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Thirsty? New business venture opens inside Rexburg restaurant – East Idaho News

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Thirsty? New business venture opens inside Rexburg restaurant – East Idaho News


REXBURG — The Kingdom of Pho, a popular Vietnamese restaurant on Main Street in Rexburg, has recently expanded its menu and is offering more than 20 varieties of large-portioned boba and lemonade drinks.

After opening a very successful shed in an outdoor food court, Vitali quickly moved “the Kingdom” into a restaurant location on Main Street in 2023.

In July 2024, Vitali also started a line of boba and lemonade as a separate business entity, housed and sold in the same venue as the Kingdom. Just like his original recipe for pho, Vitali created the formula for 10 boba varieties and 10 distinct lemonades with popping boba, which he sells under the new Sumo Boba brand.

Each drink is sold in a 32-ounce cup, and Vitali isn’t offering any smaller sizes – hence the “Sumo” brand, which is meant to invoke the hefty portions for the new drinks.

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Vitali mentioned his experience in buying boba, which is often sold in smaller portions, such as 12 or 16 oz.

“Why not offer 32-ounce cups and charge around the same price, maybe just a little bit more? (At Sumo) our customers are getting 12 ounces more for $1 more.”

Sumo boba flavors include honey dew, iced mocha, coffee pudding, pumpkin spice, tiramisu, creme brulee, mango, brown sugar, thai tea and taro. Lemonade varieties include kiwi, raspberry, pineapple, peach, lychee, cantaloupe, blueberry and watermelon.

Sumo boba is served in 32-ounce “buckets,” while lemonade orders are served in a taller, more narrow cup with a different design intended to fit cup holders.

David George, EastIdahoNews.com

“We added boba because I was just sick and tired of paying overkill for a cup full of ice,” Vitali said. “We also added an orange chicken dish, for people that don’t know what they want to eat. It’s a little Asian fusion.”

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interior of Kingdom of Pho
David George, EastIdahoNews.com

Customers can buy anything from the Sumo drink menu in person at the Kingdom of Pho or through the DoorDash app, in addition to the food already on the menu.

Of course, the Kingdom of Pho specializes in its namesake dish – pronounced “fuh,” but spelled “pho.”

“‘I grew up eating pho,” says Wayne Vitali, the owner and operator of the Kingdom of Pho in Rexburg. “The area I was raised in was heavily Asian, and the place across the street from my work was a pho place. I ate there almost every day.”

Vitali was born in Southern California, close to Los Angeles, but ended up moving to eastern Idaho in 2019, after serving a two-year mission for his church in France and later a term of service in the Navy.

Vitali came to Idaho to be close to his brother, who was living here at the time, and ended up staying.

“When I first came to Rexburg, there weren’t a lot of food options, aside from fast food,” Vitali recounts. “I thought for my own health, I needed to get something healthy.”

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Thus, the Kingdom of Pho was born, with some help from Vitali’s wife.

“One of the most important things for me is having a good partner, like my wife, Sarah,” Vitali said. “She constantly pushes me to do as much as I can. At the beginning we thought we’d only sell like maybe 14 bowls a day, but we do well over that amount. We haven’t had a negative day since we opened.”

Kingdom of Pho building
David George, EastIdahoNews.com

According to Vitali, “‘Pho is a healthy food option with lots of flavor. Most of the people that try it for the first time love it. People say they don’t really feel weighed down after eating a bowl of it.”

The recipe for pho Vitali uses come entirely from scratch. “There’s no cubes, paste or powders. We use all the normal spices: cardamom, cinnamon, bark, yellow rock sugar, coriander, cloves, lots of ginger.”

Visit the Kingdom of Pho on Facebook or its website.

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Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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“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

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University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders

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University of Idaho professor awarded M 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.”

Ashley Guillard posted TikTok videos falsely linking a University of Idaho professor to the Idaho college murders, leading to a defamation lawsuit. TikTok/ashleyisinthebookoflife4

“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.

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“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.

Idaho murder victims Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right, and their two surviving roommates.

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.

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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 pleaded guilty to the savage slayings in July 2025 in a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table. AP

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.

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The off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on Nov. 17, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. James Keivom

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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Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages

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Gas prices expected to exceed  as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages


BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.

The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.

“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”

On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.

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State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline

  • Washington / $4.37
  • Oregon / $3.92
  • Nevada / $3.70
  • Idaho / $2.97
  • Colorado / $2.89
  • Montana / $2.82
  • Utah / $2.74
  • Wyoming / $2.73

In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.





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