Category: kifi-local-news

Curtis Jackson

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little officially launched his bid for a third term as governor. He formally submitted his Declaration of Candidacy to the Idaho Secretary of State on Tuesday. He will appear on the May 19 Republican primary ballot.

In his announcement, Little emphasized the accomplishments of his administration and the values guiding his continued bid for leadership.

“Teresa and I are honored to serve the people of Idaho,” Little said. “Together, we’ve made Idaho the most prosperous state in the nation while fiercely defending our enduring core values — faith, family, and freedom.” He highlighted historic tax relief, record investments in education, public safety, and infrastructure, and efforts to maintain Idaho’s quality of life.

Little stated that the state will “continue leading the nation in cutting red tape and expanding freedom” as he seeks another term steering Idaho’s economic and regulatory direction.

His re-election effort enters the race with momentum. Support from individuals and businesses across all 44 counties has helped build a campaign fund nearing $1.5 million. Little also acknowledged former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, calling it meaningful support for the “commonsense values” pursued by his administration.

The governor plans to formally kick off his campaign following the conclusion of the legislative session, while continuing to focus on his ENDURING IDAHO agenda — a platform centered on fiscal discipline, government efficiency, strong schools, workforce development, and long-term prosperity.

Little, first elected in 2018, faces no term limits under Idaho law and is eligible to seek a third term.

Other 2026 Idaho Gubernatorial Candidates

The 2026 gubernatorial field includes candidates from the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Independent, and Constitution parties, based on current filings with the Secretary of State office. Candidates can file until Feb. 27 at 5 p.m.

Republican Candidates

Justin R. Plante, mechanic

Sean Calvert Crystal, previously ran for Idaho’s 32nd legislative district

Mark Fitzpatrick, bar owner and organizer of the Hetero Awesome Fest in Eagle

Ethan Giles

Democratic Candidates

Terri Pickens, attorney and 2022 lieutenant governor nominee

Libertarian Candidates

Melissa‑Sue Robinson, perennial candidate

Paul Sand, 2022 Libertarian nominee for governor

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Maile Sipraseuth

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho Falls Fire Department responded to a structure fire at the Staybridge Hotel around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday morning.

A hotel employee reported seeing smoke coming from exhaust pipes, which filled the lobby area.

The fire department said the fire appeared to have started in a ground-floor mechanical room before spreading to adjoining walls and the ceiling.

Firefighters inspects a vent outside the Staybridge Suites on Feb. 24, 2026. Courtesy: Idaho Falls Fire Department

Firefighters worked to stop the fire from spreading by ventilating the second floor and opening parts of the first‑floor ceiling so they could reach hidden flames. Smoke filled the building, and at least three rooms were damaged, according to the fire department’s news release.

Firefighters work on putting out a fire at the Staybridge Suites on Feb. 24, 2026. Courtesy: Idaho Falls Fire Department

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The hotel is currently under construction and is preparing to open in July.

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Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — A 43-year-old Boise woman faces up to 20 years in federal prison after she allegedly stole an ambulance and intentionally crashed it into a Meridian office building housing Department of Homeland Security offices before attempting to set the vehicle on Fire.

Federal prosecutors have charged Sarah Elizabeth George with Attempted Destruction of Federal Property by Fire and Malicious Destruction of Property Used in or Affecting Interstate Commerce by Fire. During a press conference Monday evening, Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea confirmed that George was taken into custody following a five-day intensive investigation into the attack on the St. Luke’s Portico North building.

“Really, it was good old fashioned Police work that got us to where we are tonight,” said Chief Basterrechea refrencing the assembled investigators from the Meridian Police, FBI, and other federal partners. “These investigators literally went door to door, looking for possible camera footage, possible witnesses, and other information and evidence stemming from I-84 to Fairview, from Locust Grove to Cloverdale.

The incident began on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 18, when George allegedly stole an unoccupied Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from the St. Luke’s West facility.

According to court documents, at 11:06 PM, CCTV footage from inside the ambulance captured George as she briefly stopped at a nearby parking lot, north of St. Luke’s. At this point, police say George grabbed two jugs of gas, which she had previously stashed in the bushes on the edge of the parking lot.

