Ali Larter never imagined she would settle down in Idaho after spending most of her life in Hollywood.

“It unfolded in the most incredible way for us,” the Landman star, 48, reveals about her and husband Hayes MacArthur’s new life in Idaho in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “If you had told me this 20 years ago, even five years ago, I would have never believed that I’d be living in a very small town in the mountains.”

She continues: “We absolutely adore it, and we are so grateful to get to raise our family here. It’s really, really beautiful to live a smaller life with our children during this chapter.”

Larter explains that the idea came about during the COVID-19 pandemic when her and MacArthur’s children’s schools were shut down. (The couple, who wed in 2009, are parents to son Theodore, 13, and daughter Vivienne, 9.)

“It was just kind of a mess. And Hayes and I decided to just go on a road trip and see where it led us,” she recalls. “We drove into the mountains thinking that we could see with the kids [while they continued] Zoom school.”

As the family explored the area, they fell in love with what the local nature had to offer.

“We love being here and being back in the seasons,” she says, “The Aspen [trees] are bright and yellow right now, and to watch that is my favorite time of the year.”

Before relocating to Idaho, Larter grew up in New Jersey and lived in New York City for a decade before calling Hollywood home for more than 20 years. She always considered herself to be a city girl, she says, but after seeing what small-town life could offer her and her family, she decided to “pivot.”

“I always thought I would live in one of those big cities. I loved my time in those places, but I also feel like we didn’t know that life was available to us,” she confesses. “Even if you talked five years ago, Hayes and I thought we had to be in Los Angeles to be an actor. We weren’t at this place where we were like movie stars, and we could just go live anywhere.”

Larter was ultimately proven right as she continues to act while also putting down family roots in Idaho. She is currently starring in Taylor Sheridan’s new series Landman, which premieres on Paramount+ on Sunday, November 17. In addition to Larter playing Angela, the cast also includes Billy Bob Thorton, Demi Moore and Jon Hamm.

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“This was actually an arduous casting process for me. I had to audition three times and then screen test,” Larter shares of the process to get the role. “So I really had to fight to get to have Angela.”

Larter adds that while she was trying to find the best way to embody her character, Sheridan would make changes to the scripts as he developed Angela’s personality.

“From the very first bit that I saw that he wrote about this woman, I knew she was just a complete firecracker and an emotional tornado,” she teases. “And then I had to embody her.”

Landman premieres on Paramount+ on Sunday, November 17.

For more on Larter, pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.

With reporting by Amanda Williams

LEWISTON, Idaho — Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if an Idaho white supremacist gang member is convicted of killing a man while he was on the run after shooting officers in a plot to help a fellow gang member escape from prison.

Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman announced Thursday that the death penalty would be sought if Nicholas Umphenour is convicted of a murder charge in the March death of James Mauney, 83, of Juliaetta, KHQ-TV reported.

Umphenour appeared in Nez Perce County Court on Thursday via video from the county jail and is scheduled for an arraignment Dec. 12. He’s being held without bond, news outlets reported. Umphenour’s attorney, Brian Marx, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

Umphenour was sentenced to life in prison last month in a separate court case in which he helped inmate Skylar Meade escape from a Boise hospital where Meade had been taken for treatment of self-inflicted injuries. Early on March 20, Umphenour began shooting as corrections officers and Meade were leaving the hospital.

Umphenour shot two of the officers, and a third was shot when another officer mistook him for the shooter and opened fire, police said. All three survived.

Umphenour pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting escape and aggravated assault and battery on law enforcement officers in that case.

Meade and Umphenour then fled, investigators said, driving several hours to north-central Idaho.

Mauney had taken his dogs for a walk on a local trail later that morning and never returned. His body was found miles away near Leland, Idaho.

Police said that soon after, the two men headed back to southern Idaho. Mauney’s stolen minivan was found in Twin Falls, where the men were arrested, police have said.

“Seeking the death penalty is appropriate in this case considering the defendant’s complete lack of regard for the life of Mr. Mauney,” Coleman said in a statement. “We’ll continue to fight in both this case and the co-defendant’s case to get justice for the victim.”

Meade also has been sentenced to life in prison in the March 20 escape. He is facing the same murder charge in Nez Perce County and possible death penalty if convicted. He has had a not guilty plea entered for him while his case continues.

People, 8,000 elk and 2,000 mule deer now travel safer along western Idaho’s Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway near Boise due to a new $7.5 million wildlife overpass, ending a legacy of frequent traffic crashes with big game.

This first wildlife overpass project by the Idaho Transportation Department saw 10 state and federal agencies overcome red tape, turf boundaries and budget issues to showcase how government can protect drivers and ensure wildlife resiliency.

The ITD project was funded through the Federal Highways Administration’s Federal Lands Access Program. ITD involved numerous stakeholders including Idaho Fish and Game, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, the City of Boise and the counties of Ada and Boise.

