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Coffee stand hit three times. Krystal Cogswell wears a holstered pistol on her hip while pulling espresso at Jitterz Java in Northwest Spokane. “I figure if they can see it, maybe it will be a deterrent, apparently being a girl isn’t enough,” the 24-year-old said. Robbers have struck Jitterz Java twice in February. On Sunday, a man who appeared to be armed ran off after a barista grabbed her gun and called police. The recent string of violence has owner Sara Chapel fed up. “The way I’ve been scheduling the girls is that at least one girl who carries a...

Former U.S. Rep. Richard Stallings will once again seek Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Stallings held the post for four terms as a Democrat from 1984 to 1992. Following that, he ran for U.S. Senate but lost against Republican Dirk Kempthorne, a two-term mayor from Boise. Stallings is the only Democrat to file for the second congressional race. He will face either GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson or first-time runner Bryan Smith in the November general election, depending on the outcome of May’s GOP primary. Stallings said his experience working on both sides of the aisle will be appeal...

BOISE -- A controversial bill to allow guns on Idaho college campuses has been signed into law by Gov. Butch Otter. The legislation allows a limited group of people to carry concealed weapons on college and university campuses. Supporters say the bill protects people's Second Amendment rights. In his approval letter, Otter stated that he has a sworn responsibility to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, and this legislation fulfills that charge. He vowed to carefully monitor the situation to alleviate any safety concerns. Senate Bill 1254 garnered a lot of opposition from college professors, university administrators and students. Multiple...

The Senate Conservatives Fund, founded by former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, has endorsed Bryan Smith in his campaign to upset eight-term incumbent Mike Simpson in May’s Republican primary. The fund adds to Smith’s list of endorsements, which so far includes the hard-right Club for Growth, The Madison Project, FreedomWorks, Citizens United, the National Association of Gun Rights and Young Americans for Liberty. Simpson’s endorsements include some heavyweights, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Rifle Association. Here’s the full release from the Senate Conservatives Fund: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 11, 2014 Contact: Matt Hoskins (202)...

On March 6th, the Idaho Legislature passed legislation allowing campus carry by a 50-19 vote. In February the state Senate "overwhelmingly" passed the measure, which "now heads to Governor C.L. 'Butch' Otter (R) for his signature."

The sage grouse's potential addition to the endangered species list is a problem of epic economic consequences to states in the West, with Herbert explaining that the impact in lost economic development in Utah tops $41 billion for the oil and gas industry alone. "The negative impacts are not acceptable to me and should not be acceptable to anyone here," Herbert told the crowd. The event at the Utah Department of Natural Resources' auditorium is actually a precursor to a national summit that will be held in Salt Lake City this fall. ... a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision...

BOISE, Idaho — Millions in tax revenue from Idaho's cigarette sales is closer to flowing toward the state's scarred-up highway asphalt and its drought-depleted aquifers. The House voted 63-4 on Friday to redirect cash from the state's 56 cent-per-pack tax — it has totaled about $35 million to $40 million annually — that's currently being used to retire bonds for the $130 million Idaho Capitol renovation, as well as funding cancer programs, state buildings and juvenile probation. With the Capitol bonds nearly paid off, there's been a scramble this session for the money that's no longer needed.

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho wildlife officials have killed 23 wolves in northern Idaho in an effort to boost the number of elk in the region. The Idaho Fish and Game announced Friday afternoon that the animals were killed by USDA Wildlife Service agents using a helicopter in the Lolo elk zone near the Montana border. It's the sixth time the agency has taken action to kill wolves in the Lolo zone in the past four years, bringing the total number of wolves killed there to 48. The efforts are part of the state's predator management plan, which calls for killing...

BOISE, Idaho — TO the chief counsel of the Idaho State Legislature: In light of the bill permitting guns on our state’s college and university campuses, which is likely to be approved by the state House of Representatives in the coming days, I have a matter of practical concern that I hope you can help with: When may I shoot a student? I am a biology professor, not a lawyer, and I had never considered bringing a gun to work until now. But since many of my students are likely to be armed, I thought it would be a good...

A bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to customers based on personal, religious beliefs is now on the desk of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, as protests continue. The state legislature passed the bill late Thursday, but not without a fiery debate. "This is simply protecting religious freedom that is recognized and defended and supported in the First Amendment that the founders wanted, nothing else," said Republican Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who sponsored the bill. "There's only type of equality," said House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, a Democrat. "And it's equal." Brewer, a Republican, vetoed a similar bill last year...

Idaho GOP gubernatorial candidate Russ Fulcher is speaking this evening from 6 - 7:30 PM at the Garden Plaza retirement facility on Mullan Ave. in Post Falls. Fulcher is currently an Idaho state senator from Meridian which is down near Boise. He is a consistent conservative who has stood up to RINO Gov. Butch Otter many times. North Idahoans should try to get to this event as his candidacy gains steam.

On Saturday, a police officer in Filer, Idaho responded to a call about two dogs running around without leashes on a suburban street. Thirty-eight seconds after exiting his patrol car, Officer Tarek Hassani determined that one of the animals was too aggressive and fatally shot it in the front yard of its owner's house. A video ...shows the 7-year-old black labrador convulsing and whimpering before moving out of the dash cam's line of sight. The dog, named “Hooch,” belonged to Rick Clubb, who says he suffers from Parkinson's disease and that Hooch was his trained service animal. At the time...

After championing the Affordable Care Act defunding strategy that led to the government shutdown in October, Sen. Ted Cruz continues to do Speaker John A. Boehner no favors — and some of Boehner’s allies think the tea party Texan should mind his own business. Cruz in recent weeks has undermined Boehner’s approach on both immigration and the debt limit — the two biggest issues the Ohio Republican has been trying to navigate through his conference. As Boehner unveiled his leadership team’s immigration principles at the House GOP’s retreat two weeks ago, Cruz and his staff simultaneously torched the push for...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has backed off plans to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list. ... The government plan would have allowed gray wolves in the lower 48 United States to be hunted or killed. They have been under federal protection since 1967. The Mexican gray wolf, found only in the Southwest, retains protection.

Police arrested dozens of gay rights activists Monday after a protest that blocked entrances to the Idaho Senate chambers for more than two hours. Former state Sen. Nicole LeFavour, the Idaho Legislature's first openly gay lawmaker and an organizer of the protest, was among those arrested. Ahead of the demonstration, she had said the group would block the entrances until lawmakers agreed to take up a bill adding anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people or until protesters were removed by authorities. The arrests Monday began after Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill attempted to enter the chamber about 11...

Idaho would join a handful of states that allow students, teachers and others to bring guns to class under a measure resurrected by gun advocates in the Legislature on Monday.

It’s no coincidence that sage grouse habitat also happens to intersect both the largest untapped coal deposits in the country as well as large parts of the Bakken oil field. It’s clear the primary motivation to focus on sage grouse for ESA listing is to provide yet another tool for special interest groups to block energy development. And in this obstructionist toolbox, there’s no heavier sledgehammer than the Endangered Species Act. What an interesting irony, then, that so much effort is going into “protecting” one bird from energy development, when the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to hundreds...

Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch are co-sponsoring legislation to expand gun rights of law-abiding citizens in states like Idaho. The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014 will allow an individual permitted or entitled by their state of residence to carry a concealed firearm the right to maintain that concealed carry in any other state that allows or does not prohibit the practice. In addition, concealed carry permits will be treated like drivers’ licenses, in that an individual will not have to obtain a separate permit for each state. Introducing the bill along with Crapo and Risch are...

Emmett, Idaho, Nullifies Indefinite Detention of NDAA Written by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D. Another American town has decided its citizens will not be denied due process by the president of the United States. By a vote of 5-1, the city council of Emmett, Idaho, passed a resolution last month prohibiting the enforcement of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As readers are likely aware, those particular provisions of the NDAA subject citizens of the United States to indefinite detention in a federal prison upon suspicion by the president and unnamed “high-level security advisors” of...