Free Republic

BOISE - U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has issued an order declaring Joseph Duncan competent to proceed in his death penalty sentencing hearings, rejecting a motion from defense attorneys to declare the convicted killer mentally incompetent. The judge’s decision ends nearly three months of haggling between the parties in the case over the killer’s mental state, which was kicked off when he requested to sideline his legal team and instead act as his own attorney. Lodge then ordered a mental evaluation to confirm that Duncan was mentally competent to waive his constitutional right to an attorney. Before it was completed,...

BOISE - A group of Treasure Valley residents brought their hand guns to Zoo Boise, wearing their Second Amendment rights on their belt straps for all to see. About a dozen gun owners took advantage of Idaho's open carry laws which allow them to carry guns in public as long as they are in plain view and remain holstered. "I don't know that we're trying to make a statement," says Eric Bauer, who came to the zoo with his wife, three kids, and gun on his belt. "Maybe if anything we're trying to educate the public as to what they're...

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said Thursday he will have to schedule a hearing to determine whether confessed killer Joseph Duncan is mentally competent enough to continue with his oft-delayed death penalty sentencing hearing. Duncan has been undergoing mental health evaluations in Boise and Seattle since May. The latest wrinkle in the case is that his current defense attorneys have filed a motion to have him declared mentally incompetent. Testimony in the sentencing hearing was was supposed to begin in May but has been on hold since Duncan requested to act as his own lawyer -- on the day the...

I love men. No, not like that (well … maybe a little). I love men because they're rough, tough, practical, logical and don't mind taking out the garbage. I love how men are sensible and no nonsense, the way their minds churn out useful, obvious solutions to problems that baffle me, the way they operate by logic rather than emotion. I love the way they stay calm and focused under situations that send me into a chicken-running-around panic. I love their protective instinct. Yes, men can be aggressive and violent, but there is also a time and place for that,...

"We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." — Benjamin Franklin.Imagine your city council enacts controversial legislation with no public notice despite city employees telling concerned citizens that before any action was taken, they'd read about it in the paper. Imagine that your city continues to refuse to hold a public hearing despite the uproar and you sue. The judge not only finds against you, but orders you to pay $10,000 in legal fees. Your city tries to thwart your every effort to get your issue on the ballot, using a long and frivolous legal battle...

A little more than four years ago, Brandi Swindell, Bryan Fischer and a group called Generation Life hoped to stop the city council of Boise, Idaho, from removing a Ten Commandments monument that had stood in a city park since 1965. The city council accepted no public input into its decision, so Generation Life was compelled to file a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order on the city's action. Generation Life lost that case, and even though they later took another suit to the Idaho Supreme Court, winning the right to have the citizens of Boise vote on the monument's...

IDAHO. Governor Butch Otter (R) is hinting he may work behind the scenes to defeat bombastic freshman Congressman Bill Sali (R) in November.

The federal government's attempt to stop a group of gold-standard activists from minting an alternative to the greenback is about to face its first legal test. A dozen people around the country filed suit in U.S. District Court in Idaho this week demanding the return of all the copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins — more than seven tons of metal in all — that the FBI and Secret Service seized in November during raids of a mint in Idaho and a strip mall storefront in Indiana. The Justice Department had decided that the coins, many of which bear the...

Ex-teacher accused of stomping Old Glory Reports reacting to confiscation of Mexican banner from student Posted: June 20, 2008 6:35 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily A former teacher in Idaho has been charged under a state law that bans desecration of the U.S. flag after he allegedly threw Old Glory on the floor of an administrator's office at Minico High School and stomped it, breaking the pole and ripping the flag from its fastenings.

A county prosecutor is taking on a Supreme Court ruling that for decades has protected flag desecration as a citizen's right to free expression. The challenge may be the first of its kind in Idaho, legal experts say. Invoking a misdemeanor statute the Legislature passed eight years before a Supreme Court ruling changed federal law in 1989, Minidoka County Prosecutor Nikki Cannon has charged former school teacher Dan Luker with publicly mutilating a U.S. flag at his school on May 5. Cannon alleges that Luker, then an English as a Second Language teacher, threw the flag on the floor of...

