Category: kifi-local-news

Sam Ross

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho Foster & Adoptive Parent Association (IDFAPA) recently received an $80,000 donation from AgWest Farm Credit to support renovations to the IDFAPA’s Southeast Idaho ‘The Village’ headquarters.

IDFAPA is a non-profit organization that serves 16 counties across Southeast Idaho by providing support to children as they transition into foster or adoptive families.

“A lot of them come with nothing or very little,” said Jacque Burt, president of IDFAPA and director of The Village. “We provide them right off the bat a suitcase, clothing, new socks, new underwear, toys, comfort items and stuffies, things like that… they’ll come back after they’ve had a growth spurt or change of season, or just want to pop in and visit with us. They’ll come back and shop again and they’re welcome to. We’re just always a resource for those children and for those families that foster them.”

IDFAPA is currently renovating the building which previously housed Kirkham Auto Parts to make room for The Village, a multi-use space with a clothing closet for foster children and teens, family meeting spaces, classrooms, offices for case workers, and more.

Burt said the community of Blackfoot has come together in a major way to support the Village’s expansion-including AgWest’s $89,000 donation.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently donated $65,000 to the IDFAPA. Local contractors donated materials and labor to renovate the building’s frames and electrical work for free-other businesses are supplying HVAC and plumbing updates for a fraction of what they usually cost.

“We’re just really grateful, we absolutely could not do what we do without our community,” said Burt. “We are willing to drive the bus, but we can’t do all of the jobs-we need other people in there with us- and this community has wrapped around my foster children; I could have never predicted how much they would love these kids.”

To learn more about how IDFAPA serves the Southeast Idaho community, visit their website at: www.idfapa.org.

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Sam Ross

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)– The Power County Senior Center has full freezers thanks to a 1,200-pound donation of meat from local businesses.

American Falls area businesses, including Direct Communications, Snake River Farms, 5 Star Trucking, and many more, worked with the Power County 4-H/FFA Fat Stock Sale Committee to purchase locally raised pigs and cows during the Power County Fair auction.

The meat was processed and delivered to the Power County Senior Center to support their daily meals to area seniors and the center’s Meals of Wheels program.

“We really appreciate these donors that have given us the meat, because it really helps with our budget,” said Nancy Davis, director of the Power County Senior Center. “That’s our biggest part of our budget is the meat that we have to purchase, where the meat [cost] is so high anymore.”

The Power County Senior Center supports between 25-50 people during their daily, in-house meal service and as many as 20 local seniors through their home deliveries.

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Max Gershon

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A number of employees at Melaleuca got off work early Thursday to help with their third annual Snake River cleanup. Their goal is to provide walkers with a better view of the Snake River at Freeman Park in Idaho Falls.

Parks and Rec leaders said that this is a project they’ve been trying to do for a while now, but didn’t necessarily have the resources. 

Every year, Melaleuca, as an organization, has come and done a volunteer project for the city of Idaho Falls and, specifically, the Parks and Recreation Department,” PJ Holm, Idaho Falls Park and Rec director, said. “It is one of our largest groups of volunteers that come out every year. We’ve had a couple of groups that have come out, that are usually in the 50s and 60s and up to maybe 100. When you’re seeing almost 200 or over 200 folks come out from an organization. I mean, what a magical experience to be able to see and to be able to have come out in the community and, and help make our community a better place.”  

“We do this every year,” Jerry Felton, with Melaleuca, said. “We come down to the Idaho Falls River Walk. We’ve adopted about two and a half miles. our team members come out, we volunteer and work with the city, and we clear out a ton of brush so that all the community, when they come down and they’re walking up and down the way here, they can actually see the beautiful views into the river area.”

“And really, our goal is to beautify the Riverwalk, right?” Jamie Reynolds, a Melaleuca employee, said.  “Thousands of locals come and they enjoy this place. They do family photos, they recreate here. And we want to be able to allow them to see the river, be able to go down and sit and fish, and just enjoy the beauty that’s in this area.”

