Free Republic

Governor Brad Little signed an executive order that aims to ramp up timber harvests during a visit to Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday. Titled the “Make Forests Healthy Again Act,” the executive order directs the Idaho Department of Lands to expand on its partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to reduce wildfire risk in Idaho’s federally managed forest lands. Active management activities include “increasing timber harvest, restoring watersheds to support the industry, protecting communities, and making our forests healthier, more resilient and resistant to catastrophic wildfire,” said IDL director Dustin Miller. Sixty percent of Idaho’s land is owned and managed by...

An Idaho woman filed a notice of tort claim Monday with the Kootenai County clerk saying county officials and others violated her constitutional rights when she was removed from a town hall meeting in February. “Town halls are intended to foster conversation and discourse across the aisle, which is why I am deeply alarmed that private security dragged me out of the public meeting for simply exercising my fundamental right of free speech,” Teresa Borrenpohl said in a press release. The tort claim says Borrenpohl is seeking damages of at least $5 million. Wendy Olson, an attorney for Borrenpohl, said...

City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six men involved in a chaotic legislative town hall, including the private security guards who dragged a Post Falls woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium. Paul Trouette, Russell Dunne, Christofer Berg and Jesse Jones, all of whom are associated with the security firm Lear Asset Management, are charged with the misdemeanor crimes of battery and false imprisonment. The five men and Alex Trouette were also cited for security agent uniform violations and security agent duties violations. Post Falls resident Michael Keller is also charged with battery, a misdemeanor. The charges...

Vermont socialist has spent millions on private jet travel over the years.. Sen. Bernie Sanders has crisscrossed the country on his nationwide Fighting Oligarchy Tour to rail against billionaires and supposed "oligarchs" like Elon Musk—while traveling like an oligarch himself. Campaign expenditures released Tuesday and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show Sanders's main campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spent $221,723 chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025, with the first payment coming just days before the launch of his tour in February. "We will not accept a rigged economy where working people struggle while billionaires become...

The Defender’s Big Pharma Watch delivers the latest headlines related to pharmaceutical companies and their products, including vaccines, drugs, and medical devices and treatments. The views expressed in the below excerpts from other news sources do not necessarily reflect the views of The Defender. Our goal is to provide readers with breaking news that affects human health and the environment.Idaho Capital Sun reported: Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill to let ivermectin be sold as an over-the-counter medicine — without a prescription or consultation with a health care professional. Typically used to treat parasites in humans, ivermectin...

Idaho’s chief lawyer has asked the city of Boise to comply with a new law that limits what flags may be flown by government buildings and warned that the state may try to withhold sales tax revenues if the city refuses. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador wrote a letter to Boise Mayor Lauren McLean on Tuesday requesting that she take down the prohibited flags outside city hall — as of Wednesday morning, the city displayed a Pride flag and a flag honoring organ and tissue donors, along with an American flag, city of Boise flag, state of Idaho flag and...

WEST LA FAYETTE, Ind. — A crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 people turned out to hear Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk speak on Thursday at Purdue University, with many eager to ask the conservative commentator a question. Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative student group, visited West La Fayette as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” The tour included stops this week at Illinois State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A campus police officer provided The College Fix with an estimate on attendance near the end of the event. Hundreds of students lined...

Republican Idaho Governor Brad Little passed a law last week granting judges and juries the power to sentence convicted pedophiles to the death penalty. The news came a month after Little made firing squads the Gem State’s primary method of execution for child sex abusers. Upon ratifying the legislation, Little said: “Just like capital murder destroys lives, aggravated sexual abuse of a young child devastates victims and families for generations. The sexual abuse of children is sickening and evil, and perpetrators convicted of these crimes deserve the ultimate punishment.” Idaho House Bill 380, sponsored by Republican state Reps. Bruce Skaug...

An Idaho gun owner from Kuna was found not guilty by a jury of his peers recently in a case that some are questioning why the gun owner was charged in the first place. What’s Happening: Theron Cameron, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot who does search and rescue missions, a combat veteran, and former sheriff’s deputy, rushed to his child’s bus stop after his wife called, terrified. A man had attempted to kill himself and was threatening kids and Theron’s wife, according to testimony in court. Theron eventually drew his weapon in a low-ready stance after the man was running at...

MERIDIAN, Idaho — On Saturday at approximately 1 p.m., a protest in front of the Tesla dealership on Franklin Road in Meridian turned violent when one protester struck another counterprotester with their vehicle. According to a release from the Meridian Police Department, 70-year-old Christopher Talbot of Meridian made an "obscene gesture" towards a 49-year-old before hitting the same person with their car. The victim had just parked his truck, which was adorned with pro-Trump flags, and exited the vehicle when Talbot hit him with his car. After being hit, the 49-year-old transported himself to a nearby hospital, where he was...

