Articles on Idaho

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Whoever wins state judicial races in November will not just be interpreting the law. They will be writing the next chapter of it. Stefania Pelfini la Waziya/Getty Images

These state supreme court races could decide abortion access and trans rights

Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan have open seats on their state supreme court, and these hotly contested races will influence how those courts rule in several high-stakes cases.
Andrew Rowley watches a wildfire burning from a distance after evacuating his home in Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 1, 2026. AP Photo/Young Kwak

Why the Spokane wildfires became so catastrophic

Extreme fire conditions converged in suburban neighborhoods built into the forests, shrubland and grasslands and quickly spread.
Farmworkers harvest corn in a field. Much of U.S. agriculture, including Idaho’s dairy industry, relies on immigrant labor. Hill Street Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images

In deep‑red Idaho, even Republicans break with Trump on farm labor

A statewide survey finds majorities in farm country at odds with the deportation push reshaping their workforce.
Julianne Moore and her children’s book are being ‘reviewed’. Other classics are now off-limits to children in Idaho libraries. Joe Cavaretta/AAP

Julianne Moore’s children’s book about redheads is under ‘review’. What’s happening with US book bans under Trump?

As executive orders ban teaching ‘gender ideology’ and ‘critical race theory’ and the Big Five publishers file a joint lawsuit against book bans, a new era begins.
Social Border Grill delivers food as part of World Central Kitchen relief efforts at an Eaton Fire temporary shelter in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2025. Kirby Lee/Getty Images

How nonprofits pitch in before, during and after disasters strike

Large organizations often partner with local nonprofits that are uniquely positioned to mobilize quickly, leveraging their deep understanding of community needs and established trust with residents.
Waterways and communities for miles around Idaho’s Bunker Hill mine were contaminated with lead after the 1973 fire. gjohnstonphoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus

50 years after the Bunker Hill mine fire caused one of the largest lead‑poisoning cases in US history, Idaho’s Silver Valley is still at risk

A fire and decades of silver and lead mining created the largest contiguous Superfund site in the nation in what today is one of the fastest-growing states. It includes popular Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Many ecologically important wetlands, like these in Kulm, N.D., lack surface connections to navigable waterways. USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr

The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk

In Sackett v. EPA, a suit filed by two homeowners who filled in wetlands on their property, the Supreme Court has drastically narrowed the definition of which wetlands qualify for federal protection.
Fires are increasing in high mountain areas that rarely burned in the past. John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment

Fires here can affect meltwater timing and water quality, worsen erosion that triggers mudslides, and much more, as two scientists explain.
NuScale Power aims to build the nation’s first advanced small modular reactor. U.S. Department of Energy

The nuclear industry is making a big bet on small power plants

Advanced small modular reactors, known as SMRs, will probably have many advantages over older technology. But it’s not yet known how they will stack up against other sources of electricity.

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