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Back again: Bill to limit absentee ballots introduced in Idaho House committee • Idaho Capital Sun

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Back again: Bill to limit absentee ballots introduced in Idaho House committee • Idaho Capital Sun


A North Idaho legislator on Tuesday introduced a bill intended to limit who can receive an absentee ballot. 

Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, told the Idaho House State Affairs Committee the bill’s purpose is to prevent fraud. According to the bill’s statement of purpose, the absentee ballot was “never intended as a convenience,” and it was meant to provide access to voters with a physical infirmity, an illness and those with work restrictions.

Currently, any registered voter in Idaho may request an absentee ballot to be mailed to their address. But the bill would change this policy, allowing only the following Idahoans to request an absentee ballot:

  • Those on active military service
  • Those experiencing an illness, disability or hospitalization
  • Those working or attending university
  • Those on a religious mission
  • Those occupying a second home or residents outside of their home county on the day of the election
  • Those 65 years old or older
  • Those living in a mail ballot precinct 

Idaho legislators have introduced similar bills in the past, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported, but they did not make it past the early stages of the Idaho House side. 

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Legislators concerned about absentee voting bill

According to VoteIdaho.gov, an official website run by the Idaho Secretary of State, more than 173,300 individuals submitted an absentee ballot during the 2024 general election, 56% of whom were registered Republicans.  

Most of those who voted using an absentee ballot in Idaho during the 2024 general election were Republican. (Screenshot from VoteIdaho.gov)

Given the popularity of absentee voting in Idaho, Republicans and Democrats on the committee shared their concerns about the bill. 

Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, said the bill favors older people, and he would like to see real examples of absentee ballots causing voter fraud. Additionally, he said Idahoans cannot predict if they’ll fall sick on Election Day and need to request an absentee ballot.

Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, agreed that the bill favors older people, and pointed out that there is no exception for mothers, especially in rural areas, with multiple children. 

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“My daughter, I think she might have to go 20 miles (to vote), right?” Michelsen said. “I don’t see anything in here that addresses the needs of young families, young mothers… Are we trying to limit people’s participation and their voice by running this?”

The committee voted to advance Alfieri’s bill, clearing the way for a full hearing in the coming days or weeks.

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Idaho

It’s Official: Putting Truck Nuts On Your Pickup Isn’t Welcome In Idaho

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It’s Official: Putting Truck Nuts On Your Pickup Isn’t Welcome In Idaho


If you had plans to slap a pair of truck nuts on the back of your F-150 and haul ass to Idaho in hopes of maybe catching some publicly exposed breasts, I’m afraid you may want to change your plans…

The State of Idaho, renowned for its potatoes and… lots of other cool stuff, has passed a new law that has criminalized the public exposure of breasts.

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House Bill 270 as it’s known — although I’d argue that it was a real missed opportunity on the part of the Idaho State legislature not giving it a funny name like the “No Nipples Act” or something — was signed into law by Governor Brad Little this week and is effectively an updating of the state’s pre-existing indecent exposure laws, according to EastIdahoNews.com.

The law states that a person will be charged with a misdemeanor if one exposes “his or her genitals,; exposes developed female breasts, including the areola and nipple; exposes adult male breasts, including the areola and nipple, that have been medically or hormonally altered to appear like developing or developed female breasts; exposes artificial breasts, including the areola and nipple, intended to resemble female breasts; or displays toys or products intended to resemble male or female genitals.”

Wow… they really covered every conceivable base in there, didn’t they? The “It was only my areola and/or nipple” defense will not fly in the great state of Idaho.

But it’s that last part that rules out truck nuts because they count as a toy or product that resembles genitals. This could lead to police getting calls about them, according to Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow.

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“They’re gross, they’re offensive, and kids on the road see them. So why wouldn’t the police get a call and say, ‘That offends me, pull it off the truck?’” Wintrow said. “Because now this bill will allow it. And I talked to police and they said, ‘Indeed it would.’”

There’s an interesting gray area here. Are truck nuts protected speech? Boobs aren’t; especially not on CNN as OutKick founder Clay Travis famously learned.

I don’t know. I’m not a truck nuts guy. They’d look a little goofy on my 2022 Kia Forte… although I’ve never given them a shot; they might look awesome.

Since I don’t live in Idaho, I can still give them the ol’ college truck nuts try.
 

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Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger penned essay showing he knew how to cover tracks

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Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger penned essay showing he knew how to cover tracks


Idaho prosecutors have unveiled a college essay from student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger that shows he knows his way around a crime scene, new court filings reveal.

