By Christina Lords | Editor-in-Chief
“Hopefully within the next week or two weeks we are going to actually be able to step forward with a petition to formally request that all of our acres are moved into general forest and grassland.” - Idaho County Commissioner Skip Brandt, on a proposal by the commission to change the status of protected public lands in the county that are designated as wilderness and Idaho Roadless Areas to the least restrictive management classification available under federal rules
Members of the Idaho Legislature’s Committee on Federalism meet Oct. 29, 2026, at the Super 8 motel in Grangeville. (Screenshot courtesy of Idaho in Session/Idaho Public Television)
GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Idaho County commissioners tell state officials they are seeking changes to public land management
By Clark Corbin
Idaho County commissioners are asking the state’s governor and other elected officials to change public land classifications within their county, Commissioner Skip Brandt told state legislators Thursday.
Commission Skip Brandt told the Legislature’s Committee on Federalism that he plans to petition Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Tom Schultz to change the management theme of Idaho Roadless Areas within Idaho County to the general forest, rangeland and grassland designation, which is the least restrictive management classification available.
Changing to the least restrictive classification could allow for timber harvest and road construction on those lands.
Chrissy Teigen, a former model and business owner, sits next to Melanie Folwell, lead organizer of the ballot initiative campaign, at Neckar Coffee in Boise, as part of a final push to pass the ballot measure on Election Day. (Photo by Chelsea Harada/Idahoans United for Women and Families)
ELECTION 2026
Chrissy Teigen joins Idaho women who needed abortions in final push for ballot initiative
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
It took two years for Chrissy Teigen to realize she’d had an abortion and not a miscarriage, longer to understand what went wrong in her pregnancy, and not until this week to realize she hadn’t fully grappled with it emotionally.
Teigen, a former model and business owner, came to Idaho on Wednesday to make a final push leading up to Nov. 3 in favor of Proposition 1, the ballot measure that would restore access to abortion in Idaho. The state has a near-total ban that applies to any stage of pregnancy, with exceptions only for rape and incest in the first trimester and to save a pregnant patient’s life. The initiative, if passed, would also protect access to birth control and fertility assistance treatments such as in vitro fertilization.
Opponents to the measure have called the initiative too extreme because it would allow abortions up to fetal viability, which was the law in Idaho prior to the ban, with exceptions after that point when the pregnancy threatens a patient’s health or life.
A Bonneville County resident casts their vote during the May 21, 2024, primary election at the Waterfront Event Center in Idaho Falls. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
COURTS + POLICING
Trump administration prosecutes first noncitizen voting cases in Idaho in years
By Kyle Pfannenstiel
In the weeks leading up to the 2026 midterm elections, the Trump administration announced it is prosecuting three alleged noncitizen voting cases in Idaho.
The cases appear to be the first instances of the federal government prosecuting noncitizen voting cases in Idaho under the second Trump administration. They came more than a year after state election officials referred more than a dozen cases to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
The Snake River flows alongside the Idaho Falls greenbelt. (Photo courtesy of Hyo Lee/U.S. Department of Energy)
COMMENTARY
Trump administration’s lawsuit claiming ‘supremacy’ over our water is a gut punch to all Idahoans
By Rod Gramer
Our governor and congressional delegation have remained silent when the future of Idaho is at stake and should be debated, writes guest columnist Rod Gramer.
MORE IDAHO NEWS FROM US
2026 general election voter guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote. | Idaho Capital Sun staff
MORE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL NEWS FROM US
Caring for aging parents is getting more expensive | Anna Claire Vollers
ICYMI
Shining a light on other Idaho politics reporting
Note: Some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall
Lewiston Tribune: Bennett, Carter-Goodheart seek Idaho House seat
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