IDAHO FALLS – An Idaho State Police trooper and another driver were injured in a collision in Idaho Falls Friday night.

It happened around 10 p.m. on Yellowstone Highway and Pancheri Drive as the trooper was in pursuit of a different vehicle than the one it collided with, according to Sgt. Bryan Lovell with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.

Details about who the trooper was chasing are unclear and Lovell isn’t sure what the outcome was, but both the trooper and the other driver were injured. The trooper was treated and released on scene and the other driver was taken to the hospital. Lovell doesn’t know the extent of their injuries.

Additional details about the crash are unavailable, including the impact to traffic and how long the investigation lasted.

EastIdahoNews.com reporter Daniel Ramirez and other witness captured several photos of the crash scene late Friday night.

EastIdahoNews.com will provide updates as we receive them.

Angela Navejas’ daughter, Ashlin Couch, was planning to hang out with friends and former roomates at the University of Idaho on the night of Nov. 12, 2022. 

But then her mom asked her to stay home to watch the family dogs — a request that most likely saved Couch’s life.

Couch formerly lived at the large, off-campus house where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered at 1122 King Road in the small community of Moscow, Idaho. 

Four students were stabbed to death in the early hours of Nov. 13: Madison “Maddie” Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20. 

“They were so fun, and just beautiful and kind,” Navejas said in the May 9 episode of “Dateline,” in an episode entitled, “The Terrible Night on King Road.”

Najevas said her daughter and one of the victims, Mogen, had been best friends. They grew up together in Coeur D’Alene, a town north of Moscow.

“They had coffee together, they did yoga together. They walked to class together,” Navejas said. “When the girls would get bored in Moscow, they would come and stay with us, and my husband, he’s like, ‘Oh no, those sorority girls are coming this weekend, better watch out.’”

Couch had recently graduated and moved back home to her parents’ house to save money, her mom said.

She had planned to head to Moscow to hang out with her former roommates on Nov. 12, but when her parents were delayed returning home from a trip, they asked Couch to stay in Coeur D’Alene one extra day to watch their dogs. 

“She was bummed because it was a big game day,” Navejas recalled.

Not long after, Couch and her mom heard the unthinkable news: Mogen and three others had been killed in a quadruple homicide.

“It was a pain inside … you can’t really explain how your body’s feeling,” Najevas said. “It was just like my house stopped, just stopped for months.”

Najevas said she didn’t process “right away” that her daughter could have been in the King Road house that night. 

“All I could think about was the kids,” she said. 

She added that her daughter “just cried in her bed” when she heard the news.

“She didn’t want to talk about it,” Navejas said. “We just cried together for a long time.”

Couch was so rattled by the incident that she moved away from the area, her mom said.

“She just needed to get away and regroup. She wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew who she was, didn’t ask questions, she could make new friends, start a new life,” Navejas said.

Couch was not interviewed for the “Dateline” episode.

Navejas added that her daughter is “not the same” since the murders, and she is “not sure” when she will feel comfortable enough to come back home. 

“Once the trial is over, I think that that’s really when you’re going to be able to start grieving the right way,” she said.

Bryan Kohberger, a former doctoral student in criminal justice at Washington State University, has been charged in the killings and faces four counts of first-degree murder. Kohberger has pleaded not guilty.

His trial is set to begin in August in Boise, Idaho. If Kohberger is convicted, prosecutors can pursue the death penalty, a judge ruled last month.

Navejas says “there’s nothing that will ever take” the pain away from the murders, but hopes that her daughter and other grieving students will find a way to move forward in time.

“Maybe after the trial they’ll have more better days than bad days,” she said. 

In 2024, Navejas and Couch launched The Made With Kindness Foundation, a non-profit organization created in the memory of Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle. 

The foundation’s mission is to create college scholarship opportunities and to offer workshops and training related to on-campus safety and security. 

“We just decided that we wanted to start something to be able to remember and honor the girls and how they were — their optimism, empowerment, confidence,” Navejas said during a visit to TODAY in December.

Karen Laramie, the mother of slain student Maddie Mogen, appeared alongside Navejas on TODAY and spoke of her late daughter’s kind spirit.

She also showed a sentimental piece of jewelry her daughter once gave her.

“So it’s a two-piece ring, and my half, I think, says, ‘You are my sunshine,’ and hers said, ‘My only sunshine,’” Laramie said. 

The parents of Ethan Chapin also created a foundation, Ethan’s Smile, in their son’s honor, which provides scholarships.

The new “Dateline” episode exploring the Idaho student murders will air at 9 p.m. ET/ 8p.m. CT on NBC.

Gov. Brad Little addressing media about the past legislative seasons and what the state is doing for its residents | Daniel V. Ramirez, EastIdahoNews.com

IDAHO FALLS — After announcing his Keeping Promises plan earlier this year, Gov. Brad Little touted what he said was a successful legislative season in meeting his agenda to promote education, farmers and families at a news conference Thursday at the Upper Snake Regional Office in Idaho Falls.

Little’s statements revolved around water and education.

RELATED | Gov. Little makes a stop in eastern Idaho to highlight 2025 priorities

Education

“Education has been my top priority since day one, strong public school support for families and communities,” Little said. “It’s both our constitutional and our moral obligation to the next generation that we increase funding, and more importantly, have better outcomes in our public schools.”

Little said rural schools would see a boost in funding, from $25.5 million to $50.5 million as part of House Bill 338.

RELATED | Rural school facilities funding bill heads to House

Other investments made this year included an increase in teacher pay by $85 million, and improvements in literacy statewide, with $78 million being paid annually.

Regarding concerns over who the state will oversee private education, Little answered that the state will monitor it.

“We negotiated with sponsors to have more people at the tax commission to make sure that those monies were spent effectively,” Little said.

RELATED | Private education tax credit heads to governor

Little said the state will monitor students whose parents put them in private school to ensure they receive a quality education, as the state did with charter schools.

He also addressed cuts within the federal government, such as President Trump’s plan to close the Department of Education.

He said state officials have to wait and see how that plays out.

If the department does close, Little said the state will need to monitor tests, like the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and see where Idaho can get funding to ensure Idaho students are meeting their educational goals.

Water

Just a little over a year ago, eastern Idaho experienced water curtailments that nearly shut down the state’s agriculture industry.

RELATED | Gov. Little celebrates ‘Idaho Water Day’ in Idaho Falls, recognizing historic, new water agreement

Little said during his discussion that since then, new mitigation plans have been made and funding has been invested in recharge projects along the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer.

“After a tough year of negotiations, we owed it to our farmers and communities to follow through on commitments to ensure the updated mitigation plan is successful,” Little said.

He said the state’s reservoirs are full to support this year’s growing season.

RELATED | How does this year’s surface water supply look for eastern Idaho?

Looking at other states that are experiencing water shortages, Little said he’s grateful that farmers and other stakeholders are on the same page to manage the state’s resources.

Overall, Little said many of his promises were passed this legislative season to promote education and other polices vital to Idaho’s future.

“We will continue to make Idaho the best run state in the country, promote policies that support public schools, farmers and families,” Little said.