Category: kifi-local-news

Abi Martin

TETON COUNTY, Wyoming – A boil water advisory is now in effect for the Town of Jackson and all water systems that use Town of Jackson water. That boil water is prompting the Teton County School District to cancel school for all schools in the district for September 25.

Officials are advising residents and businesses to not drink tap water unless it is boiled first.

According to the Town of Jackson, water should be brought to a rolling boil for at least three minutes and allowed to cool before use. Bottled water can also be used as an alternative.

The advisory applies to drinking water as well as water used for cooking, making ice and other activities involving consumption.

The boil water advisory will remain in effect until further notice. Updates will be posted by the Town of Jackson as more information becomes available.

District officials said the closure is necessary because the situation affects schools in several ways, including transportation and food service. Jackson-area schools also provide meals to schools outside of Jackson.

School district leadership plans to meet tomorrow and provide another update if the boil water advisory remains in effect beyond Friday and the weekend.

For public health questions, residents can contact the Teton County Health Department Environmental Health Office at 307-732-8490.

Click here to follow the original article.

Dylan Carder

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)- American Falls High School senior Nicolas Tirado is hosting Lighting New Beginnings, a 24-hour cancer awareness walk starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept 25 at the William Thomas Middle School track in American Falls. The public event, which runs through 6:30 p.m. Saturday night is organized as part of the Oscar Tirado Molina Legacy Project.

The initiative honors Tirado’s father who died in June, 2024, after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. In addition to bringing community members together to walk in solidarity, the event seeks to collect donations to establish a college scholarship for first-generation students.

The scholarship initiative stems directly from Tirado’s family experience. His father left school after middle school to begin working and his mother did not complete a college degree, making Tirado and his sister first-generation students.

“And the purpose of it is also to raise funds for a scholarship I’m trying to create for first-generation students because my dad never got the chance to go to high school,” Tirado said.

The event offers free entry and includes food vendors, live music performances and a track walking challenge to tally the community’s total miles walked for cancer awareness. Quiet hours for reflection and remembrance are scheduled between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., centered around a lantern ceremony where participants can write personalized messages to honor lost loved ones or support those currently fighting cancer.

“I feel like 24 hours, I feel like it’s just us giving a day to raising awareness for the many months that people go through these kinds of things and that have to go through the challenges of cancer and everything,” Tirado said.

Organizing the project required widespread community support across American Falls, Pocatello and neighboring areas. Tirado originally expected to handle the senior project on his own before realizing the necessity of family and community backing as the event expanded.

“I think what I learned most is that at first I thought I could take this on by myself and that I wouldn’t really need my family’s help,” Tirado said. “It was a huge project and like, it became bigger at every step we took.”

Beyond fundraising, the walk aims to provide emotional solidarity to cancer patients, caregivers, survivors and grieving families. “There’s always going to be people who know what you’re going through and understand the feeling of either grief, anxiety, pain, happiness,” Tirado said.

Lighting New Beginnings takes place at the William Thomas Middle School track at 355 Bannock Ave. in American Falls, starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday and concluding at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Tirado plans to continue holding the walk as an annual event in future years.

Click here to follow the original article.

David Pace

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) honored Park Price Thursday for nine years of service as the first Chairman of its Board of Trustees.

Under Price’s guidance, the campus expanded significantly with a brand-new 88,000-square-foot Battelle Energy Alliance Future Tech Building in Partnership with Frontier Credit Union.

“It’s been a fabulous journey. It’s one of those journeys that proved to me that if you’re persistent and have a good idea, you can win in the long run,” Price told Local News 8.

The $52 million project opened in August with 12 state-of-the-art laboratories and 10 classrooms.

Price led a distinguished business career, serving as President and CEO of the Bank of Idaho from 2003 to 2015, according to his biography from Idaho State University.

He also served as a Director at the Salt Lake Branch of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2015 to 2020.

But most of all, Price’s influence can be measured in his impact on the students who walk through CEI’s doors.

“[College of Eastern Idaho] gave people the opportunity to live close to home, find a job close to home,” he said. “That was very appealing to the citizens of Bonneville County.”

From a small technical college to a burgeoning community college, CEI owes a deep debt of gratitude to the man at the helm of its Board of Trustees for nearly a decade, from its beginnings in 2017.

“Thank you for believing in CEI, and thank you for helping turn a long-held hope into a college that will serve this community for generations,” Price said.

Click here to follow the original article.

Hadley Bodell

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – On Thursday, September 17, the Pocatello City Council voted to affirm the hearing examiner’s decision from May 19, 2026, in which she denied Lex Developments a conditional use permit for an AI data center project on land in Pocatello. However, their motion included the exemption of a 12-month waiting period before the applicant can reapply. Plus, when the decision is made official on October 1, the applicant will have 28 days to file a petition for judicial review, placing the City of Pocatello in a potential lawsuit.