BOISE--The Idaho Supreme Court ruled Monday that an undocumented immigrant who was injured while living in Ada County is entitled to medical indigency assistance from the county. A majority of the justices sided with Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, which had sued the Ada County Board of commissioners after it denied an application for medical indigency assistance from Javier Ortega Sandoval. Sandoval had more than $187,000 in medical bills after he had a stroke while working in the Boise region. The high court found that undocumented alien status doesn't affect the determination of whether someone is a resident. In other...

Boaters who use canoes, kayaks, drift boats and other nonmotorized craft could know in July if a fee will be proposed in next year's Legislature. Gov. Butch Otter reconvened on Monday a group that is working to "develop a fair and equitable approach to funding the state's boating program." But the basic decision the group appears to be facing is whether to implement registration fees for nonmotorized boats. Motorized boats and sailboats already pay registration fees and gas taxes, and their annual fee was raised Jan. 1 from a base of $13 to $20 for boats up to 12 feet,...

BOISE, Idaho (Legal Newsline) - The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday ruled that an illegal immigrant who was injured is entitled to medical assistance. In their ruling, the high court sided with Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, which sued Ada County Commissioners after they denied an application for medical indigency assistance.

SANDPOINT, Idaho — New Idaho Republican Chairman Norm Semanko takes over a party that dominates the state but threatened to burst at the seams at this weekend's convention, with disparate factions at odds over everything from tackling marijuana legalization to whether to close the state's GOP primary to all but registered party voters. Semanko ousted two-term incumbent Kirk Sullivan, who earlier Saturday had been endorsed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter. The tally was 227-169. A separate 199-192 vote among delegates in Sandpoint that supported retaining the state's open primary is indicative just how divided this convention was. That vote is...

RUPERT, Idaho — An alleged racial slur against Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has sparked criticism against a southern Idaho radio station, with some in the community calling for the show to be canceled. Obama supporters allege a conservative talk show host on Rupert, Idaho-based KBAR AM this week referred to the Illinois senator as the "black Negroid Barack Hussein Obama."

We broke the unbelievable story last night of a 10-year old girl in St. Anthony who gave birth to a baby. She's now one of the youngest kids in the country to become a mother. Residents both on and off camera were shocked and in dismay over the situation, today this is what they had to say about our story. Jim Ker, shocked resident: "I think there's a lot of sick people out there." Holly Theisen, upset resident: "Somebody would end up getting hurt by me if that was my kid and I'd probably go to jail." Kaity Dolezal, shocked...

Press Release for June 14th "We Support Our Troops" Rally in Pullman, Washington Later this year, many Palouse-area National Guard troops will be deploying to Iraq. They’ll be spending long months away from their family and friends, doing difficult and dangerous work. Before they leave, let's show our local servicemembers how much we appreciate them! Come to the Pullman Troop Support Rally at Reaney Park on Saturday, June 14th, from 10:00 to noon, to meet our local troops and wish them well. If you'd like to write letters or send care packages to our soldiers while they're deployed, be sure...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, June 6, 2008 – Deployed Idaho National Guardsmen working as a police mentoring team travel throughout Afghanistan’s Parwan province to train and advise the Afghan National Police. An Afghan National Police officer checks a vehicle’s undercarriage during a vehicle-search class at the Parwan province’s police headquarters in the Charikar district, June 3, 2008. The class is given as part of ongoing training the ANP receive from a team of Idaho National Guardsmen. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessica R. Dahlberg, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As part of the training,...

ST. MARIES, Idaho — More than three years after a poacher shot off her upper beak, a bald eagle named Beauty can finally live up to her name — with the help of volunteers. A team attached an artificial beak to the 15-pound eagle in mid-May, improving her appearance and, more importantly, helping her grasp food. "She's got a grill," joked Nate Calvin, the Boise engineer who spent 200 hours designing the complex beak. The Boeing Co. and a maker of synthetic skin in California have volunteered to help make the permanent beak. -snip- The bird was found in 2005...

Item: Minnick condemns Sali for voting against bill crucial to rural Idaho More Info: The House on Thursday rejected a bill that would have continued for four years payments to rural counties hurt by federal cutbacks in logging. A majority of lawmakers voted for the bill, but under special House rules, the bill was defeated. Supporters brought up the measure under rules that did not allow any amendments. The 218-193 vote in favor — largely along party lines — was well short of the two-thirds needed. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., denounced Republicans who voted against the bill,...

