Author: KIFI

Hadley Bodell

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The Museum of Idaho has found a creative way to use their empty space during exhibit changes: laser tag.

The unexpectedly fun activity is happening over the next few weekends in Idaho Falls. Participants can sign up for the sessions at museumofidaho.com.

Participants get a short lesson about the history and science behind the infrared lasers, with safety precautions for using the laser guns. They play five rounds, each with different challenges splitting up the group into multiple different teams.

On January 16th, the museum will host their “Museum After Dark” Laser Tag event where guests 21 years and older can enjoy laser tag with food and drinks provided.

Jeff Carr, Executive Director of the Museum of Idaho said, “People should expect to see the museum in an entirely new way. We’ve got our two story special exhibit hall here, and you’re going to be able to run up and down the stairs and shoot up and down and around barriers. And so you get a workout for $15 per person.”

Chloe Dousette, Managing Director of the museum told us about how the well-rounded activity brings community members together in between exhibits. “I think it’s really really fun first of all, but on top of that, you also get sort of a bonding experience with the people that you come with. A lot of people come with people that they know, family or friends, but you also get to meet some new friends when you’re here because we’ve got a whole group of people that you’ll be sorted into teams with.”

The museum told us there are plenty of spots left for next weekends’ family friendly laser tag session, which you can register for at museumofidaho.org.

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Hadley Bodell

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – The Southeast Idaho Citizens for Democracy held a protest near the Bannock County Courthouse in Pocatello earlier today.

The protest was planned last-minute following the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Protesters held anti-ICE signs and many boasted slogans advocating for democracy.

Elmer Martinez, founder of Southeast Idaho Citizens for Democracy and one of the organizers of the protest told us, “They’re agitated. They’re pissed off about it. Many of them watched the news. They watched the vice president J.D. Vance refer to the woman that was killed as a domestic terrorist, making her seem like the bad guy in that whole thing. And that’s not how it was.”

Protesters of all ages showed up on the streets of Pocatello today. One protester, Suzanna, told us she believes ICE is a terrorist organization that should be out of the country entirely.

“Trump is a bad man. He doesn’t care for people. He’s having nice people kill people indiscriminately. They could care less,” said Kathleen Stevens, a Pocatello protester. “We just saw murder and we won’t stand for it. We’ll be out like this whenever we can.”

Lena Contor, another protester, is originally from the USSR and said the current events in the US are shockingly similar to those overseas. “The fact that you don’t feel safe, that’s number one. And I remember when I was growing up, when people wanted to say something, they would lower their voices and just look around to see that no one is listening. And right now we’re not quite there yet, but we can see that we’re going that way. That’s why we want to stop it before we get to where it’s too late.” 

Martinez said people want to speak out about the severity of the issue, which is why the substantial crowd gathered despite the cold weather. “Don’t be afraid. They want you to be afraid,” Martinez said. “We have to speak up.”

Stevens and her husband advocate for a total regime change, saying “I hope the people who are Republicans, they know they made the mistake, change it. You can change it in the next election.”

The Southeast Idaho Citizens for Democracy tell us more organized protests are in the works for Pocatello in the coming months.

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Danielle Mullenix

High pressure will dominate this weekend, bringing a slight warming trend, light winds, and dry weather.

Early Saturday will have low stratus clouds in the atmosphere, allowing patchy fog to develop, along with light snow and flurries from the low stratus. The temperature in the Snake River Plain will drop to around 20°, with light winds. Average temperatures will peak in the 20s for the Eastern Idaho region.

Saturday morning may continue to have fog, but skies will clear to mostly sunny by afternoon. Highs will be in the lower 30s, with southwest winds of 5-10 mph. Overnight lows will return to the mid-teens.

Sunday will be mostly sunny with highs around 35°, and winds will be calm or up to 5 mph from the north. Monday and Tuesday are expected to be warmer than usual for this time of year, with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s, mostly sunny.

