Idaho
Idaho volleyball players ask school to place Chris Gonzalez on leave
Idaho women’s volleyball team members formally asked the university’s president and athletic director on Thursday to place Vandals head coach Chris Gonzalez and his coaching staff on leave until a school investigation into abuse allegations against Gonzalez is completed, according to documents obtained by the Southern California News Group.
The requests to Idaho president C. Scott Green and athletics director Terry Gawlik come as the U.S. Center for SafeSport is reviewing an abuse complaint against Gonzalez, according to a confidential SafeSport document obtained by SCNG.
“The school has not taken any steps to ensure our safety,” Emma Patterson, an Idaho middle blocker said Thursday.
The request also comes against the backdrop of Gawlick informing Idaho players that she plans to meet with them on Tuesday, according to an email obtained by SCNG. It will be the first time Gawlick has met with Idaho players since an SCNG report on December 30 revealed player allegations that Gonzalez has routinely physically, verbally and emotionally abused players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school.
To date 11 current and former Idaho players, three parents and two university employees have alleged to SCNG that Gonzalez, a Southern California native and former U.S. national team coach, has regularly bullied players, pushed players so hard in practices that they have fallen over, that he pressured athletes to play and/or train against the instructions of the school’s sports medicine staff, body shamed players, made racially insensitive and inappropriate remarks to players, and touched players in ways that made them uncomfortable.
The players and their parents have also alleged that Gawlik and other university officials have repeatedly ignored or dismissed their complaints or concerns over the past 17 months.
Gonzalez is scheduled to hold his first practice with players on January 18.
“It’s deeply concerning to me that my care and my teammates care is being placed back into his hands,” Patterson said referring to Gonzalez.
Gonzalez and university spokesperson Jodi Walker did not respond to requests for comment.
Gonzalez is currently being investigated by the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations and Thompson & Horton, a Texas-based law firm hired by the school to investigate volleyball’s “climate and culture” under Gonazlaez.
A Notice of Alleged Violation & Investigation sent by the OCRI to players on November 30 stated that athletes may opt out of non-physical volleyball team activities, including team or individual player meetings and social activities, by communicating their decision to opt out to Gonzalez via email before the “relevant activity.”
At least four players informed both Gonzalez and the OCRI on Thursday “that for all subsequent meetings following the one taking place on January 16th, unless and until we tell you otherwise, we are opting out of all other non-physical volleyball team activities this semester,” according to an email provided SCNG.In their letter to Green and Gawlik, players went even further. At an unofficial team dinner Wednesday night, 10 of the 12 players attended and all approved the letter.
“We are writing to follow up on the detailed information we have given you about the harm and mistreatment the women’s volleyball team has been subjected to by Head Coach Chris Gonzales and his assistant coaches,” the players wrote. “As you know and the press reported on December 30, 2023, we and our teammates have given you extensive information – through meetings, interviews, and 15 single-spaced pages of details – documenting that, throughout the past two years, our coaches have physically and psychologically abused us and our teammates, endangered our safety, and subjected us to sex discrimination and harassment.
“As the press also reported, in response to our formal request on October 16, 2023, the school told us on October 30 that it was going to initiate a Title IX investigation, but agreed to delay doing so until after November 15, when the volleyball season ended, because we feared the coach and his assistants would treat us even worse if they knew about the investigation. The school initiated the investigation after that and, according to more press reports, just expanded it to include the team’s ‘climate and culture,’ which should include all aspects of the head coach’s and assistant coaches’ conduct. The school has not, however, placed the head coach or the assistant coaches on administrative leave while the investigation is being conducted. This has placed us in a position of danger.
“We had not received any communications from the head coach or the assistant coaches since the December 30 press report was issued, but we were just notified by one assistant coach that the team will be meeting next Tuesday and that practice will start next Thursday. We continue to fear retaliation by the head coach and the assistant coaches – and would not feel safe returning to practice or competition with them.
“So, we are formally requesting that the coach and the assistant coaches be placed on administrative leave – and/or precluded from coaching us – at least until the Title IX investigation and the upcoming spring season are completed. We have already identified one individual working in the University’s Athletics Department we believe would be qualified to coach us, we would feel safe with as our coach, and who has said she would be willing to coach us on an interim basis through the spring season – and we believe there may be others, too. We ask that this person or someone qualified who we would feel safe with be assigned to coach us this spring. We have already informed the necessary parties that we are choosing to opt out of all non-physical volleyball activities, per the supportive measures granted to us by the OCRI. But we should not have to avoid volleyball activities just to be safe from our coaches.
