Idaho

Clinging To Phoenix, U of Idaho President Spreads Cash, FOMO | Republic Report

Published

2 years ago

May 29, 2024

Clinging To Phoenix, U of Idaho President Spreads Cash, FOMO | Republic Report

University of Idaho president C. Scott Green is still trying to keep alive the dream of his school acquiring the troubled for-profit University of Phoenix, even though the proposed deal has been met with sharp disapproval from state legislators, the state’s attorney general and treasurer, and many others in Idaho.

Idaho Education News reports this week on emails between members of the Idaho State Board of Education, which oversees Green’s school, that discuss Green’s continuing talks with Apollo Global Management, the current owners of the University of Phoenix.

At the same time, Green’s apparent effort to influence the Idaho legislature through a series of campaign contributions seem to have only raised more questions about whether he has any idea what he’s doing.

According to the newly-unearthed email messages, obtained by Idaho Education News through a public records request, Green told a Board of Education member and an aide to Idaho governor Brad Little (R) that one possibility being floated is that Apollo would extend for nine to twelve months the expiring deadline for the deal to be completed, but Idaho would agree to “drop exclusivity,” meaning Apollo would be free to talk with other prospective purchasers, and perhaps pay a “break-up” fee to Idaho if one of these possible buyers reaches a deal.

Phoenix’s supposed interest in seeing other people, as floated by Green, may be aimed at making Idaho jealous, but based on developments in the year since the Idaho-Phoenix deal was announced, there may not actually be any genuine suitors in the wings.

A subsequent email recounts a May 1 meeting involving Green, representatives of the Board of Education, and Governor Little. According to the message, the meeting participants “agreed we need state policy leaders to signal whether they even want to move forward with the underlying transaction or not. The governor is going to have some informal conversations and follow up with us.”

The University of Phoenix told Idaho Education News, “We are optimistic that we can find a path forward with the University of Idaho and look forward to continuing discussions with leaders in the state.” The University of Idaho said, “We continue to have conversations with the governor and legislators about their interest in continuing to pursue this opportunity for our state.”

Green also confirmed to the Idaho Statesman this week that he still wants the Phoenix deal. “The sellers are still very interested, as are we,” Green told the paper. He also said that Phoenix’s revenues, around $800 million a year, “are probably more compelling than ever.”

But the ball seems to be in Governor Little’s court at this point, and he should be asking whether the deal ever made sense for Idaho.

The University of Phoenix has indeed received billions in taxpayer-funded student grants and loans over decades — a record that might suggest, as Green endlessly does, that it would be a cash cow for the University of Idaho. But Phoenix also has repeatedly faced actions from law enforcement agencies over deceptive and predatory practices. Betting that the school can keep engaging in such abuses without getting shut down, or, alternatively, that the school could keep making money without engaging in those predatory practices, seems awfully risky. There’s also the serious possibility that, having bought Phoenix, Green’s school could be on the hook to pay back federal taxpayers billions in student loan dollars that Phoenix banked by deceiving students.

The stalwart Idaho Education News also reported this month that Green donated $7,289.34 to eleven incumbent candidates for the state legislature in advance of the May 21 Republican primary.

One of those contributions — the maximum $1,000 permitted by Idaho law — was to Senator Chuck Winder (R), President Pro Tem of the state senate. Winder had supported a bill — which ultimately failed — that was intended to cure the perceived constitutional flaws in the structure of the Phoenix deal. Four other Green donations went to Republican state representatives who had opposed a separate House bill to authorize a lawsuit by the legislature to block the deal. (Another recipient of Green money voted for that bill.)

Last August, also, Green donated $10,000 to New Horizons, a political action committee led by Rep. Megan Blanksma, then the House Majority Leader. And in April, Scott Green’s wife, Gabriella Green, donated $25,000 to Idaho Deserves Better, a political group opposing hardline conservative state senator Dan Foreman.

University presidents don’t usually try to become players in state politics through campaign contributions, but a University of Idaho spokesperson defended the Greens’ giving to Idaho Education News. “Any political contributions made by Scott or Gabriella Green are from their own resources and are not associated with any university dollars. It is their right, as citizens, to support any candidates of their choosing,” Jodi Walker said.

But you wouldn’t have guessed how proud the Greens were about these campaign contributions from the way they presented them. The Idaho campaign finance reports list multiple variations of Green’s name — his initials “CS” or “C.s.” or his actual first name, Cumer — and two different addresses. Yet spokesperson Walker claimed, “There is no effort to obscure this support, and in fact (the Greens) proudly confirm these donations.”

But as to whether the Greens’ campaign contributions will advance the cause of the Phoenix deal, if that was a desired outcome, it’s not so clear.

Rep. Brent Crane (R), chair of the powerful Idaho House State Affairs Committee, told the Statesman he hadn’t heard of college presidents getting involved in political contests. Crane said Green “just hurt his cause significantly” and “obviously doesn’t understand politics; he should be focusing his time on education, not on political races.” Crane added, referencing the Phoenix deal, “So no, his issue will be dead.”

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Idaho

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

Published

7 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

BOISE, Idaho — It has been a dismal year for snow, but we’ve actually received more precipitation than normal in the Boise and Payette River basins. The difference has been the temperature, and we are trying to learn what the change in climate means for water users— both commercial and recreational.

“If you think about the lack of snow we have gotten in the Treasure Valley, it is unusual,” said hydrologist Troy Lindquist with the National Weather Service.

Click here to see the conditions and hear from the National Weather Service.

Water Outlook does not look promising, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

The mountains of western and central Idaho received some snow this week, and that bumped up the snow water equivalent to 83 percent of average in the Boise Basin, 81 percent in the Payette River Basin, and 69 percent in the Weiser River Basin.

