Category: kifi-local-news

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– The Portneuf Pollinator Partnership and Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust are highlighting the Monarch Butterfly, Idaho’s official state insect, in September when the bugs make their migratory trip through Southeast Idaho to winter in California.

Monarch Butterflies are important parts of Idaho’s ecosystem, acting as pollinators for native plant species and agriculture. However, Monarch populations west of the Rocky Mountains have declined as much as 95% over the past 20 years due to pesticide use, urban expansion, and climate change.

Local conservation groups are partnering to bring awareness to the importance of the insects and help people make Idaho more livable for Monarch populations.

“We want to do everything that we can to help protect this species and help them thrive,” said Carly Flandro, community conservation, communications, and marketing coordinator for the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust. “Every person in Idaho can do that in really simple ways: in their own yard, they can plant milkweed, and milkweed is a really important species because it’s the host plant for monarch caterpillars. It’s the only plant that monarchs lay their eggs on, so it’s essential to their survival.”

The Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust and Portneuf Pollinator Partnership will set up at the Portneuf Valley Farmers Market on Saturday, September 6, where they will hand out free packets of native milkweed seeds for people to plant Monarch way stations in their own yards.

The conservation groups will be at the farmers market at Lookout Point in Pocatello from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, you can visit the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust website.

Click here to follow the original article.

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– The Southeastern Idaho Community Action Agency (SIECAA) is making a final fundraising push through their ‘Hand Up’ donation campaign through the last few months of 2025.

SEICAA is a non-profit organization with dozens of local programs for people in need, including affordable housing, energy bill assistance, free clothing closets, Meals on Wheels, and more.

Through their Hands Up campaign, SEICAA is asking people to help them raise $50,000 by the end of the year to support their many programs.

“We truly believe that the hard-working people of southeast Idaho just need a little hand up right now,” said Joe Borich, CEO of SEICAA. “This campaign is going to serve all of our programs, and this is going to be able to help all of those people and this money that is raised is going to go directly back into the communities.”

SEICAA has currently raised $11,000 of their $50,000 goal. To donate to the campaign or for more information, you can visit the SEICAA website.

Click here to follow the original article.

News Team

SUBLETTE COUNTY, Wyoming (KIFI) — The Dollar Lake Fire, burning within the Bridger-Teton National Forest, has expanded by nearly 500 acres since Tuesday, advancing deeper into the Bridger Wilderness Area along the Green River Lakes. As of today, fire containment has reached 31%.

According to a release, Fire managers are actively evaluating strategies to manage the fire’s progression within the wilderness. Crews are on the ground near the lakes today, scouting for suitable locations to construct control lines and other containment features.

Evacuation Update

A mandatory “GO” evacuation order remains in effect for all areas within a five-mile radius of Dollar Lake, including the Green River Lakes area and the Red Cliff Bible Camp in Cora, WY.

However, in a positive development, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office has lowered the evacuation status for areas south of the forest boundary—from the end of State Highway 352 to Black Butte Road—from “SET” to “READY.

Click here to follow the original article.

News Release

The following is a news release from the Idaho Office of the Attorney General:

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Attorney General Raúl Labrador recovered $500,000 for an Idaho consumer who filed a complaint against Coinbase, a cryptocurrency retailer, after a large deposit was not accurately credited to their account. The consumer contacted the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, which enforces the Idaho Consumer Protection Act and other related statutes to protect Idahoans from fraudulent and deceptive practices.

Before contacting the Office of the Attorney General, the consumer spent more than a month attempting to resolve the issue with Coinbase’s customer service. Despite multiple calls and repeated assurances that the matter was being elevated within the company, Coinbase failed to act. Frustrated, the consumer contacted a private attorney, who advised reaching out to the Office of the Attorney General, citing the growing public scrutiny of cryptocurrency platforms and confidence that the issue would be taken seriously.

“I’m grateful for the hard work my team of investigators does to protect Idaho families in consumer protection matters,” said Attorney General Labrador. “This recovery is significant for one individual, but every day my office is helping Idaho consumers in smaller ways, making sure consumers and businesses alike have a trusted partner to help resolve disputes and enforce the law fairly.”  

The matter was resolved without the need for litigation. In response to the Attorney General’s inquiry, Coinbase cited a “temporary issue” in their systems and issued a full credit to the complainant’s account, including an extra $100 for the consumer, stating the customer’s experience was not up to their company standards. 

The Consumer Protection Division investigates over 1,500 complaints each year. Many are resolved through informal dispute resolution, while others proceed to formal legal action in addition to individual complaints. The Consumer Protection Division also directs antitrust cases, ongoing multi-state settlements for harmful products such as opioids and tobacco, and provides extensive outreach and education to the public related to fraud, scams, and smart consumer practices.

Visit ReportScamsIdaho.com to learn more.

Click here to follow the original article.

Seth Ratliff

MALTA, Idaho (KIFI) — A 30-year-old man from Burley died last night in a single-vehicle rollover crash on State Highway 81, just north of Malta.

The crash happened around 9:53 p.m. near milepost 8. According to the Idaho State Police, the driver was heading northbound in a green 1997 Toyota when the vehicle went off the shoulder after overcorrecting. The vehicle rolled, and the driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene from his injuries.

The driver’s name has not been released at this time. The crash remains under investigation by the Idaho State Police.

Click here to follow the original article.

Seth Ratliff

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — An American Falls man is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a stabbing late Wednesday night.

Police were called to the Grand Cascade Apartment complex around 11:35 p.m. on a report of a stabbing. Officers arrived to find an adult male with serious stab wounds. The man was immediately taken to a local hospital.

Investigators later identified a single suspect who was taken into custody without further incident. The American Falls Police Department has confirmed there is no ongoing threat to the public, as the incident is believed to be isolated.

Police are actively investigating the stabbing. Local News 8 is keeping track of this developing story and will provide updates as more details are released.

Click here to follow the original article.

CNN Newsource

Originally Published: 04 SEP 25 11:35 ET

By Pat Reavy

Click here for updates on this story

    BEAVER, Utah (KSL) — A man awaiting trial in California for allegedly stealing a car was arrested in Utah on Tuesday after police say he led officers on a 60-mile chase in a stolen vehicle — 25 miles of which he drove the wrong way on the freeway.

Adarian Deantae Murrell, 25, was booked into the Beaver County Jail and charged on Wednesday in 5th District Court with possessing a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony; two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of failing to stop for police, third-degree felonies; reckless driving, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors; using license plates registered to another vehicle, a class C misdemeanor; and four traffic infractions including driving on the wrong side of the road, speeding, illegally crossing the median and entering or exiting the highway illegally.

The incident began when Murrell, who was driving a Lexus SUV, was spotted by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper speeding near 600 S. Main in Beaver, according to a police booking affidavit. The trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver kept going.

“I observed the vehicle traveling at an estimated speed of 70 mph in the 40 mph zone on Main Street as it approached the north interchange of I-15, displaying disregard for the safety of the persons who were in the area. The subject then entered I-15 … heading north and accelerated to a speed of over 120 mph,” the arresting trooper wrote in the affidavit.

At one point, Murrell traveled north in the southbound lanes of I-15, according to the arrest report.

“The vehicle continued traveling the wrong way until it reached the I-70/I-15 junction,” the affidavit states. “The vehicle then crossed the median area and continued northbound in the northbound lanes at speeds of over 100 mph.”

Several miles later, Murrell again crossed into oncoming traffic and drove the wrong way on the freeway. He was stopped when a UHP patrol vehicle intentionally hit the fleeing vehicle head-on, according to the affidavit.

The UHP added in a prepared statement that after crossing into oncoming traffic for the final time, Murrell “began driving on the far shoulder of the northbound lanes, still heading southbound at about 25-35 mph.” A trooper then “pinned the vehicle at low speeds while it was off the road on the far shoulder, and the suspect was taken into custody.”

Investigators discovered that the vehicle Murrell was driving was reported stolen in Southern California on Aug. 30. Drug paraphernalia and marijuana were located throughout the vehicle, and Murrell was still wearing an ankle monitor from a prior case, the affidavit says.

“The subject has multiple charges in his criminal history of grand theft auto and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The subject was located and stopped in a reported stolen vehicle,” troopers wrote in the affidavit. “The subject failed to stop for multiple law enforcement officers. The suspect vehicle had to be crashed in order to get him to stop. The suspect fled approximately 60 miles and drove (the) wrong way on I-15 for approximately 25 miles.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

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

Click here to follow the original article.

CNN Newsource

By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — A transgender woman who was challenging Idaho’s ban on trans athletes told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that she is withdrawing her high-profile case, citing intense “negative public scrutiny” because of the litigation and a desire to focus on “academic and personal goals.”

Lindsay Hecox, a 24-year-old senior at Boise State University told the high court that she is dismissing her case – and, in an unusual move, she asked the justices to throw out a ruling from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that was decided in her favor.

Even if the Supreme Court grants the request, it will still have an opportunity to decide this term whether states may ban transgender students from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. That’s because the court granted a second case, involving a transgender student from West Virginia, that raises the same issue.

The Hecox filing underscored the difficulty plaintiffs and advocacy groups have experienced in sustaining legal challenges to a wave of laws enacted by states across the country intended to roll back transgender rights. Gains made by LGBTQ Americans in past decades have faced renewed skepticism, with President Donald Trump moving to unwind federal policies intended to shield trans Americans from discrimination.

