Free Republic

Idaho Falls Rep. Bryan Zollinger took to Facebook on Friday, re-posting a conspiracy theory suggesting that last weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Va., could have been an inside job orchestrated to smear President Donald Trump. The post, written on a site called The American Thinker, is replete with wild, unevidenced claims couched in what-ifs. “The conflagration in Charlottesville is beginning to feel like a set-up, perhaps weeks or months in the planning,” the author wrote. In a comment, Zollinger called the blog post “completely plausible.” The post suggests, at various points, that the white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, which resulted in...

The opening gambit for refugee resettlement in Bonner County was met with strong opposition in Sandpoint Wednesday evening. Attendees from all parts of Northern Idaho quickly filled the 150 seat capacity of Community Hall while 50 or more remained on the front lawn and sidewalk waving signs opposing the proposal. The meeting, which was scheduled opposite the final chance for citizen input at the Sandpoint City Annual Budget meeting, may not have gone as planned by organizers from The Sandpoint Human Rights Task Force. Expecting a capacity crowd, the fire department was there to keep a head count as people...

TWIN FALLS — Sayrd Heidemann hopes to hire five people a day until she’s filled 445 new entry-level positions in Twin Falls. C3/CustomerContactChannels announced Wednesday its plans to add hundreds of full-time jobs at its call center over the next four to six months. And Heidemann, the company’s talent acquisition manager, says she will focus her efforts entirely within the Twin Falls area. As unemployment hovers below 3 percent, it will be a challenge to get applicants amid fierce competition, but she feels her team is up to the task. “I filled over 150 positions in the last four months,”...

“OUTRAGEOUS” Probation & Gag Order for muslim migrant rapists of 5-year-old girl in Idaho

Idaho achieved a notable distinction last year: It became one of the hardest places in America for someone to quit a job for a better one. The state did this by making it easier for companies to enforce noncompete agreements, which prevent employees from leaving their company for a competitor. While its economy is known for agriculture — potatoes are among the state’s biggest exports — Idaho has a long history as a technology hub. And the new law landed in the middle of the tech world, causing a clash between hungry start-ups looking to poach employees and more established...

A 15-year-old girl is accused of stealing a pickup truck on Tuesday and promptly leading Ada County deputies on a chase that exceeded 100 mph. Four other girls, ranging in age from 9 to 15, were also in the pickup at the time of the pursuit, police said. The incident began around 4 a.m. Tuesday when an Ada County sheriff’s deputy saw a Ford F-150 going 65 mph in a 40 mph zone on Overland Road, by the Maple Grove Road intersection. The deputy turned on his emergency lights and attempted to pull the truck over when it took off...

Hammond, ID (WGN) -- A 13-year-old boy from Hammond, Indiana was hit in the head by a bullet that fell after someone fired a gun During a 4th of July celebration. The teen was flown to a hospital in Chicago in critical condition. His grandmother tells WGN the boy is not doing well. The teen was playing basketball on Saturday around 9:30 p.m. in the backyard of a home in the 7300 block of Harrison Ave when he fell to the ground. His friends thought he was having a seizure, but when he got to the hospital, they found he...

POST FALLS, Idaho — The nuns at St. Dominic's school and convent near Post Falls said teens have been trespassing on their property and verbally assaulted them for a long time. The nuns said the teens will come right into their main parking lot at St. Dominic’s. When nuns are just a couple of dozen yards away, the teens will swear and yell insults directly at them. The nuns who live at the convent said they believe the teens are going out of their way to harass them. "It's becoming more and more aggressive,” Sister Aimee Dominique said. The nuns...

BURLEY — Fifth District Judge Randy Stoker said Tuesday he would have shot a Burley man accused in a baseball bat beating had the man broken into the judge’s home instead of the victim’s. Stoker handed down the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for Logan John Urrizaga, 23, but suspended that sentence and placed Urizzaga in the state’s retained jurisdiction program aimed at rehabilitating offenders. Urrizaga was charged in September after he beat the victim with the bat in the forehead and legs. In the middle of handing down the sentence, Stoker told Urrizaga, who was talking to...

The travesty of justice in Idaho is now complete. In the summer of 2016, a 5-year-old girl was orally and anally raped and urinated upon by three Muslim migrant boys in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, instead of getting justice, the victim’s family has been abused by law enforcement and governing authorities as if they were the criminals – because what happened to their little girl contradicts the politically correct narrative about Muslim migrants. On Tuesday, the perpetrators were sentenced, and the final injustice was done to this poor girl. The injustice began in the proceedings at the Snake River...

