Author: KIFI

Ryan Suppe

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 3, 2026

By Ryan Suppe and Kevin Richert

BOISE, Idaho — For the second consecutive year, House Republicans passed a bill that would prohibit school districts from deducting union dues from payroll systems and from offering employees paid leave for union activities, among other restrictions. 

House Bill 745 passed on a 45-23 vote Tuesday. 

“It does not prevent people from joining unions or having activities through their unions,” said sponsoring Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale. “It just prevents taxpayer money being spent on that union activity.”

Forty-five Republicans supported the bill. This included Rep. Clint Hostetler of Twin Falls, who argued that teachers’ union dues support the National Education Association’s “very leftist” ideology. 

“Taxpayer dollars belong in the schools for the children, for the purpose of learning, not for the association,” he said.

Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale

Rep. Soñia Galaviz, a public school teacher and member of the Boise Education Association, argued that teachers’ unions save taxpayer money. They conduct professional development and conflict mediation while helping teachers navigate their rights, said Galaviz, D-Boise. 

“All of that is provided for free to the school district,” she said. “I literally pay dues so I can do that work for other educators and my colleagues in the building and help out my school district.”

Under the bill, public school districts would be prohibited from: 

Deducting union dues from paychecks. 

Covering union dues in employee wages. 

Providing personal information about employees, including contact information, to the union. 

Requiring employees to meet with union representatives. 

Communicating on behalf of the union. 

Offering employees paid leave for union activities – although the union could still reimburse districts for paid leave, as it does now, or employees could use their own sick leave or paid time off. 

The bill applies to government labor unions broadly, but police and fire unions are exempt. Boyle said during a committee hearing last week that “law enforcement and firefighters are not included here to make them happy.”

Rep. Megan Egbert, D-Boise, argued that the bill should have made changes to the section of code that applies to teachers’ unions. “I fear for our firefighters and our police officers that all we are going to do is come for them next,” she said. 

HB 745 now goes to the Senate.

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Ryan Suppe

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 3, 2026

By Ryan Suppe and Kevin Richert

BOISE, Idaho — The House State Affairs Committee introduced a replacement bill that would update the state’s “harmful materials” library law. 

The new bill supplants House Bill 796. 

The previous version would have prohibited stores from selling material that’s harmful to minors “or” sexually explicit. The new bill would prohibit stores from selling material that’s harmful to minors “and” sexually explicit. 

Sponsoring Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, said the attorney general’s office recommended the change. 

It’s one of two bills introduced last week that are aimed at incorporating wording from a U.S. District Court ruling on the harmful materials law.

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Seth Ratliff

UPDATE:

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) — A 27-year-old Madison County man faces multiple felony charges after an attempt to evade police led investigators to a cache of messages and sexually illicit photos from an underage girl in another state.

27-year-old Raymond Gruce has been charged with four felony counts of possession of sexually exploitative material, along with felony attempting to elude a police officer and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

The investigation into Gruce began on February 26, when he allegedly fled from a patrol deputy, leading to a short car chase. While executing a search warrant on Gruce’s phone in relation to that incident, a Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy discovered several photos containing illicit content that prompted a deeper investigation.

After obtaining a second search warrant for the Sexually Exploitative Material, investigators uncovered a gallery of Snapchat photos and videos featuring a partially or completely nude underage girl.

Investigators were able to track the victim’s identity through a message thread with an account titled “My Queen.” Those messages, which included discussions involving a possible pregnancy scare, linked the girl identified as “Heather” to an email address associated with a school in Nelson County, Kentucky.

Madison County investigators coordinated with regional law enforcement to confirm the girl’s identity. A Nelson County Sheriff’s Deputy positively identified the victim as a 17-year-old student currently attending high school in Kentucky.

Local law enforcement continued to coordinate with the Bardstown Police Department, the Kentucky State Police, and the Kentucky State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to pursue charges against Gruce.

“This case shows the dedication law enforcement has to protecting children, no matter how near or far they are,” the MCSO stated in a news release.

Gruce was already being held at the Madison County Jail on unrelated charges at the time the new evidence was discovered. According to court documents, he refused further questioning by deputies and requested an attorney.

While the initial charges have been filed and a $100,000 bond has been set, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office says that the investigation remains ongoing.

All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Seth Ratliff

BURLEY, Idaho (KIFI) — Ownership of the Pomerelle Mountain Resort is changing hands, but the “mom and pop” spirit of the Southern Idaho skiing staple isn’t going anywhere. The Anderson family, longtime owners of the resort, has officially sold the mountain to current manager Zack Alexander and his wife, Crystal.

