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Utah-based nonprofit helps paralyzed Idaho man become certified scuba diver – East Idaho News

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Utah-based nonprofit helps paralyzed Idaho man become certified scuba diver – East Idaho News


MIDWAY, Utah (KSL.com) — Nathan Ogden broke his neck in a ski accident in his 20s, resulting in lost feeling and an inability to move his legs and feet.

A hospital visit for pneumonia a year later, after he started to regain some feeling in the lower half of his body, led to an unconscious fall off an X-ray table that caused another break in his neck. This time, he was permanently paralyzed from the waist down with limited control of his hands.

Ogden, who lives in Boise, believes most people in his situation would have given up on life or at least felt unsure of how to move forward. He is not one of those people.

Nathan Ogden, of Boise, with his wife, Heather, and their four children. He was paralyzed after breaking his neck twice but hasn’t let it slow him down. | Courtesy photo

“After the first break, when I started to get some feeling back, I just knew I was going to walk again,” Ogden said. “The second break … I knew I wouldn’t. But I also knew this was not going to make me not live my life. Let’s just say, I’m not into extreme sports, but I do like adventure. That’s where I focused.”

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After the second accident and some ensuing hardships, Ogden founded a nonprofit — Chair the Hope — that helps get wheelchairs to children who need them outside of the United States. He also became a corporate trainer and got into public speaking.

But, in 2022, after a BYU-sponsored trip to the Bahamas, Ogden’s love of adventure led to a love of scuba diving.

With the help of a “buddy” to keep him safe in the water, Ogden said he began to feel free. He also knew that most people — regardless of physical ability — do not get to enjoy scuba diving with their families in the pool, let alone in the Caribbean Sea.

It was then that he decided to have more control over his adventures in the ocean: He wanted to become a certified scuba diver. But there was a problem. There was no adaptive scuba diving certification program in Idaho. Luckily for him and his family, there was one relatively close — in Provo.

Just Breathe Adaptive is a nonprofit organization that aims to help people with disabilities participate in more recreational activities. It also trains people to be adaptive scuba diving buddies. The agency was founded two years ago, just in time to get a phone call from Ogden, wondering whether it could help him get certified.

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It could, and he began the process, which culminated Friday at the Homestead Crater in Midway.

Nathan Ogden, right, speaks to a group with his wife, Heather, about his organization, Chair the Hope, which raises funds to buy wheelchairs for people outside of the U.S. - Chair The Hope
Nathan Ogden, right, speaks to a group with his wife, Heather, about his organization, Chair the Hope, which raises funds to buy wheelchairs for people outside of the U.S. – Chair The Hope.

“Nathan is courageous. He’s brave. He’s generous, he’s adventurous … he’s willing to try anything,” said Robin Knight, founder at Just Breathe Adaptive. “The hardest part is to convince somebody who has maybe spent their whole life in a wheelchair that this is an option for them. It’s actually very recreational, very safe.”

Beneath a 55-foot-tall limestone rock, in the 93-degree water of the crater on Friday morning, Ogden worked with a couple of buddies as he completed all that was needed to achieve his certification. His wife and daughter were not too far away, also completing their scuba diving certification process. For them, the best part about all of Nathan Ogden’s adventures is that they can be together.

Even if it can be a little nerve-wracking for Ogden’s wife, Heather.

“Yeah, he’s crazy adventurous. Our whole family is that way,” said Heather Ogden. “I’m the one that worries about his limitations. I’m the most stressed out of the entire family. But I love being able to see him do these things.”

Nathan Ogden also hopes to show others — with any disability, or what he calls “different-ability” — that he does not have to be out in the sea’s waters alone. Anyone is welcome to join him by getting certified and finding a new hobby.

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“I want to let everyone with a ‘different-ability’ know that they can do this. It’s about the memories, the memories you create,” he said. “They’re the only things we can take with us.”

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Gov. Little signs bill ending license plate registration stickers in Idaho

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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.



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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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