Also many private and non-governmental organizations gave money, resources and in-kind contributions to support required local funding matches.

“This project would not have happened or had success without their contributions and willingness to partner,” said Scott Rudel, ITD project manager for its first wildlife overpass.

The creation of the overpass was recognized Oct. 31 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials who honored ITD with a President’s Award for Environment and Planning.

Over the past 40 years, the mountainous area from Mileposts 17.2 to 19.6 had been the site of numerous vehicle accidents with large animals. SH-21 is a key north-south connector that also links east to west through central Idaho. That area has over 1 million vehicles passing over it annually.

This problem caused Idaho Fish and Game to issue a public service video about the wildlife overpass and the reasons why it is important. It stated that during 2022, over 1,500 vehicles crashed into wildlife in Idaho that resulted in $40 million in damages as well as injuries and deaths.

Residents and tourists driving along SH-21 mostly travel there to take advantage of federal lands for outdoor recreation. They may not realize how important that area is to wildlife. For instance, Boise River elk have no choice but to pass around traffic as they migrate from 63 to 26 miles each way to reach their summer and winter ranges. Mule deer wintering in the area live in foothills and have longer seasonal distances to walk (45 to 96 miles in each direction). For just over a month, they migrate every October-November for winter and April-May in spring.

ITD and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game had been tracking WVCs metrics using dead carcasses. The highway corridor saw people in vehicles colliding with wildlife at a rate of 50 per year, with that number rising to over 100 crashes during severe winters when mule deer and elk were forced to winter in less harsh lower elevations. Also wildlife can be hit by vehicles because some animals are attracted to chloride salts put on roads during winter, Rudel said.

No wildlife-vehicle collisions were reported at Cervidae Peak in a one-year period ending Oct. 31 on Utah State Route 21 highway section where ITD installed new fencing and the overpass, said Rudel. ITD’s project’s goal had been to lower the area crash rate by at least 80%.

“Video and photographic use of the wildlife overpass by mule deer and elk tell the story of the reduction of WVCs [wildlife-vehicle collisions], enhanced mobility for both motorists and wildlife, while still maintaining that critical habitat and landscape connectivity that Idaho’s wildlife populations need to survive winters in the Northern Rockies,” Rudel explained.

To address the need for humans and wildlife to share spaces safely, he said multiple players must join, take ownership and have a vested interest in providing resources, input, money and in-kind contributions to projects like wildlife overpass projects.

“Mule deer, elk and other big game animals don’t know where one property boundary ends and where another begins. They do not know what is public versus private land. They do not know whose transportation right-of-way belongs to whom or where a city’s limits begin, and quite frankly they don’t care. They certainly do not understand about the hazardous safety and mobility issues that may arise when a motorist intercepts a mule deer or elk at 55 to 65 mph,” Rudel said.

“This project lies within the Boise River Wildlife Management Area and is the primary winter range for 6,000 to 8,000 mule deer and 1,800-2,000 elk, which winter there each winter and traverse across SH-21 to do so,” Rudel said. “There is no other wintering range these animals can really utilize with all the development that has occurred in the Treasure Valley.”

The department now is seeking to extend the fencing to better guide the wildlife to the overpass crossing area, which will strengthen safety measures.

“Nobody wants to be involved in a WVC accident or incident that may cause trauma, may cause property damage, may cause impacts to their and their families and friends health and welfare, or may even cause death. At the same time, nobody wants to see large dead animals on the side of a highway or on the highway, experience the trauma of an animal suffering, or see the repercussions of losing our valuable wildlife and natural resources that do provide recreational, sustenance, social-economic and other cultural opportunities such as reconnecting with nature and spiritual reverence,” Rudel noted.

After his experiences leading the wildlife overpass, Rudel said he wonders who should really shoulder the funding for these important projects.

“Should local land-use agencies foot the bill since they drive growth and development decisions? Should federal lands management agencies foot the bill since the habitat many of these animals live on is primarily federal lands for a good portion of the year? Should wildlife management and resource agencies foot the bill since they are responsible for managing populations and their size, numbers and other dynamics? Should DOTs and transportation agencies foot the bill because they manage our highways/roads and base projects on safety and accident criteria including property damage, injury statistics, and deaths as well as other transportation assets?” he pondered. “How do states or our federal government, Congress and the forthcoming Executive Administration feel about these issues and is it important issue for them?”

Despite the numerous hurdles and bureaucracy, ITD’s wildlife overpass project demonstrates what can be accomplished to improve the quality of lives for people and wildlife using technology, measuring effectiveness and investing in a better future for all.

At the same time, this project highlights a complicated pathway that state transportation departments can explore and invest in to make travel safer, save lives and mitigate negative consequences that traffic can bring to wildlife.