Free Republic

Across a frightened nation divided by politics and culture, a fragile harmony is ascendant, as Americans in small towns and large cities alike cry out in trembling unison: Hey, where did all these Californians come from? Talk of a “California Exodus” is sweeping the country—and so are anxieties about its effects on the rest of the West. In October, the Boise mayoral candidate Wayne Richey proposed at an election forum to build a $26 billion wall to keep out people moving from the Golden State. (His backup plan to stop the invasion of Boise? "Trash the place.”) A viral Wall...

An Idaho state legislator plans to introduce a bill that would require biologically male athletes to compete on boys sports teams, regardless of whether they identify as a transgender girl or not. Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt is the latest Republican lawmaker across the country to introduce legislation ensuring girls aren’t forced to compete against biologically male athletes. The wave of proposed legislation comes as biological males have piled up victories in female athletics. “Boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it’s not fair. We cannot physically compete against...

A large group of local and federal law enforcement officers are executing a search warrant of the Salem home owned by Chad Daybell and his deceased spouse, Tammy. The group of law enforcement, including the Rexburg Police Department, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Forensic Unit from the FBI’s Salt Lake City Office, arrived at the home early Friday. Marked and unmarked vehicles surround the rural property at 202 North 1900 East. Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries tells EastIdahoNews.com that law enforcement recently obtained sufficient probable cause to get a search warrant for the home. Officers are searching for forensic...

Loveless likely died around 1916 at age 46, the organization said. He appears to have been killed and dismembered. Before his death, Loveless had been arrested at least twice for bootlegging and escaped custody by sawing through jail bars, the organization said Around that time Clark County Sheriff Bart May said Loveless killed his wife with an ax and was incarcerated in what was then Freemont County. He escaped again, this time using a saw he hid in his shoe, the organization said. He was never seen again. About 12 years later, a mummified hand was found, along with an...

DNA and genetic genealogy have helped investigators solve a century-old Idaho mystery. Outlaw Joseph Henry Loveless was killed and dismembered in 1916 and buried in a shallow grave in Buffalo Cave outside Dubois. At the time, Loveless was wanted for escaping from a jail where he was being held for killing his wife with an ax. Loveless’ remains were found in the cave four decades ago—but not his head--and they remained unidentified until just recently. Lee Bingham Redgrave, a genealogist with the nonprofit DNA Doe Project, determined the remains belonged to Loveless after painstaking research that included constructing an elaborate...

Investigators believe that Lori Vallow, mother of missing siblings Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, knows either the location of the children or what happened to them, according to a press release issued Monday by Rexburg Police. The release said police know the children are not with their mother and her husband. >>More →

A truce has been called between religious folks and gays. Or at least that's what we're being told. The Fairness for All Act, legislation intended to give rights to both Christian conservatives and transgenders, has been put before the House. For the latter, it proposes that "sexual orientation" be added to the Civil Rights Act, making it hard to discriminate against anyone on the basis of sexual identity. It gives sweeping protections in housing, business, banking, and "public accommodations." On the other hand, it grants protections to anyone in a business with fewer than 15 employees and grants exemptions to...

Leaders who spoke during a Friday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new Interstate 15 interchange touted the $31 million project as a prime example of what can be accomplished when entities cooperate. The Northgate interchange opened to the public a few hours after the ceremony concluded, with Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad, Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England and members of the Bannock County Commission all driving their cars across the bridge as the official first users. The interchange is located north of both the Pocatello Creek Road exit and I-15’s “flying Y” with Interstate 86. The interchange was first added to...

A father and daughter are convicted at Trial for Involvement in $100 Million Fraudulent Tax Refund Scheme. Kenneth Edmonson and his daughter Danielle claimed that the government owed them $175 million in tax refunds. They were paid out $3.4 million in refunds through the issuance of U.S. Treasury checks before the IRS realized that they had in fact, never bought a winning ticket. In 2015, Danielle Takeila Edmonson managed to get the IRS to pay out $239K in tax refunds for winning an unspecified amount of money from the lottery. With that she bought a BMW and took $60 000...

Idaho Republican Representative Russ Fulcher on Wednesday read off a list of crimes that he said President Donald Trump committed as the House debated impeachment on the floor of the House of Representatives. “In a day heavy in verbal debate, I chose to use my time to enumerate in detail every high crime and misdemeanor committed by the President of the United States,” Fulcher began. “I will do so now.” For the next 20 seconds, Fulcher stood in silence until his time expired and did not name a single crime committed by the president. WATCH:

There;s a lot of America's heartland that's been gutted out by the forces of Big Government and Big Business but some Americans still have that good vision for the farmlands and ranch lands of our country under federal government control. The Republicans moving the Bureau of Land Management office to Grand Junction, Colorado doesn't change the principle of federal control that strangles the use of the land and put people like Dwight and Steven Hammond in jail. When Ammon Bundy brought his peaceful protest..... In our world today much rage obviously in the spirit of anarchy and Marxism-Leninism manifesting itself...

GOP Congressmen Send Letter To CNN’s Jeff Zucker For Refusing To Air Trump Campaign Ads A group of Republican congressmen sent a letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker for refusing to air President Donald Trump’s campaign ads on the network.The letter, spearheaded by South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan, was also signed by the following Republicans: North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, Texas Rep. Randy Weber, Idaho Rep. Russ Fulcher, Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne and Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube. They all believe CNN could be breaking the law...

IDAHO FALLS — Local miller Jeremiah Clark plans to soon expand into a new Idaho Falls facility with the capacity to process up to 5 percent of the world’s quinoa supply. Clark, owner of American Mills, LLC, contracts with 17 growers from American Falls through Ashton to raise his own proprietary variety of the nutrient-rich, pseudo-cereal crop. His quinoa fields range in size from 100 to 200 acres, and he’s already made Eastern Idaho the largest quinoa production region in North America. He hopes to have equipment installed by the end of October to commence operations at his new quinoa...

Wolf depredations on livestock in Idaho reached a record level during the past fiscal year, which ended June 30. From July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, Idaho Wildlife Services conducted 264 depredation investigations related to wolf complaints from 136 livestock producers in 17 counties. Of those 264 investigations, 175 involved confirmed wolf depredations, said Todd Grimm, the Idaho state director of Wildlife Services, which is a federal agency that helps solve conflicts between humans and animals. “Last year we had a pretty busy year,” he said during the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board’s Aug. 21 meeting. “The cattle guys...

n a major win for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an order late Wednesday ending all injunctions that had blocked the White House's ban on asylum for anyone trying to enter the U.S. by traveling through a third country, such as Mexico, without seeking protection there. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – long a liberal bastion that has been aggressively reshaped into a more moderate court by the Trump administration – handed the White House a partial victory in the case on Monday by ending the nationwide injunction. But the 9th Circuit kept the injunction alive within...

A group that got Medicaid expansion on the Idaho ballot last year says it has started another initiative to raise money for public schools by increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Reclaim Idaho on Wednesday announced the initiative proposal to raise taxes by 3% on individuals making more than $250,000 or married couples making more than $500,000. The plan would also raise corporate tax rates from 7.4% to 8%, the same as from 1987 to 2000. Reclaim Idaho says that will raise $170 million for K-12 public schools while reducing the need for school levies through property tax overrides....

Minerals, facing shortage, are key for military hardware, cell phones. Boeing has signed a deal to deploy remote sensing technology to map out U.S. deposits of rare earth elements. The rare earth family of minerals is the real-life version of the precious element "unobtanium" in James Cameron's movie "Avatar." They are used to make everything from military hardware to humble cell phones, but could soon be in short supply as worldwide demand outstrips mining production in China. The aerospace and defense giant announced today that it will confirm rare earth mining claims held by U.S. Rare Earths, Inc. at locations...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Fort Rucker, AlabamaFort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum.The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the dominant military facility at Fort Rucker. Training, doctrine, and testing are all key parts of the Center's mission to develop Army Aviation's...

BOISE, Idaho — More than 1,100 sea lions could be killed annually along a stretch of the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border to boost faltering populations of salmon and steelhead, federal officials said Friday. The National Marine Fisheries Service said it’s taking public comments through Oct. 29 on the plan requested by Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Native American tribes. The agency says billions of dollars on habitat restoration, fish passage at dams and other efforts have been spent in the three states in the last several decades to save 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under...

Elmore County, Idaho is a beautiful place where the Snake River flows and host of the Mountain Home Air Force Base. It’s a peaceful place where one can live and, hopefully, die in peace. In the early summer of 2019, Elmore County’s coroner Jerry Rost decided he wanted to retire. He had trained his assistant and deputy coroner of 13 years, Nickie Campbell to replace him. Elmore, like many Idaho counties, elects its coroner during regular election cycles. Rost’s retirement outside an election cycle meant that the Elmore County Republican Central Committee (ECRCC) needed to submit 3 names for consideration...