Latest news with #BoiseAirport
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff named in sexual assault lawsuit
A lawsuit only portrays one side of the story. No criminal charges have been filed as of Wednesday, May 21. PROVO, Utah () — Brigham Young University's starting quarterback, , has been named in a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, May 21, claims Retzlaff, 22, sexually assaulted the victim, identified as 'Jane Doe,' when the two first met in person in November 2023. As of Wednesday afternoon, no criminal charges have been filed against Retzlaff. According to the lawsuit, Retzlaff and the alleged victim began talking over social media the month before they met in person. After a month of trying to find a time to meet, the victim and her friends visited Retzlaff at his Utah County apartment. 'At some point, they began to kiss, but Jane Doe did not want to do anything more,' the lawsuit alleges. 'Retzlaff began escalating the situation, attempting to [touch her inappropriately.]' 'Shocking device' found during x-ray at Boise Airport Jane Doe reportedly attempted to de-escalate the situation and wanted to leave, but said she 'was scared and felt like she could not get away.' The lawsuit claims Retzlaff became angry and started to shout at her and prevented her from leaving the apartment, later sexually assaulting her. The lawsuit said the Jane Doe connected with the Provo Police Department, who allegedly encouraged her not to take action as 'sexual assault victims never get justice.' According to the lawsuit, the alleged victim has lived with trauma symptoms, including post-traumatic stress disorder in the year and a half since the incident. ABC4 has reached out to BYU for comment regarding the lawsuit and has yet to hear back at the time of publication. Retzlaff, who co-captains the BYU football team, was a key player during the Cougars' successful 2024 season in the Big 12 Conference. Retzlaff helped push the team to an 11-2 overall record, earning an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. The Cougars sealed their 11-win season with , led by Retzlaff, who completed 151 passing yards throughout the game. Draper police investigating 'urban explorers' who climbed 16-story structure at aquarium after hours Zeldin slams Whitehouse in heated exchange: Americans 'put President Trump in office because of people like you' Trump confronts South African president over claims of 'white genocide' Mace files resolution to expel McIver over ICE assault charges Israel blocks aid to Gaza Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'Champagne socialists' Sanders and AOC spotted boarding private jet on 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., chartered a private jet worth up to a staggering $15,000 an hour for several West Coast stops on their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. Sanders boarded the luxury Bombardier Challenger private jet at the Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California, on Tuesday afternoon, according to a photo captured by a source on the ground and shared exclusively with Fox News Digital. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, whom the source also spotted boarding the private jet, spoke at their "Fighting Oligarchy" event in Bakersfield just hours earlier. Flight records reveal the jet landed at Sacramento Mather Airport on Tuesday evening, which is about a 20-minute drive to Folsom, California, where the self-identified Democratic socialists hosted their second rally of the day. The jet Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were seen boarding made stops in Salt Lake City and Boise prior to landing in Bakersfield, according to flight records. The arrival dates match the duo's "Fighting Oligarchy" events in Salt Lake City and Nampa, which is about a 25-minute drive from Boise Airport. "Champagne socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demand Americans surrender their pick-up trucks, air conditioning and meat from the luxe leather seats of their private jets that cost more per hour than most Americans earn in months. Their hypocrisy is staggering," National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The Bombardier Challenger private jet is operated by Ventura Air Services, which touts "one of the widest cabins of any business jet available today" and provides "superior cabin comfort for its passengers." According to their website, the private jet can cost up to $15,000 an hour. Sanders has long been ridiculed for relying on luxury private planes while crisscrossing the country, warning Americans about climate change and the threats of billionaires seizing political power. Despite his Democratic socialist platform advocating for universal healthcare, the Green New Deal and ending wealth inequality, Sanders flying private has become infamous. Sanders' campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spent over $221,000 chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. The filing, which was released on Tuesday, shows that Sanders dropped the massive haul between three private jet companies: Ventura Jets, Cirrus Aviation Services and N-Jet. The six-figure spending on private jets this year follows Sanders spending over $1.9 million on private jets during his failed presidential campaign in 2020. A Fox News Digital review found that Sanders dished out almost $2 million to Apollo Jets and the Advanced Aviation Team, a Virginia-based private jet company. Private jets have faced the ire of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez's fellow climate activists. According to 2021 Transport and Environment report, private jets are up to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes. "For real, how many private jets do these CEOs need? It is insatiable. It is unacceptable," Ocasio-Cortez said in 2023, in one example of the New York congresswoman herself railing against private jets. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez championed the Democrats' failed Green New Deal, the aggressive climate change policy targeting carbon emissions and fossil fuel production. Ocasio-Cortez proposed the controversial legislation in 2019, and Sanders designed his own Green New Deal plan during his 2020 presidential primary campaign. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have welcomed massive crowds to their "Fighting Oligarchy" stops across the country. On Saturday, the two political leaders hosted what they said was their largest rally ever, with 36,000 people in Los Angeles. Sanders started the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour in response to President Donald Trump's second term to "take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country." Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.
