The parachuting beaver became our station mascot and has inspired everything from books to t-shirts, and now … an outdoor mural at the Sun Valley Museum of Art called "The Engineer."

On Friday, the National Historic site launched a restoration project to preserve the buildings, mess hall and root cellar. Friends of Minidoka executive director Robyn Achilles said this renovation will help visitors feel the weight of America’s heavy history.

Late Thursday, federal bankruptcy judge William Thurman wrote Bundy owes St. Luke’s Health System and three of its workers $60.2 million. That’s counting interest and up from the original judgment of about $52 million.

A federal judge has ruled against the city of Buhl in a case where the city’s police chief was accused of illegally entering a private home without a warrant and using excessive force.

Idaho’s anti-BDS law, passed in 2021, requires that contractors that do business with the state sign a certification that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israeli goods. It does not apply to contracts under $100,000 or with companies with fewer than 10 employees.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order creating the Advanced Nuclear Energy Task Force. He said energy demand is increasing rapidly, driven in part by the rapid growth of data centers. @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social for the Mountain West News Bureau

Gov. Brad Little is rebranding an existing nuclear energy task force in part to market Idaho as a hub for the industry. The move, announced at the Idaho National Laboratory Monday, comes as the Trump administration seeks to make the regulatory process faster and cheaper for new reactors.

Imagine a huge bird of prey … like an owl or a Red-tailed Hawk… flying right over your head and landing a few feet away. Well, you don’t have to imagine it; that’s what happens each autumn at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise. Find out more today at noon on Idaho Matters!

Thanks to your support, we exceeded our goal for our Fall Membership Drive. All the money raised stays here in Idaho, supporting the local news & music you rely on. We could not be more grateful to you for helping us reach this goal. Despite federal funding cuts, we're not going anywhere.

Gov. Brad Little is ordering state agencies to permanently cut 3% from their budgets for the next fiscal year after ordering them to temporarily slice the same amount from their current year spending plans in August.

Hello 👀 If you start a sustaining membership to Boise State Public Radio (or increase your monthly amount) it will be matched dollar for dollar! But this won't last forever ... the match offer ends at 6 p.m. You can also get entered to win a pair of tickets to Ballet Idaho's The Nutcracker.

As Israel invades Gaza City with ground troops, Idaho lawmakers are among 250 elected representatives visiting the country this week. Republican Rep. Barbara Ehardt, Rep. Josh Tanner and Rep. Bruce Skaug, alongside Democrat Rep. Ilana Rubel, were part of the delegation on the Israeli-sponsored trip.

Hunters can get up to $100 in rebates if they show receipts for lead-free ammunition and hunt at one of 13 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges this season. That includes the Camas National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Idaho, specifically for elk hunting.

Kelly Arispe is the launch director of the university’s School for the Digital Future, which offers an artificial intelligence certificate program. Arispe said there are about 600 students in the program and the majority only take courses online without meeting in person.

Boise State Public Radio has been here for you with daily news, music and meaningful conversations. Now, with the loss of federal funding, we need you to be here for us. Make a monthly financial gift by calling 208-426-1190 or give online here: bit.ly/3gmd68T

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean talked about the fragility “of the American experiment” and how “we need everyone to step back to think about how their words matter to demonstrate through action that what we care most about is freedom, this country, and the people that make it so great.”

Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk died after a shooting at an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, according to President Trump.

On Monday, the Boise School District approved a sharp increase in the school property tax collection. The district will collect $156.4 million in taxes in 2025, or $30.4 million more than last year, through its maintenance and operations levy, which doesn’t require taxpayer approval to increase.

In court documents, Lindsay Hecox said she’s afraid that she’ll continue to be subjected to harassment affecting her health and safety, along with several other reasons.

Idaho’s two Republican senators are signing on to a bipartisan bill that would triple the budget of a program to clean up water sources in national forests. If passed, it would prioritize projects involving wildfire restoration, drinking water and climate change resiliency.

The partnership, called the Western Health Alliance, will develop its own immunization guidelines “informed by respected national medical organizations,” according to a press release Wednesday from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. via @opb.org

The Boise Pride Festival is moving to Ann Morrison Park this weekend, with some adjustments. The budget for the headliner talent has been scaled down and the event will not start until Saturday, nixing the traditional Friday night kick-off party.

What started as a neighbor’s complaint about “vulgar and offensive language” from some late night pickleballers at the Willow Lane Athletic Complex - triggering a $1.6 million tort claim - has ended with the City of Boise telling pickleballers to vamoose from Manitou and Willow Lane parks.

In the summer of 2024, the historic Assay Office (built in 1871) in downtown Boise was undergoing a $1.5 million renovation. And when a utility crew began digging a trench to lay in new fiber optic cable, they found something. What the “something” truly was, they had no idea.

Idaho lawmakers are scrutinizing vacant state employee positions as the latest DOGE task force meeting tries to find ways to cut next year’s budget. About 40% of state agencies kept staffing vacancies at a good level between 2019 and 2024.

