this, what we call a business card reader,” said Smith. “So if someone would give you a business card, all you have to do is take a picture of it. AI scans the card, understands the card, checks out their website, understands how your business can help their business, and drafts a whole email on that process.”

“All you have to do is read it, say ‘yeah that’s good’ and send it,” said Smith.

Over the next few years, Smith expects AI to become more and more integrated into a variety of industries and fields of study.

“What we’re going to get to soon is what we call AGI or General Intelligence. And that’s where it’s going to be so specific to each industry that every industry is going to have their own type of AI helping them.” said Smith

With the rapid growth of AI tech, Smith recommends the best thing to do is to get familiarized with it.

“A lot of people are saying AI is going to take some jobs and it will, but what the best thing you can do is to be that person that knows how to use AI,” said Smith. “AI is here, and if you know how to use it, if you know how to adapt with it, you’ll grow just fine.”

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