Freshman U.S. Rep. Bill Sali of Idaho’s 1st Congressional District faces a challenge in this year’s Republican primary from a 35-year-old Iraq war veteran and party activist, Matt Salisbury of Nampa. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Walt Minnick in November. Minnick’s primary opponent, Larry Grant, dropped out of the race last month and endorsed Minnick, leaving Minnick uncontested in the Democratic primary for the seat that represents North Idaho. Below is a look at the two choices on the Republican ticket, the incumbent and the challenger; the Idaho primary election is May 27th.

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Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s retirement has prompted something of a ballot rush, with eight Republicans, two Democrats, two independents and a Libertarian vying for the chance to replace Craig in the U.S. Senate.

Idaho’s primary election is May 27, but many voters – particularly in Kootenai County – already are sitting down to mark their absentee ballots and mail them in before the polls open. Below is a look at who’s on the crowded Republican ballot and the two-way Democratic ticket.

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Democratic congressional candidate Walt Minnick asked Idaho’s DEQ director, Toni Hardesty, a series of questions about the contaminated Kuwaiti sand that’s bound for a hazardous waste dump 70 miles southeast of Boise, and received back a detailed three-page letter addressing each of his questions. “Like most people, when Walt heard the news, he had a few questions about the entire process, and so we submitted a private letter to Ms. Hardesty directly,” said Minnick’s campaign spokesman, John Foster. “And she gave us what I think is a very good response to those questions.”

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden today announced an agreement between Facebook and Idaho, along with 48 other states and the District of Columbia, to provide new safeguards to protect children on the popular social networking site from sexual predators and inappropriate content. “I look forward to working with Facebook on developing industry-wide practices to ensure a safe online environment for children,” Wasden said, adding that the agreement – similar to one reached earlier with MySpace – will result in “deterring and prosecuting criminals who misuse the Internet to prey upon children.” Click below to read Wasden’s full press release.

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U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s Owyhee Initiative, a collaborative wilderness bill that both creates new wilderness and releases land from wilderness consideration, has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Crapo reported that the bill, S. 2833, passed on a voice vote and likely will be included in a package of other land management bills that will be considered together by the full Senate as early as next month. “The Owyhee Initiative has made great progress here in the Senate, just as it has on the ground in Idaho, but we still have much to accomplish,” Crapo said. “We continue to work hard to secure the necessary funding to implement the language in the Initiative, and we must prepare to implement the agreements in the legislation once they become law.”

The bill creates 517,000 acres of new wilderness and releases 199,000 acres of wilderness study areas in the rugged backcountry of southwestern Idaho. It also provides assurances for continued ranching and economic activity and ensures continued access for backcountry users and preservation for Shoshone Paiute Tribal cultural resources in the area through local management agreements. Crapo said he joined the eight-year effort to negotiate the bill at the request of the Owyhee County commissioners. It’s been nearly three decades since Congress passed an Idaho wilderness bill.

The Idaho Republican Party has issued a press release criticizing Democratic congressional candidate Walt Minnick’s campaign event today, at which Minnick made up the difference to allow motorists to buy gas at a Boise Chevron station for $2.26 a gallon, instead of the posted $3.59. “This was a clever way to generate publicity for his campaign, but it does nothing to bring down the price of gas,” said GOP Executive Director Sid Smith. “Republicans in Congress, including Idaho’s Congressional delegation, have been working for real, comprehensive solutions to address the root of our energy problems.” Smith said that should include increasing oil supplies through domestic drilling and more refineries; click below to read the full GOP press release.

Meanwhile, Minnick reported that about 350 vehicles came through his gas sale in about 90 minutes – those who were in line when the hour-long sale ended still were allowed to fill up – and the motorists purchased 3,230 gallons of fuel and saved $4,259. The campaign said in a press release, “The event cost the Minnick campaign slightly more than it cost a political action committee to buy just four tickets to today's Bill Sali fundraiser in Washington, D.C.” Sali’s fundraiser was with representatives of the oil and gas industry.