A judge sentenced three Muslim refugee boys in the sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl in Idaho, but nobody knows the length or terms of the sentence because the judge has barred everyone in the courtroom, including the victim’s own parents, from speaking about the case. Mathew Staver, chairman and co-founder of the nonprofit legal assistance agency Liberty Counsel, told WND that Judge Borresen was completely out of line in issuing a gag order after the fact in a criminal case. “It’s unconstitutional for the judge to do that. There are gag orders that can be put on people during...

When the governor called, Sherry Japhet answered. Japhet is a freelance makeup artist from Boise, Idaho. She's worked in the business for more than 20 years, but without a license. That's never been a problem for her. She's landed gigs from coast-to-coast, working on television sets and for fashion magazines. Some of those calls came from Idaho Gov. Butch Otter. Japhet has helped Otter and his wife, Lori, look their best for televised public service announcements and political ads. No more, she says.

Ten Idaho and farmers and ranchers spent an hour meeting with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke June 2. They covered a wide range of topics important to the state’s and nation’s farming industries. Farmers and ranchers described a private meeting with two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members June 2 as unprecedented and historic. Instead of addressing the group, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke listened and took notes, according to those who were there. “They just didn’t have an agenda. They truly wanted to listen to us,” said Aberdeen potato farmer...

In a first and significant step towards the remonetization of Gold and Silver, Idaho voted tonight to remove income tax on precious metals. This is the first step in what will likely be a cascade of other states following suit. Last week we discussed here the Arizona Senate Finance and Rules Committees' calling out the Fed on Gold Taxation by considering legislation (HB 2014) officially defining gold, silver, and other precious metals as legal tender. The bill also exempts transactions in precious metals from state capital gains taxes, thus ensuring that people are not punished by the taxman for rejecting...

Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador, who made headlines over the weekend for his comment at a town hall that "nobody" dies from a lack of health care, is running for Idaho governor. The fourth-term congressman filed paperwork Tuesday morning with Idaho's Secretary of State. Labrador, a conservative Republican and founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, faced immediate backlash over the weekend after claiming "nobody dies because they don't have access to health care" at a town hall in Idaho. Later, the Republican issued a statement to reporters acknowledging his answer "wasn't very elegant," but he was "responding to the...

BURLEY, Idaho — Potato farmers say the expansion of the local McCain Foods USA processing plant should significantly increase demand for their crop and boost the area’s economy. McCain officials announced the $200 million investment this week. The expansion should be operational by the late summer of 2018 and will employ 180 new workers. “From my standpoint, that’s as big of a thing as we could have had announced in this area,” said Mark Darrington, a McCain grower from Declo. “For this to come right into the heart of our production area, this is a huge win for agriculture and...

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains violent descriptions of alleged child abuse. Reader discretion is advised. BLACKFOOT — Court documents unsealed Tuesday detail the horrific events investigators say happened when an 18-month-old was “viciously attacked” – receiving injuries that led to his untimely death, according to court documents. Jesus Adan Castillo, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of Zachary Tendoy, the son of Castillo’s girlfriend. On March 23, around 4 a.m., the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call that a child was not breathing at a home on the 1600 block of Camas Street....

REXBURG — Ethics and compliance software and services company NAVEX Global@ today announced that it will expand its operations in Rexburg, Idaho, and will add at least 80 more jobs to meet the demands of the company's rapidly growing business and expanding global customer base. The company made the announcement during a press conference held on Wednesday at Hemming Village. NAVEX Global is the world's largest provider of whistleblower hotlines and operates contact centers in Charlotte, North Carolina; Norcross, Georgia; and Lisbon, Portugal. The company expects to add between 80 and 100 new employees to staff a new contact center...

Three refugees, ages 14, 10 and seven, pled guilty to sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in Idaho. The boys, one from Iraq and two from Eritrea, entered their guilty plea last week but the case’s resolution received almost no national attention. “We agreed to the plea bargains. That by no means implies my clients were, or are, fully satisfied with the outcome of these cases or the prosecuting attorney,” Mark Guerry, the attorney for the girl’s family told the Idaho Statesman. “After 10 months their right to some form of justice was long overdue.” “They were prepared to testify at...

Japan-based Sakae Casting opened first U.S. location in the eastern region of The Gem State in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Sakae Casting specializes in castings for inserting stainless steel pipes into an aluminum casting product with minimized clearance, necessary for optimal performance of semi-conductors and super computers. The Idaho Falls location will give Sakae the best U.S. location to work directly with the University of Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the region’s extensive nuclear and advanced manufacturing sectors to further their research capabilities and U.S. product sales. "It is my mission to create job opportunities in Eastern Idaho to support...