Category: kifi-local-news

News Team

CARIBOU-TARGHEE NATIONAL FOREST — Widespread rain and moisture have helped crews contain several wildfires in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest over the past three days. According to a release by fire officials, multiple fires are either fully contained or are expected to be in the coming days

Wildfire Updates

Rocky Top Fire

The Rocky Top Fire, located 11 miles northwest of Swan Valley, Idaho, remains at approximately 3.2 acres. Due to steep, rocky terrain and safety risks to firefighters, crews are implementing full suppression and confinement strategies. This fire was caused by lightning.

Rim Trail Fire

The lightning-caused Rim Trail Fire, 13 miles northeast of Tetonia, is now 100% contained. The blaze burned 27 acres. All associated road and trail closures will be lifted tonight and will no longer be in effect as of August 30, 2025.

Toponce Fire

The 19-acre Toponce Fire, located 9 miles northeast of Inkom, is now fully contained.

Chicken Fire

The 10-acre Chicken Fire, which started 11 miles east of Swan Valley and one mile north of Upper Palisades Lake, is now 100% contained.

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News Release

The following is a news release from Eastern Idaho Public Health:

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Eastern Idaho Public Health is excited to announce the opportunity to provide subgrants to organizations working to combat the opioid crisis in Eastern Idaho. EIPH’s vision focuses on healthy people in healthy communities with a mission to prevent disease, disability, and premature death, promote healthy lifestyles, and protect and promote the health and quality of our environment.

Opioid settlements from drugmakers and major pharmaceutical distributors will provide funding for treatment, recovery, prevention, and harm reduction in Idaho.

Strategies eligible for subgrant funding must align with the approved opioid abatement strategies found on the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Idaho’s website.

The opioid settlement subgrant application can be found on Eastern Idaho Public Health’s website.

Eastern Idaho Public Health aims to award $70,000 in subgrants to organizations working to combat the opioid crisis in the following Idaho counties: Bonneville, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, and Teton. Although the application is open to all organizations working to combat the opioid crisis within Region 7, priority will be given to non-profit organizations, local governments, first responders, schools, and healthcare providers.

The Fiscal Year 2026 EIPH Opioid Settlement Subgrant Application can be found on EIPH’s Drug Overdose Prevention Webpage. For questions, please contact Mallory Johnson at mjohnson@eiph.idaho.gov.

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News Release

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — The City of Pocatello Sanitation Department’s collection trucks will operate as normal on Labor Day, September 1. 

Residents regularly scheduled for a Monday pickup of garbage, recycling, and yard waste should still place their autocarts out by 7 a.m. Officials would also like to remind residents that the Bannock County Landfill will be closed to the public Monday, September 1.

The only days the City of Pocatello sanitation collection does not operate are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

For more information on the services offered by the City of Pocatello Sanitation Department, visit pocatello.gov/361/Sanitation.

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News Team

SUBLETTE COUNTY, Wyoming (KIFI) — Firefighters are making significant headway on the Dollar Lake Fire, which has grown to 13,449 acres and is now 22% contained. A new incident management team, Wyoming Team 2, will take command of the fire starting tomorrow at 7 a.m.

Yesterday, crews focused on strengthening containment lines on the west and north sides of the fire. On the south side, they successfully finalized defenses around the Red Cliff Bible Camp.

Evacuations

Despite this progress, some evacuation orders remain in effect. A five-mile radius around Dollar Lake in the Green Lakes area and Red Cliff Bible Camp in Cora, Wyoming, is still under a mandatory evacuation.

The following areas are under a “SET” evacuation status, meaning residents should be ready to leave at any time:

Moose Gypsum Road

Hill Road

Valley View Trail

Hecox Road

Pine Drive

Rock Creek Road

Brookie Lane

White Point Road

Rainbow Drive

Trout Drive

Cutthroat Drive

River Road

Cattle Drive Lane

Terrace Drive

Half-way Drive

Galley Lane

All residents living along US Hwy 352 South to Richard Lane.

Additionally, residents in the Kendall Valley area are on “READY” status, meaning they should be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice.

For the safety of the public and fire crews, the Bridger-Teton National Forest has issued a closure order for the area around the fire, including the Green River Lakes Road.

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Maggie Moore

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Not sure what to do with your extra Zucchini from the garden? In case you missed it, here’s Maggie Moore’s chocolate zucchini cake recipe as seen on Local News 8 in the Morning.

