Category: kifi-local-news

KIVI Staff

By: Ellie Sullivan

Posted 8:58 PM, Mar 09, 2026

IDAHO (KIVI) — The Idaho Senate passed HB 583 in a 23-12 vote on Monday, a measure that ensures regulations on short-term rental owners may only be imposed when there is a public safety concern.

As Idaho News 6 has previously reported, the bill was introduced by Sen. Todd Lakey (R-District 23), and it would prohibit cities and counties from establishing ordinances that regulate the use of short-term rentals.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Short-term rental bills face off in committee, one advances to the Senate floor

The ruling came on Monday, March 9, and in response, the Idaho Vacation Rental Association (IVRA) issued a press release acknowledging the decision.

“We appreciate the careful deliberation that lawmakers have given to this issue throughout the legislative process,” said Spencer Bailey, President of the IVRA.

“This legislation does not remove local tools or diminish community protections… What it does is reinforce the idea that existing rules should be applied consistently across housing types, focusing enforcement on behavior rather than labeling one category of homeowner differently from another,” added Bailey.

The legislation has passed both chambers and is headed to Governor Brad Little’s desk for consideration and signature.

If signed by Governor Little, the legislation will take effect towards the end of 2026.

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Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — The Idaho Transportation Department is urgently warning residents about a wave of scam text messages spreading across the state.

The texts claim that a traffic citation must be paid online or that a vehicle registration is overdue. ITD confirms these texts are fraudulent and not connected to ITD or any official DMV services.

“Scammers are targeting Idahoans with messages that look official but are completely fake,” said Lisa McClellan, DMV Administrator. “If the link does not have a dot gov address, it’s a scam.”

If you receive one of these messages, do not click any links and do not provide personal or payment information. Report the message to your phone provider and delete it. 

If you are concerned about your registration status, visit the official itd.idaho.gov website directly or call your local DMV office.

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Seth Ratliff

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY (KIFI) — On March 9th, Yellowstone biologists reported the first grizzly bear sighting of the spring season, signaling the end of winter hibernation. As the seasons change and Yellowstone prepares to open the West Entrance in April, the National Park Service is reminding visitors that all of Yellowstone is grizzly and black bear country.

The group was working in the backcountry of the northern part of the park when they spotted the bear scavenging a bull bison carcass.

“When bears emerge from hibernation, they look for food and often feed on elk and bison that died over the winter,” states the NPS in a news release. “Bears may react aggressively to encounters with people when feeding on carcasses.”

Male grizzlies typically come out of hibernation in early March, while females with cubs emerge in April and early May. In 2025, the first reported grizzly bear sighting happened on March 14th.

The NPS has provided the following guidelines to protect yourself and Yellowstone’s bear population:

Prepare for a bear encounter by carrying bear spray, knowing how to use it and making sure it’s accessible.

Stay alert.

Hike or ski in groups of three or more, stay on maintained trails and make noise. Avoid hiking at dusk, dawn or at night.

Do not run if you encounter a bear. Stay 100 yards (91 m) away from black and grizzly bears. Approaching bears within 100 yards is prohibited. Use binoculars, a telescope or telephoto lens to get a closer look.

Store food, garbage, barbecue grills and other attractants in hard-sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes.

Report bear sightings and encounters to a park ranger immediately.

Learn more about bear safety.

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David Pace

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI)  – Ten student entrepreneurs hit the stage for a “Shark Tank”-style competition Monday at Rigby High School.

The “Invest Nest” finalists competed for $10,000 in prize money, split among the top three business pitches.

“A bunch of students are competing for a pretty big sum of money – bringing their business ideas in front of a panel of judges,” said Bailey Davis, a contestant and senior at Rigby High School.

First place and a $7,000 check was earned by Brayden Hammer, who pitched HSR Adapters, “a custom-made phone scope adapter for your cell phone to adapt to spotting scopes and binoculars at an affordable price.”

Brayden Hammer took home first place at Rigby High School’s Invest Nest business pitch competition.

Davis took second place and a $2,000 prize for her photography business, “Photos by Bay.”

“I’ve been in business for about three years now,” she said. “I’ve been taking clients, and I take pictures of couples, families, seniors, individuals, weddings and small businesses,” she said.

Judge Garrett Foster presents Bailey Davis with a $2000 for second place.

Third prize and $1,000 was awarded to Ridge Turner for his Multifab Studio.

His goal is to custom manufacture and create products using a “3D printer, laser cutter, pen plotting and sticker cutting.”

Ridge Turner received third place and $1000 on Monday.

Students developed their pitches after school for over four months. To participate in Monday’s main competition, they advanced through two earlier rounds – a 30-second elevator pitch and a 2-3 minute polished pitch.

One took a non-profit twist.

