Author: KIFI

Seth Ratliff

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — Just days before the City Mayoral election, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad has reignited debate over his handling of the fatal, officer-involved shooting of disabled teenager Victor Perez earlier this year.

Mayor Blad posted the video at 7 PM on Saturday, a time when most city offices are closed. In the video, Blad reflects on the amount of time he took to respond to the public on the shooting, acknowledging his delayed response to the community.

To watch the full response by Mayor Blad, click HERE.

Timing and Shooting Background

The shooting took place on Saturday, April 5th, 2025. Police responded to a neighbor’s 911 call after 17-year-old Victor Perez, who was disabled and non-verbal, got hold of a large kitchen knife and began swinging it at family members. Body camera footage reviewed by investigators and video captured on social media show that within seconds of arriving behind a fence, the four officers shot Perez 12 times as he stumbled toward them.

RELATED: Victor Perez Shooting Timeline

In September, five months after the shooting, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office cleared the four officers involved.

RELATED: Officers in Victor Perez Shooting will not face criminal charges

A mixed bag of backlash and Support

Controversy and criticism have followed Mayor Blad and the Pocatello Police Department since the shooting. Blad’s initial public statement came in the form of a pre-recorded video released on April 10th, five days after the shooting, and less than 24 hours before doctors at Portneuf Medical Center declared Perez brain dead.

In the recent video, Blad directly addressed this initial silence: “I have a community that needed their leader. They needed the mayor to be there and I didn’t…I wasn’t in front of the camera,” he stated. He attributed the delay to seeking information, adding, “I was listening to people of what I needed to make sure we had answers, and there were no answers. It’s a tragedy for the Perez family.”

The timing of the video—released on a weekend, just before the election—drew immediate and pointed online backlash. Many commenters condemned Blad for waiting months to address his personal response, arguing the timing was purely election-driven and performative.

In contrast, some supporters praised the Mayor’s willingness to show vulnerability and acknowledge his perceived shortcomings.

Local News 8 has reached out to Mayor Blad and the candidates for Pocatello Mayor for comment on the video and is awaiting their response.

Candidates’ response

Multiple Pocatello mayoral candidates said an initial response from the mayor was long overdue when asked about how the city handled the shooting.

“The mayor’s absence for five days was unacceptable. He should have been out that night first thing the next morning, just even acknowledging that a tragedy occurred and that is being investigated,” Mayoral candidate Greg Cates said.

“A response took too long. With a tragic tragedy that took place in that level the public really needed to be addressed quickly, and there was really a long period. It took several days for our leadership to go out and make a statement and you know, what I would have done first and foremost is I would have been out there quickly reassuring the public that if there’s problems, if there’s training issues that we need to fix, I would have just been out there,” Mayoral candidate Mark Dahlquist said.

The candidates also scrutinized the city’s management of the case.

“I feel as if the state did everything they could, legal wise, to handle that. Although I do disagree with their findings,” Mayoral candidate Nate Kissel said, “You shouldn’t be afraid to call 911.”

“I don’t know why someone at the city couldn’t just say that [it] was wrong. We have to decide if that’s the kind of policing we want in our city,” Mayoral candidate Alana Leonhardy said.

One candidate, Idaho-Law Carta Sierra Idaho-Lorax, criticized the police force.

“There’s people wanting to do a public initiative. Basically deal with the issue of police force here. It’s it’s changed. It used to be more selective on who they had. And you know, they get rid of some people or just shouldn’t have been police officers,” Sierra Idaho-Lorax said.

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News Team

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho is looking to bring in a massive federal investment to overhaul healthcare access and quality in its rural communities. On October 30th, Governor Brad Little signed an Executive Order establishing the “Making Rural Idaho Healthy Again Act” Task Force. The new Task Force is charged with developing and submitting Idaho’s application for significant federal aid.

The state is applying to secure $200 million annually for five years, totaling a $1 billion commitment from the federal government.

This funding stems from a larger $50 billion national program recently authorized by Congress, under the Rural Health Transformation Program created by President Trump’s “one big beautiful bill.”

The feds have set aside fifty billion dollars nationwide for this program —half split evenly among states that get approved, and the other half based on things like population, Hospital stability, and rural need.

“Idaho is a mostly rural state, and we are grateful for the significant investments President Trump and Congress have committed to improving healthcare access, quality, and outcomes in rural Idaho and across the country,” stated Little in the release. The Idaho Rural Health Task Force introduces a new level of collaboration and expertise as we prepare to submit Idaho’s application for this transformative new program.”