Maggie Moore’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Start to finish: 45 minutes – 1 hr

Servings: 15

Ingredients

1/2 Cup oil

1/2 Cup Butter

1 3/4 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 Cup Sour Milk (1/2 cup of milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar)

2 1/2 Cup Flour

4 Tablespoons Cocoa

1/2 Teaspoon Baking powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Cloves

2 Cup shredded zucchini

1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

Instructions

Make sour milk by combining 1/2 cup of milk with 1 teaspoon of vinegar, and let it set for 5 minutes

Combine oil, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves, and mix

Add sour milk to the batter and mix

Shred zucchini and mix into batter

Add chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325° F

Spray a 9″x13″ pan and pour batter in

Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top

Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

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News Team

IDAHO (KIFI) — Starting today, law enforcement is stepping up patrols around schools. The Southeast Idaho Traffic Safety Task Force is stepping up patrols to protect students and crack down on unsafe driving behaviors.

The heightened enforcement will focus on common violations that put students at risk, such as speeding in school zones, ignoring school bus stop arms, and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. This effort is aimed at reducing the dangerous behaviors that tend to spike this time of year.

“We’ll be in school zones during the day and watching for impaired drivers at night,” Lieutenant Todd Orr said in a release. “From young children to college students, our goal is to keep every student safe.”

To report unsafe driving, call *ISP (*477).

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Curtis Jackson

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) – A multi-vehicle crash blocked southbound I-15 near Blackfoot Thursday afternoon.

Idaho State Police said a red Toyota Avalon hydroplaned into a barrier, triggering a chain reaction with a Dodge Ram pulling an RV and a Kenworth semi.

The Toyota’s driver, a 21-year-old from Rexburg, was hospitalized. All drivers wore their seatbelts.

The highway was blocked for over two hours.

ISP is investigating, with help from local law enforcement and fire crews.

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Ariel Jensen

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A new interactive exhibit is teaching the local community about hydropower.

Heritage Park in Idaho Falls welcomed its first historical exhibit with a ribbon-cutting on Thursday afternoon, August 28th, 2025. The park is dedicated to celebrating the city’s cultural heritage. 

Idaho Falls Power and INL together unveiled an interactive hydropower exhibit in the park.

“Heritage Park demonstrates a lot of heritage for the city and our community and Hydro’s been part of Idaho Falls city for 125 years. So this is a great place to demonstrate that and showcase that,” said Stephen Boorman, Interim General Manager for Idaho Falls Power.

As part of their joint partnership to promote STEM education in the community, the project invited BYU students to help them with the design.

“The BYU, Idaho team collaborated on how to really design and implement the inner workings of the exhibit so that it would communicate and demonstrate how a hydropower plant actually looks and feels,” said Thomas Mosier, Lead of Hydropower Research and Manager of Decision Sciences for INL.

Heritage Park offers visitors a view of the real deal hydroelectric dam, and just a few steps away, and with a push of the button, they can see a miniature version of how it all works. 

“The original founders of the city, what a vision they had in order to create a power plant here to power our city. And it has continued for over 100 years,” said Lisa Burtenshaw, Idaho Falls City Council president.

Burtenshaw says there will be more heritage stops in the park as it continues to grow. She says the next project is a statue of Rebecca Mitchell, one of the founders of the first school in Idaho Falls. 

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News Team

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho Falls Police were on the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Pancheri Drive near Culver’s, which caused minor traffic disruptions.

The crash was reported around 3:14 p.m. on Thursday. Witness photos show one of the vehicles, a silver sedan, overturned. Despite witness concerns, Idaho Falls Police spokesperson Jessica Clements has confirmed that all individuals involved sustained “what appears to be minor injuries.”

Clements stated in an email, “They’re working on getting a tow truck there to get the last vehicle off the road.”

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News Release

The following is a scam alert news release from the Idaho State Police:

IDAHO — The Idaho State Police (ISP) is warning the public about a scam in which callers are spoofing ISP phone numbers, making it appear the calls are coming from official ISP dispatch centers. These calls are not from the ISP.

In recent days, ISP received multiple reports of individuals receiving suspicious calls from numbers that appeared to be from ISP. In one disturbing incident, a parent answered back-to-back calls from a man claiming to be a medic and insinuated that their child was in distress. He requested the child’s name, and the parents heard the sound of crying in the background. Thankfully, the child was safe at school, but the incident serves as a stark reminder of the manipulative tactics employed by scammers.

“These calls are not coming from the Idaho State Police. This scam is designed to play on the hearts of potential victims and undermines trust in first responders,” Captain Tyler Jussel of the ISP Regional Communications Center said. “By spoofing first responders and dispatch centers, these scammers try to gain credibility in their deception. We want the public to know that ISP will never call in this manner.”

Protect yourself against spoofing scams:

Don’t provide personal information such as names, addresses, or account details over the phone unless you are certain of who is calling.

Hang up immediately if the call seems suspicious.

Verify before trusting – if a caller claims to be law enforcement, hang up and call the agency back directly using their publicly listed phone number.

Scammers thrive on fear and urgency. Take a moment to pause and verify before responding to any call. If you receive a suspicious call, don’t hesitate to hang up and report it to your local law enforcement agency and the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Your caution could be the difference between falling victim to a scam and staying safe.

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