If you’re interested in doing something similar, whether it’s with your coworkers, family or friends. Idaho Falls Parks and Rec says you can contact their volunteer coordinator found on their website idahofallsidaho.gov.

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News Release

The following is a news release from Idaho Fish and Game.

POCATELLO, Idaho (News Release)—Hunters and outdoor enthusiasts planning to visit the western portions of the Bear Lake Plateau, specifically the Merkley Mountain/Mahogany Ridge areas and/or the Bear Lake State Park (IDPR-managed State Lands at the Utah border) in early October, should be aware that low-flying helicopters will be applying herbicide within Game Management Unit 76.

This aerial spraying effort aims to control invasive annual grasses, particularly cheatgrass, which threaten native plant communities, big game habitat, and increase wildfire risk.

Cheatgrass typically goes dormant in late summer to early fall, just before autumn rains begin. This timing is critical, as the herbicide being used also contains a pre-emergent, and treatment effectiveness will substantially improve if application occurs before seeds germinate. For the treatment to work best, rainfall would follow within a couple of weeks to help carry the herbicide into the soil. The optimal application window is between late August and early October.

Spraying is scheduled to begin on October 1 and could continue through October 9, depending on suitable weather and wind conditions. The helicopter conducting the treatments can be identified by large sprayer booms extending from each side of the aircraft.

Treatment areas are depicted on the map. The entire treatment is expected to be completed over 3-4 days, covering approximately 3,500 acres in total.

Helicopters and ground crews will be staging at various locations near the treatment zones. For public safety, hunters and recreationists are asked to avoid active spray zones while work is underway.

“Areas targeted for treatment are within priority habitat for greater sage grouse and an important migratory corridor and winter range for elk and mule deer. Treatment goals are to reduce fire risk and intensity, increase native vegetation abundance/diversity and improve wildlife habitat,” said Houston Kimes, Regional Farmbill Biologist. According to Kimes, “annual grasses, like cheatgrass, are highly competitive, which can negatively impact native forb and grass growth. By reducing cheatgrass on this landscape, we hope to reduce the likelihood and intensity of wildfires, while also increasing beneficial forage for wildlife and livestock and improving landscape resiliency.”

This project is a collaborative effort involving Idaho Fish and Game, the U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Department of Lands, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge, Idaho Parks and Recreation, Natural Resource Conservation Service and private landowners.

For more information, contact Houston Kimes at the Southeast Regional Office at 208-232-4703 or Dave Price at USFWS, 208-380-6062.

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Linda Larsen

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Some very talented local performers are about to take off on the adventure of a lifetime. 

Twenty-four dancers from Extreme Ballroom in Idaho Falls have been invited to take the international stage at a very prestigious event in London called the Carl Alan Awards. 

The Carl Alan Awards is an awards event held annually in the United Kingdom, to honor people who have made a significant contribution to the dance industry.

Director for Extreme Ballroom, Staci Huston, said it is unusual for teams to go to this event, and considers the invitation a great honor.

“We were told that it’s the equivalent of the Oscars of dance,” Huston said. “So it’s really a prestigious event that we’re excited to be a part of. These kids have worked really, really hard, and they’re excellent dancers. They’re currently National Champions.”

Dancers from Extreme Ballroom will be performing alongside the top six ballroom and the top six latin couples in the world.

“Some of our biggest idols are these top professionals in the world that will be performing there as well, and we’ll be there,” said Macy, one of the ballroom dancers. “And so we’ll get to meet a lot of these really cool people that have inspired us and that are just amazing dancers. And so it’ll be really cool to be able to meet them.”

While the dancers are in London they will also be doing street performances and of course enjoying all the sights. They then travel to Paris, where they have performances scheduled as well. 

Staci Huston and the Extreme Ballroom team will be featured in an upcoming Community All Stars.

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Ariel Jensen

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – It’s child passenger safety week, a time to make sure your young ones are getting to point A to point B safely. Child safety is important year-round, but with school back in session and after-school activities, more kids are traveling on the road. Parents and drivers are being reminded how to travel safely with children.

