Sponsors of a bill that would license midwives and allow them to dispense some medications say the measure will be brought to Idaho legislators again in the 2009 session.

The bill would require midwives to be licensed under standards based on the “certified professional midwife” credential from the National Commission on Certifying Agencies. Experienced midwives who meet the criteria would have one year to obtain a license, and less-experienced midwives would be allowed time to take classes.

The bill would only allow midwives to handle medications needed for their jobs, and they would not be able to write prescriptions. It also would shelter health care providers who treat patients that also have been treated by a midwife from being held liable from some problems arising from the midwife’s care.

A similar measure was introduced in the 2008 Legislature, but the Idaho Midwifery Council pulled it in March after the attorney general’s office said it was too ambiguous.

Several groups opposed that bill, including the Idaho Medical Association, which had concerns with educational requirements. (AP)

Lewiston police are asking for help identifying a man whose picture was captured on the surveillance camera he was allegedly trying to steal.

The camera was reported stolen Friday from the rear of the Southway Shell convenience store in the 800 block of 16^th Avenue, but police said the man’s face was recorded before the device was disconnected.

Depending on the value of the camera, police said the man could be charged with either misdemeanor or felony theft.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lewiston Police Department at 746-0171.

A man was taken to St Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston Monday after falling into a canyon outside of Asotin.

The man, a member of a five-person work crew, had been building a fence 10 miles southwest of Asotin near Meyer Ridge Road when he fell 10 feet down George Creek Canyon, suffering a large laceration to his head.

Because of the steep terrain, the victim had to be lowered to a Medstar helicopter at the bottom of the canyon. The man, whose name was not released, was put in a stokes basket and lowered down the canyon with a 300-foot rope.

The rescue took about three hours.

As of Tuesday, travelers entering the United States from Canada at the Blaine border crossing can shave some time off the inspection process if they have a passport card or an enhanced Washington State driver’s license.

The cards contain tiny radio frequency identification technology tags, which communicate with readers at the inspection lanes from 20 to 30 feet away. By the time a vehicle pulls up to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection booth, the officers inside will have identification information on their screens along with any “hits” from counterterrorism and criminal databases.

Officials say the technology should help reduce waiting time at the border.

The RFID tags in the enhanced driver’s license and the passport card contain no personal information, just a unique reference number that allows the CBP computers to call up personal identification data – that’s according to the state Department of Licensing and the U.S. State Department, which issue the IDs.

The new technology is also being introduced at the border crossing in Nogales, Ariz. Blaine and Nogales are the first two ports of entry to use the RFID technology, which is slated to expand to 39 border crossings this fall. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Idaho’s low-income residents have extra help keeping warm this winter.

The state has 54 percent more funding than it did last year from the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The $17.9 million available to Idahoans this year could increase the average benefit to eligible households by more than $100.

More than 32,000 low-income Idaho families received home heating assistance through the program last year, with an average payment of $278 per household made directly to utility companies. This heating season’s average benefit is estimated at $386.

Eligibility is based on income and benefit amounts are calculated on “energy burden,” which factors income, annual energy costs and geographic location. Areas that experience more severe cold weather or have higher annual energy costs are awarded a greater benefit through the program.

Under the expanded income guidelines, a family of four with an income up to $2,827 per month can still be eligible - a threshold $177 per month higher than last year. The change should provide more help for Idaho seniors on fixed incomes.

People who meet income guidelines can contact their regional Community Action Agency to apply for assistance or by contacting the 211 Idaho CareLine.

In addition to the low-income heating assistance, Idaho received approximately $4.1 million in funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps low-income people repair or replace heating sources, insulation, weather-stripping and caulking in their homes.

Police in southwest Idaho say teenagers are ending up in the hospital after experimenting with a hallucinogenic plant common in the region.

A spokesman for the Ada County sheriff’s office says the teens are eating seeds from moonflowers, a plant often found along canals and irrigation banks. The seeds produce a sense of euphoria followed by hallucinations, fever, nausea, dizziness and short-term memory loss. Authorities say the symptoms can last for days and can lead to bizarre, violent behavior.

Last week, a Meridian boy who had eaten moonflower seeds was found walking around his neighborhood and talking to himself when officers approached him – he acted out violently and it required four officers to get him into an ambulance.

Moonflower is also called datura, and is a form of jimson weed. It is used to kill other weeds along canal banks, and is also common along roads and pastures.

Police said moonflower is a legal plant, but they are trying to educate teens about its dangers. (AP)

The re-trial of a Clarkston woman convicted of a 2005 murder has been re-scheduled for next year.

Kelley Wilson, 42, will stand trial March 20 at the Columbia County Courthouse in Dayton. The retrial had been slated to start first on Sept. 8 and then Dec. 5, but Wilson’s attorney asked to move the trial date due to a scheduling conflict for an expert witness.

In July, Judge William Acey cited publicity and media coverage as grounds for allowing Wilson’s trial to be moved out of Asotin County.

Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection to the March 2005 stabbing death of her former boyfriend Charles Thrush at his Clarkston Heights residence. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and was serving her term in Gig Harbor. However, the Washington state Court of Appeals in Spokane reversed the convictions, ruling that the Asotin County trial court erred in admitting evidence of Wilson’s prior bad acts or intent to kill.

Wilson is being held in the Asotin County Jail.

The man accused of killing two men and injuring another during a 6,500-mile crime spree across the West last year will be re-evaluated by a court-appointed psychiatrist in Idaho to determine whether he is mentally incompetent to stand trial for first-degree murder.

In August, Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail ordered John Delling to remain in state custody until at least late November before his Ada County first-degree murder trial in the death of Bradley Morse can begin.

Court records say that Delling admitted to police that he shot and injured former high school classmate Jacob Thompson in Tuscon, Ariz., on March 20, 2007, then killed David Boss in Boss’ Moscow apartment on March 30, before killing Morse in Boise April 2.  Delling was arrested the next day in Sparks, Nev., driving Morse’s car.

The Latah County trial is on hold until the Ada County case is resolved.

Delling has been in the care of the state Health and Welfare Department since late February to receive medical treatment for paranoid schizophrenia, and Bail has twice ruled that he was incapable of proceeding with his trial or make informed decisions about his medical treatment.

The latest mental health evaluation is expected to be completed by mid- to late-December. (Idaho Statesman)