Idaho Political News
Rodger Schlickeisen: Tone down the rhetoric: Ranchers will still get money for livestock losses
In criticizing Defenders of Wildlife for our announcement that we are ending our compensation program for livestock producers who lose animals to wolves, both the Idaho Statesman and Gov. Butch Otter omit some key information. Allow me to set the record straight.
Thursday September 2, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Kevin Richert: The election you probably haven't heard of
Tuesday. The day after the last long (and, let's hope, sun-drenched) summer weekend. The unofficial start of the fall election season - when voters start re-engaging in politics.
Thursday September 2, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Our View: When the wolf's advocates cry wolf
A deal is a deal. Except, evidently, when it comes time to dealing with wolves. The environmental group Defenders of Wildlife is reneging on a long-standing commitment to compensate ranchers who lose livestock to wolves.
Wednesday September 1, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Our View: Will kids pay a price for playing it safe?
Did Gov. Butch Otter and the 2010 Legislature get their toughest and biggest job wrong? Did they lowball the budget after trying to outthink state government's economic expert?
Tuesday August 31, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Letters to the Editor: The Islamic Center controversy
Larry Woodard`s Aug. 8 letter blasts law-abiding Muslims wanting to build a mosque on personal property near the World Trade Center site. He`s offended and emotionally hurt by this (as he has the right to be) because of the 9/11 actions of Islamic extremists, and he hopes that our Idaho delegation will ignore the Constitution of the United States of America and violate not only the First A ...
Monday August 30, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
West Views; Opinions from other newspapers, on Idaho and Western issues
Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter and his Democratic rival Keith Allred met for their first debate in Idaho Falls Aug. 19 and avoided the one issue that matters: Idaho's budget mess hasn't disappeared.
Monday August 30, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Linda Clark: Idahoans want the best in education
During the 2009-2010 school year, our school district received $162,430,424 in state funding to educate 33,449 students, which equates to $4,878 per student. For the 2009-2010 school year, state funding dipped to $4,713 per pupil. This year our district anticipates 907 new students and $149,577.564 in state funding, which means the per-pupil funding for our district this year will be $4,270.
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Bob Kustra: A consensus on higher education
If one word best sums up life at Boise State these days or, for that matter, all of public higher education it is "contrast." Contrast our growing enrollment with our shrinking appropriations. Contrast our improved student profile, with higher GPAs and test scores than ever before, with the prospects for employment of our graduates in this economy. Contrast our record-breaking research funding wit ...
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Jamie MacMillan: Not all improvements take money
It`s easy to look at Idaho`s K-16 education system and think doom and gloom. Too few students are going beyond high school for the education and training they need to compete for good jobs with a living wage, while businesses continue to recruit outside of Idaho for qualified workers. Soaring tuition costs at our colleges - rising faster even than health care costs - mean fewer students ca ...
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Leslie Mauldin: Idahoans need more school choices
It is time for Idaho to increase public school options. Because education monies are an investment in Idaho's future, the stakeholders - taxpayers, parents, and policymakers - should have an interest in the return on investment. Parents and children are the consumers of our taxpayer-supported public education, not recipients of a charitable grant.
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Our View: Idaho schools delay investments - and innovation
Idaho's schools are no longer just pinching dollars. They are being forced to shortchange the future.
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Tami Bromley: Support education by voting wisely
If Idaho legislators can't harvest, slaughter, mine or sell it they don't support it it. Annually our Legislature is wooed by lobbyists, and then approves subsidies in the form of legislation that favors industry. This siphons funds from education. Below are four lessons with our children's future hanging in the balance.
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Christine Donnell: Idaho business dedicated to students
The Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence officially organized in 2003 and incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2005. It is a business coalition consisting of Idaho CEOs, presidents and managing partners.
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Martin L. Peterson: Put higher education on front burner
The importance of a public system of higher education has been recognized since the earliest days of our state. One of the last actions taken by the 1889 Territorial Legislature before Idaho became a state was to establish the University of Idaho. That commitment to higher education was most recently reaffirmed by Ada and Canyon County voters who, in 2007, voted to establish the College of Western ...
Sunday August 29, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Richert: Unlikely bedfellows Crapo and microbreweries
As we roll into one of those precious last weekends of pre-election-season summer, there is something fitting about an item that blends politics and beer.
Saturday August 28, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Tom Strickland: Road to wolf recovery runs through Wyoming
From the moment it was reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park nearly 15 years ago, the gray wolf has been the subject of litigation. A recent federal district court ruling requiring the United States to return gray wolves in Idaho and Montana to the endangered species list is the latest twist in the wolf`s strange legal journey, made stranger still by the fact that by every objective meas ...
Friday August 27, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Suzanne Stone: Let's take a new tack on the wolf controversy
Wolves in the Northern Rockies are once again protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Friday August 27, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Kevin Richert: Is the U.S. 12 ruling one more obstacle for Otter?
Best known to Idaho voters for his unsuccessful Supreme Court campaigns in 2008 and 2010, John Bradbury put his signature on the governor's race Tuesday.
Thursday August 26, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Parents, here's an assignment for 2010-11
As a new school year begins, things are anything but old school. Teachers will likely have more students, more tests to grade - and less time for one-on-one attention. Bus routes may be more circuitous and less convenient. Field trips? Don't get your hopes up.
Wednesday August 25, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Kathy Fowers: Let's avoid a trucks-vs.-cars mentality
There have been articles in all major newspapers across the state concerning the state's highway funding problem, which may have left many readers with the impression that this very serious issue must be settled by a political battle between trucks and car drivers. That would be unfortunate for the citizens of Idaho, and would best be avoided.
Tuesday August 24, 2010 6:00AM | feedburner.com
Social Networks