Attorneys for Hecox told the Supreme Court that she had faced “significant challenges that have affected her both personally and academically,” including her father’s death in 2022.

“Ms. Hecox has also come under negative public scrutiny from certain quarters because of this litigation, and she believes that such continued – and likely intensified – attention in the coming school year will distract her from her schoolwork and prevent her from meeting her academic and personal goals,” her attorneys told the Supreme Court.

“While playing women’s sports is important to Ms. Hecox, her top priority is graduating from college and living a healthy and safe life,” the attorneys said, adding that Hecox would not try out for any teams covered by the state’s law.

Transgender advocates are still reeling from the 6-3 ruling earlier this year in US v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee’s ban on trans youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Challenges to the sports bans are almost certain to face a high degree of skepticism from several of the Supreme Court’s conservatives.

In Idaho, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed the state’s sports ban in 2020, the first of its kind in the nation. Hecox, then a freshman at Boise State, sued days later, saying that she intended to try out for the women’s track and cross-country teams and alleging that the law violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

A federal district court blocked the law’s enforcement against Hecox months later and the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision last year. Idaho appealed to the Supreme Court in July.

Idaho officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The high court is still on track to hear the case of Becky Pepper-Jackson, who is challenging West Virginia’s ban. Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, signed the “Save Women’s Sports Act” in 2021, banning transgender women and girls from participating on public school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Pepper-Jackson, a rising sixth grader at the time, who was “looking forward to trying out for the girls’ cross-country team,” filed a lawsuit alleging that the ban violated federal law and the Constitution.

The Richmond-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that West Virginia’s ban violated Pepper-Jackson’s rights under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal aid. The court also revived her constitutional challenge of the law.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in that case sometime next year and issue a decision before the end of June.

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

Click here to follow the original article.

Curtis Jackson

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) – The food at the Eastern Idaho State Fair is one of the things that draws people back every year. From cheeseburgers and nachos to deep-fried cheesecakes, vendors at the fair offer a variety of cuisine options. However, with all these indulgent choices, it can feel hard to stick to a healthier diet. 

Today, Local News 8 scouted out some tasty fair foods that won’t derail your diet. Jordynne Austin works at Creamy Creations where they offer a fruit smoothie. She estimates their smoothies are between 300 and 500 calories.

Mango fruit cu at Morales Homemade.

“Our smoothies start with the cream base and then we add some ice, and some 7 up and some fruit puree,” said Austin.

You can also find chocolate-covered strawberries, lemonades and fruit cups for a refresh on a hot, summer day. Juan Morales is the owner of Morales Homemade.

“This is one of our bestsellers. It’s our mango fruit cup, “ said Morales. “It is what we consider fresh, no added nonsense, natural sugars and really tasty.”

If you’re looking for a more filling meal, you can choose from a selection of rice bowl with meats like chicken or shrimp. There’s also fried trout and Mexican street corn. While being healthy is a good goal, one customer at the Good Wok said the fair is a time to indulge.

“You don’t come to the fair to get a low calorie food when you get deep fried stuff,” Wyn Seeley,” It’s once a year. Who cares?”

If you want to indulge in the fair food, Local News 8 has a deal for you. Thursday, we will be collecting school supplies for discounted entry until 1 p.m. If you bring a carton of crayons, a ream of paper, or even a package of pencils or pens, you can get into the fair for just $5.

Click here to follow the original article.

News Release

The following is a news release from the US Forest Service Caribou-Targhee National Forest:

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) —As the threat of wildfire danger has lessened over the past week, state and federal land management agencies will rescind Stage 1 Fire Restrictions on lands within the Eastern Idaho Fire Restriction Area effective September 4, 2025, at 12:01 a.m.

These restrictions were put into effect on August 7 when fire danger and burning conditions were unusually high. Current conditions no longer meet the necessary criteria outlined in the Idaho State Fire Restrictions Plan to remain in Stang 1 Fire Restrictions.

Visitors are reminded to continue to be careful when recreating on public lands. Although fire restrictions are rescinded, fire season is not over and there is still a threat of human caused wildfires. One of the leading causes of fall season wildfires in eastern Idaho is abandoned warming fires left in remote locations. Now is not the time to become complacent.

Follow these tips to help prevent wildfire:

NEVER leave a campfire unattended

Always keep water and a shovel near your fire

Make sure your fire is dead out and cold to the touch before you leave

Fireworks and exploding targets are not allowed on federal or state land

Burn bans and fire prevention orders may still be in place in some areas. Burn bans pertain to controlled burning activities such as debris burning, slash burning, or agricultural burning, and require a fire safety burn permit from Idaho Department of Lands. Visit http://burnpermits.idaho.gov/ for more information.

Click here to follow the original article.