From there, court documents indicate the 43-year-old intentionally drove the vehicle into the Portico North building in Meridian. CCTV footage once again captured George as she exited the ambulance and began pouring the contents of the two gas jugs around the lobby floor.

Local and Federal investigators believe George was attempting to light the ambulance on fire and potentially the building. Chief Basterrechea says, fortunately, it appears she was scared off by responding agencies before she could ignite the fuel, and there were no injuries reported.

Detectives from the Meridian Police Department identified George through extensive neighborhood canvassing, the review of surveillance footage, and the use of forensic technology.

According to court documents, investigators also obtained surveillance video of George purchasing gasoline at a Fred Meyer gas station, later linked through financial records to a rewards/loyalty card in her name.

On Monday, February 23, investigators obtained warrants for George’s arrest and to search her home. As of her arrest, investigators are still combing her residence for further evidence linking her to the incident.

While George currently faces significant federal charges, local authorities noted that the investigation remains active and additional charges may be forthcoming.

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News Team

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) — Eighth graders from Rigby Middle School proved they are the masters of the machine this week, taking home the top prize and $1,500 for their school’s STEM programs at the Idaho Environmental Coalition’s (IEC) first-ever Ecobots Challenge.

“Our students worked very hard to prepare for this competition and their hard work paid off,” Rigby Middle School coach Lingpei Zou said. “The Ecobots Challenge not only strengthens students’ coding skills but also encourages them to deliver presentations that highlight their reasoning, teamwork, challenges and more. It is truly a valuable learning experience for all of us.”

While Rigby took the top spot, the competition was fierce. Praxium Mastery Academy followed in second place, with Black Canyon Middle School finishing third. Other competitors included Alturas Preparatory Academy, Watersprings School, and White Pine STEM Academy. Every participating school received funding to bolster their respective STEM classrooms.

“These students represent the next generation of scientists, engineers and skilled trades. It’s important that we invest in them now, so our communities and our businesses thrive in the future,” IEC President and Program Manager Dan Coyne said.

For more information on the event and other IEC community outreach activities, click HERE.

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Kevin Richert

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on February 23, 2026

By: Kevin Richert, Idaho Ed News

REXBURG, Idaho — Brigham Young University-Idaho is reporting another on-campus enrollment increase — more than 5% growth.

Winter enrollment at the Rexburg-based university totaled 23,708, up from 22,501 the previous year. It’s the second straight year of winter enrollment growth at BYU-Idaho.

On-campus enrollment is up by nearly 8.5% from the previous winter, while the number of on-campus students in online courses or internship programs declined by 9.5%.

Overall winter enrollment increased to 50,336, a whopping 22% increase. That is driven largely by a 52% increase in the number of BYU-Idaho students on the BYU-Pathway Worldwide online platform.

BYU-Idaho reported other enrollment thumbnails:

About 21,500 BYU-Idaho students are living in Rexburg this semester.

In all, 12,455 on-campus students are male, and 11,253 are female.

About a fifth of BYU-Idaho’s on-campus students are married: 4,710 students in all.

BYU-Idaho is a private university owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Sean Dolan

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on February 23, 2026

By: Sean Dolan, Idaho Ed News

BOISE, Idaho — It’s filing week in Idaho.

Candidates are officially declaring for 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature and seven statewide offices.

The filing period began 8 a.m. Monday and ends 5 p.m. Friday. Candidates can file online at VoteIdaho.gov. EdNews will track all filings with multiple updates every day this week.

Click here to find your legislative district. 

Here’s who has filed to run, with incumbents in bold, Republicans in red, Democrats in blue, Libertarians in yellow, Constitutionalists in purple and unaffiliated candidates in green.

