Idaho
A traveling country singer became one of Idaho's most liberal US senators and was later arrested – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS – As the Senate clerk called for Theodore Bilbo to be sworn in, Glen Taylor rose from his desk to object.
It was Jan. 3, 1947 and Taylor, Idaho’s senior U.S. Senator — a progressive Democrat from Pocatello who historians say may be the state’s most liberal politician to date — opposed Bilbo’s inauguration. The newly re-elected Democrat from Mississippi was a white supremacist and a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Racist comments had reportedly dominated his 1946 re-election campaign.
In a 2019 book by three-term Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown, the author explains Bilbo told voters “to get out and see that no n***** votes.”
A special committee investigating Bilbo’s campaign determined Bilbo encouraged voter registrars to “think up questions enough to disqualify undesirables” from voting. Bilbo apparently supported violence against African-American voters.
Later, an investigation into his campaign expenditures found he’d received numerous illegal gifts on the campaign trail, including a new car and a swimming pool for his home.
Despite these charges, a committee consisting of three democrats and two republicans recommended on a party line vote that Bilbo be sworn in anyway.
Three weeks later, when Bilbo was called to the front of the Senate Chambers to be sworn in, Taylor stood up and requested Bilbo’s swearing in be delayed.
“What a hypocritical and blasphemous gesture we would witness today, if Mr. Bilbo were to stand in our midst and place his hands on The Holy Bible and swear (falsely) to democratic institutions, to free elections, to the rights of citizens,” Taylor said, according to Brown.
Taylor spoke against Bilbo for about an hour, Brown writes. The author includes an excerpt from a well-known newspaper columnist at the time, who explains “Bilbo came over and sat down a few feet from the speaker … glowering up with an arrogance rarely equaled in Senate history.”
Several republicans introduced a resolution to deny Bilbo his seat.
Bilbo had cancer at the time and had an upcoming medical procedure. The Senate minority leader asked for the discussion to be tabled while Bilbo underwent surgery.
Bilbo never was sworn in. He died eight months later on a New Orleans hospital bed.
Taylor’s arrest and political views
Civil rights was an issue Taylor supported nearly two decades before it became a national movement led by Martin Luther King — and Taylor often paid a high price for his beliefs.
In 1948, Henry Wallace, former vice president to FDR, ran for president on a third party ticket and selected Taylor as his running mate. Harry Truman ultimately won that election, but during a campaign stop in Birmingham, Alabama, Taylor was arrested while speaking at a black youth rally.
The Birmingham Police Department arrested Taylor for trying to enter a door labled “coloreds only.” Brown writes in his book that Taylor was driven around in a police car and “subjected to taunts and threats” from officers before being taken to jail.
“It was a big story all around the country. Not every day a United States senator gets arrested,” political historian Marc Johnson told KTVB in 2021.
To this day, KTVB reports Taylor is the only sitting U.S. senator to ever be arrested for protesting.
Taylor was a controversial figure in politics for espousing what his political opponents called “semi-socialist” views. This perception came in part from Taylor’s opposition to the Truman Doctrine, foreign policy established by President Harry Truman that pledged American support to “free peoples” resisting communist takeover.
“The pathological fear and hatred of Russia … is leading some of our more affluent citizens to risk the extinction of mankind in a desperate effort to erase communism from the earth,” Taylor said in a radio speech in 1947. “Our militaristic Wall Street Foreign Policy … has failed to make friends of Russia, and by its arrogant manner has cost us the friendship of practically every country on earth.”
Taylor’s early life and introduction to politics
Taylor was born in Portland, Oregon. His family moved to Kooskia in northern Idaho six weeks later, according to his obituary. He settled in Pocatello years later with his wife and kids.
He held a variety of jobs in his early life, and left school after his eighth-grade year to work for his brother’s stock theater company. Eventually, he gained a reputation as a country western singer.
As an adult, he and his wife, Dora, toured with their kids in a family band called The Glendora Singers.
In 1932, the 28-year-old Taylor visited his cousin in Arco. Taylor found a book on his cousin’s bookshelf called “The People’s Corporation” by King Camp Gillette, the creator of the Gillette razor.
In the book, Gillette refers to himself as a “Utopian socialist” and Taylor was awestruck with many of his ideas.
This got him thinking about politics.
Four years later, Taylor was in Driggs looking for a place for his family to perform and saw Gov. C. Ben Ross and his secretary of state holding a campaign rally at a small theater in town. To Taylor, it looked liked a rehearsed vaudeville act.
“If he can do this and get elected to office … so can I,” Taylor wrote in his 1979 autobiography. “But I can do it better than C. Ben Ross because he is an amateur and I am a professional.”