The lack of snow is obvious at lower elevations, but we have also received 4.88 inches of rain at the Boise Airport since the beginning of October, a full inch above the average. I wanted to talk with Troy Linquist to learn more about this strange winter and what it means for the future.

“If we don’t have that mid and low elevation snowpack, that’s just overall going to decrease the spring run-off,” said Lindquist. “Instead of it holding as snow and holding in the mountains, that rain has increased the reservoir system.”

I’ve been out kayaking as the South Fork of the Payette River is flowing at normal summer levels and has been for several weeks.

Most of Idaho’s rivers are flowing higher than normal, including Mores Creek, which dumps into Lucky Peak Reservoir.

It’s good news, but not as good as if the precipitation was sticking around in the mountains in the form of a deep snowpack.

Mores Creek just above Lucky Peak Reservoir

“If we just don’t get the snow that is going to impact the water supply, it’s going to impact vegetation, spring flows, the health of the ecosystem, and stuff like that,” added Lindquist.

The team at the National Weather Service will continue to monitor the situation daily and Troy Lindquist told me the outlook for the next ten days doesn’t look good. However, the wet winter months are a marathon, not a sprint— with several months left to improve the outlook. That said, it could also get worse.

The reservoirs have added water from the rivers and streams

“We got the second half of January, February, and March where we can accumulate snowpack,” explained Lindquist. “We do have time to see that snowpack recover, and that’s what we are hoping for.”

The Boise system has pretty good carryover from last year between Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock, and Lucky Peak. The system is 58 percent full, and the Payette system is 71 percent full.

Snow water equivalent after this week's snow

Some of Idaho’s river basins are actually doing pretty well right now, but southern Idaho is doing the worst, as the Owyhee River Basin is sitting at 20 percent of its average snowpack.

ALSO READ | Lemons into lemonade: Kayakers get a unique, winter opportunity while snow conditions worsen

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Idaho

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Published

19 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Water managers in Idaho are expressing concern over an unusual weather pattern causing a “snow drought” across much of the state, despite a wet start to Water Year 2026. While fifteen of Idaho’s twenty-six river basins are experiencing “pluvial” conditions with exceptionally high precipitation, twelve of these basins are facing snow drought. This phenomenon occurs when winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, a situation exacerbated by the warmest winter on record, surpassing the previous record set in 1934.

The Spokane basin exemplifies this issue, with moderately pluvial precipitation conditions but exceptional drought snowpack conditions. Snow has only accumulated significantly at high elevations, leaving areas like the Big Lost River basin’s valley floor, downstream from Mackay, without snow cover.

Despite these challenges, some basins, including the Big Wood, Little Wood, Big Lost, and Little Lost, are seeing snowpack levels almost a month ahead of schedule. The Upper Snake River basin is also wetter than normal, which is crucial for recovering from drought due to below-normal reservoir carryover at the start of the water year.

Northern Idaho requires significant snowpack accumulation to recover from drought conditions, while western Idaho risks drought without more snow. Eastern Idaho is faring better, except for the southern side of the Snake River basin, which needs substantial snowpack for drought recovery.

An active weather pattern is forecasted for the next week, but drier than normal conditions are expected to begin this weekend and last for at least a week. Water managers will be closely monitoring temperatures to see if they drop enough to convert precipitation into the much-needed snowpack.

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Idaho

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan | Capital Press

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan

Published 2:20 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Idaho law requires utilities file annual plan

State regulators will take written comments through Feb. 12 on Idaho Power’s wildfire mitigation plan, a document that the company has submitted in each of the last five years and is now required under 2025 legislation.

The current edition of the plan includes information on the use of software to identify wildfire risk, on efforts to enhance the Boise-based utility’s wildfire situational awareness, and on how design methods for new transmission lines and upgrades of existing lines will reduce wildfire ignition potential in heightened risk areas, according to an Idaho Public Utilities Commission news release.

The Western U.S. has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of wildland fires due to factors including changing climatic conditions, increased human encroachment in wildland areas, historical land management practices and changes in wildland and forest health, according to the application Idaho Power filed with the PUC.

“While Idaho has not experienced fires to the same magnitude as some other Western states, Idaho’s wildfire season has grown longer and more intense,” according to the application. “Warmer temperatures, reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt contribute to drier conditions, extending the period of heightened fire risk.”

Wildfire law

A 2024 peak wildfire season that started earlier than usual, ended late, was busy throughout and caused substantial damage was a factor in the 2025 Idaho Legislature passing Senate Bill 1183, the Wildfire Standard of Care Act.

The law aims to protect utilities’ customers and member owners by empowering the PUC to set expectations and hold the utilities and strong standards, and outline liabilities for utilities that fail to meet the requirements, according to the bill’s purpose statement.

Wildfires in recent years have “bankrupted utilities and driven their customers’ monthly bills to crippling levels. In part this is due to courts holding utilities liable for wildfire damages despite no finding of fault or causation,” according to the purpose statement.

As for liability, in a civil action where wildfire-related damages are sought from the utility, “there is a rebuttable presumption that the electric corporation acted without negligence if, with respect to the cause of the wildfire, the electric corporation reasonably implemented a commission-approved mitigation plan,” the bill text reads.

Each electric utility’s mitigation plan identifies areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment that it says may be subject to heightened risk of wildfire, states actions the utility will take to reduce fire risk, and details how public outreach will be done before, during and after the season, according to the PUC release.

Idaho Power’s new mitigation plan includes an updated risk zone map, and qualitative risk adjustments by area to account for unique factors that may raise or lower risk because of changes that have occurred over time, such as to vegetation composition due to fire impacts, according to the application.

Comments on the case, IPC-E-25-32, can be submitted online or at secretary@puc.idaho.gov.

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