Idaho
Moon reelected Idaho GOP Chair, party now opposes funding higher education
COEUR d’ALENE — Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon was reelected to a second two-year term Saturday in Coeur d’Alene, during the final day of the Idaho GOP’s convention.
“We are not the fringe, folks,” Moon told a crowd of more than 800 people in the Schuler Performing Arts Center on the North Idaho College campus, to thunderous applause.
Moon received 376 votes from delegates who came from across Idaho, defeating former legislator and Coeur d’Alene resident Mary Souza, who captured 228 votes.
In a speech to delegates, Moon described herself as “the real deal,” as well as a hard worker and a person who follows through on her promises.
“We have not moved from where we’ve always stood,” she said. “Some people have. I’m an old horse and I cannot be taught new tricks. I know where I stand, and I think all of you know where you stand. We have been fighting so hard.”
After the election results were announced, Moon called for unity among Idaho Republicans, particularly in “the fight on ranked-choice voting.”
“We want to keep Idaho red, and I know we will,” she said. “We’re going to save our state, and we’re going to make this a great place to raise our kids.”
Party unity was a common refrain throughout the convention and formed the platform for Souza’s campaign for party chair. She urged Idaho Republicans to focus on their similarities, rather than their differences.
“We have an opportunity now to pull together,” she told delegates in a speech. “We can accept each other for who we are and what we believe.”
In a break with the practice of past conventions, reporters were not permitted to observe any of the committee meetings and were not allowed inside the general session at North Idaho College until Saturday afternoon, shortly before the nominations for party leadership positions.
Delegates approved a change to the Idaho Republican Party platform that may significantly impact how Republican legislators approach funding for higher education in Idaho.
“We strongly support professional technical and continuing education programs that provide career readiness and college preparation, but we do not support using taxpayer funding for programs beyond high school,” the party platform now reads in part.
NIC Trustee Todd Banducci, who attended the convention as a delegate, stood in support of the change. He declined to answer questions about his vote.
Mike Waggoner, a college trustee who attended the convention as a guest, did not indicate whether he supports the platform change.
“I don’t know exactly how that’s going to affect us,” Waggoner said. “Beyond that, I don’t have a comment.”
NIC’s operating budget for fiscal year 2024 included a $14.9 million allocation from the state general fund, $17.8 million in property tax revenue and $200,000 in state liquor tax allocation. Those revenue sources made up about 61% of NIC’s $53 million budget.
Coeur d’Alene City Councilman and alternate delegate Dan Gookin didn’t mince words on what he believes the platform change means for Idaho’s higher education institutions, including North Idaho College.
“They just voted to gut higher education,” he said.
Now that opposition for higher education funding is part of the Idaho GOP’s platform, Gookin said, Republican elected officials who vote in favor of such funding risk being punished by county Republican central committees.
The party rules empower central committees to censure Republicans for “substantive violations of party platform,” as well as remove party support and forbid the use of Republican Party identifiers for five years.
Delegates also voted to expand the party’s “Right to Life” article to include assisted suicide, euthanasia and embryo destruction.
“We oppose all actions which intentionally end an innocent human life, including abortion, the destruction of human embryos, euthanasia and assisted suicide,” the platform now reads in part.
The party also added to the platform a call for “excuse-only absentee ballots.”
North Idaho College trustee Todd Banducci attended the Idaho GOP Convention as a delegate.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and U.S. Sen. Jim Risch issued statements mourning the sudden passing of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, remembering him as a friend, colleague and influential conservative lawmaker.
“For most of my public service in Congress, I had the privilege of calling Lindsey Graham not only a colleague in both the House and Senate, but a loyal and generous friend,” Crapo said. “He was a formidable public servant who held the line on issues important to him and South Carolinians with unwavering courage.”
Crapo highlighted Graham’s military service and foreign policy work, saying, “As an Air Force veteran and foreign policy hawk, he traveled the world demonstrating America’s strength and resolve. To our nation’s allies, he was a friend. To our adversaries, he was unflinching.”
Crapo also pointed to Graham’s work in the Senate, including his leadership on budget issues and his role on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Lindsey was a staunch conservative, and he shepherded the Senate Budget Committee through the critical steps of the budget reconciliation process,” Crapo said. “His work put more money in Americans’ pockets and kept our homeland safe. On the Senate Judiciary Committee, he safeguarded the federal judiciary and conducted much-needed oversight.”
“Senator Graham enriched the lives of those of us who knew him,” Crapo said. “He will be deeply missed, and I offer my sincere condolences to his family, staff and other loved ones during this difficult time.”
Risch and his wife, Vicki, also expressed condolences, calling Graham “a dear friend and colleague whose warmth, humor, and unwavering dedication to public service will be deeply missed.”
“He loved America deeply and devoted his life to serving our nation and fighting for what he believed was in its best interest,” Risch said. “We extend our deepest condolences and are praying for his family during this difficult time.”
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.”
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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.
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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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