Idaho
Idaho's strict abortion ban faces scrutiny in federal appeals court hearing
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appeals court is expected to hear arguments Tuesday afternoon over whether Idaho should be prohibited from enforcing a strict abortion ban during medical emergencies when a pregnant patient’s life or health is at risk.
The state law makes it a felony to perform an abortion unless the procedure is necessary to prevent the death of the patient. President Biden’s administration sued Idaho two years ago, contending the law violates a federal rule called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, because it prevents doctors from performing abortions that save their patients from serious infections, organ loss or other major medical issues.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case earlier this year, but bounced it back to the lower court on a procedural issue, leaving unanswered questions about the legality of the state abortion ban.
Idaho officials have argued in court filings that the state abortion ban doesn’t violate EMTALA. Instead, they say the fetus or embryo should be considered a patient with protections under EMTALA as well. They also argue that doctors have enough wiggle room under the law to use their best judgment about when to treat pregnant people with life-threatening medical conditions.
“Taking EMTALA for what it actually says, there is no direct conflict with Idaho’s Defense of Life Act,” attorneys representing the Idaho Legislature wrote in court filings earlier this month. “Nothing in EMTALA requires physicians to violate state law. And nothing in Idaho law — whether in EMTALA-covered circumstances or beyond — denies medical care to pregnant women.”
About 50,000 people in the U.S. develop life-threatening complications during pregnancy each year. Those complications can include major blood loss, sepsis, or the loss of reproductive organs. In rare cases, doctors might need to terminate a pregnancy to protect the health of the pregnant person, especially in cases where there is no chance for a fetus to survive.
But some state abortion bans have made medical decisions that once seemed clear feel particularly fraught for emergency room physicians. Complaints that pregnant patients were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“These harms are not hypothetical,” Idaho’s largest hospital system, St. Luke’s Health System, wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief in October. “In all of 2023, before Idaho’s law went into effect, only one pregnant patient presenting to St. Luke’s with a medical emergency was airlifted out of state for care. Yet in the few months when Idaho’s new abortion law was in effect, six pregnant St. Luke’s patients with medical emergencies were transferred out of state for termination of their pregnancy.”
One of those patients had severe preeclampsia — a condition that causes dangerously high blood pressure that can be fatal if untreated — and the others had premature rupture of their membranes, putting them at risk of life-threatening infections, St. Luke’s said.
“The stakes could not be higher,” ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project Deputy Director Alexa Kolbi-Molinas said Monday. She noted recent news reports in Texas about women who died after being denied appropriate treatments for incomplete miscarriages. “The reality is, exceptions don’t work. They don’t actually protect the health and rights of pregnant people regardless of what is written on the page, and that is just the reality when you threaten physicians with criminal penalties.”
IDAHO FALLS/POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) —The City of Pocatello officially welcomed new Mayor Mark Dahlquist and City Council Members Dakota Bates, Stacy Satterfield, and Ann Swanson during the City Council meeting on Jan. 8, 2026.
Mayor Dahlquist, a lifelong resident of Pocatello, brings extensive experience in leadership and management to the role. From 2007 until 2025, he served as Chief Executive Officer of NeighborWorks Pocatello, where he focused on housing, community development, and neighborhood revitalization. Before that, he spent 17 years in leadership and management positions with Farmers Insurance.
After the ceremony, Dahlquist said, “To make our community the very best it can be. Just remember to be involved. Volunteer being advocates for the community. We all together will make this community rise and be the very best it can be.”
The City also recognized the three City Council members who were sworn in following the November election.
In Idaho Falls Mayor-elect Lisa Burtenshaw officially began her term, taking the oath of office alongside elected City Council members during a ceremony at the City Council Chambers.
In addition to Burtenshaw, Brandon Lee was sworn in to City Council Seat 1. Jim Francis and Jim Freeman, who were reelected to Seats 4 and 6, also took the oath to begin their new terms.
Burtenshaw’s term begins following her election in December 2025. She succeeds outgoing Mayor Rebecca Casper, who served the city for 12 years and leaves a legacy of dedicated public service.
“I am honored to serve the residents of Idaho Falls and to begin this next chapter with such a dedicated City Council,” Burtenshaw said. “I look forward to engaging with our community, listening to their ideas, and working together to make Idaho Falls a great place to live, raise a family and grow a business.”
Idaho
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.
“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.
“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.
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
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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