Free Republic

Ted Cruz, celebrating a big win in Kansas, said on Saturday that it's time for Marco Rubio and John Kasich to drop out and for their supporters to rally behind him. "We’ll continue to amass delegates but what needs to happen is the field needs to continue to narrow," Cruz said during a press conference Saturday night, adding that he hopes the remaining candidates who are underperforming will ask themselves, “Do I have a path coming forward?” "If we’re divided, Donald wins," he said. The Texas senator has been advertising himself as the candidate best placed to beat Donald Trump,...

Thirteen states hold primaries or caucuses over the next two weeks. Of them, Trump is leading polls in nine, according to the RealClearPolitics average, including some of the most important, winner-take-all states. The other states — Hawaii, Maine, Idaho, and Missouri — don't have any recent polls listed on the site. They're also the three states with the fewest delegates to award. And in Maine, Trump has the endorsement of Gov. Paul LePage.

Image from boiseweekly.com A large crowd of 700 people demonstrated for Constitutional carry at the Idaho Capitol on  February 20th.  Constitutional carry has been introduced for this session of the Idaho legislature.  The current version of the bills are HO422 and HO423.  Statement of purpose of HO422: This legislation would make Idaho a permitless carry state. Currently, permitless carry applies to all areas outside of city limits. This legislation specifies who may carry a concealed weapon without a permit. The bill also adds an age restriction for permitless carry to those 21 years or older. The concealed carry permitting statutes...

Looks like my old stomping grounds in Montana are heating up. People there are not taking Obama’s plan to force refugees on them lying down. There was a protest in Missoula, Montana at 10 a.m. this morning over that very issue. It is just one of many battles brewing out there in small town America.Small towns in the sparsely populated parts of America are the perfect place to relocate these refugees. Especially if your agenda includes politically terraforming the country. The West is historically conservative in their politics. Many are Republicans and Libertarians. Even the Democrats hearken back to...

Why are small towns in conservative states being specifically targeted for refugee resettlement? Of course the Obama administration will never publicly admit that this is happening, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on. Just look at the uproar that refugee resettlement is now causing in small communities in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas. The Obama administration has deemed large cities such as Washington D.C. to be “too expensive” for the refugees, and so large numbers of them are being dispersed throughout smaller communities all over the nation. If you drop a few hundred...

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a commanding lead among Idaho Republicans; a new Idaho Politics Weekly poll shows. As the GOP race tightens in early-voting states, like Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump has few concerns in Idaho, where Republicans hold a closed primary on March 8. The Dan Jones & Associates poll finds Trump is preferred by 30 percent of Idaho Republicans. Retired doctor Ben Carson – who has been fading fast in other states – comes in second with 19 percent support; followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 16 percent; and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 10...

The Idaho Republican Party held its annual Winter Meeting over the weekend and held a presidential candidate reception and straw poll as part of the festivities. It was great news for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who received 40 percent of the vote, followed by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at 18 percent. Donald Trump came in third at 13 percent, while Ben Carson and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) received 11 and 8 percent, respectively. No other candidate received more than 3 percent in the Friday evening straw poll vote. The next morning, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho...

HOUSTON, Texas - Over the weekend, Presidential candidate Ted Cruz continued to gain momentum as courageous conservatives around the country continued to coalesce behind his campaign for President. In Idaho, Cruz scored two major victories among Republicans, as the Gem State's Presidential Primary approaches on March 8th.The leadership of the Idaho Republican Party gathered in Boise for its annual Winter Meeting on Friday and Saturday. The party hosted a Presidential Candidates Reception and Straw Poll on Friday evening, with Ted Cruz winning the poll by more than a 2-1 margin with support from 40 percent of the vote. Marco Rubio...

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A convoy of more than a dozen pickup trucks carrying armed men arrived at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday. Some of the men carrying rifles told journalists they were there to help with security for the group that has occupied the headquarters of the refuge since Jan. 2. The men said they were members of the Pacific Patriot Network, a consortium of groups from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, The Oregonian reported (http://is.gd/gSSbJN ). They arrived at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge midmorning, carrying rifles and handguns and dressed in military attire and bulletproof...

(CNN)A hunter tracking down a mountain lion has stumbled upon a biological mystery. Fish and Game officials say a male mountain lion involved in an attack on a dog near Preston, Idaho, was killed last week near the Utah border. What the hunter discovered after examining the corpse can only be described as bizarre, even monstrous. A photo released Thursday by Idaho Fish and Game shows the big cat had another set of fully-formed teeth and whiskers growing out of the top of its head. Wildlife officials say they have never seen a deformity like that -- but have offered...

