By Christina Lords | Editor-in-Chief
“The Settlement Agreement has protected us from doing things that could jeopardize the quality of our water. It’s also the most Idaho thing I can think of. We have a mechanism to hold sovereignty over the federal government. I don’t know of anything more Idaho than having a tool in your toolbelt to stick it to the feds.” - Idaho state Rep. Monica Church, D-Boise, on the 1995 Settlement Agreement, which limits the amount of spent nuclear fuel that can be shipped to Idaho and establishes timelines for cleaning up and removing the waste that is here
A shipment of transuranic radioactive waste leaves the Idaho National Laboratory en route to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for permanent disposal in New Mexico in 2009. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy)
GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Some Idaho officials say proposed nuclear waste shipments could threaten Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer
By Clark Corbin
Accepting a deal with the U.S. Department of Energy to bring a new Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus to Idaho could force the state to accept more than 30,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, a retired nuclear manager and a current state legislator told the Idaho Capital Sun.
“When I read the state’s proposal it was like, wait a second. This is kind of a bait and switch,” said Joel Case, a retired federal project manager who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy and at Idaho National Laboratory.
Susan Hinchcliffe, a volunteer with the Corrales Fire Department, gives Rachel Ralya’s 14-month old son a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on June 23, 2022, following the FDA authorization of the vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. (Photo by Shelby Wyatt/Source NM)
COURTS + POLICING
Federal judge upholds Idaho law that bans vaccine, medical treatment requirements in daycares
By Kyle Pfannenstiel
An Idaho judge dismissed a lawsuit from a Boise daycare and parents that sought to block enforcement of a state law that bans daycares from requiring vaccines or medical treatment.
The lawsuit claimed that the Idaho Medical Freedom Act was unconstitutionally vague, arguing its language bans a range of routine health protections — including handwashing and sending home sick kids.
An explosion of data center facilities, including the one pictured here in northeast Oregon on May 18, 2026, have been built along the Columbia River Gorge during the last few years. (Photo by Jordan Gale/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
ENVIRONMENT
Data centers proposed on federal land in eastern Oregon, Idaho and other Western states
By Alex Baumhardt
The Rhea Data Center project, proposed by a subsidiary of Nevada-based Arevia Power on more than 3,200 acres of federal land south of Boise, could become the largest data center in Idaho.
MORE IDAHO NEWS FROM US
Idaho’s 2026 election voter pamphlet is coming to a mailbox near you | Kyle Pfannenstiel
MORE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL NEWS FROM US
ICYMI
Shining a light on other Idaho politics reporting
Note: Some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall
Idaho Press: Nampa to hold open house on 2050 comprehensive plan
Lewiston Tribune: Already record-low steelhead forecast downgraded
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