“My business is called Local Life,” said Rigby High School junior Hannah Denning.  “It’s basically a nonprofit that would take people on a humanitarian trip in East Idaho instead of in Mexico or somewhere foreign like that.  I think it would be super awesome because I can give a lot more people a chance to go on a humanitarian trip and get that experience, because it’s more affordable, it’s less time-consuming, and it’s so much fun.”

The ten finalists were selected from a pool of more than 30 competitors.

Multiple competitors expressed a desire to launch their businesses – even if they didn’t win seed funding this round.

“My business pitch is a business called ‘Stink Be Gone.’ It’s a trash can cleaning business,” said entrepreneur Kade Scott, a junior at Rigby High School. “My goal with the business is just to clean out a bunch of trash cans and make a lot of money.”

The judges were Garrett Foster, a strategist for HK Contractors and Prevail Legacy Builders; Jace Poston, a partner with Poston, Denney Killpack accounting firm; writer and journalist  Brenda Stanley; and Kyle Jensen, a small business lender with Zions Bank. 

The winner will advance to regionals and a chance to compete for $20,000 in Utah later this spring.

Finalists Drexton Poulter, Emma Thornton, Bailey Davis, Kade Scott, Ridge Turner, Brayden Hammer, Hannah Denning, Austin Hude, Leini Kaaiakamanu and Hyrum Jones compete in the Invest Nest Competition.

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Curtis Jackson

HEYBURN, Idaho (KIFI) — A pedestrian was killed late Monday night, March 9, 2026, after being hit by a pickup on Interstate 84 near Heyburn.

Idaho State Police said the crash happened around 10:30 p.m. near mile marker 207. Troopers reported a 44‑year‑old man from Sebring, Florida, was walking east in the westbound lanes when he stepped into traffic.

A white 2013 Ram 2500, driven by a 22‑year‑old woman from Jerome with a 21‑year‑old passenger from Declo, struck the man. He died at the scene.

The two people in the pickup were not hurt and were both wearing seatbelts.

The westbound lanes of I‑84 were blocked for about two and a half hours during the investigation.

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KIVI Staff

Originally Published: 4:11 PM, Mar 08, 2026

By Steve Dent:

BOISE, Idaho (KIVI) — The Idaho Challenged Athletes Foundation hosted its three-day winter sports weekend in Boise, where adaptive athletes had the chance to compete in sled hockey at Ice World, skiing at Bogus Basin, and a pair of activities at the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse.

Idaho News 6 has been to the clinics for downhill and cross country skiing, as well as sled hockey so we went to check out the adaptive athletes trying out the biathlon.

“I have fibular hemimelia… it is where one of my cells copied wrong and all the other cells copied off that one, making my leg gone.”” said Jackson Lang.

Lang participated in all three days, and Jackson praised Idaho CAF for bringing all the adaptive athletes together and making it easy for them to connect to each other and mentors.

“Thank you for all the fun stuff and helping me meet people like me,” said Lang. “My favorite is the skiing because I’ve always loved skiing.”

Ty Wiberg competes on the Para Nordic and biathlon development teams. Wiberg just missed making the Paralympics this year, so he traveled from Montana to mentor the next generation of adaptive athletes.

“Helping coach any aspect is really rewarding in the sense that you get to start with somebody who may have never done the sport,” said Wiberg. “They have never tried it at all, and in a short couple of hours, you get to watch somebody excel at it.”

You could see the improvement on both ends with curling and the biathlon. This event happened inside the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse, and they also had a huge television in the gym that was showing the Paralympic Winter Games in Italy.

“They can watch it, and they can really see the athletes that are performing at the top of the top,” said Wiberg. “In case that is something they ever want to try to make, and they know that it is possible too.”

The winter sports weekend also included a grant on Thursday night, with 13-year-old Hailey Lopez of Twin Falls, who has cerebral palsy, receiving $2,000 for skiing equipment.

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Par Kermani

PARKER, Idaho (KIFI) — After an unseasonably dry winter, a City of Parker resident is claiming the region is currently in the grip of a modern-day Dust Bowl. He estimates that millions of cubic yards of sandy topsoil are being stripped from local farms every spring, clouding the air and burying neighboring properties.

Sailors said, “We’ve got these dust storms every spring… and it’s all from these potato and wheat farms west of town”.

The physical evidence of the erosion is literal. Sailors pointed to a neighbor’s home just 400 yards away, where the lawn has risen 2.5 inches above the sidewalks and roadbeds over the last 12 years due to accumulating windblown soil.

Sailors, who studied soil science in Colorado and Kansas, argue the solution is simple: leave crop roots in the ground through the winter.

“In other states, they leave the standing roots…” Sailors said, “because it holds the snow moisture all winter and keeps the soil erosion from doing this”.

Ron Patterson, an agriculture expert with the University of Idaho, explained that the very nature of potato farming makes the ground susceptible to the region’s 60-mph spring winds.