Vox
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Vox
Inside one state's fight to save child care
is a policy correspondent for Vox covering social policy. She focuses on housing, schools, homelessness, child care, and abortion rights, and has been reporting on these issues for more than a decade. Welcome to Field Notes, a reporter's log that gives readers an inside look into some of our most exciting reporting trips. This first appeared in the member-exclusive newsletter the Vox Explainer. Hi, hello! This is Rachel Cohen, a reporter at Vox, and I'm here to share a dispatch from a recent reporting trip to Boise, Idaho — where a unique and heated political fight unfolded in the world of child care policy. The piece not only looks at a growing partisan divide in child care but also a broader conservative push to deregulate the sector and redirect public funds away from the license-based centers government subsidies have historically favored. For both time and budget reasons, I don't get to travel for most stories I work on. In this case though, thanks to a grant from the Bainum Family Foundation to support child care reporting, I was quite fortunate to spend four days meeting with lawmakers, parents, and child care advocates in Idaho. There I worked to understand a very complex, sensitive, and confusing story. In journalism, what I've realized over the years is that oftentimes the very act of traveling to a region can signal to otherwise hesitant sources that you are taking this story seriously. It shows you are investing resources into getting it right, which increases the chances that people will help you and talk with you. They see you're making a greater effort than just picking up the phone, and that really does mean something in this line of work. Sometimes reporting trips are to collect more vivid detail and description to bring a narrative to life. I wanted to do that, certainly, but this trip was primarily for me to better understand what was really going on, to sit down with people face-to-face, and clarify a series of fast-moving and complicated ideas. I did make a lot of calls. I did review all the existing local reporting before I flew out. And I filed my own public records request with the state of Idaho. But I suspected that going there would prove valuable in being able to report this story better than just doing those things in isolation. Given all the flight delays and other travel complications, I'm very glad that turned out to be true. You can find the story here. Here's a look inside my reporting. Field Notes SUNDAY, MARCH 9 10:30 am: I flew from Washington, DC, where I live, to Atlanta, and then on to Boise. After dealing with some delays with my flight layover, I finally reached my hotel a little after midnight. The long day of travel gave me a lot of time to review my notes and get ready for what I knew would be a busy week. At the Boise Airport, I was greeted by a nice reminder that I was surrounded by some famous potatoes. A sign that greeted me at the Boise Airport when I arrived. Rachel Cohen/Vox MONDAY, MARCH 10 12 pm: My first meeting was at the (very beautiful) Idaho State Capitol, a short walk from my hotel. I learned I was in what is known as the 'Gem State,' a nickname first coined when Idaho was just a US territory in honor of all the precious gemstones around. I sat down with Democratic state Rep. Megan Egbert to learn more about the H243 bill and what she was hearing from her constituents. She was actively involved in the legislative opposition. The main entrance really was beautiful, and to my surprise — maybe just because I'm used to stricter protocol — there was no security. Anyone could walk right in. Rachel Cohen/Vox 2 pm: Later that afternoon, I went over to the Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry, which is basically their state chamber of commerce, and met with the longtime president to discuss how the lack of child care access affects the state's workforce and economy. I turned left. We sat in a big conference room for our meeting. Rachel Cohen/Vox 7 pm: At night, I had some calls with child care providers. Idaho is two hours behind DC, and being able to talk to people in their own time zone made reporting a whole lot easier. Oftentimes people can only talk with the media after work, so coordinating evening discussions was just a whole lot easier on Mountain time. TUESDAY, MARCH 11 10:30 am: I spent the morning meeting with sources off the record (so I can't share specifically who), but I can say I had some very clarifying coffee dates. Then I made my way over to Lakewood Montessori, a reputable child care center in Boise where I got to tour and sit down with the