“It is a good time to bring awareness to that and make sure that you’ve got the proper car seat, the proper child seat, and make sure it’s installed correctly,” said Sgt. Bryan Lovell with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s important to know the details of your car seat because not all of them are the same. 

“Having the right car seat, the right size car seat for your child, is very important. They’re engineered in for safety, for certain sizes of children, you know, with the harnesses and the buckles and having them properly installed,” said Lovell.

If your car seat is a hand-me-down, do some research on it.

Check with the manufacturer, make sure it hasn’t been recalled, and make sure it’s not expired. 

“It’s important to check that because the materials used to make those car seats can break down over time,” said Lovell. “So the manufacturers should have a label or some sort of imprint on the car seat somewhere. It might be under the padding, under the plate, under the cloth, or under the padding of the seat. So you might have to lift some of that up to check.”

Some drivers think iit’s a short ride to ‘grandma’s house, it’s walking distance to church, I don’t need to put my child in a car seat,’ but you absolutely do.

“I see it a lot in traffic on some of the major arteries. And that’s probably the biggest mistake, because even a slow speed crash can cause a significant injury to the child and the people in the car,” said Lovell.

For more car seat resources, visit this link here.

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CNN Newsource

Originally Published: 25 SEP 25 19:05 ET

By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — Travis Decker, the man believed to have suffocated and abandoned his three young daughters at a campsite in the Washington state wilderness, is dead, Chelan County authorities said Thursday.

Positive DNA results determined human remains authorities discovered last week, along with clothes that looked like what Decker was wearing on surveillance footage before he disappeared, were the fugitive’s, Chelan County Sheriff Michael Morrison said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.

The confirmation ends a monthslong saga punctuated by a family tragedy that touched an entire community.

A drone flying over the area on September 18 detected some unusual material on a mountainside in the Washington Cascades. Detectives with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office rappelled from a helicopter and discovered the remains and items among a trove of evidence.

The search for Decker spanned three counties, led authorities to Canada and Mexico and involved several local and federal agencies, only for his remains to be found less than a mile from where the girls’ bodies were discovered.

Decker was charged with murdering his three daughters, 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn, not long after he picked them up from their mother for the custody visit on May 30.

Drones, a swift water team, cadaver dogs and even GoPros were used in the Cascade Mountain range outside the city of Leavenworth, a rural area known for its wild beauty and treacherous terrain.

The search was complicated by the fact that Decker had a three-day head start.

Decker’s truck was found abandoned in the area of Rock Island Campground on June 2. His daughters’ bodies were nearly 100 yards away down a small embankment, along with zip ties and plastic bags found strewn throughout the area, according to a police affidavit.

Authorities also found a bloody fingerprint on the truck’s tailgate, as well as Decker’s dog.

The sheriff hoped more people flocking to the popular area surrounding where the girls were found for the busy summer season would help in the search, but no trace of Decker was found all season.

The girls’ mother, Whitney Decker, told investigators her former husband had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was homeless at the time of his disappearance.

Before the remains were determined to be Decker’s, Whitney Decker’s attorney, Arianna Cozart, told ABC News, “We are praying that the remains found are confirmed to be Travis’s. We continue to be grateful for law enforcement’s efforts in this case and are forever appreciative of the entire world’s love, compassion, and support for Whitney.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN Newsource

Originally Published: 25 SEP 25 11:16 ET

Updated: 25 SEP 25 18:53 ET

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) — Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a federal grand jury, an extraordinary escalation in President Donald Trump’s effort to prosecute his political enemies.

Comey, a longtime adversary of the president, is now the first senior government official to face federal charges in one of Trump’s largest grievances: the 2016 investigation into whether his first presidential campaign colluded with Russia.

He has been charged with giving false statements and obstruction of justice, according to a source familiar.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X, “No one is above the law.”

“Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Bondi wrote. “We will follow the facts in this case.”

The indictment Thursday evening comes as CNN previously reported about concerns Bondi and prosecutors have had about the case.