Zack Alexander is a familiar face on the slopes, having spent nearly 20 years ensuring the mountain runs smoothly. He is also the grandson of Barry Whiting, the resort’s recently retired director of snowsports instruction.

In a recent profile by Local Freshies, Alexander emphasized his commitment to keep Pomerelle a family-friendly and affordable.

“I know my guests by name. I know every employee by name,” he said. “They’re not just numbers. They’re my extended family.”

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Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — The Idaho Family Policy Center has filed a lawsuit in Ada County District Court against the Boise School District for allegedly violating Idaho’s law requiring separate school restrooms based on biological sex. The plaintiff, a high school student identified as “Jane Doe” to protect her privacy, claims the district failed to uphold Idaho Senate Bill 1100.

According to court filings, Boise High School permitted a transgender student, identified in the suit as biologically male, to use the girls’ restrooms as part of a “gender support plan.”

The lawsuit details two encounters Jane Doe had with the student in question that took place during the 2024-2025 school year. In the second incident, Jane Doe alleges she heard the male student masturbating in the adjacent stall with his shoes pointed towards her.

“Idaho students should feel safe in Idaho schools, and nowhere more than in the most private spaces like restrooms and locker rooms,” said Caleb Pirc, Director of the IFPC Legal Center. “But rather than protecting its students’ safety and privacy, Boise High School facilitated the violation of our client’s privacy.”

The IFPC alleges that when Jane and her parents reported the incident, school officials stated the student was authorized to use the girls’ restroom under existing district policy and that the practice would continue.

“Encountering a male in the girls’ restroom is a traumatic experience for a young girl, and experiences like those of our client painfully illustrate that reality. We intend to hold Boise School District accountable for its actions,” stated Pirc.

District Response and Policy Dispute

While SB 1100 was signed into law by Governor Little in 2023, it was subject to a federal injunction that temporarily blocked its enforcement. That order was later lifted in 2025.

In a statement to Idaho News 6, the Boise School District claimed they were legally barred from enforcing the bathroom ban at the time of the incidents due to that court order.

“We can affirm that our District is committed to the well-being of every student and to upholding the trust that families place in us,” the District stated.

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Emma Epperly

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 2, 2026

By Emma Epperly, IdahoEdNews

BOISE, Idaho — The West Ada School District, along with Superintendent Derek Bub and principal Monty Hyde, asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by a former West Ada teacher who clashed with the district over signs, including one that read “Everyone is Welcome Here,” in her classroom.

The ask follows a similar request from the Idaho Office of the Attorney General on Thursday.

The attorney general’s office argues that the issue of teachers having free speech in classroom displays was already settled by an appellate court. The request also argues federal court isn’t the proper venue for the lawsuit, in part because most of these claims deal with state issues.

Former West Ada teacher Sara Inama filed the lawsuit earlier this month, asking the U.S. District Court of Idaho to declare that a state law passed last year prohibiting display of certain flags and banners violates the U.S. and Idaho constitutions.

Click here for a timeline and stories related to the controversy surrounding Inama’s poster.

The lawsuit names multiple defendants:

The Idaho State Board of Education

The Idaho Department of Education

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador

The West Ada School District

West Ada Superintendent Derek Bub

Monty Hyde, principal of West Ada’s Lewis and Clark Middle School

The attorney general’s office is representing Labrador, the Department of Education and State Board. Attorneys for West Ada argued in their own filing late Friday that Bub and Hyde are named only in their official capacity and therefore should be considered a part of the West Ada district and removed from the suit individually. The attorneys also asked the court to dismiss the suit as a whole.

The attorney general and West Ada asked that the lawsuit against the government agencies be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be filed again.

Read the attorney general’s filing here. Read West Ada’s filing here. a asked that the lawsuit against the government agencies be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be filed again. Read the attorney general’s filing here. Read West Ada’s filing here. 

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Par Kermani

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Taylor Aughenbaugh, the man charged in the 2024 Compass Academy parking lot shooting, pleaded guilty yesterday in Bonneville County Court as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

The plea covers one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The charges stem from the February 20, 2024, shooting, which was captured on police-recovered video. That footage shows a fight breaking out among a group in the parking lot, then gunshots ringing out. Police say Aughenbaugh fired at two men during the fight, hitting one victim in the upper back and the other in the leg.

