Idaho
City of Idaho Falls awarded federal grant aimed at improving road and pedestrian safety – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS — The City of Idaho Falls is taking its first steps toward creating a new comprehensive safety action plan after it was awarded a $400,000 federal grant aimed at making streets safer for all.
The grant is from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program, SS4A, which aims to address road safety issues and reduce traffic deaths, according to its website.
DOT’s website states that on average, 40,000 people die annually in traffic-related incidents.
Idaho Falls is one of five recipients in Idaho to be awarded the grant, and is one of three recipients to begin developing a safety action plan.
Chris Canfield, assistant director for Idaho Falls Public Works, told EastIdahoNews.com that a comprehensive safety action plan focuses on improving road safety and reducing serious crashes within the city.
The total cost for developing the action plan is $500,000, with the city paying the remaining balance from the grant.
Canfield said the city has taken steps over the years to improve safety through audits on 17th Street and portions of Capital Avenue and South Boulevard. These projects included installing rapid-flashing beacons at pedestrian crossings and improving lighting at intersections.
This was the case after a fatal pedestrian accident eight years ago between First and Elva Streets.
Looking at a geographic information system map that shows crash data involving pedestrian and vehicle accidents, and the severity of the accidents.
“There’ll be a study done to say we’re seeing the majority of our accidents on certain routes, like 17th Street, Hitt Road and Sunnyside Road,” Canfield said. “Typically, the higher volume routes have more accident crashes and require more attention.”
Canfield said that the majority of the dots that signal a crash or accident are in between intersections of the major arterial streets.
While the city was notified that it would be awarded the grant, the process of developing the safety action plan is still a way off.
When it’s time to start creating the plan, the city will engage the community and stakeholders in the process.
“It’s a collaborative effort from planners, engineers, enforcement, education, outreach, all that stuff, anything we can do to either learn what we can do better or implement things that we know, (or) that we can apply for,” Canfield said.
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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.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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