Category: kifi-local-news

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– Holy Spirit Catholic School invites the community to their annual K-5 student Easter play on April 25.

The play is an annual school tradition for over 30 years now, but this is only the second year the entire student body is participating, and school leaders are inviting the community.

“When you watch children presenting this play, it gives you hope,” said Margie Gabiola, principal of Holy Spirit Catholic School. “When you see the kids that are playing the disciples and playing Mary and Jesus, you’re filled with this hope, and it’s the best story ever–the story doesn’t end with Jesus dying, the story is that he’s resurrected.”

Principal Gabiola said the play is a joint effort from all students and staff at the school, and the performance highlights the school’s focus on creating well-rounded students versed in the fine arts.

The play will be on Friday, April 25, from 10:30 to 11 am at Saint Anthony’s Chapel in Pocatello. For more information, you can visit the Holy Spirit Catholic School website.

Noah Farley

FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — Fremont County emergency responders have responded to an alarming number of wildfires since the beginning of the month.

In total, there have been 25 wildfires in Fremont County between April 1 – 16. Four of them alone happened on the same day, April 15.

In response, Fremont County officials are working to get the word out about burning safety and fire restrictions.

Most of the fires were caused by controlled burns that were either left alone or grew because of the wind. One firefighter was hurt during one of the recent fires and had to be taken to the hospital.

Fremont County usually sees only five to ten wildfires this time of year.

“But this year, there’s been a lot of people burning and they haven’t paid attention to the weather forecast to see if there’s going to be winds or they’re just burning something that they’re not able to control,” said Fremont County Fire Marshal, Keith Richey.

Richey says people need to get a permit before doing a controlled burn and use common sense. If their fire gets out of hand, they need to call the fire department before it gets even worse.

Seth Ratliff

AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – 72-year-old Bruce Hauber of American Falls is sentenced to 5 years of probation for stealing over $129,000 from the American Falls Housing Authority (AFHA). The news comes from the Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott.

Between 2019 and 2023, Hauber was responsible for paying bills, managing rent, and handling the authority’s bank accounts.

But instead of sticking to official business, prosecutors say Hauber started using AFHA credit cards for personal purchases. According to court records, Hauber used the cards to pay for meals, airplane tickets, utilities for his home, medical expenses, and purchases at retailers.

“Hauber deliberately orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to embezzle more than $125,000 in federal funds designated to provide housing assistance for elderly and disabled residents in American Falls, Idaho—a community of roughly, 4,500 people,” said Special Agent in Charge Machelle Jindra with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG). “The theft was especially harmful given the limited resources available to support the community. HUD OIG remains committed to working alongside our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement and oversight partners to aggressively pursue individuals who compromise the integrity of HUD programs and exploit communities in need.”

To conceal the embezzlement, Hauber wrote fictitious checks to venders and entered the checks into AFHA’s internal accounting system, say prosecutors.

“Our office will vigorously investigate and prosecute cases involving theft of public money,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott. “Bruce Hauber stole from the American taxpayer and deprived American Falls residents vital public housing funds.”

As part of his sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye ordered Hauber to pay back $79,000 in restitution. The judge also sentenced Hauber to eight months of home detention with location monitoring as a condition of probation.

Ariel Jensen

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The deadline to file your taxes has passed, and the 2025 tax season is winding down. Financial experts tell Local News 8 it’s been a pretty standard tax season.

People using direct deposit can expect to see their returns in their bank account 5 to 10 business days after processing.

Checks will usually take a bit longer to arrive. If you missed the deadline, you can still file your taxes without penalty if you’re expecting a return.

If you do owe money, financial experts suggest that you take immediate action, and late filing penalties can be expected. 

“The biggest problem that we have is people that start new businesses. A lot of people aren’t aware that partnership and corporation returns are actually due on March 15th. And so every year we get several people that come in here that have started new leases or new partnerships or corporations after March 15th, and they’re already late,” said Brett Zollinger, CPA at Sutton & Simmons PLLC.

The next tax deadline is for nonprofits that have a regular calendar year end, and that’s May 15th.

Ariel Jensen

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) – The Rexburg Soup Kitchen has been open for just over three weeks, and organizers say it is already benefiting more people than expected.

The organization is serving 100 meals on average to people in need each week.

Organizers say they’ve also been delighted by the sheer number of people who have volunteered to help. They say they’ll have volunteers booked till late May or early June.