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Democratic Senate candidate Larry LaRocco delivered letters to Gov. Butch Otter and Lt. Gov. Jim Risch yesterday asking them to stop a huge shipment of uranium- and lead-contaminated sand from Kuwait from coming to Idaho, for disposal at a hazardous waste dump 70 miles southeast of Boise. “Accepting this waste in the United States is poor public policy and environmentally unsound for Idaho,” LaRocco wrote. “Let’s not turn Idaho into the world’s dump.” He cited opposition from past Govs. Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt to bringing hazardous materials into the state. “Let’s stop this now,” LaRocco wrote. “It’s time for sound public policy to trump powerful special interests that hold sway over Idaho.”

LaRocco said he’s waiting for a reply. Otter’s communications director, Mark Warbis, issued this statement: “We appreciate the comments and perspectives of Mr. LaRocco and all Idahoans. A response from the Governor will be drafted as soon as possible in collaboration with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, as is the policy with all correspondence from constituents.” Otter is actually out of state on vacation all this week, and Risch is also out of state through mid-day Wednesday, necessitating the appointment of Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes as acting governor.

In response to Democratic challenger Walt Minnick’s wildly popular discount-gas campaign event today, GOP Rep. Bill Sali’s spokesman, Wayne Hoffman, said, “It sounds to me as if he (Minnick) has signed on to the same energy policy Democrats have adopted, which has resulted in the high gas prices we’re experiencing.” Minnick had criticized Sali for voting against three bills this year that Minnick said offered “real solutions” to the problem, including HR 6, which Minnick said “ended the egregious, lavish tax breaks heaped on ‘big oil.’” Hoffman disagreed. “If you read those bills, there are billions of dollars in new taxes contained in the legislation, taxes on energy producers. That’s not going to lower gas prices,” he said. Hoffman said, “Radical environmentalists and left-wing Democrats are directly responsible for the high gas prices we are experiencing today.”

As to why Sali was holding a luncheon fundraiser with the oil and gas industry today, Hoffman said, “They are business people, and Congressman Sali has an excellent voting record in supporting businesses big and small. He understands that raising taxes on businesses is not going to result in lower gas prices.”

Cars started lining up at 8:30 this morning for what may be the most popular stunt of the campaign season: Congressional candidate Walt Minnick’s $2.26-a-gallon gas sale. From 10 to 11 a.m. Boise time, Minnick made up the difference between the sale price of $2.26 and the posted price of $3.59 at a Boise gas station. Minnick, a Democrat, timed his event to coincide with incumbent GOP Rep. Bill Sali’s $1,000-a-plate “oil and gas industry luncheon” fundraiser in Washington, D.C. at the Hunan Dynasty restaurant (the luncheon was $250 for individuals, $1,000 for PACs). “For one hour today, while I’m talking to Idahoans about the high cost of gasoline, Bill Sali will sit down to lunch at a fundraiser and ask for money from oil lobbyists,” Minnick declared. “In 18 months he’s become a true Washington insider. What Idaho needs is a new approach and some simple fairness.”

Minnick campaign signs festooned the Chevron station at the corner of Cole and Ustick in Boise, where the line of cars snacked through a shopping center parking lot, police were on hand to monitor traffic, and a Boise radio station was doing a live broadcast. David Sizemore said his daughter called to alert her disabled dad about the low-priced gas, and he made sure to be there to fill up. As for Minnick, Sizemore said, “I haven’t heard of him at all.” But asked if he’s more likely now to consider supporting Minnick over Sali, Sizemore said, “Oh, heck yeah! I think everybody’s going to – this is what everybody needs, is our economy to get back on its feet, and this is the way to do it.”

Brian Buffington of Payette said he was coming to town to hit Wal-Mart, heard about the gas sale, and “we decided to go for it.” Buffington said Minnick’s campaign tactic reminded him of the lively campaign going on now between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. “We’re still undecided,” he said.

Some of the vehicles lined up for the price break bore bright yellow “Bill Sali” stickers.

Minnick said, “It may cost $3,000 or $4,000 – could well.” But he said it’s worth it, “If we can use that to focus the attention on Washington. I think it’s most important that we focus on jump-starting new alternative energy programs. We need a congressman that’s going to lead that change, not pander to big oil.”

