Idaho
Idaho dairy officials report avian flu affected cows are recovering
It’s been two weeks since the initial detection of a strain of bird flu in dairy cows. As of Tuesday, 20 herds had been infected across six states, including one in Idaho.
About eight cows on a Cassia County dairy farm got sick after the farm imported cattle from a Texas operation, where animals later tested positive for bird flu.
The sick cows were eating less and producing less milk; and the milk they did produce appeared thicker than usual.
The animals were isolated, but are improving, said Rick Naerebout, the CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association.
“They seem to be on the upswing,” he said. “They are nearly a week now without symptomatic cattle and their feed intake and milk production has bounced back to normal, and so it appears everything is headed in the right direction.”
While one Texas worker contracted the virus, there have been no confirmed cases among humans since . No workers on the Idaho farm have shown symptoms, Naerebout said.
The Cassia County farm was prepared to protect workers, he said, and already supplies them PPE like eye protection and gloves.
A spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said the state and local health departments are “collaborating to ensure employees of the affected farm have information in writing about how to prevent exposure and to watch out for symptoms,” and did not say whether health officials had been to the farm.
Naerebout says, across the country, the dairy industry still has questions about the virus, like whether a vaccine can be developed for cows. Fortunately, he said, in Idaho, the spread seems to have been contained to a few animals on one farm.
The Idaho State Department of Agriculture emphasized that milk from affected cows poses no human health risk because of the high-heat pasteurization process. Initially, Idaho prohibited cattle from entering from Texas, Kansas and New Mexico, but has since adapted the restriction to “any premises in an affected state where a bovine animal has tested positive for Bovine Influenza A virus (BIAV).”
Scott Leibsle, Idaho’s state veterinarian, expressed concern primarily for the potential impact of the virus on milk production on dairy farms. Naerebout added that the Cassia County farm’s production was minimally affected, with the removal of sick cows from the production lines resulting in less than a 5% reduction in overall production during that period.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on X @racheld_cohen
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Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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