LATAH COUNTY, Idaho — July 24th the Gwen fire was reported south of Juliaetta Idaho. The report came in just 30 miles outside of Lewiston near State Highway 3 in Latah County.

The Gwen fire has reached just over 2000 acres near the Clearwater River.

The agencies included in helping subdue the fire are, The Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Department of Lands, area rural fire departments, and local landowners. Evacuations are in place with road closures, with some structure loss. The resources on hand are some fire crews, engines, dozers, water scoopers, air tankers, and helicopters.

A group of lawyers on behalf of private Idaho schools, privately-funded public libraries, parents and their children have sued Idaho officials in federal court to stop the enforcement of House Bill 710, a law that codified the process libraries must follow if a patron were to deem a material harmful to children. 

House Bill 710 was signed into law after years of attempts from the Idaho Legislature to restrict library material access. It took effect on July 1. 

Under the new legislation, students, parents and legal guardians can fill out a written notice asking libraries to relocate a library item that they deem “harmful” to an area with adult access only. If a library fails to relocate the item within 60 days of receiving the relocation request, then one could sue the library for $250, as well as “actual damages and any other relief.”

According to House Bill 710, a “school” means any public or private school providing instruction for students in kindergarten through grade 12. 

The plaintiffs include the Northwest Association of Independent Schools, Sun Valley Community School, Foothills School of Arts and Sciences, the Community Library Association and Collister United Methodist Church, and four parent plaintiffs and two of their children. 

“Our coalition of independent schools, libraries, parents, students, and patrons is challenging this unprecedented government interference because it threatens the independence and core missions of our beloved community institutions across the state,” the plaintiffs wrote in a statement to the Sun. 

The suit alleges the law violates the First Amendment rights of private schools and libraries and 14th Amendment protections for the fundamental liberty interest of parents. 

The defendants named in the suit include Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts and Blaine County Prosecutor Matt Fredback.

McKay Cunningham, an Idaho lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told the Sun that parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children under the U.S. Constitution. 

“This fundamental right is no less true in Idaho despite the Idaho Legislature’s attempt to substitute its judgment for that of Idaho parents,” he said. “Our coalition of plaintiffs seeks to restore this right to its constitutional origins – Idaho parents.” 

About the plaintiffs: A coalition of private schools, libraries, and parents

There are 11 plaintiff parties in this case, with three of them representing private school entities. 

‘We are not getting rid of books’: How libraries across Idaho are implementing new materials law

The Northwest Association of Independent Schools is a nonprofit organization of private schools based in the Northwest and Canada. Its members in Idaho include the other plaintiffs, Sun Valley Community School and Foothills School of Arts and Sciences. 

Sun Valley Community School serves pre-kindergarten to 12th grade to youth in Sun Valley. The Foothills School of Arts and Sciences is based in Boise, and it offers education to pre-kindergarten through ninth grade. 

According to the lawsuit, the private school entities named in the lawsuit “make available to its students certain constitutionally protected, non-obscene materials that contain content described in (House Bill 710) that the Defendants and/or some Idahoans may find subjectively offensive, and that may therefore fall within the scope of H.B. 710’s prohibition.”  

The fourth plaintiff includes The Community Library in Ketchum. The library is privately-funded, and any member of the public with a picture identification can sign up for a library card. According to the lawsuit, nearly 5,000 people from Idaho, nearly every state, and abroad hold library cards from the library. Because it is open to any member of the public, the library considers itself subject to House Bill 710. 

The fifth plaintiff includes Collister United Methodist Church based in Boise. According to the lawsuit, the church is a Reconciling Ministry, meaning it is committed to achieving LGBTQ+ justice and inclusion in their churches. To further that goal, the church opened a lending library focused on books about LGBTQ+ people and topics for children and adults. Because any member of the public can borrow books from the church’s library, the church also believes it is subject to House Bill 710. 

The next four plaintiffs are parents of minors. Two of them, Matthew Podolsky and Jeremy Wallace, are based in Boise. The two others, Mary Hollis Zimmer and Christina Leidecker, are based in Hailey. 

Wallace and Leidecker’s two children are also plaintiffs named in the lawsuit using abbreviations to protect their identity. 

Carey Dunne, a lawyer with Free + Fair Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement to the Sun that Idaho lawmakers are engaged in an unprecedented and “wildly unconstitutional” attempt to control speech in private institutions. 

“Our coalition of schools, libraries, parents and students is asking the court to stop this government overreach before the first bell rings on the new school year – and before other states even think about following suit,” Dunne said. “A healthy democracy depends on vibrant, independent, private institutions. This new, dark turn for state censorship in America cannot stand.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, previously said that library legislation would not cause a book ban or financially strain Idaho libraries. 

Bill cosponsor, Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, previously told the Sun that the intention of the bill was to “protect the innocent minds of underage children.”

1 – Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief_NWAIS

BOISE, Idaho — Wildfires prompted evacuations in Northern California amid a rapidly growing wildfire Thursday, a day after powerful winds and lightning strikes from thunderstorms rattled eastern Oregon and Idaho, cutting power and stoking fires, including one in Oregon that was the largest active blaze in the United States. Another fast-moving wildfire forced thousands to abandon a town in Canada.