In the missive, written in 2020 during finals for a 300-level criminal justice course, Kohberger described how crime scene investigators use “fiber-free” overalls, gloves and booties to avoid contaminating the location with their own DNA and fingerprints.

At 1122 King Road, where he allegedly killed four University of Idaho undergrads in November 2022, police have revealed little evidence aside from a Ka-Bar knife sheath found under one of the victims that allegedly had Kohberger’s DNA on the snap.

Before the FBI identified him as a person of interest through investigative genetic genealogy, his name was unknown to detectives. 

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Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, walks past a video display as he enters a courtroom to appear at a hearing in Latah County District Court, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. AP

He went into other aspects of a crime scene investigation, but repeatedly referenced measures police should take to protect the location, shared his thoughts about circumstantial evidence, identified domestic partners as potential suspects and warned that crime scenes could be staged.

“Prosecutors are going to talk about this when they bring up the lack of forensic evidence left by the killer,” said Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD cold case investigator and a criminal justice professor at Penn State-Lehigh Valley.

“They’re going to say, ‘Look how much he knew about this. He talks about fiber-free clothing.’”

Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, May 22, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. Getty Images

Kohberger mentioned fiber-free overalls, shoe covers, gloves, hair nets and more when talking about protective gear an investigator should wear to avoid contaminating a scene.

“This is not helpful for him,” Giacalone said.

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“The same way he talks about this fictitious cop about not leaving evidence behind…we might have a little insight into how, or at least an answer about, the lack of forensic evidence was left behind,” Giacalone told Fox News Digital. “He doesn’t mention it by name, but Locard’s Exchange Principle, the theory of transfer between all evidence, he does talk about transfer of evidence a number of times throughout this.”

But Kohberger also made some mistakes in the piece, Giacalone said.

This photo released by the State of Idaho, which prosecutors claim to have been taken from Bryan Kohberger’s phone, shows Kohberger, accused of slaying 4 University of Idaho students, gesturing in a selfie on Nov. 13, 2022, hours after the homicides occurred. AP

“He said staging is common,” Giacalone told Fox News Digital. “It’s not common. You know, most of the things that happen at crime scenes are mistakes or just panic mode.”

He also doesn’t believe that Kohberger, if he committed the crimes as alleged, would have had time to stage the scene after killing four people in roughly 15 minutes, then running into an eyewitness on the way out, who he did not attack.

“I think there’s no way that he didn’t see her,” he said. “So the staging part of this, I don’t find it plausible for him in that scenario.”

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Kohberger, who, through his attorneys, has argued there was blood and DNA evidence at the victims’ home that could point to potential alternate perpetrators, wrote in his essay that crime scene investigators don’t have the responsibility of vetting potentially planted evidence.

“Even if there was an item introduced to the scene by an offender to throw off investigators, it is not the job of the criminal investigator processing the crime scene to jump to conclusion,” Kohberger wrote. 

Giacalone said if Kohberger turned in the paper for one of his classes, he’d probably give it a B.

“He knows a lot, but you can get this out of any academic book,” Giacalone said. “You can learn about this, but putting it into practice and doing it are two other things.”

Kohberger graduated from DeSales University with a master’s degree and then went on to Washington State University to pursue a Ph.D. in criminology.

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The school is just 10 miles away from the University of Idaho, where he is accused of entering a house at 4 a.m. and killing four of the six students inside on Nov. 13, 2022.

The four University of Idaho students who were found dead in off-campus housing were identified on Monday as Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right.

The victims were Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

The three young women were all roommates. Chapin lived nearby and was dating Kernodle.

Kohberger’s trial on four charges of first-degree murder and another of burglary is set to begin on Aug. 11. Jury selection is scheduled for July 30.

A previous judge entered not-guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at an arraignment in May 2023.

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He could face the death penalty if convicted. 



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Idaho lawmakers float 'embryo adoption' tax break

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Idaho lawmakers float 'embryo adoption' tax break


Idaho lawmakers are considering giving people a tax break on certain costs related to in vitro fertilization, though it won’t happen this year.

The proposed deduction would apply to legal and medical expenses related to so-called “embryo adoptions.”

“Those donated embryos are the results of other families that have gone through the IVF process and, in the end, they have extra embryos and they want to put them out there for adoption,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Brooke Green (D-Boise)

Multiple embryos are typically produced during each cycle of in vitro fertilization, but not all of them get used.

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That tax break would be capped at $10,000 and would only be available if the embryo results in a live birth.

“This sends a much needed message about the importance of families and that we are looking for avenues to help send out the message that we want to help families grow on their own terms,” said Rep. Britt Raybould (R-Rexburg).

A House committee voted to introduce the bill Thursday morning to discuss the issue further over the next year.

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