The agenda item regarding the data center took about 30 minutes of Thursday’s meeting. City Planning and Zoning Assistant Director Jennifer Flynn took the stand first to read the reconsideration document submitted by Lex Developments. As with the last Council vote on this issue, the City was presented with the options to affirm, modify or reverse the decision made by the hearing examiner back in May.

“The applicant’s two filings raise a number of asserted deficiences in the council’s decision,” Flynn said. She added the applicant asked the Council to correct the planning director’s interpretation of the code, seeking an automatic approval without a conditional use permit for the land at 1800 River Park Way. The other option presented by Lex Developments was to reverse the hearing examiner’s decision and approve the company a permit so the project could proceed.

Flynn’s presentation of Lex Development’s reconsideration request further argued the AI data center project “aligned with the goals and policies of the comprehensive plan of the city” and that to be approved for a CUP, the project must be “conditionally permitted within the subject land use district.”

“[The project] would not adversely affect the environment to a greater degree than had a use permitted outright by the ordinance been established,” Flynn read.

The request for reconsideration discussion from the City Council ended with two proposed motions, both from Councilmember Bates. Following several comments from council members, Bates moved to reverse the hearing examiner’s decision, allowing Lex Developments to obtain a conditional use permit.

That motion was seconded by Councilmember Stacy Satterfield, but failed in a 3-2 vote.

“I don’t think, as an extention of the public here, that I can approve that because we don’t know what we’re getting into,” said Councilmember Ann Swanson, explaining she felt there weren’t enough details in the applicant’s documents to explain the effects of a data center on the Pocatello community and resources.

The second motion from Bates was an effort to affirm the hearing examiner’s decision, a repeat from July’s vote. However, the motion forgoes the traditional 12-month waiting period for the developer to reapply.

Swanson voted against, as did Councilmember Paulsen, but the motion passed 3-2. With the decision set to become official on October 1, Lex Developments is welcome to reapply immediately. Also effective at the beginning of next month is the 28-day window Lex Developments has to file a petition for judicial review.

Councilmember Bates argued during the July City Council vote that it’s possible the city could find themselves in a lawsuit if they denied the Conditional Use Permit again. In his comments at last week’s meeting, Bates said he agreed with the applicant that a CUP was never required.

“This project should never have been required to go through a conditional use permit process in the first place. The director’s interpretation treated proposed data center as an unlisted use and compared it to light-industrial-type uses,” Bates said. “But this property is not zoned light industrial. It is zoned industrial– our most permissive zoning district.”

Councilmember Swanson went on to say she appreciates her colleagues efforts and analysis in this issue before voting ‘no’ on the motion.

The next steps, should Lex Developments continue the fight for the land where the Hoku polysilicon plant once stood, would be to file a lawsuit with Bannock County’s 6th Judicial District Court.

Local News 8 will continue to follow this developing story and release details as they become available.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kaelyn Blessinger

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) – Gem Prep Charter School is beginning construction on its ninth Gem Prep campus. This one will be located in Rexburg and plans to open in August 2027. It will serve grades K-9 before expanding to K-12 by 2031.

Gem Prep focuses on getting its students college-ready and centers their curriculum around that.

“We do that by focusing both on academic preparation and on the development of competencies,” Gem Prep CEO Jason Bransford said. “Things like helping students develop time management skills, organizational skills, how to prioritize what they need to do that day, the ability to communicate effectively with others.”

There are some similarities between Public and Charter schools, such as free admission and government funding, but there are some notable differences to be aware of.

Charter Schools:

Create their own curriculum Operated by organizations under a charter May have private donors to help with funding Does not have to follow state regulations and requirements Could have a lottery system to cap enrollment

Public Schools:

Operated by school district Completely publicly funded Has to follow state regulations and requirements Has to accept all students within a certain geographical area

Charter schools often spark debate online about how public education funds are distributed. However, a report by IdahoEDNews suggests Charter Schools could offer valuable lessons on financial management in education to their Public counterparts.

As for the per-student funding, the money follows the student.

“Where a student gets educated is where the money goes to educate the student,” Bransford said. “And so we want students to come here, be educated here. We receive the funding to educate those students. So the money also follows the expense.”

If you are interested in more information about Gem Prep schools, click HERE.

Click here to follow the original article.

Hadley Bodell

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) – Vintage Market Days kicked off at 11 a.m. on September 24 for a weekend full of fall shopping, food trucks and live music. This is the fourth year of the market, but their first year at a new location inside the Eastern Idaho State Fairgrounds in Blackfoot.

After using the large barn venue off Jones St, the market has expanded to take over the front section of the fairgrounds. Visitors now have to use Park St and Maple St to find parking as well as the entrance with ticket sales. Owner and operator Laurie Bliss said they have already been enjoying the indoor-outdoor experience the new area provides.

