Idaho
Frosting and funding for public schools: Idaho Lottery turns 35
MERIDIAN, Idaho — Idaho Lottery says every play benefits Idaho’s schools, students, and property tax payers.
- July 19, Idaho Lottery celebrated 35 years!
- New legislation will continue to provide funding for public school buildings.
- Learn more about Where the Money Goes.
(Broadcast Transcript)
“The lottery has provided millions of dollars in the last several, the last many years,” said Gideon Tolman, the Chief Financial Officer of Idaho Dept. of Education.
Another thing to celebrate, Friday, Idaho Lottery turned 35. Fun events at the Village consisted of games, live music, and plenty of birthday cake.
5 contestants from across the state tried their luck… digging through frosting… to find a prize in a ‘cake-stack.’
Nampa local Evan Crawford found the $10,000 reward in his pile of pastry.
“What are you planning to do with the money?” asked Meridian Neighborhood Reporter Allie Triepke.
“I am probably going to pay off some bills if I’m being honest,” said Evan Crawford, with his new-found luck, “and [buy] a few more lottery tickets of course.”
So how does the Idaho Lottery benefit students and taxpayers? We asked the state’s Dept. of Education.
“So school’s in the past, up to this point, have used it for kind of their routine maintenance, paying their maintenance team salaries, and doing their repairs on their buildings and a lot of their summer projects that they do between school years. That’s a big portion of what is spending has gone to as far,” said Tolman.
West Ada School District tells me the money has been a “significant help” for the district to maintain buildings.
Starting this year, new legislation, House Bill 521, combines state money, in part with lottery funding, to fund more public school districts.
“In this legislative package that included that piece where the lottery funding is going to be redirected, there was some additional funding from state sales tax revenues that will go to additional facilities support for schools,” said Tolman.
And good news for taxpayers, as the federal and lottery funding allows districts like West Ada to “hold off” on putting bonds on the ballot.
BLACKFOOT — A large contingent of Blackfoot Police officers has cordoned off an area near the Taco Bell on Parkway Drive in Blackfoot.
Police responded around 5 p.m., according to multiple witnesses who contacted EastIdahoNews.com.
EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Blackfoot Police for details.
We will update this story as we learn more.
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MISSOULA, Mont. — An Idaho Falls angler is back in the Idaho record books after landing a record-setting lake trout at Payette Lake.
Idaho Fish and Game said Dylan Smith caught and released a 43.25-inch lake trout on May 2, setting a new state catch-and-release record for the species. The fish surpassed the previous record of 42 inches.
The catch marks Smith’s second appearance in Idaho’s record books. He previously held the state catch-and-release lake trout record after landing a trophy fish in 2018 before that mark was later broken.
According to Fish and Game, Payette Lake has become one of Idaho’s premier lake trout fisheries thanks to years of management efforts aimed at improving both lake trout and kokanee populations.
Pride Month looks different this June along Boise’s Harrison Boulevard, where a long-standing tradition of hanging Pride flags on lamp posts has been put on hold after a new state law restricted which flags can be flown on government property.
For several years, Pride flags lined lamp posts along Harrison Boulevard in Boise’s North End neighborhood. But Idaho House Bill 561, signed by Gov. Brad Little in March, restricts which flags can be flown on government property, including the City of Boise’s Harrison lamp posts.
In response, a group of neighbors formed Pride North End and launched a distribution effort to help residents show support from their own front yards. The group has been making Pride flags and yard signs available to people who want to display them at home.
“I thought that I would…be a personal example of ‘yes, this is what I do.’ This is what I believe in,” said Edna Schochat, a North End resident.
Pride North End has already distributed more than 900-yard signs and 250 flags. The group’s original donation goal was around $2,000 to order 100 flags and 200 yard signs, but it has exceeded that GoFundMe goal, reaching $10,000 worth of donations.
The group plans to continue holding public flag and sign distributions through the end of the month.
“We cannot just say something without doing something that proves that we mean what we say,” Schochat said.
Pride North End said any leftover funds after materials are distributed will go to local LGBTQ+ nonprofits. A link to the group’s GoFundMe can be found here.
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