Following the entry of his plea, Aughenbaugh faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for May 2026.

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Devin Bodkin

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 3, 2026

By Devin Bodkin, IdahoEdNews

POCATELLO, Idaho — Turns out the key to discovering a new type of dinosaur might be a weird toe in an Idaho museum. 

Or a skull in Switzerland. 

Idaho State University paleontologists are examining whether these and other fossils represent one or more previously unidentified dinosaur species. They’ve laid their research out in a new study that has scientists rethinking long-confusing plant-eating Jurassic dinosaurs known as ornithopods. 

It’s a possible breakthrough for dinosaur enthusiasts — and a lifelong ambition for ISU geosciences professor L.J. Krumenacker, who co-authored the study.  

“Naming a new dinosaur is a childhood dream for me,” Krumenacker told EdNews.

ISU professor L.J. Krumenacker holds bones that might help identify a new dinosaur species. (Courtesy of Idaho State University)

Playing detective: A tell-tale toe bone

Paleontologists are basically detectives, but their suspects have been dead for 150 million years. They piece together Earth’s history from scattered leftovers. 

Those leftovers can spark a hunch — but naming a new dinosaur demands evidence.

At least that’s how it’s played out for Krumenacker, who has long questioned a toe bone at ISU’s Museum of Natural History. 

The bone has been attributed to the plant-eating, beaked ornithopod Camptosaurus after its discovery in a Wyoming quarry. Camptosaurus lived during the late Jurassic period in western North America and possibly Europe.

But something about the toe bone in the museum … stuck out to Krumenacker. 

It’s long and skinny, not the typical short, stout Camptosaurus toe bone. And it’s grooved on one side. 

Ornithopod bones like these could be the key to a new type of dinosaur, researchers say. (Courtesy of Idaho State University)

This might be the toe of a different dinosaur, Krumenacker thought. 

Another bone at the museum, part of a skull, also prompted questioning with a pointy part that sticks backward. 

Discovery is exciting, but science moves carefully. Bones can be tricky to identify. They vary with age and sex. Plus, “misidentification” is a dirty word among paleontologists. It can reset research and require course corrections.

Krumenacker had his hunch, but he needed to examine more bones. 

Meeting Arky: A trip to Switzerland

The good news: More ornithopod dinosaur bones exist from the Wyoming quarry where the toe bone appeared.  

The challenge: They’re some 5,300 miles away, in Zurich, Switzerland. 

So Krumenacker did what any species-hunting paleontologist would: He booked a flight to examine a skull and skeleton scientists have dubbed Arky.   

Arky’s features differ from similar ornithopods like Camptosaurus, including skull shapes scientists haven’t seen before.

These findings are important because when scientists try to discover a new dinosaur species, they look for bones shaped differently from those of known dinosaurs.

The comparison suggested the bones might belong to a different animal. 

Krumenacker is confident they are unique. He envisions a dinosaur similar to plant eaters like Dryosaurus and Camptosaurus that would have walked on two legs, ate plants and lived during the Late Jurassic period.

He pointed to a computer sketch he created of what the dinosaur might have looked like. 

Krumenacker’s rendering of what a new dinosaur species might look like. (Courtesy of L.J. Krumenacker)

What’s next? 

TThe findings support a possible discovery, but more research is needed.

One weird bone isn’t enough to prove it’s a new species. Researchers must:

Study Arky’s skull more closely

Remove repaired parts of the fossil

Take 3D scans

Compare Arky to other dinosaur skeletons

Arky was only recently donated to the Natural History Museum of the University of Zurich, where deeper examination is possible. Krumenacker plans to return to Zurich to study the skeleton more closely and confirm if he and others have found a new species.

Time — and examination — will tell, but Krumenacker stressed the special nature of the opportunity to contribute to human knowledge and introduce something new.

Robert Gay, a study co-author and education manager at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, says a discovery would shine a brighter light on a confusing corner of paleontology — and a focus area of a couple of Idaho State researchers.

“The smaller plant-eating dinosaurs from this time in North America have confused scientists for nearly 200 years,” said Gay, adding that the researchers’ fossils are “frustratingly fragmentary” but show that there’s much more to learn.  

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David Pace

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a revised quote from Rep. Jerald Raymond, at the lawmaker’s request.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The Idaho Senate passed a bill today that could jeopardize the future of Harriman State Park, according to the nonprofit organization Friends of Harriman State Park.