owner, Mary, to talk about the proposed bill. It was a beautiful day, and I knew I wanted to speak with as many child care providers as I could while I was in town. From my tour of the Boise Montessori child care center. It was a really lovely facility, and seeing such cute kids always makes the drier parts of the reporting process worth it. Rachel Cohen/Vox 2 pm: After lunch, I headed back to the state Capitol where I met separately with both of the bill's co-sponsors, Rep. Rod Furniss and Rep. Barbara Ehardt. I learned that the bill was going to be amended the next day to restore maximum staff-child ratios, and I spoke with the lawmakers about why they believed deregulation was a good idea in the first place. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 10 am: Today I had several more off-the-record meetings with sources and calls with child care providers around the state. 5:30 pm: I had the pleasure of having dinner with my old editor, Haley, who I interned for 12 years ago at the Washington Monthly. She now lives in Boise with her husband and two kids. In Haley's kitchen! Rachel Cohen/Vox THURSDAY, MARCH 13 8 am: My last day in town proved valuable. After persistent badgering, several sources finally agreed to talk, including from Wonder School — a company facing public backlash for supporting the bill — and officials from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. I also connected with people I'd talk with further when I returned to DC as more legislative developments unfolded throughout March. 11 pm: I got home and spent another three-and-a-half weeks reporting and writing the article!
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Big plans near Boise Airport revived after divisive fraud, stolen idol lawsuits. Why?
Your trip to or from the Boise Airport may look a little different in the future. Plans for a big nearby redevelopment with a 183-unit apartment complex, a 240-room hotel and a 12,000 square-foot Hindu temple have resumed after a divisive court battle stalled them. The developments would transform the decaying Ramada by Wyndham Boise hotel and Saffron Indian Bar and Grill at 3300 S. Vista Ave. — the last property you pass while driving down Vista before crossing Interstate 84 to get to the airport. The site is directly across the street from a Del Taco and Super 8 by Wyndham Boise. The site also includes America's Best Value Inn at 2525 Sunrise Rim Road and Lotus By Hotel Inn at 3302 S. Vista Ave. All would be demolished for the development. The plans drew controversy in 2023 while its owners applied for the redevelopment with former Mayor David Bieter and his employer, Salt Lake City-based Gardner Co. Lawsuits alleged that the property owners had illegally taken control of the property and that they had taken sacred Hindu idols. As of March 10, both lawsuits had been settled with confidential agreements, allowing the development to move forward, according to Steven Weiland, a Boise lawyer who represented the property owners in both lawsuits. Though the project saw some opposition from nearby neighbors, the biggest roadblock for the project came when Las Vegas businessman Hitesh Chokshi sued Boise Management Inc., which owns the properties, along with its property manager, Jayant Patil, and a local owner named Rakesh Kothari. The lawsuit alleged a veritable shopping list of offenses including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, forgery and wrongful conversion of property. A judge threw out most of the allegations in October 2023, saying that Chokshi never had a direct, personal ownership interest in the properties. Chokshi and his company, Utah TM Hospitality, 'undisputedly sold the hotel properties for $6.5 million to Boise Management, in which he has never had an interest,' according to the judge's ruling. Chokshi had asked the court to remove Patil and Kothari from their positions and undo the sale of the property. The judge excoriated Chokshi, saying that his complaint wasn't 'a model of clarity' and that 'Utah TM Hospitality has no evident grounds for asking to have the sale undone.' Chokshi amended his complaint but settled the case over a year later after a one-day court trial on March 3. Chokshi said by phone that they had settled the case with a confidential agreement and could not comment. 'Basically at its core was who owned the holding company for these hotels when the hotels were sold to my client in 2020,' said Wieland, the lawyer representing Patil, Kothari and Boise Management. 'The short version of it is that my client bought a 50% interest in this holding company in 2018 under a promissory note. The seller hired an attorney and under threat of litigation got my client to pay off that note.' 