A critical highway linking Idaho and Wyoming has closed indefinitely after a portion of the road cracked and then collapsed in a “catastrophic landslide” Saturday, officials said.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a post on Facebook there is no estimated timeline for reopening Teton Pass, which links Victor, Idaho, and Jackson, Wyoming.
The initial crack appeared Thursday morning across both lanes of travel, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) said in a post on Facebook at the time.
The crack across lanes dropped vertically roughly 8 inches in some places, causing unsafe driving conditions. A patch was put in place and traffic resumed until a mudslide in a different location on Friday closed the road.
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Saturday morning, the roadway where the initial crack happened collapsed, WYDOT said, adding that the roadway had “catastrophically failed, and a long term closure is expected.”
“WYDOT crews, along with contract crews from Evans Construction, were working in the area to construct a detour around the damage, but the landslide continued to move, taking out the whole road,” WYDOT added. “No crews were hurt in the process, and no equipment was damaged.”
Cracks in the roadway on Teton Pass are seen on Friday, June 7, 2024, the day before its “catastrophic failure.” – Wyoming Department of Transportation
Gordon said Saturday that he had met with WYDOT and Wyoming Office of Homeland Security officials to coordinate a response to the “catastrophic landslide.”
“I am grateful for the efforts of WYDOT staff to protect public safety during this developing situation, and am thankful no one was injured during this incident,” the governor said.
A separate mudslide closed the road on June 7, 2024. – Wyoming Department of Transportation
Work to repair the cracked roadway and mudslide had been anticipated to last into Saturday, according to the Department of Transportation, and then the cracked section of the roadway collapsed.
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“WYDOT engineers, surveyors and geologists mobilized quickly to try to maintain highway viability as long as possible, but catastrophic failure could not be avoided. WYDOT remains on site decisively engaged on fixing the road and restoring connectivity to the Teton Valley,” WYDOT Director Darin Westby said in a statement.
WYDOT says it is reviewing long term solutions and repairs to the highway and Westby urged the public to stay away from the site until it was stabilized.
The Teton Pass corridor “serves as a critical commuter route and facilitates the transport of goods and services that are lifelines to the growing regional economies in Wyoming and Idaho,” according to the US Department of Transportation.
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REXBURG—U.S. Highway 20 Exit 332 for University Boulevard in Rexburg will fully close starting Monday, September 30, for crews to complete final paving and striping operations. Work is not expected to take more than a few days, and the exit will be re-opened as soon as it is completed.
This closure was purposefully scheduled during Madison School District’s harvest break to least affect traffic. Detours include Exit 328 (Thornton), Exit 333 (Main Street) and Exit 337 (North Rexburg). After re-opening next week, construction work at Exit 332 will be minimal and off the roadway.
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Construction does continue at Exit 333, with one lane running in each direction. These projects to create safe and efficient diverging diamond interchanges at both Rexburg exits are still expected to be complete later this fall.
For more information about this project, visit https://itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/us20rexburg. Drivers can also use the 511 app to see current status on this and other Idaho projects.
NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa had its inaugural Downtown Wine Fest in 2024. I met with people in the wine community to learn how the art is growing in Idaho.
Local wine lounge owner Andrew Medina told us, “I’m starting to see, the last two years, more people popping their heads in, more people walking the streets in Downtown Nampa on 13th Street, on 1st Street.”
Local winery Veer Wine Project opened in 2016 and has grown quickly, opening two locations since the founding of the label in 2016.
“People moving here that know wine because of the industry of the states that they came from.”
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Yet another sign of Nampa’s growth. 2024 marks the city of Nampa’s inaugural Downtown Wine Festival. Just around the corner from Lloyd Square Park is Swirl Wine Shop & Lounge. Andrew Medina opened Swirl nearly three years ago.
“What has the change and growth look like in the patronage look like for you in that time?” I asked.
Medina responded, “I’ve already had a nice following working out at the wineries for the last 10 years. Now I’m starting to see, the last two years, more people popping their heads in, more people walking the streets in Downtown Nampa on 13th Street, on 1st Street. With more businesses opening up you’re just seeing more traffic down here.”
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It’s not just small business doing well in Nampa. Idaho wineries are beginning to make it big. Idaho Wine Commission data shows the number of wineries in the Gem State have grown 25% since 2017 to 65 total wineries. The workforce nearly doubling, and they expect it to continue.
The IWC sent me a message saying, “Most people don’t know that Idaho settlers first planted wine grapes and produced wine here in the 1860s, and today we have more than 65 wineries. The Idaho Wine Commission envisions significant growth in both the number of wineries and the quality of Idaho wines over the next 5 to 10 years. The state’s unique climate, with its high desert conditions and distinct terroir positions Idaho wines to continue standing out in the local and national market.”
Notoriety has been bolstered by consistent awards at local and national wine competitions, positive reviews in prominent wine publications and word-of-mouth from tourists and locals discovering Idaho’s wine industry. The growth of wine tourism in Idaho has further helped elevate the state’s reputation. As more wine lovers visit the state and share their experiences, Idaho wine has steadily built its presence in the market, and its reputation as an emerging wine region continues to gain momentum.”
“This is amazing for a town the size of Nampa to be able to sponsor a prestigious kind of event,” said wine festival guest Kathy Lacina.
Idaho is beginning to put itself on the map with vintners.
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Lacina adds on, “It’s actually starting to make a name for itself. We have begun to have some really outstanding wineries and wine selections.”
And Idaho has the data to back that up. Local winery Veer Wine Project opened in 2016 and has grown quickly.
“It’s been a lot of growth very quickly and then [we] opened the Caldwell tasting room in 2021 and expanded to Garden City just this spring in March we opened there so lots of rapid growth,” Veer Operations Manager Cheyenne Zumstein explained.
“It’s totally changed with the population growth. People moving here that know wine because of the industry of the states that they came from,” Medina concluded.
COEUR D’ALENE — When sheriff’s deputies were called to the northern Idaho home of distraught former state trooper Dan Howard, something didn’t seem right. Howard told investigators he found his wife, Kendy Howard, dead in their bathtub with a gunshot wound to her head.
Howard told police his wife took her own life. There was a gun found in the bathtub, though there were no prints or DNA that connected it to the trooper.
The case will be the focus of “48 Hours” this Saturday in a program entitled ‘The Bathtub Murder of Kendy Howard.’
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“From the beginnings, it looks odd,” Kootenai County sheriff’s detective Jerry Northrup tells correspondent Peter Van Sant.
Deputies on the scene noticed things out of place. A packed duffle bag was ready to go, and a clothes dryer was running full of clean bath towels. Howard also appeared to have recently showered and changed his clothes.
“Dan knows things that most normal people, ordinary people, don’t know,” says retired Kootenai County Sheriff’s Det. Sergeant Ken Lallatin. “Things like killing someone and staging it to look like a suicide.”
Two years after Kendy Howard’s death, Howard was charged with her murder.
“48 Hours” airs Saturday, Sept. 28 from 9-10 p.m. MDT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
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Watch a preview of the episode in the video player above.
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