Last update: 5:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23

Idaho Legislature

District
Seat
Candidates

1
Senate
 

 
House A
Jane Sauter (Republican)

 
House B
 

2
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

3
Senate
 

 
House A
Vito Barbieri (Republican)

 
House B
 

4
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

5
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

6
Senate
Dan Foreman (Republican)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

7
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
Maureen Anderson (Republican)

8
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

9
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

10
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
Bruce Skaug (Republican)

11
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

12
Senate
Krystal Flippence (Democrat)

 
House A
Jeff Cornilles (Republican)

 
House B
 

13
Senate
Letishia Silva (Democrat)

 
House A
 

 
House B
Kody Daffer (Republican)

14
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

15
Senate
Nancy Gregory (Democrat)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

16
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

17
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

18
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

19
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

20
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

21
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

22
Senate
 

 
House A

Greg Ferch (Republican)

Kelly Walton (Republican)

 
House B
Jason A. Monks (Republican)

23
Senate
Todd Lakey (Republican)

 
House A
Melissa Durrant (Republican)

 
House B
 

24
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

25
Senate
W. Lane Startin (Democrat)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

26
Senate
Ron Taylor (Democrat)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

27
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

28
Senate
David Worley (Republican)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

29
Senate
John Crowder (Republican)

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

30
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
Julianne Young (Republican)

31
Senate
 

 
House A
Jerald Dallas Raymond (Republican)

 
House B
 

32
Senate
 

 
House A

Stephanie Mickelsen (Republican)

Kamber Weninger (Democrat)

 
House B
 

33
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
Marco Erickson (Republican)

34
Senate
Ethan Sanford (Democract)

 
House A
 

 
House B
Larry E. Golden (Republican)

35
Senate
 

 
House A
 

 
House B
 

Statewide Offices

Office
Candidates

Governor

Mark Fitzpatrick (Republican)

Melissa-Sue Robinson (Libertarian)

Lieutenant Governor
 

Superintendent of Public Instruction
 

Attorney General
 

Secretary of State
 

Controller
Brandon D. Woolf (Republican)

Treasurer
 

Key: Incumbents in bold, Republicans in red, Democrats in blue, Libertarians in yellow, Constitutionalists in purple and unaffiliated candidates in green.

 

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Curtis Jackson

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Two people were injured Monday evening in a head‑on collision on State Highway 39 near Vollmer Loop in Power County, according to the Idaho State Police.

The crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. when a 2014 Hyundai Sonata, driven by a juvenile heading southbound, crossed into the northbound lanes while attempting to pass a slow‑moving vehicle. The Hyundai collided head‑on with a 2000 Dodge Dakota driven by a 21‑year‑old Aberdeen man.

Both vehicles came to rest on the right shoulder of the northbound lanes.

The juvenile driver was taken by ground ambulance to a local hospital, while the driver of the Dodge was transported by personal vehicle. Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt, investigators said.

The roadway was blocked for roughly two and a half hours as crews worked to clear the scene.

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Megan Lavin

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A local robotics team, Team PACK-Man, has gathered steam after winning both regional and state-level competitions. Now, they’re turning their gears toward the national stage.

After months of teamwork, problem-solving, and hands-on STEM learning, these passionate programmers are taking their innovative ideas on the road.

The enthusiastic engineering team stopped by the studio live to show off their builds — even driving them around on the table. They hope that by showing how fun and creative their projects are — and how far STEM programs can take you — they’ll inspire others to get involved.

As they prepare for nationals, the team is also fundraising to help cover travel and competition expenses. If you’d like to support them, you can donate here.

They’ve also produced a short video and launched a website with additional information about their team, their season, and their fundraising efforts. You can view those here.

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David Pace

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Nine local legislators delved into controversial budget cuts and hot topics at a Town Hall this weekend at College of Eastern Idaho.

“Systematic change in a big state government with a $5 billion budget is not an easy thing to do,” said Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls.

The cuts, education and housing prices were among the controversial subjects discussed Saturday.

You can watch the full Legislative Town Hall in the video player above.

Senator Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, was the only legislator present who serves on Idaho’s powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which sets state budgets. He emphasized his concern with the JFAC’s across-the-board recommendation to implement one and two percent cuts on all agencies.

“We do need to do some cuts, and I am for cutting, and most businesses can take a 5% cut somewhere in there,” Cook said. “They can take it, but doing it across-the-board is the wrong way.”

Rep. Barbara Ehardt noted the Legislature’s decision to conform to the One Big Beautiful Bill tax cuts this year, not next year.