'That same attorney filed a lawsuit after the note had been paid off … saying that note was fraudulent.' In the second lawsuit, Kothari sued four people for defamation in June 2022 after they had posted in a Facebook group that he was refusing to return sacred Hindu idols owned by the Hindu Educational Society of Idaho, or HESI. The society denied the claims and countersued Kothari, his spouse, Patil and 15 Idaho organizations they had organized. Baranikumar Sivakumar, a Boise resident who co-founded the society in July 2020, met Kothari in 2021. The society agreed to rent a ballroom at the Ramada by Wyndham Boise with him to house the idols after a car crashed into a building the society used for religious and cultural services. Patil organized a new religious nonprofit, Boise Hindu Temple Inc., 10 days after HESI moved its idols. But a dispute over how to use the space led Patil to send an email 'demanding' that the society cease all events indefinitely, stop accepting donations, stop sending messages to the community and stop using the Ramada as its registered address. Patil and Boise Hindu Temple kept the idols at the property and blocked members of HESI from entering the ballroom or retrieving them. Patil told the Statesman in 2023 that the idols were communal property and were never owned by HESI, though he would not show the Statesman proof of ownership or a donation slip. That case was closed in November after the parties reached a settlement. 'That one was worked out amicably,' Wieland said. 'The idol situation has been resolved.' The project had all, or nearly all, of the approvals it needed when the lawsuits were filed, he said. 'We're looking forward to moving on and redeveloping that property, which is really a good thing for the community and that neighborhood,' Wieland said. 'I think everybody agrees that those hotels need to be redeveloped.' Wieland noted in 2023 that the hotels were at the end of their productive lives and that nobody thought the hotels were the nicest in town. But the owners needed to keep prices low to make them profitable, which he said tended to attract more-difficult customers. Data obtained by the Statesman from the Boise Police Department through a public records request showed the extent of those difficulties. Boise police were called to the three properties nearly 2,000 times between January 2020 and Oct. 7, 2023 — an average of about 44 calls per month. The calls include 219 for welfare checks, 114 for suspicious subjects or vehicles, 57 for suicidal subjects or attempts, 54 for trespassing, 53 for fights, 46 for narcotics, 12 for fraud and nine for rape. 'These issues have been ongoing for years, and the only way to truly resolve them is to tear down the existing hotels, which is exactly what we're trying to do,' Wieland said then. The development plans would radically change the landscape. According to Gardner Co.'s 2023 plans, construction on the apartments, hotel and Hindu temple would work in three phases. The developers would start with the 183-unit apartment complex, which would include 125 one-, 53 two-, and five three-bedroom units. Thirty-seven of the units would also be reserved as workforce housing for those earning 100% or less of the area median income. In 2025, 100% of the area median income in Boise was $69,115 for a one-person household and $88,880 for a three-person household, according to the city of Boise. To qualify as affordable housing, rents are capped at 30% of income. That means a one-person household would pay a maximum of $1,728 per month in rent and a three-person household would pay $2,222. Area median income changes depending on the number of people in a household. A full list can be found by visiting and searching for 'income guidelines.' The second phase would see the demolition of the motels and construction of a new, five-story hotel that includes a restaurant, meeting space, lounge, board rooms and recreation space. The final phase would focus on the two-story Hindu temple. Bieter said Gardner Co. would meet with the owners over the next several weeks to discuss the project. 'We are pleased with the end of the litigation,' Bieter said by email. 'Now that the project is fully entitled and the litigation resolved, we will be focused on the financing of the project.' One of Idaho's most influential families pivots to luxury real estate. Where, and why? Neighbors fought Nampa family's planned development. Then they fell in love with it. How? A popular SE Boise bridge nearly collapsed in January. It's now reopen. What to know President Trump takes aim at one of the biggest private investments in Idaho history. Why?