“In 1977, our family gave the ‘Railroad Ranch,’ now Harriman State Park, including over 11,000 acres of pristine wild lands to the people of Idaho. The family did so on the condition that the property would be managed by personnel chosen on the basis of merit, not politics,” said Averell Harriman Fisk, grandson of Averell Harriman, in a statement.

The Idaho Senate voted 21 to 14 Monday to pass Senate Bill 1300 that would require the directors of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, Idaho Fish and Game and the Idaho Transportation Department to be appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation.

“The gift is currently under threat by a bill pending in the Idaho Legislature. For years, Harriman State Park has been enjoyed by our family and millions of visitors,” Harriman continued. “It must be protected from political whims. It must be protected for the people of Idaho.”

The bill would break the agreement that Idaho made with the Harriman family when they gave their Railroad Ranch to the state nearly 50 years ago, said Rep. Jerald Raymond, whose district includes both Harriman and Island Park.

“The Senate journals are very clear that the director was not to be a political appointee,” Raymond said.

According to Friends of Harriman State Park Board Chair Charlie Lansche, if the agreement is breached, it puts the park at risk.

“If that happens, the land could revert back to the family. If that happens, you know, Idaho, the people of Idaho lose 11,000 acres of pristine park in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and that’s a huge chunk of public land to see privatized,” Lansche said. “There’s no guarantee that that would actually happen. There would no doubt be litigation that would be very costly for the state to defend.”

The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation was created with the formation of Harriman State Park, and since that time, the director has been appointed by a bipartisan commission based on qualifications and experience.

“They wanted to keep politics out of the professional management of Harriman Ranch State Park,” said Charlie Lansche, Board Chair, Friends of Harriman State Park. “… and this has worked really well for a long time.”

Senate Bill 1300 originated in the Senate State Affairs Committee and is sponsored by Senator Doug Okuniewicz, R- Hayden. Local News 8 reached out multiple times to Senator Okuniewicz to learn about his position and reasons for promoting the bill, but we did not receive a response prior to publication.

Eastern Idaho legislator Sen. Mark Harris joined the majority, voting in favor of the bill. Senators Van Burtenshaw, Kevin Cook, Dave Lent, Doug Ricks, James Ruchti, and Julie VanOrden voted against it.

“The state of Idaho can’t afford to lose that as a state park,” ” Raymond said. “It would just be devastating to us.”

Currently, 250,000 people visit the park each year, said Friends of Harriman State Park Vice President Mary Noonan.

“I can’t even imagine the number of kids that have caught their first fish here, seen their first elk, families that have had reunions here – its magic is indescribable,” she added. “And, you know, my dad used to always say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’”

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Par Kermani

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Middle East stands at a historic crossroads following a series of massive U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. The strikes, which claimed the life of Iran’s Supreme Leader and many of Iran’s top leaders. It left a sudden power vacuum in a nation that has been under the strict control of the Islamic Republic for 47 years.

While the world waits with bated breath to see who will fill that void, members of Idaho’s Iranian community are grappling with a complex mix of celebration, relief, fear, and uncertainty.

For nearly five decades, the U.S. Department of State has labeled the Islamic Republic the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Yet, even with the regime’s top leadership gone, many members of Idaho’s small Iranian community tell Local News 8 they are still too terrified to speak on camera, fearing retaliation against family members still living in the region.

Maxidahome Real-estate group CFO and former Boise Mayoral Candidate, Max Mohammadi, grew up in Iran, but has lived in Idaho for decades. Mohammadi says this is a bittersweet moment, and he is grappling with his Iranian upbringing and what’s best for his Idaho community.

“It’s such a confusion and such a confused state of mind, if you will, as I’m trying to decipher where and how I align myself,” said Mohammadi. “On the one hand, I like to see what has happened. I do like what has happened. People here in our community congratulated each other. But at the same time, I’m a creature of peace, and I don’t like to compromise my principles about where I stand.”

While the future is unclear, others in the Gem State view the military escalation with skepticism. At the College of Western Idaho, student Joscalynne Whipkey questions the timing of the intervention.

“I think it is a way to distract from Trump’s involvement in obscene files as well as a way, because he’s seen his ratings and he’s seen how bad he’s doing it with Americans,” argues College of Western Idaho student Joscalynne Whipkey. “

As the dust settles in Tehran, the global community remains on edge. The next few days will be critical in determining what comes next for Iran.

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