A high-pressure system has moved inland from the west coast, and its ridge will sit near us moving into the bulk of next week. Wet weather will wrap around our region and move north past us. We will continue to experience above-average temperatures this week while a high-pressure dome remains over our area. We will also have drier weather, with no major snowstorms on the horizon.

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Par Kermani

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Utah is currently seeing one of the nation’s worst outbreaks of measles.

Idaho public health officials weigh in on Idaho’s response, and what the public can do to help prevent the outbreak from spreading north.

Measles cases in Utah started in southern Utah in 2025 and have since grown, with cases reported in Utah County and Salt Lake County.

Outbreaks also emerged in New Mexico, Texas, and South Carolina, signaling that measles is “back” after the United States declared it eliminated in 2000.

Idaho has recorded one case this year, compared to 20 in Utah, but the high degree of travel between the two states is a significant concern.

“Certainly, measles is so contagious, and when we have an outbreak in Utah, we pay attention here in Idaho,” said Dr. Christine Hahn, the State Epidemiologist for the Idaho Division of Public Health. “We know that we have lots of people that have family in Utah that travel to Utah for business”.

The virus is highly contagious; if ten unvaccinated people are exposed to measles, nine of them will most likely become infected. The measles virus can live in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left a room.

Both state and local authorities are using this as an opportunity to remind Idahoans that vaccination is the most effective and proven measure for protection. The state is especially urging travelers to check their immunization records.

“Among kindergartners, we’re seeing about an overall 10 percent decrease in vaccinated kindergartners,” said Rachel Mugleston, Health Strategies Program Manager for Eastern Idaho Public Health.

For the public, Mugleston advises routine measures like frequent hand washing, covering coughs, and covering sneezes. If traveling to an outbreak area, people should avoid visiting or being in close contact with people known to be sick.

Dr. Hahn and Mugleston stressed critical guidance for anyone who develops symptoms of measles, which include fever, cough, and a rash: If people suspect they have measles, they should not go directly to the emergency room or doctor’s office.

“Call ahead and tell them, because it is so contagious, they’ll want to kind of keep you in a separate area,” Dr. Hahn said. Calling ahead allows the facility to move the patient into an isolation room right away, decreasing the spread of infection through waiting rooms to vulnerable people who are not protected against measles.

While most people will recover from measles, certain groups are highly vulnerable to severe illness and complications like pneumonia or severe infection. These vulnerable groups include infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised people.

Mungleston concluded, “We’re really just trying to hit hard with education. We want to monitor all the cases and try to mitigate as much spread of infection as we can by education on isolation precautions and intervening as soon as possible once we know that there’s a potential exposure or even a potential case.”

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Stephanie Lucas

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A week after the U.S. military successfully ousted Nicolás Maduro, Congressman Russ Fulcher had high praise for the plan’s execution. Speaking with Local News 8, Rep. Fulcher praised the “complete coordination” of the Venezuelan mission before pivoting to highlight his legislative priorities for this upcoming session.

“I just have to tell you, it’s an incredibly impressive operation,” said Congressman Fulcher. “First of all, we just have to understand there’s no other entity on the planet that can pull that off the way they did. Complete coordination across all branches of the military, plus the intelligence community, multiple different groups in the intelligence community.”

Fulcher also gave his take on what the U.S. actions in Venezuela could indicate on the world stage.

“Regardless of what you think about the action itself, the fact that it got pulled off the way that it did has put China on notice. They’re there. I guarantee you they’re looking at Taiwan a little bit differently right now. Russia is looking a little bit differently at Cuba right now.”

Fulcher outlined his reasons for support on the actions taken, citing Maduro’s past interactions with drugs and the United States.

“We have to understand, too, that this is a narco terrorist that has been in the crosshairs for the United States since Barack Obama’s era. And that’s where this bounty initiated,” said Fulcher. “It got elevated during the Biden era. It’s just wasn’t until now that something actually got done about it. But this guy is a bad human being, and we’ve got incredible evidence that says so, and I think everyone pretty much agrees on that. He pretty much took a country to its knees, and in the process, exported countless tons of narcotics illegally into the U.S. and other places, profited off of it and the lives and deaths of Americans.