Little says the money, once secured, would go directly to address shortcomings in access, quality, and overall health outcomes across Idaho’s remote areas.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) is in the process of writing Idaho’s grant application, which is due Nov. 5. Idaho expects to learn how much it will receive on Dec. 31, 2025.

Executive Order 8Download

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Danielle Mullenix

Update 8:00 p.m. — The bodies of the missing fishermen have been found. They were found around 5:30 p.m on Henry’s Lake. Using sonar tech, search and rescue teams identified an area of interest, and sent a diver to investigate.

Island Park, Idaho (KIFI) – A search is underway for two fishermen in Henry’s Lake, north of Island Park, according to Fremont County Search and Rescue Commander Brett Mackert.

The search began around midnight Saturday after the two failed to return home as expected earlier in the evening, Mackert said.

A fishing boat was found empty in the weeds near the opposite dock with the engine at full throttle, but the two men have not been identified, and no recovery attempts have been successful.

 The boat vehicle the two fishermen were using was described as a small, red, aluminum boat with an outboard motor.

The water temperature of Henry’s Lake is 37 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and the overnight air temperature was around freezing.

The lake was reported to have whitecaps and winds over 20 mph, creating strong waves. Henry’s Lake is known for its unpredictable weather, and higher winds can make boating unsafe.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is being assisted in the search by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Fremont County Ambulance, and Air Idaho Rescue.

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Seth Ratliff

SWAN VALLEY, Idaho (KIFI) — A 68-year-old Idaho Falls man passed away last week, succumbing to injuries he received in a grisly motorcycle crash near Swan Valley early last month.

Bonneville County Coroner Shante Sanchez has identified the man as Bruce Pence. Idaho State Police released the confirmation on Sunday, stating the man died on October 29, 2025, 20 days after the accident and only a day before his 69th birthday.

The crash happened around 4:56 p.m. near milepost 372 on U.S. Highway 26. Initial reports state the man was driving a 1997 Harley-Davidson westbound when he reportedly failed to navigate a curve, causing the motorcycle to leave the roadway.

The driver was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital. His 68-year-old passenger, also from Idaho Falls, sustained lesser injuries and was taken by ambulance. Neither was wearing a helmet. The deceased driver’s name has not yet been released.

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News Team

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — With the closure and demolition of the Pine Ridge Mall, many longtime “Mall Walkers” have found themselves without a familiar place to gather, exercise, and socialize. Now, a local business is stepping up to fill that void.

Deleta Skating announced it will open its doors to walkers beginning Monday, November 3, offering a new indoor space for the community to keep up their walking routines — safely and socially.

Every Monday and Wednesday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Deleta will welcome walkers to circle the skating floor for a $2 admission fee.

While walking at the mall was free, Deleta says it’s providing a comfortable, temperature-controlled environment complete with upbeat music from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s to keep spirits high.

Organizers say the goal is to continue the social and fitness traditions that Pine Ridge Mall helped create over the years — providing a space for active living and connection year-round.

Deleta Skating hopes this new program will help preserve a cherished local routine while keeping the community moving and connected.

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Noah Farley

FORT HALL, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho State Police is investigating a crash involving two vehicles near Interstate 15 milepost 85 north of Fort Hall. The crash happened October 31, 2025, at about 1:36 p.m.

The crash involved a 45-year-old man from Rexburg was driving a 2012 Freightliner and a 28-year-old man from Saskatchewan, Canada, driving a 2020 Freightliner.

The 2020 Freightliner went into the median and rolled after hitting the 2012 Freightliner.

Nobody involved with the crash was injured.

“The left northbound lane on I15 was blocked for approximately 20 minutes,” ISP said in a news release. “The southbound left lane on I15 was blocked for approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes for cleanup.”

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Noah Farley

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) — Interstate 15 has partially reopened to single lane traffic underneath the Riverton Road Bridge, between Exit 89 and Exit 93. Road crews are continuing to assess the bridge’s damage.

The crash that happened late Thursday damaged the bridge, causing immediate closure of the interstate.

The Idaho Transportation Department’s contractor, Cannon Builders, put up structures made of wood and concrete under the bridge so people can drive under it safely.

Idaho Transportation Department

ITD says traffic flow is better now, which is a relief to many drivers after the crash caused a lot of heavy traffic for a while.

“From the time of the accident until we were able to reopen traffic in the two way northbound lanes was just 26 hours,” said Justin Smith, ITD Public Information Officer.

