Idaho
A controversial Idaho wind farm was OK’d last month: Now it’s on hold
President Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders shortly after his inauguration, including one that rolled back the recent approval of a controversial wind farm in south-central Idaho.
Trump signed a temporary order that prompted an immediate review of federal wind leasing and permitting regulations, and specifically halted any activity on the Lava Ridge Wind Project north of Twin Falls. The order said the project, which the Bureau of Land Management approved in December after more than three years of discussion and analysis, “is allegedly contrary to the public interest and suffers from legal deficiencies.”
The order directed the new Interior secretary to review the final BLM analysis and conduct any additional review or environmental impact studies as needed. Trump’s pick for that post, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has not yet been confirmed.
The Lava Ridge project, which proposed building as many as 230 wind turbines up to 660 feet tall to provide clean energy, was proposed by Magic Valley Energy. The company said the project could power half a million homes and create jobs for Idaho residents. Magic Valley Energy has also proposed a wind farm on federal land southwest of Twin Falls. That project, Salmon Falls, is still in early stages.
The Idaho Statesman reached out to Magic Valley Energy for comment on the executive order.
The project was criticized by multiple groups and politicians. Perhaps the most outspoken was the Friends of Minidoka, a nonprofit focused on the preservation of the Minidoka National Historic Site, which was an internment camp for imprisoned Japanese Americans during World War II.
The group said the wind turbines—which would be visible from the historic site northeast of Twin Falls—disturbed the historic view-shed and made it impossible for visitors to understand the true isolation of the camp. In a statement Tuesday, Friends of Minidoka Executive Director Robyn Achilles told the Statesman the group is “pleased” that the project is on hold.
“The proposed Lava Ridge wind development should be stopped and the area outside of Minidoka should be protected from future energy development that harms the viewshed of the park,” Achilles said.
Lava Ridge also drew criticism from local politicians in Twin Falls and Jerome, as well as ranchers with existing grazing leases on the proposed wind farm site. Idaho’s congressional delegation, all Republicans, were also outspoken critics.
In a statement, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch’s office said the longtime lawmaker co-wrote the executive order with the Trump administration.
“I made a promise to Idahoans that I would not rest until the Lava Ridge Wind Project was terminated. On day one, President Donald Trump took action to keep that promise,” Risch said in a news release.
Sen. Mike Crapo, as well as Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher, also applauded the executive order.
“The Lava Ridge Wind Project is unwelcome and has zero place in our state,” Simpson said in a statement.
Not all Idahoans opposed the project. The Idaho Conservation League, a longtime environmental advocacy group, backed the project last year after the BLM opted for a scaled-down version of the wind farm amid complaints. Adrian Gallo, the group’s climate program manager, said in a report that Lava Ridge “is not perfect, but it is necessary.”
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A controversial Idaho wind farm was OK’d last month: Now it’s on hold (2025, January 22)
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Idaho
Gov. Little signs bill ending license plate registration stickers in Idaho
Gov. Brad Little has signed House Bill 533, which would remove the need for license plate stickers on Idaho vehicles.
The legislation, introduced earlier this session by Rep. Jon Weber (R) of Boise, eliminates the requirement for registration stickers on Idaho license plates. Weber stated during the bills intorduction that officers can verify the status of license plates without the stickers, potentially saving the state around $300,000.
During the bill’s introduction, some lawmakers argued that it could increase the workload for law enforcement.
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The new law is set to take effect in July.
Idaho
Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances
For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.
The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.
Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.
Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.
Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.
“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.
Doing so is a risk, he said.
“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.
Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.
But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.
Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.
Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.
“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.
The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.
House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
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