Fulcher also affirmed his support for President Trump, saying, “I think the president was justified in this action because at the end of the day, what was he doing? He was protecting American lives. This person [Maduro] had been identified and charged many years ago. And it took a long time to get him, but they got him.”

Priorities for next legislative session

Beyond the military operation in Venezuela, Rep. Fulcher spoke about his priorities in the next congressional session, highlighting concerns over health care.

“Are we going to increase the subsidies to try to keep a broken system going, or are we going to do some meaningful reform? And the meaningful reform has to take place. And that’s where I stand,” Fulcher said, explaining why he does not want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. “And how that works,” he continued, “is you’ve got to re-insert market forces again. You’ve got to give the patient the control of the money directly over their health care decisions.”

“And that’s what we’re attempting to do,” he continued. “But it’s incredibly complicated, and I’m not trying to sidestep that decision in front of us. But that’s why it hasn’t been fixed – is because it’s so difficult to fix. But that’s the next challenge, and that’s what we’re working on right now.”

Congressman Fulcher also addressed Idaho Governor Brad Little’s recent announcement that the State of Idaho will receive close to $1 billion over five years to improve rural healthcare through grants from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act.

“Well, I fought for that, and I’ll tell you why,” said Congressman Fulcher. “Because the existing system tends to favor the large urban blue state populous. I mean, that’s just how that is designed. And that was part of the – that’s part of the problem of the Affordable Care Act. The rural systems and much of Idaho is in that, is left behind just by virtue of how that system is designed. And so we fought for that in a big way. And we know that we have to keep our rural health care system healthy and reinsert some support there, because that’s not where those dollars naturally flow.”

“So that was the purpose behind that legislation,” he continued. “And the Big, Beautiful Bill. And I think it’s going to help. We’ve got a good system in Idaho, but we are lacking in a lot of the rural spaces. And this is going to help that.”

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Seth Ratliff

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Erin Bingham has been appointed to fill the District 32 House Seat B vacated by Wendy Horman, Governor Brad Little announced today.

Bingham appeared as the top nominee selected by the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee earlier this week, in accordance with Idaho Law. The newly selected Representative currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Bingham Ventures, a family-operated development organization, where she supports their financial management and the company’s commitment to community-minded development.

“I am deeply honored and grateful to be selected by Governor Little to represent my Idaho Falls community at home and in the Idaho Legislature,” Bingham said. “I sincerely appreciate Representative Wendy Horman for her years of commitment to our state and look forward to building on her legacy of service. I am thankful for this incredible opportunity and am excited to get to work.”

Bingham will complete the remainder of Wendy Horman’s term, which ends Nov. 30, 2026.

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News Team

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is celebrating a federal court decision ending a years-long freeze on the state’s birth certificate policy. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond E. Patricco granted the state’s motion to dissolve a 2018 injunction, effectively allowing Idaho to require that birth certificates reflect an individual’s biological sex at birth, A.G. Labrador announced today.

The ruling allows the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to enforce the policy for the first time since 2018.

“For years, Idaho was blocked from enforcing common-sense policy and law requiring birth certificates to reflect biological sex recorded at birth,” said Attorney General Labrador. “Birth certificates aren’t symbolic documents that are subject to how an individual may feel, they’re legal records used in medicine, public health research, and identification. Idaho can now enforce our law protecting accurate vital records, while treating all Idahoans equally under the same amendment process.”

Policy Background and Legal Challenges

The legal battle traces back to 2018, when a federal judge issued an injunction forcing Idaho to allow transgender individuals to change gender markers on their birth certificates to match their gender identity. While Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 509 in 2020 to codify the biological sex requirement, the 2018 injunction prevented the enforcement of the biological sex policy.