“We’re giving it a try this year for fall, and it’s kind of just made some charming places to shop outdoors and then we still have some of our vendors inside,” she said. “It’s made it have a bit more shopping and a new layout which we’ve really been enjoying.”

The event is family friendly and runs Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are hundreds of vendors selling antiques, handmade crafts, vintage clothing, boutiques and a host of local small businesses. Bliss said other vendors come from as far as Florida and Missouri to join the fun at Vintage Market Days.

Food trucks on site this weekend includ The Corn Dog Company and Camille’s Crepes, Sept. 24

Bliss said they’ve seen a lot of growth in the market in the last four years. Without the support of the community and the shoppers, the market wouldn’t accept new vendors.

“We want our vendors to do well, it’s always our goal as we get more shoppers to add more vendors and if we won’t then we don’t,” she said. “We want them to have a successful show.”

Tickets are available at the door as well as online at vintagemarketdays.com. Bliss says purchasing your ticket online grants you an extra hour of special access to the market before it opens for everyone each day of the event.

“Our vendors restock every night, so there are fresh items and those people that pre-purchased online get in a little bit before general admission, they can come and see what’s new before everybody else does,” Bliss said. She added the online tickets are usually discounted slightly from at-the-door sales.

A local artist paints watercolor flowers live at Vintage Market Days, Sept. 24

The opportunities for shopping are endless at the fairgrounds this weekend, with everything from clothing to home-baked goods.

“You can make a whole weekend out of it,” Bliss explained. “We have great live music and food trucks and it’s a family-friendly event. And once you get your ticket, you can come and go as much as you want all weekend.”

Bliss said the best part of the weekend is seeing all the happy faces and hugs that come from the community throughout the market. She said it’s been tricky to move from the old venue, but with the “best crew ever,” this fall’s Vintage Market Days is off to a resounding start.

One Vintage Market Days vendor is a bus pulled onto the fairgrounds, Sept. 24

Click here to follow the original article.

KIVI Staff

Originally Published: September 24, 2026, 3:17 pm

BY: KIVI Staff

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KIVI) — Twin Falls leaders have announced plans to create a permanent memorial honoring the three people killed in the Aug. 1 In-N-Out shooting and recognizing everyone affected.

The City of Twin Falls will work with victims’ families, survivors, first responders and community members on the memorial’s design, location and other details.

The Twin Falls Community Foundation is leading fundraising through its Special Projects Fund. The Idaho Community Foundation has contributed $20,000 in seed funding to help launch the project.

RELATED | Police confirm 3 dead, 7 injured in Twin Falls In-N-Out shooting; suspected shooter identified

“This memorial will be shaped by the people of Twin Falls and created with care for everyone whose life was changed by this tragedy,” Mayor Jason Brown said. “Our goal is to provide a lasting place where our community can remember, reflect and come together.”

Donations will be used for approved memorial costs, including planning, design, construction, installation and long-term care.

Officials said the memorial fund is separate from funds providing direct assistance to victims, survivors and their families.

READ MORE | City of Twin Falls says victims may qualify for mental health reimbursement

Community members can learn more and make online donations here.

Click here to follow the original article.

News Team

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A local moving company owner faces a felony grand theft charge after allegedly accepting over $13,000 to move a family’s belongings to California and failing to perform the job.

Golden Barrett, 44, owner of Premier Coordinators, was charged following an investigation by local law enforcement.

According to a criminal affidavit, an Idaho Falls woman hired Barrett in August 2025 to take her parents’ belongings from Idaho Falls to California. Court documents show she paid Barrett a total of $13,875 for the service, including a $1,500 deposit via Venmo and a $12,375 cashier’s check.

Barrett’s company was scheduled to complete the move to California on September 5 or 6, 2025, but the movers never arrived. After receiving multiple excuses from Barrett, the victim told police that he cut off all communication and stopped responding to her messages, according to the affidavit.

The woman filed a police report with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office on September 8, providing text message screenshots, a copy of the Venmo receipt, and a copy of the cashier’s check as evidence. The case was later transferred to the Idaho Falls Police Department.

On October 2, an IFPD investigator reached out to Barrett. According to court records, Barrett claimed he was hospitalized during the scheduled move date and that hospital staff had confiscated his cell phone.

“He claimed his employees were unaware of what to do in his absence and therefore failed to show up at the scheduled address,” court documents state. “Barrett further claimed his employees were not ‘trained’ on how to move furniture, so they ‘just didn’t show up.'”

During the recorded interview, Barrett argued the dispute was a civil matter rather than a criminal one, suggesting the client take him to civil court. However, when informed that law enforcement was investigating the incident as potential criminal fraud, court documents state Barrett became emotional and begged officers not to file charges.