Speaker of the House Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said Thursday he will deploy a secret gun committee to vet a bill that would allow Idahoans to conceal firearms without a permit. Bedke, speaking to reporters at a briefing ahead of next week’s legislative session kick-off, offered tepid support for permitless concealed carry. “I would be supportive [of permitless carry] in concept,” Bedke told reporters. Two House Republican caucus members, freshman Reps. Ron Nate of Rexburg and Heather Scott of Blanchard, announced this week they will introduce a permitless carry bill in the upcoming session’s first two weeks. That announcement included quotes...

A school cafeteria worker in Idaho says she was fired after giving a hungry middle school student a free lunch. Dalene Bowden, a server at Irving Middle School in Pocatello, told NBC affiliate KPVI in Idaho that she gave the hot meal to a 12-year-old girl with no lunch money whom said she was hungry on Dec. 15.

Since the start of the Syria's civil war in the spring of 2011, the U.S. has admitted 2,311 Syrian refugees and resettled them in 36 different states. According to data from the State Department's Refugee Processing Center the top three destinations for Syrian refugees since the beginning of the conflict are California, Texas, and Michigan. From March 15, 2011 through December 1, 2015, California received the most (261) Syrian refugees, Texas received the second most with 242, and Michigan has received the third most with 217. Other states that have received Syrian refugees since March 2011 include: Arizona (182), Illinois...

"Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values," [Obama] said.Six Republican governors have announced that Syrian refugees won't be allowed to resettle in their states in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued statements Sunday saying that they wanted to prioritize the safety of the residents in their states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a GOP presidential candidate; Arkansas Gov. Gov. Asa Hutchinson; and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joined them on Monday. "Michigan is a welcoming state and we are...

[Idaho] Gov. Butch Otter today sent a letter to President Obama calling for a halt to the entire U.S. refugee resettlement program, until "the vetting process for all foreigners crossing our borders can be fully reviewed." In a statement, Otter said, "It makes no sense under the best of circumstances for the United States to allow people into our country who have the avowed desire to harm our communities, our institutions and our people. The savage and senseless ISIS-driven attacks in Paris illustrate the essential inhumanity of terrorism and make it clearer than ever that we must make protecting our...

BOISE, Idaho The family of an Adams County rancher involved in an encounter with two sheriff’s deputies says the deputies killed him in a “completely unjustified” shooting. Survivors of Jack Yantis, the 62-year-old who died a week ago in the darkness on U.S. 95 north of Council, say they will pursue claims against Adams County for Yantis’ death. Donna Yantis spent her 63rd birthday Thursday at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where she has been recovering from a heart attack she suffered after her husband was killed. Family members have shared with the Statesman their account of what...

An Idaho militia group protested the arrival of Syrian refugees by issuing dark warnings based on anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. The III% Idaho group rallied Monday outside the statehouse in Boise, where about 100 anti-government activists, many wearing flak jackets and other armor, waved American flags and banners promoting their pro-gun militia group, reported Hatewatch. "This isn't some made-up crap we're spewing out here, like they're leading you to believe across the way," shouted Brandon Curtiss, president of the right-wing group. Actually, "made-up crap" describes a lot of what the III% Idaho group is spewing. The group has been protesting the...

GARDEN CITY, Idaho (AP) — Two men were injured at an Idaho gun show Saturday morning after a vendor from Washington state accidentally fired a rifle, Ada County Sheriff’s officials said.

Idaho State Police are investigating after a Council rancher was shot and killed Sunday by deputies with the Adams County Sheriff's Office. The incident began when a Subaru station wagon crashed into a bull on US 95 north of Council at about 6:45 p.m. Emergency responders and Adams County deputies responded and were working to extricate the two people inside the car. Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman said the bull, which was injured in the collision, started charging at emergency responders and other vehicles. "The bull was very agitated and was aggressive to emergency services, as well as the other...

Boise, Idaho - More than half a century after a group of beavers parachuted into the Idaho backcountry, officials have uncovered footage of the quirky wildlife management moment. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was struggling with an overpopulation of beavers in some regions in the 1940s when wildlife managers settled on a novel idea. They captured beavers and other furry rodents, packed them into special travel boxes, attached parachutes and dropped them from a plane into..."