We’re shaping our next round of stories and your input can make a difference. What questions or topics do you want us to dive into? Let us know by sending us a DM or replying to this post

The Governor’s Housing Committee recommended Gov. Brad Little’s $4,551 extra monthly check remain the same for the upcoming fiscal year that starts next July.

Called Solar For All, the program set aside $56 million in federal money for Idaho to build solar panel farms & give rooftop panels to low-income residences. The plan aimed to reduce energy prices by a minimum of 20% for 15,000 Idahoans from tribal, rural and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Gov. Brad Little is ordering all state agencies except for K-12 education to cut their budgets by 3%.

Boise State Public Radio's Heath Druzin and James Dawson won the national Edward R. Murrow award for best podcast for small market radio for the second season of Extremely American, which gives listeners an inside look at Christian nationalism.

We'll be at The Western Idaho Fair tomorrow! Come offer story ideas, meet some station staff and support your public radio station. On opening day at the fair there is free admission from 12 to 4 p.m. when you bring a non-perishable food item to support the Boise State Food Pantry. See you there!

Holy moly, Extremely American won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for best podcast. Got the best team in the biz - James Dawson & Morgan Springer & awesome partners in @boisestatepublicradio.org & @npr.org. &, of course, check out the pod if you haven't - it's free! www.npr.org/podcasts/510...

@npr.org announced it is joining the Mountain West News Bureau to create a regional newsroom that brings together public media organizations across seven Western states.

Medical education leaders from around the state and the region have said they want to increase the number of student seats available to Idaho residents. But they’ve repeatedly pointed to a bottleneck: there aren’t enough clinics or doctors willing to host medical students for rotations.

Catch me on 1A from @npr.org @wamu.org today at 11am ET for a deep dive on wolves and check out my podcast Howl that Clark Corbin & I reported for @boisestatepublicradio.org @idahocapitalsun.com. It's free & pretty awesome, if I may say so myself. www.boisestatepublicradio.org/podcast/howl

In season 2 of Extremely American, we meet Pastor Doug Wilson who leads Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. His vision for the small college town? He wants to claim it for Jesus. And that's just the start. He and his allies want to make the whole country an explicitly Christian nation.

It's Sustainer Appreciation Week! This week is all about the people who make a gift every month and help support the journalism, music and information you rely on every day. Sustaining members can select an additional thank you gift, including our brand new "Sustainer Container" water bottle. 🚰

The exodus of Idaho obstetricians continues: a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows Idaho has lost a little more than a third of its OBGYNs since the repeal of Roe V. Wade in 2022.

Ever wanted the chance to name a red panda? @zooboise.bsky.social is offering just that.

RFK Jr. connected the increasing loss of salmon to the general poor health of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Senate Republican leaders said in a statement they remain steadfast in their “unwavering” opposition to removing these four dams.

It’s been a decade since the last Jaialdi. Meaning simply “festival” in Basque, Jaialdi is usually held every five years, but was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. For Idaho’s Basque community, the largest outside of Europe, the celebration is set to be festive.

A joint reporting series by the @idahocapitalsun.com and Boise State Public Radio takes readers and listeners deep into the backcountry to tell one of America’s wildest comeback stories – wolf reintroduction.

“They put forward three broad areas of focus, which is looking at agencies and divisions and departments for reduction, consolidation or elimination. Second, looking at state employees or efficiencies and other things. And third, looking at state travel," said Co-chair Rep. Jeff Elhers (R-Meridian).

Victim impact statements are being read as part of the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger. You can see all photos from the hearing so far here:

“The 65 and older portion of the population is steadily gaining ground and making up a larger and larger share of the population. So in 2004, only 11% of the population was over the age of 65. And we think that by the middle of the next decade, that will be almost 20%.”

White, pink, yellow and blue opals lay hidden, waiting to be discovered in the rocky landscape of Spencer Opal Mines — the largest-producing precious opal mine in the United States. #Idaho44

Jesse Tree is an Idaho nonprofit offering legal and rental assistance to people experiencing housing insecurity. The amount of people seeking aid has doubled since the pandemic lockdowns in 2020.

If you haven't made a gift to Boise State Public Radio yet ... we are matching any funds up to a total of $5,000. So if you give $10, it becomes $20. $20 becomes $40 ... you get the idea. You can call 208-426-1190 or make a gift online! bit.ly/3gmd68T

Corner crossing is allowed in some western states as long as recreationists do not physically touch private land. Hunters, like the ones accused of trespassing, use strategies like jumping across corners or climbing ladders over fences.

We never imagined this day would come — the day we would be at risk of going dark. With federal funding gone, the infrastructure that brings you trusted news is no longer secure. You’ve counted on us. Now, we are counting on you. Make a gift today by calling 208-426-1190 or online bit.ly/3gmd68T