Barrett claimed he intended to contact the victim directly to “make things right” and promised to hand-deliver a refund check. When the investigator asked why he could not issue a refund via Venmo, the same platform used for the deposit, Barrett claimed the State of Idaho had frozen and seized his bank accounts over unresolved tax issues.

In October, the woman contacted police to officially file charges against Barrett. A warrant for Barrett’s arrest was issued in late March. Barrett was held on a $20,000 bond and made his initial court appearance on Sept. 4. His arraignment has been set for Sept. 28th.

If convicted of felony grand theft, Barrett faces up to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Charges and a criminal complaint merely contain allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Click here to follow the original article.

Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — An Idaho tech CEO has been arrested as part of what the New York Post has dubbed a “Cold War-style plot” to land lucrative U.S. government contracts.

Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber, 55, of Boise, Idaho, and a Russian national have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to commit wire fraud after allegedly concealing the Russian ownership and development of the company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Idaho announced today.

Reiber was arrested Sunday, September 20th, by federal agents in Idaho. He made his initial appearance Tuesday, Sept. 22, in U.S. District Court in Boise, where he was released on bond.

His co-defendant, 52-year-old Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov of Moscow, was arrested the same day at London’s Heathrow Airport while attempting to board a flight to Istanbul. The U.S. is currently seeking Davydov’s extradition.

Among the deals landed through the alleged scheme was a five-year contract with the U.S. Secret Service’s National Computer Forensics Institute, alongside contracts with the Department of Defense and components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Digital forensics software is used by law enforcement agencies “to recover, preserve, and analyze electronic data from digital devices while keeping the original files unchanged,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Concealing Russian Ownership and Sanctions Evasion

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, after the United States imposed expanded sanctions on Russia in early 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Davydov, Reiber, and the Russian co-conspirators agreed to conceal Oxygen Forensics’ true ownership and the development of its software in Russia.

In reality, federal prosecutors allege Oxygen Forensics was secretly owned and controlled by five Russian nationals through a Cyprus-based holding company. The owners also control MKO Systems LLC (formerly Oxygen Software LLC), a Russian firm co-founded by Davydov in 2000.

“Davydov was the Russian company’s chief technology officer and was responsible for the development of its software. He helped establish Oxygen Forensics in Virginia in 2013. Reiber joined the company in August 2015,” said Ciaran McEvoy, Public Information Officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, in a news release.

The court affidavit states that developers writing the software worked in Russia. Under different product names, MKO sold the same software in Russia to high-profile state entities, including the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian Investigative Committee, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Beginning in March 2022 and continuing to the present, Reiber was installed as the company’s CEO, president, and chairman of the board, and Russian owners were then removed from the company’s public corporate filings in a conspiracy to secure contracts from federal agencies through Oxygen Forensics Inc.

“The company’s Russian owners continued to make significant decisions and set Reiber’s compensation, overruled him on payments, and held signatory authority over the company’s bank accounts,” prosecutors noted.

Prosecutors allege Reiber also actively misled government officials about the software’s background. In his role as CEO, Reiber repeatedly certified to government agencies that Oxygen Forensics had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States, according to court filings.

The complaint does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer’s computer systems or data.

What Happens Now

If convicted, each defendant faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, with assistance from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service Cyber Field Office. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is assisting with Davydov’s extradition.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Editor’s Note: AI tools were utilized in the initial research and structural development of this article. All content is thoroughly reviewed and verified for accuracy by the Local News 8 editorial team.

Click here to follow the original article.

Danielle Mullenix

TETON COUNTY, Wyo (KIFI) – Law enforcement in Teton County, Wyoming, is currently working to identify human remains recently discovered in a remote section of the Targhee National Forest earlier this month.

The discovery was first reported by the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The remains were found on Sept. 13 by two bow hunters tracking a wounded elk near Starvation Peak and Mosquito Creek, within the Palisades Wilderness Study Area.

“We are doing a forensic and anthropological examination to determine identification, cause, and manner of death,” said Teton County Coroner Brent Blue. “It will probably be some period of time before any details will be available.”

At this time, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office and Search & Rescue have told Jackson Hole News & Guide that they have no suspicion of foul play.

Investigators are reviewing missing-person reports in Teton County and nearby areas, including Teton and Bonneville counties in Idaho. Due to the location of the recovery site, Sgt. John Faicco mentioned that the deceased individual may have entered the area from the Idaho side near Palisades Reservoir.

Teton County Deputy Coroner Russell Nelson, a forensic anthropologist, stated that the remains were those of a robust man, approximately 5 feet 8 inches in height, and estimated to be between 45 and 65 years old. The remains are estimated to be between three and four years old.

The Sheriff’s Office urges anyone who can identify the description or knows of a man who has gone missing in the area over the last few years to contact the agency at its non-emergency number, 307-733-2331.

Local News 8 will continue to track this developing story.

Click here to follow the original article.