Idaho
Idaho SNAP recipients face new candy and soda restrictions starting Feb. 15
Starting February 15, Idahoans using SNAP benefits will no longer be able to purchase candy and soda with their food assistance cards, following a statewide ban signed into law by Governor Brad Little last year. But the new rules are creating confusion among shoppers who are struggling to understand which items will be restricted.
“It’s gonna be a mess,” said Amanda Chester, a former SNAP recipient.
The restrictions aren’t as straightforward as they might seem. While gummy bears will be denied at checkout, Kit Kat bars will still be approved for purchase with SNAP benefits.
“Like we don’t even know what’s gonna get denied and what’s not once we go to the store,” Chester said.
WATCH: A Guide to identifying SNAP-eligible items
What you can still buy under Idaho’s new SNAP candy, soda ban
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has created candy and soda guidance sheets to help shoppers navigate the new rules, which reveal that not all candy is treated equally under the law.
A Kit Kat bar, which contains sugar and comes in bar form, remains SNAP-eligible because it contains flour. Gummy bears, however, contain sugar and come in small pieces but have no flour and require no refrigeration, making them ineligible for SNAP benefits.
RELATED | Idaho Health & Welfare clarifies eligible SNAP purchases after junk food ban
The drink restrictions also have nuances. Bottled Gatorade no longer qualifies for SNAP benefits, but the powdered version does.
“There are ways to go around it. You can make your own candy, your own cupcakes, you can do all of that on your own. It’s just very time consuming,” said Emina Sadiki, a SNAP recipient.
Sadiki said she understands the push for healthier choices but doesn’t understand why small indulgences for her children are now completely restricted.
Her 12-year-old son has expressed frustration with the limitations. “He says, ‘that just sucks. I can’t wait to get a job that way we don’t need food stamps anymore.’ He’s 12 years old. He shouldn’t be thinking about that,” Sadiki said.
The Department of Health and Welfare said the definitions for candy come directly from the state legislature, House Bill 109.
Idaho grocery stores are already posting signs about the new restrictions.
Sahana Patel, Idaho News 6
When a SNAP card is used for a restricted item, the purchase will be denied, but customers can still pay with cash, debit, or credit cards.
Some families worry the restrictions will create chaos at checkout lines.
“I can’t imagine how bad it’s gonna be and how people are gonna be so confused and so unsure,” Chester said. “I feel bad for the people that work at the grocery stores, like it’s gonna be a mess.”
Idaho
Idaho’s Most Unusual Listing: A Pair of Medieval Castles Complete With a Dungeon and Drawbridge
Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.
The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.
“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”
MORE: Late PBS Anchor Jim Lehrer’s Historic Washington, D.C., Home Lists for $5 Million
Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.
The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”
Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.
MORE: Arizona’s Most Expensive House—With an Indoor Go-Kart Track and Shooting Range—Sells for a Record $40.2 Million
The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.
The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.
The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”
The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”
The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”
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