Idaho
Idaho official investigating Millbrae police chief over property tax break
A county assessor in Idaho has opened an investigation to determine how Millbrae police Chief Eamonn Allen and his family received a tax break on their Boise-area home last year, amid questions over their eligibility for the subsidy.
Ada County Assessor Rebecca Arnold on Thursday said she is looking into the circumstances surrounding the tax break on the home Allen shares with his partner in Meridian, after reading Bay Area media reports about Allen allegedly spending his work nights sleeping at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Millbrae station.
Allen and his partner received a homestead exception — which can reduce a property’s taxable value — beginning in 2024, according to Arnold. But she is uncertain how Allen received the tax break, which can ax the taxable value of a house up to $125,000, significantly reducing a homeowner’s annual tax bill.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, a new Idaho state law requires anyone seeking such an exemption to supply a valid Idaho driver’s license. Arnold said that Allen and his partner continued to have a California driver’s license as of Wednesday, Oct. 29.
An application for the exception, which was obtained by this news organization, shows a person named Sandra Allen, 40, applied in September 2024 to receive the exception for the house in Meridian, a suburb of Boise about 11 miles from the local airport.
The application states that the home was purchased for $960,000 in June 2024, and that Sandra Allen moved in the following month. She noted still having a California driver’s license at the time of the application.
San Mateo County officials have raised alarms about the apparent 600-mile commute for Chief Allen between Idaho and the Bay Area, and whether the chief can adequately respond to emergencies in a timely manner.
Millbrae officials say the sleeping quarters were discovered during “a routine inspection” by a building inspector, and that city leaders had no prior knowledge of the spartan, bare-walled rooms, which included small beds and a desk. Nor did city leaders say they funded their construction.
“Unfortunately, one of the doors was not accessible to our staff as the locks had been replaced by the police bureau without city knowledge,” Acosta told this news organization earlier this week, adding that “using public property for personal need or convenience is also against city ethics policy.” She confirmed that a container of alcohol was found in the station.
Allen was appointed as Millbrae’s police chief in February 2023 by former Sheriff Christina Corpus, under an arrangement between the city and the county for police services. Corpus was removed this month under a new charter amendment granting supervisors authority to remove a sheriff for cause, after a hearing officer found she violated conflict-of-interest laws and retaliated against deputies — allegations she denies.
Almost every state offers some form of a homestead exception, where a homeowner can receive a tax break for declaring a piece of property their primary residence, said Kelly Snider, a professor with San Jose State University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
California, for example, allows a homeowner to claim a $7,000 reduction on the taxable value of their primary residence, according to the state Board of Equalization.
In Idaho, if someone is found to improperly obtain the exception, county officials can recoup the tax money not collected. Subsequent violations of “an improperly or erroneously claimed” exemption can lead to misdemeanor charges, according to Idaho state law.
Greg Woods, a criminology professor with San Jose State University, said it’s becoming increasingly common for Bay Area law enforcement officers to own a primary residence outside of the state due to the region’s high housing costs.
Woods said that’s especially true for senior law enforcement officials who may be eyeing retirement, adding that despite the optics, it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t committed to serving the public.
“They have to decide whether or not they choose to lead by example, and whether or not they choose to be part of the community they represent,” he said.
Responding to questions about Allen’s out-of-state residency, Supervisor Noelia Corzo defended him, noting that no county policies prohibit the arrangement.
“I can’t speak to Idaho’s laws, but nothing in our county statute prohibits Allen from living out of state while serving the people of San Mateo County,” said Corzo, the vice president of the board. “I’m confident any issues with the Idaho county will be resolved without incident.
Corzo said it is “very common in law enforcement for, at least in the Bay Area, for employees to live hours away or even out of state.”
“I would be surprised if you could find a county in the Bay Area that didn’t have some of their employees, law enforcement employees living out of state,” she said. “What I can tell you is that the sheriff’s office of San Mateo County has zero policies saying that that’s inappropriate. And so Captain Allen has violated zero policies.”
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Idaho
Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances
For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.
The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.
Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.
Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.
Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.
“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.
Doing so is a risk, he said.
“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.
Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.
But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.
Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.
Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.
“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.
The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.
House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
Idaho
Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
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