Bondi is facing pressure from Trump, who is demanding his political enemies face criminal charges as he once did. But attorneys inside the Eastern District of Virginia recently wrote a memo detailing their reservations over seeking the indictment, ABC News first reported.

Bondi has concerns about the case, which focuses on whether Comey made false statements during congressional testimony involving the 2016 investigation into Russian interference in the US presidential election, according to a person familiar with her thinking, though she believes it would be possible to bring an indictment.

At the White House Thursday, Trump said, “They’re going to make a determination. I’m not making that determination. I think I’d be allowed to get involved if I want, but I don’t really choose to do so.”

Comey, however, is a “bad person,” the president added.

The attorney general had dinner at the White House Rose Garden with Trump and others Wednesday evening.

Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney and the new top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, has been spotted at the Justice Department twice this week, where sources say she was part ofconversations over whether to charge Comey. Halligan has also had questions about the case, according to a source briefed on the discussions.

‘I just want people to act’

Publicly and privately, Trump has complained that prosecutors were willing to bring numerous criminal cases against him while he was out of office, noting that in those instances he was charged with whatever they had at the time, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The person added that Trump has repeatedly said that the Justice Department should bring the best case it can when it comes to his political opponents and let the court decide the rest.

“I just want people to act. And we want to act fast,” Trump told reporters Saturday as he departed the White House. “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty, or if they should be charged, they should be charged, and we have to do it now.”

Some inside the White House view Halligan’s willingness to bring the case as her jumping on a grenade to please Trump – though that is why she was picked to take on the role of leading the Eastern District of Virginia. While several Justice Department officials are worried about the strength of any case against Comey, multiple political aides share a different view: they prosecuted Trump, so people like Comey deserve to be prosecuted, too.

“I’m always happy to talk about … Comey, who of course is corrupt, who of course has been engaged in vast amounts of illicit and unlawful conduct, who of course was at the center of the Russia gate attack and assault on American democracy,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said on Fox News on Wednesday night. “It has to lead somewhere to accountability.”

Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro this week called for Comey to be imprisoned for a host of Trumpworld grievances – many of which federal prosecutors have previously looked at and didn’t find reason to charge.

Navarro previously did time in federal prison for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas in the investigation intoefforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election leading into the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

“There’s a lot of people out there who should be in prison in my judgment, and I think in the judgement of many people in the Trump Administration,” Navarro said. “James Comey’s at the top of that list now.”

CNN’s Britney Lavecchia contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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

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Curtis Jackson

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)—Skyline High School and two neighboring schools were closed on Thursday following a rumor that circulated during a school event the previous night, suggesting a person with a gun had been seen in a vehicle near the school. The Idaho Falls Police Department responded swiftly after the report was made to the School Resource Officer and school administrators near the end of the event.

Out of an abundance of caution, Skyline High School, Eagle Rock Middle School, and Ethel Boyes Elementary were closed while officers investigated the report.

According to IFPD, the rumor originated from a student who saw a vehicle in the parking lot of a church on Westhill Avenue. The student reported seeing multiple individuals inside the car putting on ski masks, and believed one of them may have had a gun. Investigators later obtained video footage showing the vehicle leaving the church and entering Skyline’s property.

Further investigation revealed that a group of Idaho Falls High School students had come to Skyline as part of an Emotion Bowl week prank. The prank involved using Orbeez guns, a toy that shoots small water-based gel beads, on the Skyline rock. School administrators and the SRO intervened and told the students to leave.

The sighting of the masked individuals in the car, combined with the prank, quickly spread among students at the event. As the rumor circulated, details became exaggerated, leading to heightened concern.

Police now believe no real firearm was involved. The individuals seen at the church are believed to be the same students involved in the prank, and the timeline of events supports this conclusion.

District 91 officials emphasized the importance of safe and respectful participation in school traditions. All schools will resume normal operations tomorrow. Elementary schools will follow their regular schedule, while middle and high schools will operate on the intervention schedule. All planned activities, including the Emotion Bowl, will proceed as scheduled.