The turning point came in October 2025, when Labrador filed a motion to dissolve the injunction based on two landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings:

Trump v. CASA — In which the Court ruled that federal courts cannot issue universal injunctions affecting people beyond the parties in a lawsuit.

United States v. Skrmetti — Where the Court ruled that laws like Idaho’s do not discriminate based on transgender status because they apply equally to everyone.

The parties filed a joint stipulation agreeing to dissolve the injunction, which Judge Patricco ordered on January 8, 2026.

The Amendment Process

Under the now-enforceable law, the process for amending a birth certificate is standardized for all Idahoans. If requested within one year, individuals must provide the state a notarized affidavit declaring that the information on the birth certificate was incorrectly recorded. After one year, all corrections will require a court proceeding to demonstrate fraud, duress, or a “material mistake of fact.”

AG Labrador says this process applies equally to all Idahoans seeking to amend any biological fact on their birth certificate.

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Seth Ratliff

IDAHO/UTAH (KIFI) — Nearly 39,000 cases of frozen potato products are being pulled from shelves in Idaho, Utah, and 24 other states after reports of “clear hard plastic fragments” found in the food.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, McCain Foods USA Inc. has initiated a voluntary Class II recall for two specific frozen potato brands: Ore-Ida Tater Tots and Sysco Imperial Potato Tater Barrels.

The recall, which began on December 3, 2025, impacts the following specific batches:

Brand
Item Number
Packaging
Batch Codes

Ore-Ida Tater Tots
OIF00215A
30lb clear unlabeled poly bags
1005479808, 1005480444

Sysco Imperial Potato Tater Barrel
1000006067
6/5lb clear unlabeled poly bags
1005482717, 1005485660

Food service providers and Idahoans are directed to check their freezers immediately. If the code on the back of the packaging matches those listed above, do not eat the product. The FDA directs consumers to discard the frozen product immediately or return it.

Other States affected include:

Alaska

Arizona

California

Colorado

Florida

Hawaii

Iowa

Illinois

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Mississippi

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Nevada

Oregon

Texas

Washington

Wisconsin

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News Release

The following is a news release from the City of Idaho Falls:

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — As part of an ongoing effort to make city government more accessible to the public, the Idaho Falls City Council has changed the start time of its regular meetings. On Thursday, Jan. 8, City Council voted to move regular City Council meetings from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The new meeting time will take effect immediately, beginning with the next scheduled City Council meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and participate in discussions that impact the community.

“We want all residents have the opportunity to participate in the decisions that shape our community,” said Mayor Lisa Burtenshaw. “Changing the time of City Council meetings will increase the Council’s efficiency and effectiveness, especially on nights with long agendas. In addition, the new time should make it easier for people to attend the meetings in person or follow along on the livestream.”

City Council meetings are typically held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the City Annex Building, 680 Park Ave. In addition to regular meetings, the council holds Work Sessions to discuss upcoming topics and projects. Work Sessions are typically held on the Monday of Council Meeting Week at 3:00 p.m. in Council Chambers.

Both City Council meetings and Work Sessions are designed to be accessible to all residents. They are open to the public, livestreamed with closed captioning and Spanish interpretation and can also be watched later through archived videos on the City’s website.

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Seth Ratliff

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — High winds have forced the City of Idaho Falls to postpone the demolition of the historic 1937 water tower. Originally scheduled to begin Friday morning, the demolition is now slated to start this coming Monday.

Today, crews have assembled a large crane to dismantle the 89-year-old structure, starting from the bowl. The entire project is still expected to wrap up by early February.

The original tower was shut down in October, following the completion of the new, million-gallon tower directly across the street, doubling the city’s water storage capacity.

“This project is an important investment in the reliability and resiliency of Idaho Falls’ water system,” said Chris Fredericksen, Idaho Falls Public Works director, in a press release. “By replacing the 89-year-old tower, we are ensuring safe, reliable water service for our community for generations to come.”

While the tower is being removed to make way for modern infrastructure, the city will preserve specific portions of the original structure. However, most of the materials are slated to be recycled.

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