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Since time immemorial, we have shared this land with wolves and bears. They deserve our protection. – Idaho Capital Sun

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Since time immemorial, we have shared this land with wolves and bears. They deserve our protection. – Idaho Capital Sun


For the Nimiipuu people, protecting wolves and grizzly bears is akin to protecting a family member. According to our law, every animal has a vital place in this world. When we disrupt that, we upset the entire balance within an ecosystem. We believe strongly in the sacredness of all life. Since time immemorial, we have shared this land with wolves and bears – sharing our resources, sharing food and learning from one another. It is critical that we maintain protections for our relatives, the wolves and grizzly bears, to ensure these species can continue to carry out their roles on this land.

In recent years, wolves and grizzly bears have faced increasing persecution in the Northern Rockies. The threat of hostile state management in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana only compounds the threats these species are already facing. To ensure the continued recovery of grizzly bears and gray wolves, continued protections under the Endangered Species Act are necessary – especially in light of the aggression we’ve seen toward these species in our states.

Most recently, Montana and Wyoming petitioned the federal government to remove Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment hopes these petitions will be rejected and ensure continued protections for grizzly bears in our region. We have already seen what has happened to wolves in the Northern Rockies since they were delisted – we cannot allow grizzly bears to face the same hostile state management and extreme killing.

Wildlife conservation groups petition U.S. Forest Service to stop aerial wolf hunting in Idaho

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Our group is also part of a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s wolf trapping and snaring laws that facilitate the killing of up to 90% of Idaho’s gray wolf population. The lawsuit contends that continued and expanded wolf trapping and snaring will injure and kill non-target grizzly bears, which are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Idaho has ignored the potential impacts to grizzlies and charged forward with its extreme killing practices to eradicate as many wolves as possible. We joined this lawsuit to end the trapping and snaring of wolves in grizzly bear habitat during non-denning periods.

In just a single year after Idaho’s aggressive new wolf trapping and snaring laws took effect in 2021, Idaho’s wolf population declined by 13 percent. We should be doing everything we can to protect and live alongside both wolves and grizzly bears, not actively facilitating their eradication. These species are incredibly important to the Nimiipuu people, and we are working to end the assault on these species – for the benefit of our environment and for future generations.

Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment recently spoke with tribal elders to document their stories about both wolves and grizzly bears. One elder spoke of seeing a gray wolf and how beautiful an experience it was – that an almost ghost-like figure moved past at a fast pace, and how fortunate they felt after. Another spoke of how connected we are to wolves and grizzlies by our shared food and resources. Another marveled at the harmonies from wolves – singing to one another across the canyons. Another’s daughter was named after the wolf, as she worked hard to take care of her family and boys. And another spoke of the need to work to better understand grizzly bears and their needs and restore our ecosystems back to their natural configurations.

The stories shine a light on just how important grizzly bears, wolves and the rest of the natural world have been to the Nimiipuu people for generations. These stories are passed down to all of us – stories of our ancestors and how important the species have been toward ensuring the continued survival of our landscapes and each of us. Every single one of us is connected. As we face the continued loss of nature, we should be fighting harder to protect these species, not harm them.

In the coming months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to maintain protections for the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. We are hopeful that the agency will decide to continue protecting the species, as climate change, habitat destruction and increased killing of bears has only made the situation more dire. We must do all we can to better foster connections between isolated grizzly populations and recommit to their recovery in the lower 48, including priority ecosystems like the Bitterroot and Cascades.

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And as we move toward a decision in our Idaho litigation, we are hopeful for a ruling that protects both wolves and the ESA-protected grizzly bears that are indiscriminately killed through trapping and snaring. The Endangered Species Act has afforded grizzly bears protections and Idaho’s extreme killing program for wolves has put both species at risk.

In recent years, officials in this region have proven to be incredibly hostile toward the species that Indigenous communities, and most Americans, know and love. People travel from all over the world to see our grizzly bears and wolves, and they spend significant money in our region while they are here. We should be protecting these species and the role they play in our ecosystems, our culture and our economy, not targeting them. The extreme hostility toward these keystone species will only hurt all of us if it continues.

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Idaho

Heavy rain impacting southwest Idaho Saturday night

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Heavy rain impacting southwest Idaho Saturday night


After a windy Saturday, rain is beginning to overspread southwest Idaho. A cold front will march across southern Idaho late tonight into tomorrow morning, bringing heavy downpours around 9-10pm this evening in the Treasure Valley lasting through 3-4am Sunday morning. Rain will taper to scattered showers on Sunday with snow levels lowering to around 5000 feet. By Sunday evening, 0.25″-0.75″ of rainfall is expected for the lower valleys and 0.5″-1.5″ in the mountains.

A cool and blustery Sunday is ahead across Idaho as temperatures will drop by around 15-25°, placing highs in the 40s and 50s. While the wind won’t be as strong as it was on Saturday, a sustained breeze of 5-15mph will make it feel even cooler. Several inches of snowfall will accumulate above 6000 feet.

A secondary low pressure system moves inland on Monday, reinforcing the chance for showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures will remain cool through the first half of next week, followed by a significant warmup leading into next weekend as a high-pressure ridge strengthens over the West.

Idaho News 6 Forecast

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Original sketches and blueprints for iconic Boise buildings on display at Idaho State Archives

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Original sketches and blueprints for iconic Boise buildings on display at Idaho State Archives


BOISE, Idaho — Hummel Architects donated a collection of over 4,000 individual items to the Idaho State Archives, many of which are plans for some of Boise’s most iconic buildings. An exhibit at the archives is now showcasing some of those original sketches, blueprints and building plans for the public to enjoy.