Chevron station owner Terry Debban said, “I’ve known Walt for a long time,” and he was glad to have his station participate. Oil prices have been going up so quickly that they rose another nickel this morning, Debban said, and he’ll be changing his price up to $3.64 later today. Yet he said he only makes 4 to 5 cents per gallon. “It jumps pretty fast,” he said. “It hit $120 (per barrel) yesterday – that’s pretty stiff.” Debban said the last time he remembers an event like today’s was back in 1973, when a station he worked for decided to give away $2,500 in gas during the big energy crunch. “It was the same way – we jammed it, packed,” he said, looking across the busy scene.

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig joined officials from the French company Areva today to announce that the firm has chosen eastern Idaho as the location for its next uranium enrichment plant. Craig called Areva “a world-class nuclear company,” and said, “It is a phenomenal opportunity for Idaho to play host to and partner with the potential that this company brings to the state.” Idaho lawmakers this year scrambled to enact big tax incentives designed to woo the firm, which also was considering Washington, Ohio, Texas and New Mexico for the $2 billion uranium enrichment plant, the first the company will build in the United States. The company expects to begin construction by 2011.

Lawyers and judges across Idaho rated the two competing candidates for the Idaho Supreme Court on everything from integrity to legal ability, and incumbent Justice Joel Horton outscored challenger Judge John Bradbury of Lewiston in every category. This is the first time the Idaho State Bar has conducted such a survey in a Supreme Court race. It's an effort to inform voters in a race where the candidates can't take positions on any issues that might come before the court. You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com, and click here to see the full survey results.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco’s campaign headquarters in Boise was broken into over the weekend, but apparently nothing was stolen. The campaign reported that Boise Police are investigating the break-in, which occurred mid-day, just past noon on Saturday. “We will not know whether this was a politically motivated break-in or just a random act of senseless violence until the Boise police conclude their investigation,” said Bob Stout, campaign manager. “We would like to thank the police for their prompt and professional work.” The break-in caused $200 in damage to the office’s front door and frame. The campaign office is the only office in the building, which is festooned with LaRocco for Senate campaign signs.

In a letter to the organizers of the “Idaho Debates,” Lt. Gov. Jim Risch’s campaign spokesman, his son Jason, wrote, “We chose to participate in the KTVB debate rather than the League of Women Voters debate because of its format, and because of its wide circulation to Idaho voters. Your format and rules said that the “format is fluid” and that “cross talk” would be permitted. Our experience in that regard has been that the format you chose frequently deteriorates into a negative exchange between the candidates, which is unhelpful and unappreciated by the viewers.” You can read the full letter here.

Two years ago, Idaho Lt. Gov. Jim Risch demanded that he be able to appear alone on the “Idaho Debates,” sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Idaho Press Club and Idaho Public Television, answer questions, and then leave the studio before his opponent appeared. When the debate sponsors refused, Risch skipped the traditional debate and appeared only on one sponsored by a Boise TV station with a more controlled format. Now, he’s doing the same in his run for the U.S. Senate. The crowded GOP primary race is scheduled to be featured on the Idaho Debates on May 22; it’ll go on without Risch.

In a press release, Risch said, “We have an excellent group of candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. I look forward to a positive and constructive discussion of the important issues facing Idaho and America today. The KTVB format has proven to be the best format for undecided voters to judge the candidates’ positions on issues.” In letter to the League of Women Voters, Risch’s campaign spokesman, his son Jason, criticized the Idaho Debates for allowing “cross talk” among the candidates.

The Idaho Debates sponsors issued the following statement:

"We are obviously disappointed; we believe our format is an actual debate, one that benefits Idaho voters interested in seeing the candidates, a format that's been tested and has worked over many decades in both primaries and general elections. Despite Mr. Risch's refusal to participate, our debate will be held as scheduled. It will air live, statewide, on Thursday May 22 at 8 p.m. Mountain time, 7 p.m. Pacific."

Full disclosure here: I’m the president of the Idaho Press Club, which has been one of the three sponsors of the Idaho Debates for the past four decades (since long before my tenure). Last week, when I interviewed Risch about his campaign for the U.S. Senate, he told me he’d always debate his political opponents, but that his idea of a debate is that a question is asked by a third party, each candidate responds separately, and then they move on to the next question. “I want to make sure that you explain this to your readers, that I am running a positive campaign,” Risch said. “I am not running a campaign where I’m going to engage in responding to allegations from someone else. … I don’t do that.”