“I have been amazed at the variety of circumstances that people come from. We’ve had senior citizens, we’ve had young adults. We’ve had single parents with young children, just a variety of people coming in, and it’s great to see the entire community coming in. For those who need help, and we’re happy to help whoever with whatever we can do for them, if possible,” said Co-founder of the Rexburg soup kitchen, Margo Merrill.

Seth Ratliff

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – One of the men charged in connection with the February 2024 shooting at Compass Academy in Idaho Falls has changed his initial plea.

20-year-old Gabriel Perkins pleaded guilty Wednesday to Voluntary Manslaughter in the death of Alex Barber and Aggravated Battery in the shooting of an Idaho Falls man at the Compass Academy in Idaho Falls, in February 2024. 

Under a plea agreement, the parties will recommend that Perkins face up to 40 years in prison, according to Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Neal.

Perkins is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Dane H. Watkins, Jr., on June 17, 2025.

The plea agreement was reached through mediation, which involved the surviving victim and the victims’ families, Neal told Local News 8.

Perkins had initially pleaded not guilty after being indicted by a Bonneville County Grand Jury in March of 2024.

Charges are still pending against two other defendants for the events that occurred during the confrontation between over 10 individuals in a parking lot behind the school. For more information, click HERE.

Seth Ratliff

UPDATE: 3:15 PM

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – Only a day after the funeral of the disabled 17-year-old shot by Pocatello Police officers, a major civil rights firm, Burris Nisenbaum Curry & Lacy (BNCL), has filed a wrongful death and civil rights violation claim against the city of Pocatello on behalf of the family of Victor Perez.

The firm represents Victor’s guardian, Luis Alicea, his mother, Wanda Alicea; his sister, Monica Perez; and his aunt Ana Vazquez. The group was holding a family barbeque when Pocatello police officers shot the non-verbal autistic teenager, who also suffered from cerebral palsy.

The lawyers of BNCL have represented numerous families and victims of wrongful police shootings caused by the failure of police to follow basic legal and constitutional standards of policing, according to a release by the firm.

“The family wanted the police to help their son, not kill him,” said John Burris, an attorney with 40-plus years of representing victims of police abuse, including representing Rodney King in his case against Los Angeles Police officers. “The officers’ conduct shocks the conscience of all families needing assistance with developmentally disabled kids.” 

The four responding officers shot Victor Perez nine times. The lawyers of BNCL argue that when the shooting started, the 17-year-old’s sister and mother were standing close to Victor and in the line of fire.

“Moreover, no de-escalation methods were attempted. Perez possessed a knife at the time of the incident. Mr. Perez was located behind a chain-link fence,” write BNCL lawyers in a press release. “Mr. Perez presented with obvious disabilities and appeared incapable of posing an actual threat to the officers, who were on the other side of the approximate 4-foot fence.”

Video from the scene shows 17-year-old Perez’s own family was able to keep a distance from the knife and were not in immediate danger, argues the firm.

BNCL’s filing argues that Perez posed “no significant threat to the officers to justify lethal force.” Following the amputation of his leg and two additional surgeries, doctors determined that Victor was brain-dead. He was taken off life support on Saturday, April 12.

“The officers had obvious alternatives to the unconscionable decision to open fire on Victor, shooting him 9 times within seconds of arrival. Not once did they tell his family members that they would shoot if they didn’t move away from Victor, and there’s no chance that they really believed Victor was able to stab them from behind the fence. If the officers actually thought that, they would have stepped back, away from the fence, when Victor started to move toward them.” Civil Rights Attorney Ben Nisenbaum

“The way Victor was moving was consistent with a person who was developmentally and physically disabled, not some superman who would bound over the fence at them.  We hope the investigation being conducted by the Idaho Attorney General recognizes the obvious:  These officers criminally failed at their jobs and should be held to account for their actions in criminal court,” said Nisenbaum.

Bannock County Coroner conducts forensic autopsy

The shooting incident is under investigation by the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The Bannock County Coroner’s Office has conducted a forensic autopsy for Victor Perez, as part of the medicolegal death investigation, according to a press update from Bannock County officials.

The autopsy was completed on Monday, April 14, 2025. The results and information obtained will only be provided to the investigating agencies involved and the Perez family.

“While there is significant national interest in this case, it is important to emphasize that it is being handled with the same level of consistency and diligence as all of our cases,” write Bannock County officials.