Idaho
Colorful songbirds are showing up in east Idaho – East Idaho News
Some soft calls were coming from my bird feeders as I walked out to check my rock tumblers, “evening grosbeaks,” I thought as I strolled across the lawn. Two males flushed from the sunflower seed feeder as I got near it. I stopped and watched them join a small flock in the flowering chokecherry bushes along the full water ditch.
The next day while walking through the baren garden the sharp call of a male bullocks oriole came from a tree that they normally feed on orange halves. He appeared disappointed that the oranges had not appeared yet, but he came back as soon as I ran in the house to get the tree supplied with two halves for him.
After a four-day stay in EIRMC for a heart attack, I came home with all my feeders empty and quickly had my grandchildren load them up. This week I have had black-headed grosbeaks, lazali buntings and western tanagers joining the evening grosbeaks and bullock’s orioles adding color to my backyard. If you want these beautiful birds to visit your backyard, it is time to put out an assortment of food like orange halves, grape jelly, shelled sunflower seeds and bird feed with some white millet in it.
With the cold rainy weather this week, I have increased my types of feed adding dried mealworms and safflower seeds for any odd bird that may show up and need a snack. One of my favorite winter birds, a male steller’s jay, showed up Friday morning to brighten my morning along with a House wren.
I have been researching types of bird food this week to see if I need to expand even a little more. If you follow me, I have preached that red millet is a huge waste so I will not purchase bird feed that contains a lot of it, but in doing so, I have not used white millet. In visiting with another birder, I was told that white millet attracts Lazuli buntings, I found a store that carries white millet mixed with nyger seeds and will add it to my backyard restaurant for birds. If you have a favorite food for birds, give me a shout about it.
Colorful, and plain, birds are like medicine for me. In the spring when my daffodils, tulips and other early spring flowers brighten the wet, dark dreary days, adding colorful or new birds brings joy to my life. When I am tethered to a doctor’s or self-imposed physical leash and cannot leave home as often as I would like, a beautiful backyard full of flowers and birds lessen the need for an escape.
This to shall pass and hopefully in a week or two (probably four), I shall be able to chase the birds, rocks and fish and won’t have to bring them to my backyard. The doctors tell me being lazy is not a sin, but a healing process, so I will do my best to follow their instructions.
If any of you are following the nesting sandhill cranes at Camas National Wildlife Refuge or watching the great blue herons harvest voles on the south side of Mud Lake, now is the time to do it. The cranes should hatch out in the next week to 10 days and one of the nests is very visible if you can time the hatch. Watching a colt (sandhill crane chick) come out of the egg is a show you will never forget.
Good luck and stay safe – this is a crazy time of the year with too much going on to miss!!
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PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
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.
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