Public memorial services for J.R. Simplot were held Sunday afternoon at Qwest Arena in Downtown Boise. The Grove Plaza was full of people, including triathletes wrapped in tinfoil blankets, and mourners in black suits who entered Qwest Arena for the service. Simplot's family members formed a receiving line and introduced themselves to the thousands of guests who filed in for the memorial service, which began at 2 p.m. Larry Hlobik, president and CEO of Simplot Co., opened the service and the Boise Philharmonic and the Boise Master Choral performed the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Simplot's children and grandchildren addressed...

A 14-year-old Boise, Idaho, girl has disappeared and is believed to be in danger after meeting a 27-year-old man on the Internet. Police say the girl may be in the Seattle area with the man, who is wanted on a kidnapping warrant. The girl, Saddie "Elaine" Julian, was last seen Wednesday morning. Authorities are asking for the public's help in locating her. She is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 90 pounds, with pale skin, long red hair and a thin build. According to police, Saddie developed an online relationship with Morgan Douglas Jones, 27, of Birmingham, Ala., while playing...

Conservationists who oppose the removal of wolves from under federal protection - and who call the delisting unlawful - sought an emergency injunction Thursday to stop the animals' killing. Last month, a coalition of 11 environmental groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in an effort to keep gray wolves in the Northern Rockies region on the endangered species list. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director H. Dale Hall announced the delisting decision in February, and it took effect March 28, divesting the gray wolf of its Endangered Species Act protections. Without those protections, environmentalists say, the gray wolf...

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) - Three pro-marijuana initiatives have again been approved by voters in the central Idaho town of Hailey. Voters yesterday approved initiatives to legalize medical use of marijuana, industrial use of hemp, and to make enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest police priority in the city. Rejected was an initiative to require the city to regulate and tax distribution of the drug. Voters last November passed the same three initiatives, but city officials balked at recognizing them.

John McCain has the Republican nomination wrapped up, but Ron Paul isn't going anywhere. In fact, in Tuesday's little-noticed Republican primary in Idaho, the iconoclastic Texas congressman had his best showing so far, grabbing 24 percent of the vote, nearly 30,000 votes in all. McCain won with 70 percent, while the other 6 percent went to uncommitted...

This is the link to the UNOFFICIAL Idaho Primary Election Night results.

Be sure to vote in the Primaries tomorrow and be sure to vote as conservative as is humanly possible. Please.

MONTPELIER, Idaho (AP) _ A Seattle company has picked Montpelier for a $7 million plant where workers will build environmentally friendly modular motels. Executives from Triad Resorts say they will begin construction of the new plant in Montpellier in the next 90 days, with operations expected to begin next March. The company expects to hire about 150 workers. The plant will produce fully constructed rooms on site that can be shipped by truck and linked to other modular rooms at a motel site. Jerry Ward, principal owner of Triad Resorts, says the company has a contract to also build walls,...

At Ron Burkle's mansion... ON A BALMY evening this week, the crowd at billionaire Ron Burkle's Beverly Hills estate was a mixture of high-level academia and high-level Hollywood, none higher than Robert Redford, actor, director, Sundance guru and the industry's über-environmental activist. Serious gatherings like this at Burkle's begin with a Champagne reception in the foyer, an intimately lavish space where presidents, generals, senators and Los Angeles' moneyed elite mingle and discuss the pressing issues of the day. (Half the town has portraits of themselves with former President Bill Clinton there.) When Redford entered the foyer from the inner sanctum...

Plane's engines quit before crash Federal Aviation Administration continues investigation HAYDEN -- Doug Parker was talking with a friend outside his hangar at the Coeur d'Alene Airport when he called the plane going down Monday at 6:45 p.m. "I heard it quit," Parker said Tuesday. "I knew the guy flying it and it went dead silence under full power." Under normal conditions, there is an audible noise when a plane slows down, Parker said. "I said 'He didn't shut that power off. He didn't abort it.' I said 'There's going to be a plane crash.' And then: boom." Hans...

Welcome! I'm running for Idaho State Senate seat 22 against the Republican incumbent, who I don't see as conservative enough for our district. This was something of a last minute decision for me, and it was not an easy one. As this web page demonstrates, I am not spending money on campaign consultants and web developers. Please look around, and if you think I am a bit more of what you think your representative in the upper house of the Idaho legislature should be, then please vote for me in the May primary.