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
They had tickets. A flight number. An arrival time. Then Trump's executive order changed everything.
The Statue of Liberty, a light of hope for immigrants since 1886, is lit up at night on Liberty Island in New York Harbor on Aug. 17, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by) The email deciding the fate of Amouna's extended family is all of three paragraphs long. The website for Welcome Corps, a new program established in 2023 that connects Americans with refugees across the globe who need resettlement assistance in the United States, offers even less information. 'In accordance with the executive order, 'Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,' refugee travel to the United States and all U.S. Refugee Admissions Program refugee case processing activities are suspended until further notice,' a yellow warning on the website reads. 'This includes intake of new applications for the Welcome Corps, as well as processing of all active or previously submitted applications.' Those 'active or previously submitted applications' include Amouna's brother, sister-in-law, nephew and mother, who, before President Donald Trump assumed office on Jan. 20, had plans to relocate from Syria, by way of Egypt, and reconnect with Amouna's family at the Boise Airport next week. They had plane tickets. A flight number. An arrival time. Amouna's 24-year-old son, Abdullah, had saved money from his job as a semi-truck driver to secure an apartment for the extended family members and paid for their security deposit and several months rent. They had a light of hope that their time apart – nearly five years – was finally coming to an end. But the executive order, signed by Trump on his first day in office, suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program 'until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States' – leaving families like Amouna's in painful limbo. Amouna and Abdullah asked me to use only their first names in this column to protect their family's privacy and to try to ensure their immigration case isn't negatively affected. Since Welcome Corps started in 2023, 87 private sponsor groups applied to be a part of the program in Idaho, and 30 refugees have resettled in the Gem State through Welcome Corps sponsors. There are 16 refugees that have been matched with sponsor groups to resettle here that are impacted by the executive order's pause in refugee resettlement. 'Basically, they were shocked,' Abdullah told me in their cozy Boise apartment on Monday. 'That's the short word for it. It's sad for them, because they were planning. I would be so sad if I were them because I did get the opportunity to come here. … But then it was just cancelled one day. They're miserable now.' Abdullah said because his extended family was so close to flying to the United States, they had already ended their lease with their landlord in Egypt and sold most of their belongings. Their furniture. Their car. Their material life as they knew it. Now, they're scrambling to secure housing there as they await word on when they can get new plane tickets, new flight numbers, new arrival times. Now they're stuck waiting for the federal government to have a new outlook on how refugees — who were already promised a new life here — 'align with the interests of the United States.' Trump's executive order may be re-examined in 90 days after the secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the secretary of State, submits a report. But in the meantime, it has upended the lives of Amouna and Abdullah, and it has also upended the lives of other refugees across Idaho. Idaho welcomes about 800 refugees each year, in close partnership with resettlement agencies in Boise and Twin Falls as well as businesses, churches, local governments and other community networks, according to the Idaho Office for Refugees, the nonprofit that administers resettlement programs in the state. Most recently, refugees coming to Idaho are primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has experienced years of humanitarian crises; Ukraine, where Russia's invasion has displaced millions of people and destroyed homes and lives; and Afghanistan, including many allies who worked alongside U.S. soldiers, a Jan. 22 news release from the office says. Want to help? To learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Idaho Office for Refugees, go to its website here. To donate to the office, go to its website here. 'Idaho families who have been waiting for years to reunite with their relatives – some in the final stages of resettlement – will now have to wait even longer, with their loved ones facing dangerous situations in third countries,' Idaho Office for Refugees Director Tara Wolfson said in the release. As a nation built by the hands of immigrants, we must all ask ourselves one question: Why? Why does this order not let families like Amouna's and Abdullah's – who already have financial sponsorship support and have been deeply vetted in accordance with federal law – be reunited? Why not put a pause on any new applications through the Welcome Corps program instead of a full ban of everyone already working their way through an already complicated system? Why not allow those with plane tickets already in hand to be welcomed home? When has legal immigration – let's be absolutely clear that this is what this is – ever failed to align with the interests of the United States? According to the Idaho Office for Refugees, polls show that the majority of Americans across the political spectrum do support welcoming refugees. Christian organizations from across the country have signed a statement urging the president to sustain the resettlement program. Additionally, nearly 500 bipartisan state and local officials from all 50 states signed a letter in September expressing strong support for welcoming and resettling refugees in the United States. And while refugee resettlement is often thought of as a humanitarian endeavor, it also has real impacts on the U.S. economy. According to the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the net fiscal impact of refugees and asylees was positive over a 15-year period between 2005 and 2019, at $123.8 billion. It found that refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to federal, state and local governments. They contributed an estimated $363 billion to the federal government through payroll, income, and excise taxes, and $218 billion to state and local governments, through income, sales, and property taxes in that time. 'This means that refugees and asylees contributed more revenue than they cost in expenditures to the government,' the office found in a February 2024 report. 'The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion, and the net fiscal benefit to state and local governments was estimated at $92.3 billion.' The most heartbreaking thing, to me, isn't even that this family will continue to be separated for at least several months – an unfair horror that is simply compassionless. It's the lack of public response on these issues from Trump's fellow Republicans in our congressional delegation – the people we elect on behalf of all Idahoans, including Amouna and Abdullah, to represent our interests in Congress as a check and balance to an overreaching executive branch. Amouna said she has reached out to our elected officials on the federal level, and as of Monday afternoon, had not heard back. The Idaho Office of Refugees itself is connected with the delegation for further guidance on how to administer this executive order and how to support the refugees already in the pipeline to come to America who are now left wondering when they'll be reunited with their families. Our delegation should be forward facing, highly visible and unflinching in their support for fairness and compassion for these future Idahoans who hope to make their homes here. We should never forget that there are real human beings that were full of joy and hope — and now sadness and uncertainty — that must grapple with the true and agonizing effects of these immigration policies. There is a light of hope outlined in subsection D of the executive order – one that the delegation could affect directly. 'The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall examine existing law to determine the extent to which, consistent with applicable law, State and local jurisdictions may have greater involvement in the process of determining the placement or resettlement of refugees in their jurisdictions, and shall devise a proposal to lawfully promote such involvement,' the order states. We should honor our country's prior commitments to families who were promised – by their federal government through Welcome Corps and other resettlement programs – the opportunity to reunite in Idaho as immediately as they are able. I asked Abdullah what Idahoans should know about the executive order's impact on families like his. 'Just imagine your family are separated from you for a couple weeks like this,' Abdullah said. 'What could you do? What could you feel about it? For us, it's been years. We've tried to help, but then some orders come through with a sign: Stop everything. It's hard because we've been through a lot of stuff like war, bombing, you know, scary stuff. No food; no electricity. Just us just trying to see a light in a tunnel that they just turned off.' It's time we do everything in our power to join together to turn the light of hope back on. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