Idaho has long been one of just a handful of states with no official governor’s residence, though the state now has the donated Simplot house atop a distinctive green hilltop in Boise, which is scheduled to become an official governor’s mansion after a major, not-yet-started remodel. But Idaho’s mansion-free status in recent decades has kept it free of what Nevada’s experiencing right now – a divorce fight in which the governor has moved out of the mansion, the First Lady still lives there, and he’s filed for divorce and to try to get the courts to order her out of the official mansion in Carson City. Really. It’s in the New York Times.

Reports that august publication, “Since last month, Mr. (Jim) Gibbons, a first-term Republican, has been living in the couple’s Reno home while his wife, Dawn Gibbons, remained at the official residence in Carson City. ‘Our firm filed various legal documents pertaining to the dissolution of his marriage and requesting a court ruling concerning the living arrangements of Governor and Mrs. Gibbons,’ Mr. Gibbons’s lawyer, Gary Silverman, said in a statement. … Mr. Gibbons had been under pressure to resolve the matter of his living arrangements in part because of an 1866 law stating that he must ‘keep his office and reside at the seat of government.’”

Incidentally, American Ecology Corp., the company bringing the contaminated sand from Kuwait to Idaho, also employs a prominent Boise lobbyist to represent the firm in the Idaho Legislature, Roy Eiguren.

American Ecology Corp., operator of the hazardous waste dump 70 miles southeast of Boise that’s about to get 6,700 tons of uranium- and lead-contaminated sand from Kuwait, has been a generous donor to Idaho politicians’ campaigns. Most recently, the firm’s PAC, AEC PAC, gave $2,300 to Idaho Republican Jim Risch’s U.S. Senate campaign and $500 to the re-election campaign of state House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star. Both those contributions were in November. Since 2002, AEC PAC has donated $3,000 to Sen. Larry Craig; $4,500 to Sen. Mike Crapo, $1,750 to U.S. Rep. Bill Sali; and $3,000 to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, all Republicans. The PAC also gave $1,000 to Risch’s lieutenant governor campaign in 2006; $5,000 to Gov. Butch Otter’s gubernatorial campaign in 2005; $3,100 to Otter’s congressional campaigns from 2002 to 2004; and contributions to an array of state legislative candidates from both parties.

A major annual study of “entrepreneurial activity rates” has Idaho tied for first place as the most entrepreneurial state in the nation. Idaho shares the top honors with the District of Columbia and Arizona, and is followed by second-ranked Tennessee and Louisiana. Ranking the lowest were West Virginia, Alabama, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The index measures the percentage of the adult population that created a new business each month, and was developed by Robert Fairlie, a professor of economics and the director of the master’s program in applied economics and finance at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Known as the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, it’s been calculated each year since 1996 and includes extensive demographic research about who tends to start new businesses and who doesn’t. You can read the full report here.

The Idaho Department of Fish & Game is seeking public comments through May 16th on its proposed 2008 wolf hunting season. The gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains was removed from the endangered species list in March. “Fish and Game recommendations call for a total mortality quota of 328 wolves in 2008, which includes all reported wolf kills – from natural causes, accidents, wolf predation control actions and hunter kills,” the department said in a press release. “Reaching the quota would result in an estimated end-of-year population of 550-600 wolves. When the statewide quota is reached, all hunting would stop. When quotas in individual zones are reached, hunting in those zones would stop.”

Public comments can be submitted at the Fish & Game website; or they may be sent by mail to Wolf Hunting Rules, Idaho Fish and Game, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707. The department also is planning a series of public open house meetings around the state to gather comments. The proposed seasons and rules are posted on the department’s website.

How is it that 6,700 tons of sand contaminated with depleted uranium and lead – 80 rail cars worth – is coming all the way from Kuwait to Idaho, destined for a hazardous waste dump 70 miles southeast of Boise? The AP reports that American Ecology Corp., operator of the dump, has previously disposed of low-level radioactive waste and hazardous materials from U.S. military bases overseas at facilities in Idaho, Nevada and Texas, according to American Ecology spokesman Chad Hyslop, who is based in Boise.
“As you can imagine, the host countries of those bases don't want the waste in their country,” Hyslop told the AP. The sand is coming from Camp Doha, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait, where it was contaminated after military vehicles and munitions caught fire during the first Iraq war. Click below to read the full AP story by reporter Jessie Bonner.