Clinton and her campaign know that the road to victory for her must include a resolution to the Florida and Michigan votes, something that has been dragging on since both states voted in January in violation of Democratic Party rules. Later this month the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC will meet to discuss the matter... The fund-raiser was interrupted briefly at the beginning when a protestor stood on his chair with a large sign that read "Obliterate Iran? Apologize." The sign referred to some comments Clinton made in regards to bombing Iran if they attacked Israel with a...

A ten year old rape victim has given birth to a baby in eastern Idaho while the suspect, Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez, 37, of St. Anthony, has been arrested. The girl purportedly gave birth to a baby less than 2 weeks ago at a hospital in Fremont County. It wasn’t until the hospital reported the girl and the birth to authorities that Gutierrez-Juarez, an illegal immigrant, was arrested and charged with one count of rape. He remains in jail with a $250,000 bail, the next scheduled hearing is May 13. Precocious Puberty Precocious Puberty is the onset of puberty before age 7...

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho -- A man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later gave birth in eastern Idaho. The girl gave birth less than two weeks ago by caesarian section at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Fremont County Sheriff Ralph C. Davis and other authorities said. Officials would not disclose the gender, date of birth or paternity of the baby. "I wouldn't have believed a 10-year-old could conceive in the first place," Davis said. A hospital spokeswoman would not discuss the condition of the girl or the baby and would not say whether either was still in...

We broke the unbelievable story last night of a 10-year old girl in St. Anthony who gave birth to a baby. She's now one of the youngest kids in the country to become a mother. Residents both on and off camera were shocked and in dismay over the situation, today this is what they had to say about our story. Jim Ker, shocked resident: "I think there's a lot of sick people out there." Holly Theisen, upset resident: "Somebody would end up getting hurt by me if that was my kid and I'd probably go to jail." Kaity Dolezal, shocked...

Press Release By John Foster - May 06, 2008 Walt Minnick today offered Idaho drivers low-cost gasoline to call attention to the abject failure of Washington, D.C. to address our nation’s energy crisis. He also slammed Bill Sali for his cozy relationship with “big oil.” “For one hour today, while I’m talking to Idahoans about the high cost of gasoline, Bill Sali will sit down to lunch at a fundraiser and ask for money from oil lobbyists,” Minnick said. “In 18 months he’s become a true Washington insider. What Idaho needs is a new approach and some simple fairness.” Oil...

Nearly 80 rail cars loaded with contaminated sand from Kuwait are headed toward a dump in southwestern Idaho. American Ecology Corp. is shipping about 6,700 tons of sand containing traces of depleted uranium and lead to a hazardous waste disposal site 70 miles southeast of Boise. The sand arrived by ship at Longview, Wash., this week and company officials say loads are scheduled to begin arriving in Idaho by rail in two weeks. Transfer of the sand to the United States was first reported this week by The Daily News in Longview. The company has previously disposed of low-level radioactive...

BOISE — U.S. Rep. Bill Sali of Idaho has asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to delay opening a Mexican consulate in Boise until the government can assure Idahoans that the office will not foster the continued presence of illegal immigrants in Idaho. The request came in a letter sent Wednesday following a meeting Sali had with senior State Department officials. In the meeting, department officials expressed considerably more concern about whether the consular office would follow local zoning laws than whether it would aid people in breaking federal immigration laws, according to a prepared statement from Sali’s office. The...

More than two dozen prospective jurors were waiting to be questioned, Joseph Duncan was in court, and attorneys and the judge were assembled. But Tuesday’s jury selection proceedings were delayed after the defense objected to proceeding without a ruling on whether Duncan will serve as his own attorney in his death penalty hearings — and the government concurred. Pending is a mental evaluation to verify Duncan’s competency. “We believe that it would be an infringement on Mr. Duncan’s right to continue pro se (representing himself) if we were to continue questioning of jurors,” defense attorney Mark Larranaga told the court....

Hard work, determination and a love of freedom are foundational principles that make Idaho “The Great State.” In the past, Idaho has been an ideal place to raise families and produce solid citizens. As we grow, keeping Idaho true to our legacy of conservative family values and ideals will be the ongoing challenge. I am not living in the Treasure Valley just because of outstanding recreation or budding opportunities. I am living here because I want my kids to call Idaho their home. I am committed to preserving “The Great State of Idaho” for our children and their children. I...