“We hope you agree. We have been in communication with council that has advised us to formally request this, and to express our concerns about the retention of staff during an open investigation, and will continue to take further steps until our safety for this spring season is assured. “
University officials, Gawlik in particular, have been sharply criticized by players, alumni, boosters and some members of the Idaho media for not placing Gonzalez on leave while an investigation by the school’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations and another probe by Texas law firm hired by the university proceed. Players and critics have also questioned Gawlik’s decision to attend the NCAA Convention this week in Phoenix in the midst of what even some of her supporters have described as the biggest crisis of her 4 1/2 year tenure as the Vandals AD.
“Just as a follow up for the Tuesday meeting instead of practice that day (athletes you will not need to dress in practice gear), I thought it important to meet with the team to bring everyone up to speed on the OCRI investigation,” Gawlick wrote in the email to players and coaches. “Coaches will not be present at this meeting and we will also have some other resources to introduce to everyone and provide information.”
Multiple Idaho players said they have not heard from university officials since the initial SCNG report was published nearly three weeks ago. Gonzalez has been spotted on campus this week.
“We definitely have some concerns,” Patterson said of the scheduled meeting with Gawlik. “At this point, she’s not on our side. We’re mostly confused (about the meeting) because A) why now is she trying to saying something? We’re concerned about her motivation behind this.”
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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.
The Idaho Legislature won’t eliminate property tax next year. My bold prediction. There will be a few bills introduced, a lot of chatter on talk radio and online, and then action will be kicked down the road. If it looks like a winner in the 2028 Election, it’ll sail through in session a few weeks before the 2028 Primary. Wet an index finger and raise it in the air. Then vote.
As an old Libertarian (with a capital L), I’m familiar with the basic argument. If you own it, why do you have to pay rent? The answer always comes back to, “It’s the best system we have to fund local governments”. Forms have been in place since colonial times, even if scattered geographically. The idea gained steam in the years after the Civil War when a handful of economists blamed property ownership for growing poverty in cities. Property accrued value as space became a premium. So-called reformers believed the tax would balance economic inequality, and appealed to noblesse oblige.
Your Taxes Get Sprinkled Like a Good Rain
I live in Twin Falls County, where we have 78 taxing districts that rely on the current system. If you ask what can replace it, you’re called a Republican in name only (RINO) by compatriots. Obviously, not everything funded by the tax is a waste. First responders and snow plows come to mind. It makes me think of the calls to gut the federal government, but while maintaining Social Security and Medicare. The former makes up nearly a quarter of the budget. Medicare is only 14 percent, but additional health spending brings the tab to another quarter. Historian Niall Ferguson grew up in Scotland, and he summed up Great Britain a couple of weeks ago. People want more, not less, welfare spending. Are we different?
Before anyone in Boise wipes out property tax, legislators need to consider what voters want to stay, and how to fund it otherwise. If they don’t, they’ll see a backlash at the ballot box. Just because I say I want taxes reduced, I didn’t mean the programs that benefit me! The answer won’t be available over 90 days next year.
More than 20 years ago I hosted a weeklong series on tax alternatives. Among the proposals we examined were Flat Tax, Fair Tax, and Automated Payments Tax. People are most familiar with the first. Everyone pays a flat percentage. Say 12 to 15 percent. Of income, I guess. Of course, we need to define income. Professor Gad Saad is leaving Canada for a job in the United States and has to pay an exit tax based on his estimated assets. Estimated is the dirty word! That’s left to bureaucrats.
This Requires Study and Gaming Outcomes
Go ahead and adopt the flat tax, and please the conservatives, however. Many people, even on the right, have paid very little when it comes to present income confiscation. See how they react when they get a wake-up call. The Fair Tax is a national sales tax of 23 percent. Or it was the percentage proposed 20 years ago. That sounds large, but when you consider your overall tax burden right now, if it replaced what currently exists, you would be better off. This isn’t to say that local governments wouldn’t institute their own taxes. If you live in a blue state or city, that’s a given. Proponents argue that citizens have the option of not paying taxes if they choose not to buy. Obviously, you need to buy some things, unless you’re destitute and living exclusively on handouts.
Automated Payments Tax (APT) is a 1 percent charge on every transaction. A company buys steel to build trucks; it pays 1 percent on the steel. And on every other purchase. The dealer buys the truck for his lot and pays one percent. You buy from the dealer and pay one percent. An economist at the University of Indiana told me it would cover the federal budget. We had that conversation in 2005, when the national debt wasn’t even a quarter of what we see today. None of these plans address the debt, but if state and local governments are creative, maybe we can find something that replaces property taxes.
What we’ll get is a commission from the politically connected who’ll meet once a month for bagels and orange juice. In three years, they’ll provide a solution that works best for them.
Highest Gas Taxes By State in the U.S.
Here are the top 10 states for gas taxes.
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