Analysis: The Showdown Between Idaho Lawmakers And Governor That Could Define 2021 Session

By NWPB News
Senators watch Gov. Brad Little’s 2021 State of the State address from the floor of the Senate chambers. Because of COVID-19 precautions, Little delivered the address remotely instead of in the traditional joint gathering of the House and Senate chambers. CREDIT: Nik Streng/ Idaho EdNews
With at least 11 pieces of legislation already in the pipeline — all addressing some aspect of Little’s coronavirus response, and the Legislature’s role during an emergency — this issue is a long way from settled. And it could be a fascinating, defining debate of the 2021 session. Separation of powers, once the stuff of a “Schoolhouse Rock” segment, is all a bit more real Read More

In Opening Legislative Session, Idaho Governor Calls For Reversing Budget Cuts, More Teacher Pay

By NWPB News
Senators watch Gov. Brad Little’s 2021 State of the State address from the floor of the Senate chambers. Because of COVID-19 precautions, Little delivered the address remotely instead of in the traditional joint gathering of the House and Senate chambers. CREDIT: Nik Streng/ Idaho EdNews
Idaho Gov. Brad Little called for reversing budget holdbacks, increasing teacher pay, cutting taxes and fighting the coronavirus virus pandemic during a historic, remote State of the State address Monday. In conjunction with the 30-minute speech, Little unveiled a budget proposal that would increase K-12 general fund spending beyond $2 billion for the first time in Idaho Read More

In Rural Idaho, Their Young Son Nearly Died From COVID Complications. Now They Urge Masks

By NWPB News
Cooper Wuthrich rests as he lays on a bed at the truck stop his family partly owns Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Montpelier, Idaho. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Wuthrich, 12, became one of hundreds of children in the U.S. diagnosed with a rare COVID-19 complication that landed him in an emergency room three hours away from his tiny hometown in a secluded Idaho valley. The boy's parents say he nearly died and their terrifying experience shows why people should wear masks in a conservative state where pushback can be fierce. CREDIT: Rick Bowmer
Shortly after Thanksgiving, the boy from a secluded valley in Idaho became one of hundreds of children in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with a rare, extreme immune response to COVID-19 called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Cooper Wuthrich’s fever spiked as his joints and organs became inflamed, including his heart, putting his life at risk, his father Read More

Across The Northwest, Teachers, Grocery Workers, Older Adults May Be Next For COVID Vaccine

By Tom Banse
The first shipment of COVID vaccines arriving at the UW Medical Center in Seattle on December 14, 2020. CREDIT: Pool/Courtesy UW Medicine
Western state governors and state health officials are now reviewing a finalized recommendation from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for how to prioritize future vaccination phases. The initial deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to Oregon, Washington state and Idaho are spoken for — at least well into next month. High-risk health care workers, Read More

Rural Idaho District Under Pressure To Stay Open, But School Board Refuses To Mandate Masks

By NPR News
Elementary school teacher Sariah Pearson contracted COVID-19, suffering a fever and other symptoms for close to six weeks. CREDIT: Kirk Siegler/NPR
Case numbers have shot up lately in rural America, which skews older and tends to have huge inequality gaps in health care. But there's still resistance in places such as Bruneau, Idaho, which has a population of 500. Here, there's also a pervasive sense in the community that kids need to be physically in classrooms for their education and well-being yet stiff opposition Read More
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