When he told his wife about his decision, she reminded him that they didn’t have a permanent address in Idaho. Political candidates must have proof of residency for the state they represent. That’s how they ended up in Pocatello.
Though Taylor first ran for Congress in 1938, his first election victory didn’t happen until 1944 when he narrowly defeated his Republican opponent, C.A. Bottolfsen, with 51% of the vote.
RELATED | How a journalist from Arco became the first Idaho governor to serve nonconsecutive terms
The first professional actor ever elected to Congress used his performance skills to get elected.
Taylor’s son, Arod, recalls his father’s unusual campaign style in Brown’s book.
“We bought a small boat,” Arod says, and “put it on top of our old Ford, put our luggage in the boat and covered it with a canvass and sat on it when we were singing. I entertained them, daddy spoke to them, and mother collected the money. We did that about five or six times a day.”
After the election, Taylor continued strumming his guitar for crowds during a cross-country trip to Washington on horseback.
“Upon his arrival in Washington, D.C., Taylor rode his horse, Nugget, up the steps of the U.S. Capitol building,” one article reports. “The housing shortage caused by World War II was still in full swing and so he and his family had a difficult time finding a place to live. In response, Taylor stood outside the building and sang, ‘O give us a home, near the Capitol dome, with a yard for two children to play.’”
The performance was successful in attracting attention from renters.
The Red Scare and life after politics
Taylor’s efforts in standing up to what Brown calls “McCarthyite hysteria” in the early 1950s made him a political target.
His political opponent, Republican Herman Welker, lumped Taylor into a group of “87 communists in Idaho … and radicals and stooges and crackpots who consistently follow the party line and play right into the communist cause.”
Taylor failed to secure a re-election bid. He ran again in 1956, but lost the primary to Democrat Frank Church, who went on to serve in the U.S. Senate for 24 years.
RELATED | The story of Idaho’s 18th governor and the political statement that denied him a second term
Taylor and his wife moved to Milbrae, California and started making hairpieces. He started wearing toupees as a stage performer years earlier.
“There isn’t much demand for bald juvenile leading men, and I tried everything – sheep dip, what have you – and that just made it fall out faster,” Taylor once said.
When he first ran for public office, he wasn’t wearing a hairpiece. He concluded that voters “didn’t have much use for bald politicians” but that “I ran the fourth time with it and won.”
Taylor earned a patent for his product and his handmade hairpieces became a popular business venture called Taylor Topper Inc. Today, it’s called Taylormade Hair Replacements. It’s owned by Taylor’s son, Greg.
His bio also lists several acting credits in his later years. According to IMDB, he appeared in an episode of “Death Valley Days” in 1960 and 10 episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett.”
Taylor passed away in 1984 at age 80 from Alzheimer’s.
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BOISE, Idaho — A Boise neighbor said she trapped the largest rat she has ever seen in her backyard, and a local pest control expert said he has already responded to multiple Treasure Valley homes this year to remove the rodents. As sightings increase, Idaho lawmakers are also taking action.
Britni Killeen, who grew up on a farm in East Idaho, said nothing could have prepared her for what she found in her West Boise backyard.
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“I’m a 5th-generation Idahoan, and I’ve never seen something that big,” Killeen said.
Killeen believes the rats may be swimming through the Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve and making their way into nearby neighborhoods.
“We live next door to the refuge, and if you have a gap between your fence, which we do, it’s about 3 ft, they come into your yard, and they can go under fences,” explained Killeen.
Alpha Home Pest Control has served the Treasure Valley for over 10 years. Owner Mike Hill said he has been receiving weekly calls about rat sightings. While some turn out to be false alarms, he has already visited seven Treasure Valley homes this year to remove rats. Hill said many of them may be arriving from out of state and staying because of the mild weather conditions.
“Washington, California, the shipping, the freight coming back and forth, they’re kind of stowaways,” Hill said. “Then with the mild winters that we’ve been having, [it] hasn’t really been killing them off.”
RELATED | ‘It was like an explosion of rats’: Neighbors report rise in pests
Hill said Norway and Roof rats can pose serious risks to both health and property.
“They carry disease, they carry fleas, ticks, they can chew through your wiring in your home,” Hill said. “Their teeth grow very rapidly, so there have been cases where they’re up there chewing on wires, [and] the house burns down.”
If you spot a rat, Hill recommends calling a professional to ensure there are not more hiding nearby. He also offered several prevention tips.
“The droppings of the fruit, excess fruit, keep that stuff picked up. Make sure that your trash is enclosed in either a hard plastic or metal container,” Hill said.
