Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a member of the Senate Agriculture and Finance Committees, is encouraged that Farm Bill negotiators have presented a Farm Bill conference agreement that includes a permanent tax deduction for Endangered Species Act expenditures.
Crapo has introduced legislation seeking tax credits for landowners who volunteer to protect endangered species on their private property and said he will continue to seek credits for participation in ESA programs.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
Initial reports on provisions in the agreement include an increase of more than $4 billion for Farm Bill conservation programs; continued support for farm families and more than $1 billion through a new Specialty Crops Title for programs important to specialty crop producers; a more than $10 billion increase in funding for nutrition programs, including a broad expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program that Crapo worked to extend to Idaho students; and the establishment of a cellulosic biofuels credit, and other programs to increase biofuels production.
University of Idaho President Tim White may be headed to a new position in California.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that the University of California regents are expected to announce the name of UC-Riverside’s new chancellor Thursday morning, and government sources said the new chancellor could come from Idaho.
White had informed the Idaho Board of Regents and senior university leadership that he had been approached by another institution, but has not disclosed that institution’s name. White has been president of the Moscow school since August 2004 after previously serving in several leadership positions at Oregon State University.
UCR’s previous chancellor left in June to become president of Purdue University.
Home foreclosures were on the rise again last month in Idaho.
Idaho’s April foreclosure rate jumped 15 percent from the previous month and was 79 percent ahead of a year ago.
A California company that tracks foreclosures nationwide said there were 396 initial notices of default issued last month, 319 notices of trustee sales and 44 lender repossessions. The total of 759 properties represented one in every 811 Idaho homes, ranking Idaho 18th in the nation in the percentage of homes in foreclosure - Idaho ranked 21st in March.
Nationally, 243,353 properties were in foreclosure in April, a 4 percent increase over the previous month.
The report comes two days after an Idaho report showing 1,498 new notices of default - the first step in the foreclosure process - in the Treasure Valley during the first quarter of 2008.
The 2008 Avista NAIA World Series begins next Friday May 23rd in Lewiston, Idaho and officials are seeking individuals and groups to serve as volunteers for this year’s national tournament. Tournament Director Gary Picone says many shifts have been filled, but there are still some duties and jobs available to those who want to take part.
Gary Picone, LCSC AD & NAIA World Series Tournament Director, comments
Volunteers work in virtually every capacity from taking tickets, ushering, working concessions and selling souvenirs among other things. There are also added benefits to volunteering.
Picone continues
For more information on volunteering for this year’s NAIA World Series call (208) 792-2729.
A busy schedule will keep U.S. Rep. Bill Sali from participating in an Idaho Public Television debate that would have pitted him against his GOP primary opponent.
Sali was elected to represent Idaho’s 1st Congressional District in 2006 and faces a primary challenge from Iraq veteran Matt Salisbury.A Sali spokesman says the congressman doesn’t have time in his schedule for the debate, which was scheduled to be taped Sunday.
Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who is vying for the Republican Senate nomination, has also declined to participate in the IPTV live debate.
Two Idaho misdemeanor charges against a triple-murder suspect being held in Lewiston have been dropped, clearing the way for his extradition back to Louisiana.
The charges of providing false information to authorities and having a concealed weapon during an arrest were dismissed Tuesday morning, a day after Robert McCoy was taken to St Joseph Regional Medical Center after attempting suicide.
According to the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office, McCoy was found hanging from his bedsheet at just after 1 PM. Jail officers cut him down and started CPR until medics arrived a few minutes later – they took over resuscitation efforts and McCoy regained consciousness. He was later returned to the jail and placed on suicide watch.
McCoy, 34, is being held on three murder warrants out of Louisiana for the May 5th murders of his estranged wife’s 17-year-old son and her parents in Bossier City. He was captured Friday night on Normal Hill while traveling as a passenger in a Swift Transportation truck – the driver was not charged. A .380-caliber pistol was retrieved from behind the passenger seat of the truck, and Louisiana authorities believe the gun was used in the Bossier City murders.
Six years after his last election, supporters of Interior Secretary and former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne are ready to pay off the last $15,000 of his campaign debt.
Kempthorne’s gubernatorial campaign committee will hold a “debt retirement reception” in Idaho next week to pay off obligations from his 2002 campaign.
A fundraising consultant who has been raising money to pay off the remaining debt says paying off Kempthorne’s debt became a challenge after the then-governor was nominated by President Bush to serve as secretary of the Interior. Kempthorne had just more than $250,000 in debt remaining after his 2002 campaign. Ninety percent of that money was paid off while he was still Idaho governor. But after Kempthorne’s nomination to the Cabinet, the campaign had to stop raising money to pay off the remaining debt to comply with the stricter federal rules that administration appointees must follow.
As governor, Kempthorne came under fire for his use of campaign money, before Idaho lawmakers closed a legal loophole that allowed officeholders to use campaign money to cover what were deemed “ordinary and necessary” expenses of running an office. Until the loophole was closed, Kempthorne used his campaign funds on more than $70,000 in meals, gifts and sundries - including expenses related to his time as head of the National Governors Association.
A triple-murder suspect captured in Lewiston has been cleared to be extradited back to Louisiana, but he must first face two misdemeanor counts in Idaho.
A pretrial hearing is set for Tuesday morning in Lewiston’s 2nd District Court for Robert McCoy on charges of giving authorities false information and having a concealed weapon during his arrest.
McCoy, 34, is the prime suspect in the slayings of his estranged wife’s 17-year-old son and her parents Monday night in Bossier City, Louisiana. He was caught while traveling as a passenger in a Swift Transportation truck in the Normal Hill area Friday night. Authorities say he eluded authorities for nearly four days by fleeing to Texas, Arkansas and Washington, traveling as a passenger in 18-wheelers.
McCoy was taken into custody without incident, while the truck driver was not charged. A .380-caliber pistol was retrieved from behind the passenger seat of the truck, and Louisiana authorities believe the gun was used in the Bossier City murders.
McCoy was booked into the Nez Perce County Jail on three murder warrants and may face a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