  • Portions of the Hummel Collection are on display in an exhibit at the Idaho State Archives.
  • Parts of the collection that are not on display can be requested for viewing in the archive’s reading room.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

“I think these are hand drawn… 1920, certainly,” says Angie Davis, the Collections-Outreach Archivist at the Idaho State Archives.

The team at the Idaho State Archives has a lot of work to do.

“But this is the to-do pile … very big,” says Davis.

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Hummel Architects donated a collection of over 4,000 individual items to the archive, many of which are plans for some of Boise’s most iconic buildings.

“So these are the original drawings from the Egyptian theater,” Davis said.

Hummel Architects originally donated the plans for the Idaho state Capitol in March of 2023. Since then, they have decided to give the rest of their archive a new home.

“We spent the majority of the year last year between March and December moving the Hummel archive from their vault to our location,” Davis said. “It’s wonderful that they trusted us to take care of these and provide access to the material.”

She tells me that the collections at the archives can be easily seen by the public.

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“Anytime somebody wants to request these, we will pull them,” Davis said. “We will make them available in the reading room and make sure that they’re safe.”

Davis says that collections like this can help people understand the history of Boise.

“After 128 years building some of the most iconic buildings in Boise and in Idaho, you’re going to find treasures, you’re going to to find them,” Davis said.

“One of my favorite parts about this collection is that they have been a working collection, so I imagine the architects on these projects shoving the roll plans under their arms and running around the site and now they’re safe,”Davis said. “They won’t be exposed to coffee rings.”

Portions of the collection are on display in their exhibit gallery, but the majority of the materials are kept safe in vaults, available to view upon request.

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“Getting to engage with originals is not always something that everybody gets to do, so if you have the opportunity, come see it,” says Davis.





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‘This case is turning into a hamster wheel’: Family of slain University of Idaho student frustrated at pace of murder trial – East Idaho News

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‘This case is turning into a hamster wheel’: Family of slain University of Idaho student frustrated at pace of murder trial – East Idaho News


(CNN) — The family of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves on Thursday expressed their frustration at the pace of the murder trial for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing their daughter and three other students.

“This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions,” the Goncalves family said in a statement following the latest court hearing in the case. “Can we all just agree that this case needs to move forward and the Judge needs to start setting hard deadlines in this case?”

The Idaho judge overseeing Kohberger’s quadruple murder trial ruled Thursday that an upcoming evidentiary hearing about certain evidence with witnesses will be closed to the public.

“I want to see what all the issues are, the arguments from both sides, so I can make the more fair decision. So, I’m going to close the hearing. At some point in the hearing, maybe we can open up part of it, but I need to dig in, and you need to dig in to exactly what is the problem with each one of these issues,” Latah County District Court Judge John Judge said.

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Kohberger’s defense had asked for the hearing to be made public, while the prosecution asked that it be sealed, arguing “the need to protect the privacy and the sensitive information and ultimately protect the state and defendant’s rights to a fair trial outweighs the right to a public hearing.”

“This hearing needs to be in the public eye,” said defense attorney Anne C. Taylor. “For the court to allow the prosecution to say we need to keep this all private for a fair trial really ignores the public nature of this case.”

Taylor added the hearing – and those going forward – should be public “so people can start to wonder if Bryan is innocent. Your honor, Bryan is innocent and he has an absolute sixth amendment right to have his hearings in public.”

Kohberger, 29, faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the killings of Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, at a home just off the university’s main campus in Moscow. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

The hearing is the latest turn in the high-profile case against Kohberger, who is accused of fatally stabbing the four college students early on November 13, 2022. A not guilty plea was entered last May on his behalf, and his attorneys have indicated he intends to present an alibi as part of his defense.

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Due to a wide-ranging gag order, prosecutors, defense lawyers and attorneys for victims’ families and witnesses are prohibited from saying anything publicly, aside from what is already in the public record.

In their statement, the Goncalves family said, “Not every motion needs a hearing. Not every decision needs to take a month to decide.”

“Discovery, discovery, discovery! You have what we want… no I don’t, yes you do… no I don’t, let’s have a new hearing….Hit repeat. This banter has been going on for 17 months. Then once you get a hearing, you have a hearing about the decision that was made at that hearing before the last hearing and there needs to be another hearing,” the statement said.

“I know our statement sounds as if we are incredibly frustrated and we are!” the statement continued. “We understand the Justice system and we want a fair trial for the Defendant, but turning the case into a delay game serves no one’s interests other than the Defense. Once again thank you for all your kindness and prayers for our Family!”

Kohberger’s alibi defense was filed last month, after the judge had repeatedly extended the submission date.

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According to his alibi defense, Kohberger was out driving west of Moscow the night of the slayings “as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars.” The defense plans to offer a cell phone tower and radio frequency expert to partially corroborate this account, according to the document.

His public defenders have pointed several times to their client’s purported penchant for taking long drives alone late at night. In an August filing, they wrote of the night of the killings, “Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time.”

In response, the prosecution asked the court to deny Kohberger the opportunity to add to his alibi and stop anyone other than the defendant from testifying as to his whereabouts on the night of the killings.

The state argued the cell tower and radio frequency expert’s testimony “doesn’t rise to the level of an alibi.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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