Idaho

Made in Idaho: A behind-the-scenes look at the final days of onion harvest with J.C. Watson Co.

Published

1 year ago

October 25, 2024

Made in Idaho: A behind-the-scenes look at the final days of onion harvest with J.C. Watson Co.

PARMA, Idaho — J.C. Watson Company — a fourth generation grower, packer, shipper in Parma and Wilder — is projected to pack around 200 million pounds of raw onions this season. We take you behind the scenes on the final days of onion harvest to show you how it all works.

J.C. Watson ships millions of Idaho onions all over the United States and Canada.
J.C. Watson received a $1.55 million grant from the USDA through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program — which aims to strengthen the food supply chain— to upgrade infrastructure for their rail shipping operation.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Onion harvest is coming to a close, but the folks at J.C. Watson are still hard at work.

“The machines we’re using are Top Air onion loaders,” says Brad Watson, the President of J.C. Watson Company.

He tells me the Treasure Valley is the perfect place to grow onions because of the low humidity, long growing season, and ample irrigation.

These onion loaders pick up cured onions off the ground.

“They cut off the excess tops and then load them into the back of the semi trucks that will then take them to storage,” Watson said.

Those semi trucks then bring them to the packing shed where they are unloaded, inspected, weighed, and sorted before being packaged to be stored or sent to a variety of different buyers by truck or by rail.

“So this is kind of the whole purpose of this facility we’re in currently, right now we have two rail doors,” says Emily Watson-Libsack, VP of Sales and Marketing at J.C. Watson.

She tells me they just received a $1.55 million dollar grant from the USDA through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program — which aims to strengthen the food supply chain.

They’ll use that money to improve infrastructure and upgrade equipment for their rail loading operation.

“The biggest improvements will be to the rail, which is kind of hard to see, but this rail track has been here for, I think, close to 100 years,” says Watson-Libsack.

She tells me they can fit 4.3 truckloads of onions in one rail car— a much more efficient option for getting onions from Idaho to buyers across the country.

“So we have different equipment that we submitted as part of the grant, so some of that is some racking systems, again it just makes it easier for loading our rail cars,” says Shelly Bateman, Director of Organizational Effectiveness at J.C. Watson.

She tells me along with a new high-tech racking system, refrigeration units will also help extend the season for local growers.

“This expansion and this grant is kind of allowing us to kind of prepare for the generations. And in order for us to do that in Idaho we have to expand our shipping, have high-tech equipment that we’re putting in, and be able to be competitive in the marketplace,” Watson-Libsack said.

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Idaho

1 dead in U-Haul truck explosion in Idaho parking lot: Officials

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

1 dead in U-Haul truck explosion in Idaho parking lot: Officials

ByMatthew Fuhrman and Nadine El-Bawab

Sunday, December 14, 2025 4:44PM

One person is dead after a U-Haul truck appears to have accidentally exploded in a parking lot in Idaho early Saturday, according to officials.

The explosion caused damage within the blast radius including to a Courtyard Marriott and Old Navy, according to the Lewiston Fire Department and City of Lewiston Police Department.

Initial findings indicate the vehicle was transporting stored materials, including flammable items such as gasoline and propane tanks, according to officials.

“At this time, there is no indication the incident is criminal in nature,” Lewiston Fire Marshal Julian Sorrell said in a statement.

There was no fire after the explosion, officials said.

The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

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Idaho

Meridian man killed in U-Haul explosion in Lewiston

Published

14 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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Meridian man killed in U-Haul explosion in Lewiston

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The identity of the man killed in an explosion in Lewiston on Saturday morning has been released.

61-year-old Douglas R. Petersen from Meridian, Idaho, was identified by the Nez Perce County Coroner’s office as the victim of an explosion involving propane that was in the cargo box of a U-Haul truck

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Idaho

2 Idaho Lottery players will be millionaires in the new year – East Idaho News

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

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2 Idaho Lottery players will be millionaires in the new year – East Idaho News

BOISE – Two lucky Idaho Lottery players who participated in the 2025 Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle will begin the New Year as Idaho’s newest millionaires!

All 500,000 tickets in the Idaho Lottery’s traditional holiday game, the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle, have been sold and the game has officially ended. The last ticket was sold Thursday, December 11.

This year’s game was one of the fastest-selling in the 19-year history of the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle. After last year’s very successful game, the Idaho Lottery continued the game with two top prizes of $1,000,000. They also added a $100,000 prize and a $50,000 prize.

It is the 18th sellout and the 11th time the game has sold out before Christmas.

“We want to remind everyone this game features two, one-million-dollar top prizes. Last year, unfortunately, one of those $1,000,000 prizes was never claimed,” said Andrew Arulanandam, Idaho Lottery Director. “Keep your tickets in a safe place and remember to go online and check them after the drawing.”

The winning numbers will be announced at 5:59 p.m. Mountain Time on Monday, December 29.

“Idaho Raffle tickets are popular holiday gifts. So, this year, two lucky Idahoans could be instant millionaires because of their stocking stuffers!” added Arulanandam.

Players can check their tickets for winning numbers online, at all Idaho Lottery retail locations, on the Idaho Lottery winning numbers hotline at (208) 334-4656, or by using the Idaho Lottery Check-a-Ticket app for their iPhone or Android phone.

Besides the guaranteed top prizes of $1,000,000, there are over 21,500 additional prizes ranging from $15 up to $100,000. This year’s game also featured twenty, $1,000 prizes mid-game for players who purchased one of the 25,000th tickets. There were 15 daily, $1,000 winners during the first 15 days of sales. All players are encouraged to check their tickets for these promotion winners manually by visiting idaholottery.com.

All winning tickets of $1,000 and higher in this game must be claimed at Lottery offices in Boise. Players will have 180 days after the draw announcement on December 29, to claim their prizes.

This year’s Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle generated over $1.7 million for the Idaho Lottery’s beneficiaries, Idaho public schools and buildings.

During this gift giving season, the Idaho Lottery would like to remind everyone to gift Lottery tickets responsibly. You must be 18 years old to buy, sell, or redeem Lottery products in Idaho.

The following is a current list of $1,000 promotional winning tickets that remain unclaimed from this year’s Raffle: