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Eight of eighteen planned boat inspection sites in Idaho are up and running in an attempt to prevent the invasive quagga and zebra mussels from entering the state.
The invasive mussels reproduce and spread rapidly, clogging machinery and water pipes and destroying aquatic ecosystems.
An officials with the Idaho Department of Agriculture says inspection sites are focusing on boats coming into Idaho from other states.
The inspection program is being paid for by a special invasive species sticker that must be placed on boats and that costs from $5 to $20. (AP)

Washington tax activist Tim Eyman appears likely to get his latest campaign on the fall ballot after turning in an estimated 314,000 petition signatures in Olympia this week on Initiative 1033.
Eyman’s latest measure would put a yearly cap on money flowing into the general checking accounts of state, county and city governments. Any money over the cap would be used to lower property taxes in the following year and voter-approved taxes would not be subject to the cap, which would be the rate of inflation plus population growth.
Opponents say the initiative would hurt the government’s ability to provide necessary public services, at a time when the economy is still in recession.
It will take a few weeks for elections workers to officially certify the signatures. (AP)

Idaho educators will join their colleagues from across the country for a dialogue on issues facing their schools, their students and their profession during the National Education Association’s 147th annual Representative Assembly, July 3-6 in San Diego.

Nearly 10,000 teachers and education support professionals will convene for the RA, the highest decision-making body within the over 3.2 million-member NEA.

Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood says the agenda will be full for Idaho’s 50 delegates headed to the assembly.

Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood comments

Another topic up for discussion will be dropout prevention. A study released in April 2008 showed that at least three out of 10 U.S. students do not graduate on time through the regular school system. In Idaho, the average graduation rate was 80.5 percent.

The Representative Assembly meets every Independence Day holiday, and next year’s gathering will be in New Orleans.

A federal judge says the US Forest Service may not use an advisory committee’s report on whether domestic sheep pose a disease risk to bighorn sheep because the committee was improperly formed.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill’s decision could complicate the Forest Service’s decision on whether to close 61 percent of the domestic sheep grazing allotments in the Payette National Forest.
The Idaho Wool Growers Association filed the lawsuit in 2008, arguing that the Forest Service hand-picked scientists, who then met behind closed doors, to come up with opinions supporting a decision to close grazing allotments to domestic sheep.
In his ruling, Winmill declined to comment on the conclusions of the committee, noting only that the process itself was flawed. (AP)

Weak June hiring sent Idaho’s jobless rate to a 25-year high.
Idaho businesses hired fewer people last month than they have during June for the last decade, pushing the forecasted seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up another half percentage point to 8.3 percent.
June’s rate was the highest jobless rate since October 1983 when the state was pulling out of the double-dip recession that ushered in a major economic shift from natural resources to services augmented by some expanded advanced manufacturing – particularly in the high technology sector.
Another 3,400 Idaho workers lost their jobs in June, driving the number of unemployed to over 62,000 for the first time ever. Over 40,000 of those workers shared $59 million in unemployment insurance benefits paid out during the month. A year ago, Idaho’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, and the number of workers without jobs was under 36,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, would-be ex-smokers can request free nicotine patches, gum and lozenges from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Project Filter.

The program ran out of money earlier this year, making the free four-week supplies unavailable in May and June. State Public Health officials said the shortfall was because they had a record number of people seeking to quit after the federal tobacco tax increased from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack.

The Idaho Legislature approved $700,000 to run the nicotine program for fiscal year 2010, which began July 1. (AP)

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has named Sharon Harrigfeld to head the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.

Harrigfeld, who has worked for the department for almost 14 years, succeeds retiring director Larry Callicutt.

Harrigfeld has been the administrator of the department’s community operations and program services division since 2007. Previously she was a juvenile justice planner for the department. (AP)

Federal housing officials are sending Idaho more than $8.7 million in stimulus money to spur affordable housing programs that have stalled amid the economic downturn.

The money doled out by U.S Housing and Urban Development will allow the Idaho Housing and Finance Association to resume funding of affordable rental housing projects across the state.

The injection of cash is also designed to stimulate employment and spending in the construction sector. (AP)