The Project Impact STEM Academy robotics team, known as The Quackens, is set to represent Idaho on a national stage in Washington, D.C. The team has been selected by Gov. Brad Little to compete in the United States Governors Cup, a prestigious event that brings together elite robotics teams from all 50 states.

Team captain and programmer Kaia Peterson explained the competition’s unique challenges: “We have a playing field that we have to complete different tasks on so this year we have to shoot balls into a goal and our goal is to pick up they look like wiffle balls, there’s purple ones and there’s green ones and we call them artifacts and your goal is to pick up artifacts and shoot them into the goals. And once you shoot them into the goals they roll down into these ramps that are called classifiers and if you put the artifacts in the classifiers in a certain order, you get a motif you get pattern points, for having them in a certain order so you wanna score them in the goal but you also want to get them in the certain pattern.”

The competition will test not only their engineering skills but also their teamwork, problem-solving, and ability to strategize with alliance partners. “One of the reasons we go and talk to other teams is so we can be one of their choices for an alliance because you really wanna talk and develop those connections with teams cause you’re going to have a higher chance to be in the finals, that and having a good robot,” Peterson said.

Being chosen to represent Idaho is an honor the students are taking seriously. “Even now as we’re preparing to go to D.C we’re trying to make as many changes as we can to be better than we were at state when we go to D.C.,” Peterson added.

However, the trip comes with significant costs, including travel, accommodations, and competition fees. The Quackens have launched a GoFundMe campaign and are only $500 away from reaching their goal to make their dream a reality. Those interested in supporting Idaho’s best and brightest can donate through their GoFundMe campaign.

Washington, D.C. (7News) — Chelsea Handler is headed to the DMV to kick off her new “High and Mighty” comedy show!

On Monday, Chelsea chatted with Megan about the show and what she’s been up to. Chelsea shared a few stories we were all jealous of!

You can grab tickets to her DC show set for this Friday here.

Health officials are warning that confirmed cases of measles may have spread at this year’s National March for Life rally and concert in Washington, D.C.

Thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators converged upon the National Mall and other locations in the nation’s capital for the annual event at the end of January. The DC Department of Health says it’s working to identify people who are at risk.

“DC Health was notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious,” the agency said in a press release on Sunday. “DC Health is informing people who were at these locations that they may have been exposed.”

Potential exposure sites from Jan. 21 to Feb. 2 include major transit such as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Union Station, an Amtrak Northeast Regional train and D.C.’s subway system, according to DC Health. The agency says infected individuals also visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and Catholic University.

Children’s National Hospital issued a public health notice concerning potential exposure in its Emergency Department. The notice said a Virginia resident, who was confirmed to have measles, visited the department while contagious on Feb. 2.

The U.S. is dealing with its biggest measles outbreak in decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 733 confirmed measles cases in 20 states so far this year alone, as of last Thursday. According to the CDC, 95% of the cases involved people who are unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.

South Carolina’s outbreak started in October 2025 and quickly surpassed an outbreak in Texas. Cases in South Carolina continue to grow. The Department of Public Health reported 44 new confirmed cases on Friday, bringing the total in the state to 920. Earlier last week, officials in the state reported that the rate of new confirmed cases had slowed. They warn that people may have been exposed in this latest round of new cases in several locations, including a Target store in Taylors, S.C., and the Social Security Administration in Spartanburg, S.C. The outbreak is centered in Spartanburg.

In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz urged Americans to receive measles vaccinations. In recent months, the Trump administration has rolled back the number of diseases it recommends immunizations for, but federal guidance for measles immunizations has not changed.

Global health officials are concerned about the spreading of measles in the United States. The World Health Organization’s Pan American Health Organization has invited the U.S. to meet in April to review the country’s measles elimination status. The U.S. is in danger of losing its status as a country that has eradicated the disease. The Trump administration said it formally completed its withdrawal from the WHO last month.

D.C.’s Health Department is advising anyone possibly exposed who is not fully vaccinated or has a compromised immune system to contact the health department or health care provider.