Latest news with #GovBradLittle
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Explore how Idaho is reshaping immigration policy and community ties
Stories by Idaho Statesman journalists, with AI summarization This collection of stories explores Idaho's recent moves to change immigration enforcement and the effects on communities. Avelo Airlines will end its Boise flights to begin operating deportation flights for ICE. Idaho State Police are joining a federal program to transport undocumented people convicted of crimes to ICE detention. A Twin Falls refugee was deported to Bhutan, marking the first time that country accepted such a return. Lawmakers advanced bills targeting undocumented immigrants' access to health care, and Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order reinforcing federal immigration cooperation. Rumors and fear about ICE raids have led to confusion among businesses and community members. Boise was controversially listed as a "sanctuary city" by federal officials, drawing criticism from local sheriffs and immigrant advocates, while the Trump administration also revoked student visas for some Idaho university students. Read the stories below. 'It's really challenging,' one official said. | Published February 1, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carolyn Komatsoulis Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has issued a variety of immigration initiatives. | Published February 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carolyn Komatsoulis 'We are a Christian nation,' one lawmaker said. 'These are people who need help when they need help.' | Published March 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carolyn Komatsoulis 'We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,' Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement. | Published April 9, 2025 | Read Full Story by Kevin Fixler 'We are monitoring information that is available to us,' a Boise State University spokesperson said. | Published April 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carolyn Komatsoulis The sheriff said no political appointee could tell him who compiled the list. | Published June 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carolyn Komatsoulis U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday deported Twin Falls resident and refugee Binod Sh... | Published June 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by SEAN DOLAN, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho State police, under a new federal agreement, will hand over undocumented people convicted of a crime to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Little announced Thursday. | Published June 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by Sarah Cutler Carolyn Komatsoulis The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho starts remodel for the firing squad chamber. Here's what it'll cost
In our Reality Check stories, Idaho Statesman journalists seek to hold the powerful accountable and find answers to critical questions in our community. Read more. Story idea? Tips@ Idaho will spend more than $900,000 to renovate its execution chamber to accommodate a firing squad as its lead method, state prison officials told the Idaho Statesman. The Idaho Department of Correction announced in late May that it was set to begin construction but did not detail the cost. The decision to move forward with the remodel project is tied to meeting a July 2026 deadline included in a bill the Legislature passed in March to prioritize the execution method, which Gov. Brad Little signed into law. The legislation followed a prior law Little approved in 2023 that made the firing squad a backup method to lethal injection, and set aside $750,000 for construction. No new funds were included when lawmakers made the firing squad the primary method to carry out the death penalty once IDOC finishes the transition with the retrofit at the maximum security prison south of Boise. Prison officials said they plan to make up the cost difference with other budget savings. The project's expected price tag of $911,000 is about $42,000 less than a prior estimate issued last year. The previous cost would have expedited construction, officials said, which would have taken three to four months. IDOC now plans for the project overseen by the Idaho Division of Public Works to take between six and nine months. The state prison system paused all possible executions until early 2026, when the project is complete, because construction effectively takes the execution chamber offline, including for lethal injections. IDOC already was under a federal injunction against carrying out the death penalty until they make changes to a room where prison officials prepare and administer lethal injection drugs. Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic, IDOC's spokesperson, told the Statesman that she doesn't know why officials chose to approve the longer construction timeline. A judge in April ruled in favor of the injunction after three news outlets, including the Statesman, sued IDOC to improve witnesses' access to executions on First Amendment grounds. The Attorney General's Office, which represents IDOC in the matter, appealed the judge's decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. When it takes effect next year, Idaho's new law will make it the only U.S. state with a firing squad as its main execution method. Four other states — Utah, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Mississippi — also have the controversial method on the books, but none as its primary. South Carolina upgraded its execution chamber in 2022 to add a firing squad at a cost of $54,000, The Associated Press reported. The state executed two prisoners by firing squad this year, the first time the method was used in the U.S. in nearly 15 years. By comparison, Idaho's estimated price tag drew criticism from lawmakers who opposed the new law. 'The expense to this is getting to be considerable,' Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, said during debate of the bill. 'You can build a gorgeous, gorgeous mansion for $1 million, and I don't know why a firing squad facility is costing so much.' The sponsors of Idaho bill's pursued the change after the state failed to put a prisoner to death for the first time in state history. Prison officials attempted to execute Thomas Creech — the state's longest-serving death row prisoner — in February 2024, but called off his lethal injection when they were unable to find a vein suitable for an IV. Creech, now 74, was returned to death row and has remained in legal limbo since. Eight other people convicted of murder, including one woman, make up the rest of those prisoners in Idaho who have been sentenced to death.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Living in time of ‘division,' Boise mayor says city can ‘care for each other'
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said Thursday in her State of the City speech downtown that residents live in a time of 'division' and uncertainty. McLean said mayors are unsure how to work with fewer resources, business leaders are concerned about the economy, and everyday people are worried about national politics and their monthly bills. 'Despite that uncertainty, I also hear a belief that we will get through it,' said McLean, who sought to reassure the crowd that the city was in a strong economic position. 'Though we have to tighten our belts and look for ways to stretch a dollar this year, I'm proud of the investments that we've made in previous years that are now coming to life.' During the speech, McLean mentioned uncertainty in federal funding sources while discussing affordability in Boise. McLean also alluded to federal and state decisions that 'upend' the city's ability to serve its residents. A spokesperson for McLean, Emilee Ayers, did not respond to questions asking which federal and state efforts were impacting what services. Just this year, the Idaho Legislature passed at least two bills affecting the city of Boise directly. One banned public camping in the state's largest cities, including people who sleep in their cars, according to previous Statesman reporting. After Gov. Brad Little signed the homelessness bill into law, McLean criticized it for removing local police officers' discretion and flexibility. She has sought to distance herself from the legislation, calling it the 'Galloway bill,' after its sponsor, Sen. Codi Galloway, R-Boise. The Republican-dominated Legislature also targeted Pride flags as part of a new law preventing most flags from flying on government property. McLean kept the Pride flag up, prompting a warning letter from Attorney General Raul Labrador. The law has no enforcement mechanism. In response, McLean and the City Council made the Pride flag and an organ donor flag official flags of the city, which are allowed under the law. Before her speech, large screens played a video that included images of the Pride flag flying under the Boise flag at City Hall. The crowd applauded while watching the flags flap in the wind. 'In times like these, when there are so many who seek to divide, we have a choice,' McLean said. 'Succumb to division or do what we have always done: Come together to care for each other and for the city.'