What are the characteristics that set one presidential candidate apart from the others? Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain ain't got nothing on Keith Russell Judd: He's the only candidate locked up in federal prison. But you, lucky Idaho, can vote for him. The—dare we say—longshot candidate filed to be on Idaho's ballot for the nation's top office on March 17, paying the $1,000 fee required if a candidate is not of national prominence. His name is now listed alongside Clinton and Obama as the state's official Democratic presidential candidates. Judd has also filed as a write-in candidate in...

LOS CABOS, Mexico — Gunmen held up a family of U.S. tourists in Mexico on Tuesday and made off with their small plane, police said. The robbers attacked the plane as the American couple and their two daughters, ages 6 and 8, were about to take off from a hotel airstrip in the Baja California beach town of Mulege. Detective Juan Carlos de Jesus Jimenez said the thieves pulled a car in front of the six-seat Cessna Stationair, knocked out one of its windows and forced the tourists out at gunpoint. They then set fire to the car and flew...

A group of 325 potential jurors - some from as far away as Hailey and Twin Falls - filled a room Monday in the Boise Centre on The Grove and got a glimpse of the man whose fate will be decided by a dozen Idahoans. Federal court officials commandeered the convention center to find 12 people and three alternates who can do a fair job of deciding whether confessed killer Joseph Duncan III should be executed for kidnapping two Coeur d'Alene children and killing one of them - a nine-year-old boy. Duncan sat unshackled and dressed in an orange prison...

Map showing Williston Basin Province boundary (in red), Bakken-Lodgepole Total Petroleum System (TPS) (in blue), and major structural features in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin, according to a just-released assessment by the US Geological Survey (USGS). This latest assessment shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency’s 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil. The assessment also identified 1.85...

** EXCERPT ** WASHINGTON — He shot his hunting partner, but Vice President Dick Cheney apparently doesn't fly fish with naked women. Since Wednesday, the blogosphere has been atwitter over a photograph on the White House Web site of Cheney with a caption that said he was fly-fishing on the Snake River in Idaho. The photo is a tight shot of Cheney's face sporting dark sunglasses and his trademark grin. What's stirring all the buzz is the reflection in the vice president's dark glasses. Some thought that the reflection looked like a naked woman and, this being Cheney and this...

Former Micron executive Larry Grant said Thursday morning that he will not run for the U.S. House in Idaho's 1st congressional district. Instead, Grant endorsed Walt Minnick, a former timber executive who ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996.

Charlton Heston played one of his most effective cameo roles in Idaho - and it wasn't in a film. Heston...was a critical figure in Idaho's Right to Work law, approved by voters in 1986 after the most expensive ballot-measure campaign in state history. Heston's TV ad in support of (the) law...ran for five months. "It really did get people's attention," said Lorna Auld, co-chairwoman of the campaign. "His voice was so memorable and for him to stand there like Moses and say, 'This is what I believe,' was good for us and good for Idaho." ...Gary Glenn, who ran the...

The Idaho Statesman was named a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the Larry Craig scandal that began with his arrest and guilty plea in an airport restroom last August. This is the first time the Statesman has been a finalist in its 141-year history. The McClatchy Co. has won more than 50 of journalism's most prestigious prize. The Washington Post won the 2008 Breaking News Reporting award for its coverage of the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. The New York Times was also named a Pulitzer finalist in this category. The Pulitzers have...

Charlton Heston in a TV ad supporting voter approval of a state Right to Work law on Idaho's 1986 general election ballot: "I've played men like Tom Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, all of them heroes defending American freedom. There are Americans still carrying on that fight in Idaho, where citizens want the Right to Work without being forced to join a union. Now, as a former union president, I believe Americans should be free to choose. We're all watching, Idaho. Strike a blow for freedom. Vote YES on Referendum One."

BOISE, Idaho, March 31 (UPI) -- Boise, Idaho, ranked by others as the second- best city for jobs and first for adventure, is the 10th most vulnerable to terrorists, a threat analysis suggests. The threat study, funded by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, placed landlocked Boise at No. 10 on the list of most vulnerable U.S. urban centers, making it the only Western city in the top tier, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The determination of vulnerability used a mathematical calculation derived from cancer research that takes demographics, natural hazards and infrastructure vulnerability into consideration in determining the rank....