RELATED| Rodents of Unusual Size Act advances to House after 28-3 Senate vote
As rat sightings increase across the Treasure Valley, lawmakers are taking notice. On Thursday, the Idaho Senate passed the Rodents of Unusual Size Act, which would declare Norway and roof rats a public health and safety nuisance and requires the state to take action to control and remove them. That bill now heads to the House.
Killeen said the legislation is a step in the right direction.
“Considering how big that rat is, I would definitely say so,” Killeen said. “I didn’t even know that big of rats could exist in Idaho, but maybe I’m just rural.”
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho lawmakers have introduced legislation that would phase out state funding for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs while keeping the commission in place.
The proposal, introduced by Rep. Jeff Ehlers, would gradually eliminate general fund support for the commission by July 1, 2028. The commission would continue to operate but would need to rely on private funding.
Rep. Ehlers told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee on Thursday that the proposal came from recommendations by Idaho’s DOGE Task Force, which reviewed government programs and spending.
READ MORE | Idaho DOGE Task Force recommends defunding Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs
The bill would also eliminate the commission from a list of organizations eligible for a state income tax charitable contribution credit.
Rep. Steve Berch questioned why the legislation would remove both state funding and the tax credit option, saying it could make it more difficult for the commission to raise money.
“I hate to use this word, but I’m really offended by this specific effort to make it that much more difficult for private citizens to be able to contribute to the Hispanic commission,” Rep. Berch said in committee. “I don’t think this can be justified from a financial point of view, and quite frankly, I don’t think it can be justified from a moral point of view.”
In response, Rep. Jason Monks said that it would be more “offensive” to not allow further discussion of the bill before a final decision is made.
The proposal comes after an earlier attempt this session to eliminate the commission entirely. In January, Rep. Heather Scott presented a draft bill that would have removed all references to the commission from Idaho law and dissolved it by July 1, but that measure failed to advance out of committee.
The committee ultimately voted on Thursday to introduce the legislation, allowing it to be printed and advanced for further debate.
This story has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Shanea Fulks is the owner of Seven Sisters Closet Revival, a new consignment store at 260 South Woodruff in Idaho Falls. Take a look inside in the video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com
Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
IDAHO FALLS
New consignment shop in Idaho Falls offers vintage clothes for customers and booth space for sellers
IDAHO FALLS – Curating vintage clothing is Shanea Fulks’s passion, and she’s sharing it with the community through a new business venture.
Seven Sisters Closet Revival opens Saturday at 260 South Woodruff inside Parkwood Plaza in Idaho Falls. It offers racks of vintage clothes for customers and booth space for others to sell their items.
“You get a rack with shelves, and you can come in throughout the week and sell things,” Fulks tells EastIdahoNews.com. “The things you’ll see in the middle of the store are pieces that I have curated. I hand-pick all the things I bring to the store.”
See some of the items in the video above.
Fulks says she’s had multiple people walk in already who are excited about the shop.
The store will have a grand opening this weekend. Fulks is partnering with the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting and open house at noon on Friday. A local band will be performing during the event.
Then on Saturday, a grand opening celebration will begin at 2 p.m. Several vendors and live entertainment will be available. Fulks says she’s looking forward to interacting with the community.
Fulks has been selling items from her personal collection online for years. After helping a mother and daughter find a formal dress during an interaction at another shop in town several years ago, Fulks says she realized there was a need for a store like this.
After about a year of working with real estate agents, Fulks says the Parkwood Plaza space formerly occupied by a beauty salon called Blush became available, and it was an ideal fit.
“It’s just been a whirlwind and we’re just trying to get it going,” says Fulks.
Fulks’ interest in fashion stems back to childhood. She lost her dad and stepdad to suicide at a young age and grew up in a household that struggled to make ends meet. As a result, she says they bought clothes at Goodwill and other secondhand stores.
She remembers being made fun of because of the clothes she wore. In time, she learned to embrace her uniqueness and developed an interest in vintage clothes.
“I’ve just always been attracted to old sweaters, military jackets (her dad served in Vietnam),” Fulks says. “I like to help people feel confident wearing something unique, even if it’s not trendy. Be bold and wear whatever you want.”
The idea of making the most of your circumstances and embracing who you are is inspired by her experience with suicide, and it’s reflected in the art that’s on display in her store.
“Part of the theme in my store is ‘Stay. We need you,’” she says.
The business name refers to her family. She comes from a blended family of six girls and four boys. When she and her husband were married, they had a daughter — the seventh sister.
Fulks says she’s looking forward to offering great deals to customers. She has two sons with autism who love art, and she wants to host art-themed events for people with special needs. She’d also like to host tea parties and other events in the future.
“I want people to come and feel like they belong,” she says. “I’m going to allow people to do karaoke. When you’re here, I want you to feel like you can have fun.”
Seven Sisters Closet Revival will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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