Idaho Transportation Department

Smith says there is no official timeline yet for when the lanes will be fully open, but crews will be working hard to remove the damaged parts of the bridge and keep making repairs to make a permanent fix. ITD encourages drivers to be careful and slow down when they’re in the area.

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Noah Farley

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — People gathered at the Westbank Event Center to celebrate the Day of the Dead November 1, 2025.

Día de los Muertos is a time to celebrate and remember the life of a loved one instead of mourning their death. People put pictures of their friends and family members on the altar, along with some of their favorite things.

“Whatever they enjoyed during their life here on earth, they bring that to celebrate and partake in and just enjoy it all the way around,” said Juan Contreras from the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce Hispanic Council.

Marigolds are laid out to form a path to the altar so the spirits of family and friends can find their way to it. People also celebrate by setting out calaveras, skulls often made out of sugar or clay.

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Noah Farley

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Idaho Falls Winter Market kicked off November 1, 2025.

Dozens of people gathered this morning to check out everything for sale. Vendors sold items ranging from produce, to soap, to candy.

If you missed the market this weekend, it will be open on the first Saturday of every month between November to April. You can find the market at the Snake River Convention Center.

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Stephanie Lucas

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)—It was always a mystery to me how my World War II–era grandparents could walk into a dark basement and not bat an eye, whether it was the West Virginia farmhouse with a coal stove or a dirt-floor cellar somewhere in the South.  

After a couple of history degrees, I realized that until recently, it was function over form for the majority of American homes. So I started to wonder—did earlier generations even think basements were creepy? 

“I don’t think basements were ever designed to be creepy,” says Kristina Frandson, Curator at the Museum of Idaho.

She and her fellow Museum of Idaho anthropologist Camille Thomas met me at ‘Spook Central’, the 1915 home of historian Melissa Danielson-Zaladonis in the Idaho Falls Historic District, to figure out what makes a basement weird.  

“It is, like a cool and dark space that could have been used, depending on what era we’re talking about, for storing food because it’s cool and dry,” said Frandson. “Eventually, people put boilers down there—all sorts of different things.”

As those modern conveniences came along, so did the postwar onslaught of factory line, mass-produced “stuff.”

“Basements often, you know, people and our country especially—we collect things,” says Camille Thompson. “We store things in the basement, and so there’s also this element of—there’s old things.”

And in the case of Melissa’s 110 year old home, shoes. 

 “We found these in the dirt crawl space,” says Melissa. “We learned that it’s something of folklore or legend to bury shoes in your foundation of the house for good luck, so something is not always that scary, just folklore, how it evolves.”

Armed with that logic, our crew descended on the creepiest basement in town, being careful of steep stairs, wires, and an old iron boiler that greeted us almost head-on.

Kristina noted there are quite a few original boilers in downtown Idaho Falls buildings.

“Whatever heating unit they had is just left in the basement because it’s too hard to pull apart and take up,” she says.

If this heavy, rusted boiler were shiny, polished, and brand new, however, would it still be considered creepy?

If this were shiny and new—stainless steel, polished metal—would it be creepy?  

A resounding “no!” is the general consensus – “I think honestly, it would have been a flex,” said one member of our group.

Just a few feet to the left is the coal chute, made of a material that no creepy East Idaho basement could be without—lava rock.

“The lava rock is a good foundation, first of all, because it’s like it’s everywhere out here, obviously,” Kristina says. “And if you’re making a way for a house, you’re going to be moving that lava rock. And so it makes sense to use it in whatever capacity you can. Otherwise you have to cart it off somewhere. “

It’s about this point the outdated technology factor begins to track for this creepy basement.

For example, if you’ve never seen sheet rock, which wasn’t common until the 1950s, lava rock walls wouldn’t look creepy. However, to post-war eyes used to smooth drywall, that stone could feel almost otherworldly—like the knob-and-tube wiring we came across.

“When you go into an old basement,” says Camille.  “Maybe you’ll find black mold or shoddy wiring, old wiring that also adds to the scariness. Even though it’s a real-world problem, something is also scary. Yeah. Again, it’s just like all that unknown, you know?”

Delving even further into the unknown, we finally got a look at the crawlspace where Melissa’s husband found the shoes.

“I posted the shoes online,” Melissa says, “And everyone said, ‘You need to move… or put them back!’ ”  

Melissa isn’t putting them back—because she’s a historian, and historians know: when you misunderstand the past—whether it’s old shoes, lava rock, or a rusty boiler—it’s easy to think of them as creepy.

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