Idaho
'You're making history.' Lacrosse club created in Rexburg. – East Idaho News
REXBURG — Madison County is now home to a lacrosse club that’s preparing to start its inaugural season in 2025.
The Rexburg Crusaders Lacrosse Club was founded in November 2024. Head coach and club president Nick Browneller said the club was created after his son, a freshman at Madison High School, wrote a paper for his speech and debate class about why lacrosse should be a sanctioned sport in southeast Idaho schools.
“He presented it before some teachers and I think the athletic department, then came home and asked if he found a bunch of kids who would be willing to play if I would come out of retirement and coach and I said, ‘Sure,’” Browneller recalled.
Browneller said starting this club is something they’ve tried to do in Rexburg before, but there wasn’t enough people interested until now. He said the sport is growing and noted there are already teams across southeast Idaho in places such as Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Ammon, the Teton Valley and Twin Falls.
“(My son) wound up finding a bunch of kids and within a couple weeks, we had 23 kids sign-up and register to play,” Browneller said.
The team is a junior varsity team made up of students from seventh to 10 grade. Only four kids on Browneller’s team have ever played lacrosse before.
He recognizes there’s a learning curve for his team, especially as they get ready for a season where they’ll face teams that have been around for a while.
“I tell the kids whether you know the sport or not, you’re making history by putting a team in Rexburg, so all I ever ask of them is they show up ready to have fun, work hard and know we’re not judging against what other teams have done,” Browneller stated. “We’re judging on where Rexburg wants to go with this team, and make a mark on the map for this part of southeast Idaho when it comes to lacrosse.”
Browneller has more than 30 years of experience playing and coaching lacrosse. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, which he said was one of the first states to have lacrosse.
“It’s an indigenous sport,” he said. “I grew up as if it was Texas football — you play it. For us, it was the main sport.”
Browneller played all through school growing up and when he was a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, he started a lacrosse club and travel team. Browneller went on to coach Idaho Falls Lacrosse (2012-2017) and was a coach at Washington State University (2017-2020).
He then moved back to Idaho and worked with Idaho Falls Lacrosse for about a year before coaching Pocatello Lacrosse, where he helped that team get to the championship game.
“I was going to take some time off until my son put all this together, so here I am back in the fray with a community that’s really been nothing but supportive (and) parents who have been looking for years to have a lacrosse club and someone to spearhead it,” he said.
The season runs from March through May. Although it’s a community club, Browneller said the team works with Madison High School. The school has given the team time in the fieldhouse and is going to give them a field to use for their home games.
The Rexburg Crusaders will play against Pocatello, Ammon, Teton Valley, Idaho Falls and Jackson during its upcoming season.
Browneller said they are wanting to roll out youth programs in the summer. For more information on the club and what it has to offer, visit its Facebook page.
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PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
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