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Idaho’s highest court can’t just declare the state’s school funding system unconstitutional and then let it continue that way, the attorney for a group of school districts told a federal judge today. “How can anybody look at this record and say we have had due process?” asked attorney Robert Huntley.

But Merlyn Clark, attorney for five Idaho Supreme Court justices whom Huntley and the districts have sued in federal court, said, “The federal court doesn’t have jurisdiction to direct the Supreme Court of Idaho in how it should decide the case and how it should conduct its business.”

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill took the arguments under advisement, but he called the case “a head-scratcher.” The judge said, “I think if you were to run this by 100 law professors, there’s 95 would say there’s no way in the world you can enjoin a state court.” But five would say you can, he said. “They may be right.” Said the judge, “I think this is a truly unique case.” You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

Idaho U.S. Senate candidate Richard Phenneger of Post Falls says he’s loaned his campaign “almost $100,000,” but his fundraising is picking up and he’s starting to pay off the loan. He financed his campaign “with a lot of my own money to start with on it,” Phenneger told Eye on Boise. “But I think a lot of that’s going to get replaced.” As of the last campaign finance report, which covered the period from Jan. 1 to March 31, Phenneger, a Republican, had reported $9,675 in individual contributions and $29,770 in loans of his own funds, but he said he added to that in April.

He isn’t the only one in the race for the seat now held by Sen. Larry Craig to draw on his own funds. Republican Jim Risch loaned his campaign $380,000, plus reported $456,859 in individual contributions and $291,900 in PAC contributions for a cash-on-hand total at the close of the period of $935,876. And independent candidate Rex Rammell, who initially announced as a Republican, reported loaning his campaign $140,000 from Jan. 1 to March 31, in addition to receiving $7,802 in individual contributions.

Democratic candidate Larry Larocco didn’t put in any of his own funds, but reported receiving $281,389 in individual contributions during the period plus $125,419 in PAC contributions. The only other candidates in the race to file campaign finance reports were Republicans Scott Syme, who reported no contributions in the period but spent $36,435, and Neal Thompson, who reported a single $1,000 contribution from a McCall resident and put in $200 of his own funds.

The Idaho Secretary of State’s website has a new feature this year: A list of candidates for the May 27 primary with links to the website of every candidate who’s provided one. There’s just a smattering of legislative candidates with sites up, but nearly every candidate for the U.S. House and Senate in Idaho has a website linked from the list, as do all but one of the presidential candidates on Idaho’s primary ballot (guess which one doesn’t – the one who’s a prison inmate in Texas, of course). It’s a handy resource and worth checking out here.

Idaho Democrats believe the 2008 election is the party’s best shot to finally regain a congressional seat — a hope bolstered by recent fundraising reports that show freshman GOP Congressman Bill Sali owes more money than what he has in the bank, reports Erica Curless. You can read her full story here at spokesmanreview.com. And then there’s this sidebar: The Eagle, Idaho, consulting business that U.S. Rep. Bill Sali owes the most campaign debt to is still working with the congressman and longtime friend – but on a cash-only basis. “It’s all cash up front,” said Lou Esposito, owner of Spartac, LLC. Read more here.

Lead bullet residues may pose previously unrealized risks both to wildlife and to people who eat lead-contaminated game, according to new research by the Peregrine Fund, which is organizing a conference May 12-15 in Boise to explore the problem. “We’ve been studying the effects of condor lead ingestion for years,” said Rick Watson, vice president of The Peregrine Fund, a Boise-based conservation organization that leads the California condor recovery program in Arizona. “Condors are sickened and some die from eating the remains of shot animals. The possibility that other species, including humans, are also at risk prompted us to organize this conference.”
A particular problem highlighted by the group’s research is the amount of lead in venison from deer shot with standard lead bullets, which fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces on impact. “When informed of the severity of the problem for condors, most hunters in Arizona have chosen to use non-lead ammunition to benefit wildlife,” Watson said, “and once the results from the conference become widely understood, hunters may also choose non-lead ammunition to benefit themselves and their families.”