“Potatoes are not a crop that disturbs the soil,” Patterson said. “There’s a lot of soil disturbance in the harvesting… and the timing of when the potatoes are harvested in the fall makes that ground susceptible”.

Patterson noted that by the time potatoes are out of the ground, it is often too late in the season to plant a cover crop that can grow enough to stabilize the soil before the winter freeze. While equipment exists to plant directly into stubble for other crops like wheat or barley, the cost is often prohibitive for many local operations.

“The farmers are aware of it. It’s their money that’s blowing away in the wind,” Patterson said, noting that conservation is a long-term versus short-term economic struggle. “If they don’t have the economic ability to purchase the equipment… then that’s a bit of a challenge”.

Patterson added that while the dust is a nuisance, the windblown topsoil is actually a high-quality nutrient boost for the residential yards it lands in.

Sailors remains undeterred by the economic hurdles, stating he is willing to be a “pariah” with the farming community to save the soil. He plans to bring the issue before a city meeting this week.

“I just think it’s a crime,” Sailors said. “I think everybody could work together and find a way to not destroy our topsoil”.

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Seth Ratliff

CASSIA COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — The man charged with killing four people across two southern Idaho counties is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Monday, Benjamin Naylor was sentenced to four consecutive and concurrent fixed-life terms in state prison, the Cassia County and Minidoka County Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices announced. The move comes after Naylor pleaded guilty to the charges in late December in a bid to avoid the death penalty.

RELATED: Quadruple murder suspect, Benjamin Roy Naylor, pleads guilty, avoids death penalty

“This outcome allowed the defendant to take accountability for his actions, which is an important part of our pursuit of justice,” said Cassia County Prosecuting Attorney McCord Larsen. “Four consecutive and concurrent fixed-life sentences mean Benjamin Naylor will spend the rest of his natural life in prison. That is a certainty. And certainty, for these families, has value.”

The charges stem from a killing spree that spanned the two southern Idaho counties. On July 8th, 2025, Naylor shot and killed Kelly and Donna Jenks of Burley, then went on to kill Angelica Medina and Dennis Mix during a Schizophrenic episode.

More than two dozen people were in the gallery of Monday’s sentencing hearing, including several members of the victim’s families.

Naylor will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. As part of the sentencing, Naylor will also have to pay restitution to the victim’s families and civil penalties.

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Kevin Richert

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 9, 2026

By Kevin Richert and Ryan Suppe:

BOISE, Idaho — A bill that would recognize professional experience outside the classroom on the career ladder is heading to the full House. 

Currently, career-technical educators must receive four years of proficient evaluations before they can move up the career ladder, the state’s salary funding model. The bill would allow CTE instructors and professional support staff to move up the ladder with years of experience outside of schools. 

“It’s going to help us retain these critical educators,” said Rep. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise.

Rep. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise

Galaviz is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Shawn Dygert, R-Melba. 

The House Education Committee unanimously voted Monday to send the proposal to the full House. The committee advanced a replacement for the original bill, House Bill 816, after a “technical error” needed correcting. 

The bill would apply to CTE instructors and licensed professional staff like school psychologists, therapists counselors, social workers and nurses. 

Teresa Fritsch, a retired school psychologist and board member for the National Association of School Psychologists, told the committee that the bill would help pay and recruit psychologists amid a “critical shortage.”

“If there were more school psychologists in public schools, they would be able to provide more support to families and their students, particularly in our rural districts,” Fritsch said. 

House Education took action on two other bills Monday: 

Charter transportation. The committee unanimously approved a bill to make a narrow change to the state’s transportation funding program, allowing one charter school to collect an increased busing reimbursement. 

Galaviz wants to close a funding loophole for Anser Charter School in Garden City. Anser’s share of state transportation funding is based on its first foray into busing, a small grant-funding program for physical education.

“Now they have a full busing system, and they are underfunded,” said Galaviz, who is sponsoring the bill.

Anser gets about a 50% funding match from the state. Most school districts and charter schools get 70% to 90%. 

House Bill 815 now heads to the full House. 

DOGE cleanup. The committee also approved a bill from the DOGE Task Force that would eliminate “obsolete, outdated and unnecessary” sections of state law. 

The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1291.

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Seth Ratliff

JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI) — The Albertsons grocery store on Buffalo Way in Jackson, Wyoming, was evacuated Monday afternoon after police were forced to subdue a person experiencing an alleged mental health crisis.

Details surrounding the incident are limited at this time.

The Jackson Police Department responded to the scene at approximately 12:30 PM following reports of a person armed with a knife inside the building. As police arrived, the person began to harm themself, and the officers fired several non-lethal rounds to subdue them.

The individual in crisis was then rushed to St. John’s Health for medical treatment.

While the Jackson Police Department has confirmed that there is no ongoing threat to the public, the grocery store remains closed for further investigation.

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