Superintendent LaOrange expressed gratitude for the swift response and cooperation of the Idaho Falls Police Department.

“I am grateful for the cooperation and partnership of the Idaho Falls Police Department as we work together to ensure the safety of our students and staff,” LaOrange said. “I understand that closing school can create challenges for families and appreciate their patience as the Idaho Falls Police Department conducted its investigation.”

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Doug Long

LAVA HOT SPRING, Idaho (KIFI) — In a story that sounds more like a Hollywood script than small-town history, a terrifying event unfolded three decades ago in the quiet canyons of Lava Hot Springs. But this wasn’t a movie. Thirty years ago, the sleepy Idaho resort town was thrust into a harrowing hunt for dozens of exotic animals, a story that would forever change the lore of the resort town.

On September 20, 1995, just before sunset, the town’s tranquility was shattered by a single, sharp rifle crack. Lava Hot Springs was about to become world famous: the lions of Ligertown were on the prowl.

Located in a rural stretch just outside of Lava Hot Springs, Ligertown was the bizarre creation of Robert Fieber and Dottie Martin. The compound was a ramshackle maze of wood and wire, housing African lions, tigers, hybrid wolves, and ligers—the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. At the time, Idaho lacked any laws regulating the ownership or breeding of exotic animals, a legal loophole that made the notorious facility possible.

The First Shot and the Panic

The first person to encounter the escaped animals was local resident Bruce Hansen, who was the first person I spoke to when covering the escape 30 years ago. His widow, Colleen Smith, remembers the start of the panic vividly.

“He [Bruce] came into the house, picked up his rifle, and turned around and said, ‘The lions are loose,’” she recalls. “I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘The lions are loose.’ I said, ‘What lions?’ It didn’t even dawn on me. He says, ‘The Ligertown lions!’ And he takes off.”

Bruce Hansen’s shot was the first of many. As word spread, law enforcement from across the region swarmed the area. By the end of that first night, 15 exotic animals had been shot and killed, but the hunt was far from over.

Tailed terrors stalk a town through the tall reeds

For those who grew up in the shadow of Ligertown, the presence of the big cats had become a strange kind of normal. Bonnie Hansen, Bruce and Colleen’s daughter, remembers clearly what it was like having the big cats as neighbors.

“Growing up, it was normal to hear the lions roar morning and night, and so every night before the sun would go down, the lions would roar and the wolves would howl,” says Bonnie Hansen. “That was normal for me growing up. I didn’t know how weird that was.”

But on that fateful week, that normalcy shattered into a mix of fear and disbelief. The danger was amplified by the revelation of the owner’s negligence prior to the incident.

 “It was scary, it was. It was frightening, especially when they discovered he [Fieber] had been letting them out to go down to the creek, to drink water,” said Colleen.

The palpable fear spread to every corner of Lava Hot Springs. Chelsey Linderman now works in town at Mike’s grocery store, but she was in elementary school when the news of the escaped lions hit town.

“I just remember getting off the bus and having parents and adults standing there watching us go into the school,” Linderman says. “No going outside. You had to stay there for the whole 8 hours, indoor recesses, no going outside, even when you were home at night.”

The Final Shot and a Lasting Memory

Eight days after the initial escape, a final lion was spotted near Lava Elementary School. Woney Peters saw the big cat from a balcony on the back of his home that bordered the schoolyard. He shot the last of the escaped lions, bringing an end to more than a week of exotic-tailed terror.

After all was said and done, a total of 18 animals had been killed, while 20 more were captured and taken to an exotic wildlife refuge in California. Bannock County bulldozed the ramshackle compound, piled up the scrap, and set it on fire. All that was left of Ligertown was ashes.

Today, if you didn’t know any better, you’d never guess that a compound housing dozens of dangerous animals once sat outside the rural town of Lava Hot Springs. A Home stands on the former site, its new inhabitants far less wild than the ones who once lived there. But for those who lived through the harrowing event, there is no forgetting.

“Oh yeah, I can still remember it, always in my mind it will always be there,” said Bonnie Hansen.

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