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill into law on Thursday requiring public schools in the state to utilize a prenatal development educational curriculum in their classrooms. Idaho is the third state to implement a prenatal development curriculum, following North Dakota and Tennessee. Currently, 20 states are considering similar legislation, despite pushback from pro-abortion groups such as SIECUS and Planned Parenthood — with the latter claiming that prenatal development education for teens could “stigmatize” abortion. According to the law — Human Growth and Development Instruction in Public Schools — the curriculum will “include instruction on human growth and development” to...

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 59 into law on Wednesday — a measure that would safeguard conscience rights for pro-life medical professionals. The bill, which had been sent to the governor’s desk earlier in the month, aims to protect healthcare professionals from being compelled to perform non-emergency procedures like abortions that conflict with their religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. Supporters argue that it safeguards the conscience rights of medical providers. The Medical Ethics Defense Act applies to a wide range of healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and psychologists. Under the new law, these professionals cannot be forced...

One of the coeds butchered at the University of Idaho in 2022 had DNA from three different people under her fingernails, according to bombshell newly unsealed court documents. However, lawyers for murder suspect Bryan Kohberger say a test to match the traces to their client came back with inconclusive results. As a result, the evidence should be excluded from his trial, they argued in a court filing that was made public on Tuesday The samples taken from the fingernails of 23-year-old Madison Mogen offer yet another twist in the case of the four students who were horrifically stabbed to death...

Canadian wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and central Idaho in 1996 — but within a few years their territory and numbers had greatly expanded, along with their negative impact on livestock and elk herds.

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A legislative town hall meeting hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) descended into violence on Saturday when three unmarked men forcibly removed a woman from the auditorium. Leading to her receiving a citation which has since been rescinded. The Coeur d'Alene Police confirmed Lear Asset Management was the company that employed those three men. Teresa Borrenpohl was at Coeur d'Alene High School, where Republican legislators had gathered to provide updates on the current legislative session. The KCRCC and the Coeur d'Alene Police confirmed that the KCRCC hired the private security company. According to...

...Sidney Noble clocked out from his job as a botanist for the Payette National Forest last Friday afternoon after surviving the first wave of federally mandated workforce cuts. By Sunday night, he too had been fired. .. The statement said the USDA let go employees in the probationary period of their employment.... ...The firings have left vacancies across the Payette and Boise forests that employees who have not been fired claim will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill.... ... Those projects include work related to wildfire risk mitigation, timber harvest preparations, ,,,......environmental reviews,,,,,,and maintenance of bridges, roads, campgrounds, and...

President Trump issued a 90-day moratorium on federal renewable energy projects, including Lava RidgeIdaho legislators have unanimously voted to oppose the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project in the Magic Valley, sending a clear message to Congress and President Trump. The Idaho House of Representatives approved a House Joint Memorial, which serves as a formal letter of opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Project, proposed on Bureau of Land Management land in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties. This decision comes amid concerns about the project's potential impact on local resources, such as the aquifer. "This is a House Joint Memorial, which...

In a major ruling, the judge overseeing the case of the man charged with killing four Idaho college students in 2022 has denied a request to exclude potentially key DNA and other evidence from his upcoming capital murder trial. Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger had sought to suppress DNA evidence that was seen as a linchpin of prosecutors' case against him -- evidence they say directly links Kohberger to the crime scene. In addition, lawyers sought to exclude data obtained from various online accounts like Apple, Google and Amazon belonging to Kohberger; his apartment in Washington; and his parents' Pennsylvania home.

Believing that the new Trump administration may drop the former Biden administration’s lawsuit challenging Idaho’s pro-life law, St. Luke’s Health, the largest health system in Idaho, has filed a lawsuit of its own. St. Luke’s filed suit against Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador on January 14, 2025, to extend pro-abortion protections ensuring that induced abortions — the direct and intentional killing of preborn children — can be carried out in medical emergencies despite such exceptions that already exist in the state’s pro-life law. St. Luke’s Chief Legal Officer Christine Neuhoff said the lawsuit is an attempt “to advocate for our...

PAYETTE, Idaho — A Payette man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly planting an explosive device on a railroad car. According to the Payette Police Department, officers responded to North 8th Street around 6 p.m. on New Year’s Day after receiving a report of a suspicious man attempting to light something on fire near a parked railroad car. The suspect was later identified as 40-year-old Brent Sharrai. Police tracked footprints in the snow from the scene and discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) near the railroad car. Officers continued following the footprints to a trailer in the 600 block of North...