NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa had its inaugural Downtown Wine Fest in 2024. I met with people in the wine community to learn how the art is growing in Idaho.

• Local wine lounge owner Andrew Medina told us, “I’m starting to see, the last two years, more people popping their heads in, more people walking the streets in Downtown Nampa on 13th Street, on 1st Street.”
• Local winery Veer Wine Project opened in 2016 and has grown quickly, opening two locations since the founding of the label in 2016.
• “People moving here that know wine because of the industry of the states that they came from.”

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Yet another sign of Nampa’s growth. 2024 marks the city of Nampa’s inaugural Downtown Wine Festival. Just around the corner from Lloyd Square Park is Swirl Wine Shop & Lounge. Andrew Medina opened Swirl nearly three years ago.

“What has the change and growth look like in the patronage look like for you in that time?” I asked.

Medina responded, “I’ve already had a nice following working out at the wineries for the last 10 years. Now I’m starting to see, the last two years, more people popping their heads in, more people walking the streets in Downtown Nampa on 13th Street, on 1st Street. With more businesses opening up you’re just seeing more traffic down here.”

It’s not just small business doing well in Nampa. Idaho wineries are beginning to make it big. Idaho Wine Commission data shows the number of wineries in the Gem State have grown 25% since 2017 to 65 total wineries. The workforce nearly doubling, and they expect it to continue.

The IWC sent me a message saying, “Most people don’t know that Idaho settlers first planted wine grapes and produced wine here in the 1860s, and today we have more than 65 wineries. The Idaho Wine Commission envisions significant growth in both the number of wineries and the quality of Idaho wines over the next 5 to 10 years. The state’s unique climate, with its high desert conditions and distinct terroir positions Idaho wines to continue standing out in the local and national market.”

Notoriety has been bolstered by consistent awards at local and national wine competitions, positive reviews in prominent wine publications and word-of-mouth from tourists and locals discovering Idaho’s wine industry. The growth of wine tourism in Idaho has further helped elevate the state’s reputation. As more wine lovers visit the state and share their experiences, Idaho wine has steadily built its presence in the market, and its reputation as an emerging wine region continues to gain momentum.”

“This is amazing for a town the size of Nampa to be able to sponsor a prestigious kind of event,” said wine festival guest Kathy Lacina.

Idaho is beginning to put itself on the map with vintners.

Lacina adds on, “It’s actually starting to make a name for itself. We have begun to have some really outstanding wineries and wine selections.”

And Idaho has the data to back that up. Local winery Veer Wine Project opened in 2016 and has grown quickly.

“It’s been a lot of growth very quickly and then [we] opened the Caldwell tasting room in 2021 and expanded to Garden City just this spring in March we opened there so lots of rapid growth,” Veer Operations Manager Cheyenne Zumstein explained.

“It’s totally changed with the population growth. People moving here that know wine because of the industry of the states that they came from,” Medina concluded.

Kendy Howard | “48 Hours”

COEUR D’ALENE — When sheriff’s deputies were called to the northern Idaho home of distraught former state trooper Dan Howard, something didn’t seem right. Howard told investigators he found his wife, Kendy Howard, dead in their bathtub with a gunshot wound to her head.

Howard told police his wife took her own life. There was a gun found in the bathtub, though there were no prints or DNA that connected it to the trooper.

The case will be the focus of “48 Hours” this Saturday in a program entitled ‘The Bathtub Murder of Kendy Howard.’

“From the beginnings, it looks odd,” Kootenai County sheriff’s detective Jerry Northrup tells correspondent Peter Van Sant.

Deputies on the scene noticed things out of place. A packed duffle bag was ready to go, and a clothes dryer was running full of clean bath towels. Howard also appeared to have recently showered and changed his clothes.

“Dan knows things that most normal people, ordinary people, don’t know,” says retired Kootenai County Sheriff’s Det. Sergeant Ken Lallatin. “Things like killing someone and staging it to look like a suicide.”

Two years after Kendy Howard’s death, Howard was charged with her murder.

“48 Hours” airs Saturday, Sept. 28 from 9-10 p.m. MDT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

Watch a preview of the episode in the video player above.

Bryan Kohberger, the 29-year-old criminology Ph.D. student accused of murdering four undergrads at the University of Idaho days before Thanksgiving in 2022 is preparing to appear in a new court for the first time after his successful push for a change of venue.

The hearing Thursday is the first in Boise and is expected to be a minor event to bring the new judge up to speed on the case. But it marks the beginning of a new phase in the proceedings against Kohberger, who could face the death penalty if convicted.

Experts don’t expect to see any surprises but say the new judge will make his presence known to both sides as he takes over the case.

IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS SUSPECT BRYAN KOHBERGER ASKS NEW JUDGE FOR COURTHOUSE WARDROBE EXCEPTION

“It’s just a check-in, since the case was moved, and probably just to let the parties know what he expects going forward,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney who is not involved in the proceedings.

Judge Steven Hippler is the Ada County jurist now in charge after his counterpart in Latah County, Judge John Judge, agreed to a defense motion for a change of venue.

“The judge will introduce himself,” said David Gelman, a New Jersey-based defense attorney who has been following the case closely. “They have to get familiar with everything and what motions are still left to do. 

“I’m sure they already have a good idea, but when you change venue, it’s chaotic. Not saying it resets everything, but it definitely makes the case take a couple steps back.”

NEW IDAHO JUDGE IN BRYAN KOHBERGER TRIAL NO STRANGER TO BRUTAL MURDER CASES

Bryan Kohberger is in the custody of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, according to online jail records. Along with the transfer came a new booking photo, taken when he arrived earlier this month. (Ada County Sheriffs Office)

The case’s previous judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf to four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary charge at his arraignment last year.

His lawyers have asked the court to throw out the possibility of the death penalty.

A hearing on the capital punishment issue has been scheduled for Nov. 7, nearly two years after the slayings.

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Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)

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According to prosecutors, a man with a large knife entered an off-campus house around 4 a.m. Nov. 13, 2022, and killed four students inside — Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

As investigators scoured the bloody crime scene, they found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s remains, according to court documents. On the sheath, they say, they found a DNA sample that led them to Kohberger.

Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania in advance of an extradition hearing. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

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Additional evidence revealed in court includes cellphone records and video showing the movements of his car.

Two additional roommates were not attacked, and prosecutors said one of them froze in place as she watched a masked man leaving out the back door.

The trial has already been delayed and is expected to begin in June 2025.