Evacuations were ordered in California’s Butte and Tehama counties as crews battled a fire reported near Chico just before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The blaze, dubbed the Park Fire, quickly spread from about 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) to more than 70 square miles (180 square kilometers) and was only 3% contained early Thursday, according to CAL FIRE. The cause was under investigation.

Fire personnel were focusing on evacuations and defending structures while using bulldozers to build containment lines. No deaths or damage to structures had been reported, CAL FIRE/ Butte County Fire Department said in a late Wednesday update.

Fires in several western states and Canada have forced some areas to declare air quality alerts or advisories as skies filled with smoke and haze. In the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park, a fast-moving wildfire this week hit the town of Jasper, forcing thousands to flee and causing significant damage.

The Durkee Fire, burning near the Oregon-Idaho border about 130 miles (209 kilometers) west of Boise, Idaho, caused the closure of a stretch of Interstate 84 again Wednesday. Amid rapidly forming storms in the afternoon, the blaze crossed the interstate near the town of Huntington, home to about 500 people. It also merged with the Cow Valley Fire, another large blaze that had been burning nearby, Gov. Tina Kotek said.

“The wildfires in Eastern Oregon have scaled up quickly,” Kotek said in a news release Wednesday evening, calling it a dynamic situation. “We are facing strong erratic winds over the region that could impact all fires. Rain is not getting through. Some communities do not have power.”

Kotek said she had deployed the National Guard to the region. The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office also mobilized nearly 500 firefighters to help protect communities at risk.

The nearly 420-square-mile (1,088-square-kilometer) blaze had prompted the evacuation of Huntington on Sunday, and on Wednesday city officials posted on Facebook that people remaining in town, especially those with “major health issues,” needed to leave their homes because of wildfire smoke and the lack of power. City officials also said Wednesday that gas service to residents had been shut off until the evacuation orders are lifted.

The fire approached Alison Oszman’s home in Rye Valley, a small ranching area north of Huntington, last week, but they were able to protect their property with the help of Bureau of Land Management firefighters and neighbors, using small tanker trucks and shovels. They used a small bulldozer to keep it away from the house, she said.

Since their property was already burned and safe, her neighbor moved his horses and cattle over as the fire moved toward his ranch, she said. On Wednesday night, Oszman went to check his property and found that the fire had come down a steep hillside and threatened his home.

“I went and parked our truck out in the field just in case those big trees by his house caught fire,” she said. “I was making sure sparks didn’t land in the dirt or the dry grass. But as the fire passed his house, it started raining.” The rain helped the firefighters get on top of the blaze.

“It was pretty scary but everything seemed to fall into place,” she said. “Everybody helped everybody. It was actually pretty amazing for how crummy it really was.”

The National Weather Service in Boise said the storms were capable of producing wind gusts up to 70 mph with blowing dust reducing visibility. A storm about 44 miles (71 kilometers) northwest of Huntington near Baker City on Wednesday afternoon had recorded a wind gust of 66 mph (106 kph), the weather service said.

Wind, lightning and heavy rain fell that could cause flash flooding and debris flows in recently burned areas, authorities said. Flash flood warnings were issued for Huntington and in a nearby burn scar area.

The major electricity utility in the region, Idaho Power, warned customers to prepare for possible outages, and by late Wednesday afternoon, nearly 7,000 customers were without electricity, the utility said. The utility also cut power to customers in the Boise foothills and other nearby areas, citing extreme weather and wildfire risk.

More than 60 significant fires are burning in Oregon and Washington alone, and Oregon has been plagued with hundreds of lightning strikes from thunderstorms in recent days that have started new blazes in bone-dry vegetation.

A fire in southern California also was moving fast and threatening homes.

Evacuation orders were in effect Wednesday night in San Diego County after a wildfire began to spread fast near the San Diego and Riverside county line. Fire officials say the Grove Fire was spreading southeast through steep and challenging terrain. The fire grew to 1.3 square miles (3.4 square kilometers) within a few hours but was 5% contained just before 8 p.m., Cal Fire said on the social media platform X.

The smoke from the Durkee Fire in Oregon was choking the air in Boise and beyond. An air quality warning was in effect for the entire region on Wednesday.

Patrick Nauman, the owner of Weiser Classic Candy in the small town of Weiser, Idaho, near the Oregon border, said driving into town Wednesday morning was “like driving into a fog bank, because it’s so thick and low to the road.”

Nauman’s shop is on the main intersection in town and is typically a popular spot to stop for lunch or a sugar fix, but customer traffic has dropped by half in the past few days as thick smoke and triple-digit temperatures dogged the region.

“Yesterday you could smell it, taste it, it just kind of hung in the back of your throat,” Nauman said of the smoke.

Mike Cantin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, said cooler air moving into the region Wednesday evening could stoke the Durkee and other fires. A red flag warning was in effect, and the area has been suffering through a heat wave, including many days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

“With these winds showing up today, every little spark could get out of hand very easily. It could be a really hazardous situation very fast,” Cantin said. “Don’t light anything on fire, and be very careful around grass.”