“One of the major problems that we’ve also run into is the conformity bill… [Governor Brad Little] only did conformity from 2027 on,” she said. “We had decided to do it with 2026 because that’s what our President ran on. People are expecting no tax on tips, no tax on all the different things.”

Senator Mark Harris noted that some budgets have been cut deep – especially the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).

“As we’re hearing, there are problems with these budgets,” Harris said. “… The money that comes from the ITD to the locals, to the counties, to the cities, has been cut. From the last I heard, $110 million, which is a 25% cut, which is fine until somebody hits a pothole. And then who do they call?”

Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen warned that some cuts are short-sighted, saying that $10 saved to the state could end up costing property tax payers $100 down the road.

“What people don’t realize is the cut of $10 on the state actually ends up being the biggest tax increase you’ve ever seen on property tax holders, because they will be left holding the bag for mental health issues or indigent care issues- all kinds of problems,” she said.

Rep. Erin Bingham, R-Idaho Falls, noted that while state revenues and state expenses have increased in recent years, it is important to factor in population growth and inflation to determine whether the state has a revenue problem or a spending problem.

“We went to the budget office and we asked, we said you give us the expenses for the last 20 years, adjusted per capita for inflation, and when we did that, we noted that in the last 20 years, the state expenditures have only gone up 0.4% per year,” Bingham said.

Lawmakers also discussed education and housing in the state.

“How do we create a situation in Idaho where our public schools are the schools of choice?” said Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.

Rep. Mike Veile, R-Soda Springs, who previously served as a school district trustee, highlighted the high test scores achieved throughout his district – particularly by a cluster of charter schools.

“I just want our public school districts to also have some of those shackles taken off so that they can do something different, so that they can try things, and so that they can innovate,” Veile said.

Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Idaho Falls, addressed housing costs, as a member of the Idaho House Business Committee.

“We have undersupplied our inventory of housing for long enough… the majority of people are qualifying for around $320,000 for a mortgage on their home, and the median price for housing here in southeast Idaho is $430,000,” Wheeler said. “That’s a more than $100,000 gap that we’re asking our first time homebuyers or our kids to make.”

The event was sponsored by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber, Bonneville County Republican Committee and College of Eastern Idaho.

A second Town Hall will be held at 7 P.M. on Saturday, March 21st at the College of Eastern Idaho’s Health Care Education Building.

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Maile Sipraseuth

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)– Local avalanche experts are urging backcountry users to slow down, get informed, and make safety their top priority before heading into the mountains. Local News 8 spoke with two avalanche experts on how skiers and snowmobilers can prepare, as the weak snowpack created by earlier drought conditions, continued storms, and wind can keep the avalanche threat elevated.

Scott Savage, director of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, says preparation and awareness can make the difference between a great day outdoors and a deadly accident.

The first and most important step before snowmobiling or backcountry skiing is to check the avalanche forecast for your area.

“If there’s an avalanche forecast where you’re headed, read it,” Savage said. “If you’re not sure where to find one, you can go to avalanche.org and locate the avalanche center nearest you.”

Rich Rinaldi, owner of Yostmark Mountain Equipment, does backcountry tours and teaches avalanche safety courses. He strongly encourages anyone recreating in the winter backcountry to pursue formal avalanche education.

“I think that if someone is enthusiastic about getting in the mountains in the winter and recreating, skiing, or snow, will be doing that. There’s some great books you can read and educate yourself, and then take a course,” Rinaldi said.

Both Savage and Rinaldi emphasized the importance of proper safety gear. The standard avalanche safety kit includes three items:

Avalanche beacon (transceiver)

Probe

Avalanche Shovel

Even after checking the forecast, backcountry users must stay alert for signs of instability once they’re out on the snow. Key warning signs include:

Shooting cracks in the snow surface

Collapsing snowpack or a noticeable “whumpf” sound

Recent avalanches in the area

“These are signs of instability,” Rinaldi said. “If you follow the local avalanche forecast, you’ll kind of know what things are looking like, but you still have to pay attention to what you’re seeing.”

Ignoring these red flags is one of the biggest mistakes people make in avalanche terrain.

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