Idaho
Sun Valley Suns show off Idaho’s hockey culture
HAILEY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Hockey may not be the most popular sport being played in Idaho, however, the sport’s culture is alive and well in the Wood River Valley, and KMVT caught up with the Sun Valley Suns.
“You know when I think of the game and how much it’s ingrained into my life and the passion, I’ve always had for it, I feel grateful for it,” said John “Cub” Burke, the Suns President of Hockey Operations.
“It’s really special being a Sun Valley Sun and a member of that fraternity, and it’s been so long, and there’s so many alumni that people all over the country know about us. That’s special in itself, but it’s just the game, appreciating and loving the game.”
The Sun Valley Suns are a semi-pro hockey team that got their start in the 1970s when future San Jose Sharks owner George Gund purchased a plot of land to develop an ice rink in Hailey.
When the rink was completed in 1975, a group of men met up to skate, not knowing that this group of eight would become the founding fathers of the Sun Valley Suns hockey team.
Nearly half a century later, some inaugural team alumni continue to be a big reason why the team has been around for nearly half a century.
“How tight-knit those alumni stay together, how much they back us and are benefactors in the community for jobs and just looking out for one another and giving back to the community, the youth hockey program watching that grow here. Just the whole culture, the family that’s kind of expanded beyond this game to be a very integral part of this valley. That’s what’s so special and keeps all of us coming back and going,” said Max Tardy, an eighth-year forward for the Suns.
Many of the alumni and current players alike are transplants to the Wood River Valley having originated in more typical hockey markets like Minnesota or Massachusetts, and many have experience playing Division One college hockey or professionally, whether in Europe or the United States.
The old guard of Sun Valley Suns helped grow the program into the team they are today and continues to attract and recruit players from nationwide to suit up for the squad, some for upwards of ten years like defenseman Mike Curry.
“I get to work remotely, which is nice and has allowed me to be out here as long as I can, and the experience out here has been great,” Curry said.
“I didn’t know much about this place, and I had a mutual friend who had been out here before and I was living in Minnesota and wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, and so I heard about this and got to play hockey and come out and snowboard and obviously get to work out here so it seemed like a no-brainer.”
Every team needs a coach, and for the Suns, that distinction belongs to former player Ryan Enrico, who took over the job from current President of Hockey Operations and Suns legend John “Cub” Burke in 2021
“I played for 17 seasons, and you get older, and new younger guys come in, and then COVID hit, and we canceled the season, so that was a year lost, and that was a good time for me to step aside.
our old coach, John “Cub” Burke, he had been doing this a long time and wanted to step aside, so it was a natural transition for me,” Enrico said.
While the players and coaches make up the product on the ice, no team would continue to exist for almost 50 years if it wasn’t for the fans.
On most game nights, the Suns boast capacity crowds of nearly a thousand people.
Something defenseman and team general manager Sean O’Grady enjoys the most about being a Sun.
“I think one of the things I’m most excited about is seeing people from all different walks of life show up to enjoy hockey. That’s something that really kind of embodies the whole reason why we do this in the first place,” O’Grady said.
“It’s a blast for one, all the guys are having fun, and then seeing all different kinds of people show up to the games is really a special time for all of us.”
The Sun Valley Suns play their games on Friday and Saturday nights and have ten total games remaining, eight of which are at home. If you have never seen a hockey game in person going to a Sun Valley Suns game is a great way to get your feet wet with the sport and a lot of fun as well.
Copyright 2024 KMVT. All rights reserved.
Idaho
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.
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The new law is set to take effect in July.
Idaho
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.
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.
“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.
“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
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M 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.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“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.
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.
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, 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.
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
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