Idaho
Alaska at its best — part two – East Idaho News
Our second excursion on our Alaska cruise was my wife’s favorite trip as we left Skagway on the Klondike Highway into Canada. My wife loves to hike in the Tetons and loves the scenic views with lots of lakes mingled with subarctic and Arctic terrain.
As we entered Canada on the White Pass into British Columbia, we traveled through vistas which were awesome. We followed the route of the infamous gold rust into the Yukon Territory. Connor, our guide, recounted the struggles that those miners experienced.
The two highlights of that excursion for me were seeing and photographing six cinnamon-phase black bears and viewing Emerald Lake. The bears were feeding on dandelions along the side of the road and were very tolerant of smaller vehicles, but scurried off when a large truck or bus would pass by. Emerald Lake had the most beautiful colors of water that I have ever seen.
Our final excursion was out of Juneau, looking for whales before hiking to the Mendenhall Glacier. I have always dreamed of being up close and personal with a whale, and after forty-five minutes out from Auke Bay, we saw a group of boats but were informed that they were fishing boats. Disappointed, I thought it was going to be a bust; but boy, was I wrong.
Fifteen minutes later in a channel between Shelter and Lincoln Islands, our captain announced that we were entering a pod of 10 to 15 humpback whales with some sea lions.
It did not take long for me to find out that trying to keep up with that many whales was difficult – particularly locating the whales early in their surfacing. I would watch for them to create “water spouts” as they blew air from one of their two blowholes. Some of them were “resting,” with just about a foot of their backs showing while others would be feeding by making shallow dives. After three or four of these dives, a whale would show their large hump, on their back, called a “fluke-up”, indicating a deep dive. This meant that their tail would come out of the water as the dive started.
As I was trying to photograph these whale dives, I saw a frenzy on the top of the water with salmon flying out of the water.
A very large sea lion had located a school of salmon and was trying to collect brunch. It finally captured a fish and was chewing on it with gulls trying to get a free meal by landing on the lion’s head or back to get a bite. After the fish was consumed, the animal appeared to grin at me, did a barrel roll and waved at us. This was a highlight of the excursion for me.
After two hours of watching the pod of whales and a few more sea lions, we headed back to shore passing Lincoln Island where we got a glimpse of a female humpback with its calf. The 15-foot baby looked small against its 50-foot, 35-ton mom.
At Mendenhall Island, the highlight for me was watching the Arctic terns as they tried defending their nests on the beach from raiding birds. Part of our group who did not go on the whale watching, observed a bald eagle raiding some of the nests as they hiked to the glacier.
We had a wonderful cruise from Juneau to Ketchikan where we encountered many more humpbacks, and I watched pods of orcas (killer whales) hunting as we traveled the Inland Passage. For the first time on the trip, I was finally able to photograph the breaching of both the humpbacks and the orcas.
For me, the cruise was one of the highlights of my life. I was with most of my family, the meals were good, we had great weather, sunsets were awesome, and the excursions were terrific. I hope to do it again – it was a dream come true!!
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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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