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How Idaho investigates discrimination
[caption id="attachment_283293" align="alignright" width="175"] Benjamin Earwicker[/caption] Because of the recent claims of religious discrimination by members of the Micron Employees for Religious Freedom (MERF), the Idaho Business Review decided to profile the workings of the Idaho Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which recently investigated complaints filed against Boise-based Micron Technol[...]
Stibnite Mine air permit contested
[caption id="attachment_76324" align="alignright" width="300"] This artificial pond is a remnant of former mining operations in the Stibnite site. Photo courtesy of the Idaho Conservation League[/caption] The Idaho Conservation League (ICL), the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) and the Save the South Fork Salmon (SSFS) filed a petition on July 22 to appeal the air quality permit issued to Perpetua Resourc[...]
US sues Idaho over stockwater rights
The United States has filed a civil suit against the state of Idaho over water rights — again. In its complaint filed on June 2, the U.S. argued that changes to Idaho’s laws over the last five years regarding the forfeiture of unused water rights threatens the federal livestock grazing programs. The government’s arguments invoked the supremacy clause, the property clause and the contract cla[...]
Idaho loosens east Snake River Plain groundwater curtailment
[caption id="attachment_50192" align="alignright" width="300"] file photo[/caption] Above-average precipitation events during April and May improved the dire state of the drought for farmers from abysmal to merely dreadful. As a result, on July 20, the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) amended the curtailment it issued on May 5 for ground water users in seven south central counties. Th[...]
Sysco has a beef with the Big Four meatpackers
[caption id="attachment_282824" align="alignright" width="300"] U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Economic Research Service data on national average live cattle and wholesale beef prices, January 2014 through December 2021. Click to enlarge. Graphic by Catie Clark[/caption] This article is the first of a two-part series on how big meatpackers affect the national and local beef business A quiet, out-of-s[...]
Officials underscore importance of CHIPS Act for Idaho ahead of US Senate decision
Last year, Congressional delegates passed legislation intended to bolster semiconductor (chip) manufacturing and research and development (R&D) in the United States through companies like Micron Technology; now, a national vote could determine what, if anything, that means financially for Idaho. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America, or CHIPS, Act, though previo[...]
Ammon Bundy and Diego Rodriguez get 3-week extension in St. Luke’s lawsuit
An Ada County judge on Tuesday sent St. Luke’s attorneys back to square one, after the attorneys made a procedural error in a case against Ammon Bundy, Diego Rodriguez and their organizations. Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton said the hospital system’s paperwork did not follow rules for legal notices; for example, in their summons, attorneys for St. Luke’s didn’t list the address of th[...]
Idaho Human Rights Commission hands nonprofit Micron Employees for Religious Freedom setback in discrimination complaint
In the latest round of legal actions between Micron and a group claiming the Boise-based Fortune 500 firm discriminated against them for their religious beliefs, the Idaho Human Rights Commission denied the group’s request to be recognized as a party with standing in officially filed discrimination complaints. [caption id="attachment_238312" align="alignright" width="300"] Micron Technology. [...]
Biz ‘Bite:’ Department of Interior pays $32.6M in lieu of taxes
Every year, the federal government makes cash payment to local governments in to help offset losses in property taxes due to the existence of nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on June 23 payments totaling $32.6 million to all 44 Idaho Counties through its Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. PILT payments are made annually for [...]
Forest Service grazing decision irks environmental group
The U.S. Forest Service has approved a new rule waiving fees for unauthorized grazing under some circumstances in a move blasted by an environmental group that says the agency is codifying lax enforcement. The Forest Service issued the decision this month following a 2016 Government Accountability Office report that found the agency couldn’t identify how much unauthorized grazing was occu[...]
US-95 lawsuit and construction both move forward
[caption id="attachment_281918" align="alignright" width="300"] Annotated aerial photograph of the proposed realignment of Highway US-95 south of Moscow, Idaho. Click to enlarge. Image courtesy of the Idaho Transportation Department[/caption] Despite an active court challenge by environmentalists, on June 7, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) announced the start of construction on the co[...]
Perpetua Resources awarded first permit
[caption id="attachment_76324" align="alignright" width="300"] This artificial pond is a remnant of former mining operations in the Stibnite site. Photo courtesy of the Idaho Conservation League[/caption] Perpetua Resources announced on June 22 the receipt of its first permit for its proposed mining operation at the Stibnite Mine site in Valley County. The Idaho Department of Environmental Qual[...]
