Connect with us

Idaho

Idaho’s Bench Lake Fire grows to more than 2,000 acres; 8% containment reported • Idaho Capital Sun

Published

on

Idaho’s Bench Lake Fire grows to more than 2,000 acres; 8% containment reported • Idaho Capital Sun


More than 300 firefighters continued to fight the Bench Lake Fire burning in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, achieving 8% containment on Friday as the fire grew to more than 2,000 acres, fire officials said. 

The fire started July 11 and is burning near Redfish Lake and the iconic Redfish Lake Lodge near the town of Stanley. 

Crews have used pumps and hoses to water Redfish Lake Lodge and other structures in the area, according to the Great Basin team four public information office’s interagency InciWeb report on the fire.  

Sawtooth National Recreation Area officials have issued emergency closures for the Redfish Lake Recreation Complex, including the lodge, trails, campgrounds and roads in the vicinity. 

Advertisement

In an update posted Friday morning, fire officials said the firefighters’ efforts were paying off. Altogether, 346 firefighters, six helicopters, 14 engines and two scooper planes were fighting the Bench Lake Fire.

“Structure protection efforts at Redfish Lake Lodge and adjacent facilities are proving successful,” the Great Basin team four public information office wrote. “Pumps and hoses continue to spray water increasing the relative humidity, making it harder for any fire embers to ignite adjacent fuels. Crews near upper Bench Lakes have made substantial progress building containment lines in the extremely rugged terrain.”

The Times-News reported on Wednesday that it may take a major rain storm or snowfall to completely put out the fire. That’s according to Sawtooth National Recreation Area Ranger Kirk Flannigan, who addressed the impacts of the fire in front of almost 200 people gathered at a town hall meeting in Stanley, according to the Times News.

The cause of the Bench Lake Fire remained under investigation as of Friday. Once again this year, more Idaho fires have been caused by people than lighting, according to the Idaho Department of Lands fire division.

Advertisement

Crews achieve 10% containment of Texas Fire burning east of Kendrick, Idaho

Crews fighting the Texas Fire that is burning east of Kendrick in Latah County reported achieving 10% containment of the fire, fire officials said Friday morning. 

The human-caused fire started July 15. As of Friday morning, 175 firefighters were fighting the Texas Fire, according to a news release issued Friday by the Idaho Department of Lands. 

On Wednesday, the Lewiston Tribune reported that four structures have burned in the fire and others have been threatened since the fire ignited. 

As of early Friday afternoon, Level 3 evacuation status was still in effect for the Cedar Creek Canyon Area. For the latest evacuation statues for the Texas Fire, visit the Latah County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.

Advertisement



Source link

Idaho

Gov. Little signs bill ending license plate registration stickers in Idaho

Published

on

Gov. Little signs bill ending license plate registration stickers in Idaho


Gov. Brad Little has signed House Bill 533, which would remove the need for license plate stickers on Idaho vehicles.

The legislation, introduced earlier this session by Rep. Jon Weber (R) of Boise, eliminates the requirement for registration stickers on Idaho license plates. Weber stated during the bills intorduction that officers can verify the status of license plates without the stickers, potentially saving the state around $300,000.

During the bill’s introduction, some lawmakers argued that it could increase the workload for law enforcement.

Comment with Bubbles
Advertisement

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

The new law is set to take effect in July.



Source link

Continue Reading

Idaho

Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

“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

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Idaho

University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders

Published

on

University of Idaho professor awarded M 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.”

Ashley Guillard posted TikTok videos falsely linking a University of Idaho professor to the Idaho college murders, leading to a defamation lawsuit. TikTok/ashleyisinthebookoflife4

“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.

Advertisement

“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.

Idaho murder victims Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right, and their two surviving roommates.

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.

Advertisement

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 pleaded guilty to the savage slayings in July 2025 in a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table. AP

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.

Advertisement
The off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on Nov. 17, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. James Keivom

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

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending