News

Big Smoke had a surprise visitor on Thursday, July 30th at 5:50 p.m. according the employees that afternoon. A male driver in a pickup drove into the large glass front windows to the right of the front door breaking out two large panes of glass and bent the metal frame. Two employees were on duty and no one was hurt...

Due to the recent rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Ada County and Idaho, the IDP has made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person convention events planned in Boise, including the official platform and resolutions proceedings for this year. The 2018 Idaho Democratic Party Platform will remain in place until the 2022 State Convention...

As positivity rates of the dangerous COVID-19 virus continue to increase in many Idaho communities, the course of action for public schools in those areas is clear—school buildings in communities considered “hot spots” should remain closed and districts should shift to online instruction. It’s an unfortunate circumstance but a necessary decision to protect the lives of Idahoans threatened by a pandemic that shows no signs of abating in our state...

Join us at Carl Miller Park on Saturday August, 8th 2020 from 7:30 p.m until 9:30 p.m. to bring awareness to domestic violence in our community. There will be speakers, poetry, and moments of silence. Candles will be provided with drip protectors. We are also honoring three victims lost in our community to domestic violence. Kathleen Terry, Angela Johnson, and most recently Samantha Ruiz...

Sometimes you have those split moments in time that seem so silly and simple, yet they go on to rock your world. Little moments you look back on and say "wow, really" wishing you could just take it all back. I had one of those moments on Father's Day of this year. A moment where one simple little harmless seeming action completely altered my summer and for months more yet to come...

In August of 2019, three little girls from Mountain Home had their lives tragically cut short and their parents lives forever changed because of the decisions made by an intoxicated driver. Somchai Lurak and his fiance Emma Weignand were on the way home from a visit with Somchai’s sister in Hailey on Aug. 10, when they were stopped in a construction zone by a red light...

On July 28, 2020 officers of the Mountain Home Police Department responded to a home in the southwest area of Mountain Home while investigating a missing person. Upon arrival at the residence officers discovered a deceased person in the residence. This is an ongoing investigation and details are limited, however, it would appear that the death is a result of domestic violence involving an estranged husband. ...

MOUNTAIN HOME, ID – Recent Mountain Home Senior High School graduate Kamryn Orr has been awarded a $1,500 scholarship from America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, sponsored by Bayer Fund. In the fall, Orr will study Agricultural Sales & Marketing at University of Idaho...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Organizations that advocate for schools, counties, county sheriffs and businesses said Tuesday they want lawmakers called back into session to create a liability shield for protection against COVID-19-related lawsuits. The Judiciary and Rules Working Group took no action but plans to meet again this week to consider possible legislation to be sent to Republican Gov. Brad Little...

BOISE, Idaho, July 30, 2020 -- The Idaho Department of Correction is seeking a walkaway from the South Boise Women’s Correctional Center. Michelle Rene Descharme, IDOC #53694, was last seen about 6 p.m., Wednesday near a truck stop at Broadway and I-84 in Boise...

TWIN FALLS, Idaho –The BLM Jarbidge Field Office will begin a wild horse gather operation in the Saylor Creek Wild Horse Herd Management Area (HMA), 15 miles south of Glenns Ferry. The BLM will conduct gather operations for up to four months, using temporary water and bait traps consisting of a series of corral panels stocked with water and hay/mineral. No helicopters will be used in the gather...

Growing a backyard garden is something you can be proud of, something to show off to your neighbor, but the ultimate goal is a bountiful harvest. In the soil there are numerous macro and micro-nutrients that plants need for proper growth and development. ...

The Fourth Judicial District for the State of Idaho has called off jury trials for the month of August, wrote Administrative District Judge Melissa Moody in a press release on July 23. The suspension is part of a larger program to protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic that also includes summoning jurors to non-courthouse locations. Though no jury trials will take place in August, the courts will continue to convene juries for trials to take place after the hiatus...

Michael Heintz used to work in a movie rental shop and loved his work so much that he decided to go into the business for himself. Heintz has opened “The Movie Shoppe” in the Old Basque Hotel located at 195 N. 2nd W. He has a variety of items for sale including used DVD’s, both classic and current movie standees (the large character cutouts used to promote movies in theaters, movie magazines and trading cards...

The Mountain Home City Council met on July 13, 2020 for a regularly scheduled meeting. The beginning of the meeting started with Mountain Home Police Chief Scott Connor awarding an Outstanding Citizenship Award to Bryce Villalobos for his help with a dementia patient who had wandered away from a local care facility on his day off...

Normally, bridges moving is not something an engineer wants to see, but this weekend construction crews slid the first of two new bridges at the Interstate 84 Blacks Creek Interchange sixty feet into place — where it will stay for decades to come. The slide-in-place maneuver was designed to minimize impacts to the heavily traveled Interstate. Crews construct the bulk of the new bridge right next to the existing structure. The old bridge is then demolished, and its replacement is slid into place...

Boise, Idaho - Governor Brad Little's Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee approved an additional $40 million today to increase and improve COVID-19 testing in Idaho and an additional $10 million to equip schools with supplies needed to open safely...

Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little joined public health district directors today during statewide media events to highlight the strong state-local collaboration taking place in Idaho’s response to COVID-19. “When it comes to our public health response, our plans for school reopening, and our support for businesses across Idaho, we are focused on working closely with local officials and local leaders,” Governor Little said. ...

On July 22nd, 2020, at 1125 hours a traffic stop was conducted by a Narcotics Detective from the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office on I-84 EB around mile post 83. During the traffic stop a male suspect who was identified as Craig Croft out of Texas fled from the traffic stop leading Elmore County Sheriff’s Deputies along with the Mountain Home Police Department on a high-speed pursuit through Elmore County and through the city of Mountain Home. ...

On July 18th at 9:00 a.m. the Elmore County 4-H and FFA Youth Development Programs held their annual Livestock Sale at the Glenns Ferry Fairgrounds. The UI Extension Elmore County Office live-streamed most of the 4-H events during the week of the Elmore County Fair, including the entire Livestock Sale on Facebook. ...

Idaho has landed on national maps as one of the identified states that are reporting increasing numbers based on per capita calculations of population. This has landed us in the RED zone, so to speak, on Monday July 20th. Our numbers speak for themselves throughout the state as again for the third week our new daily reported COVID-19 cases are in the high three digit numbers...

On the minds of parents and educators around the country right now is “how” and “if” schools will be re-opening on time for the school year. Recently the Mountain Home School District sent attachments of their proposed plan in emails to parents within the district, encouraging them to contact the administration with their questions and concerns. The document is also available to the school website and on their Facebook page...

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14, 2020 Central District Health's Board of Health met to discuss the current COVID-19 Pandemic and its current status within the district. The district, which encompasses Ada, Elmore, Boise and Valley Counties, is currently seeing an increased rate of virus infections throughout all of the counties...

In a year when nothing has been quite like we’ve expected and many of the yearly traditions that we may have taken for granted in the past have been cancelled due to the current world events it is always nice to have a bit of our normal back. This past week the youth of Elmore County were able to do just that when the Elmore County Fair and Rodeo was able to take place. ...

The University of Idaho Extension Elmore County Office’s goals include educational programming for agricultural, horticultural, general public and possibly more important educational and hands-on university-approved programs and curriculum for our youth through the wonderful 4-H program. ...

On Saturday, July 11, a group of protesters met at Carl Miller Park to bring awareness to racism and police brutality where they were met by a group of counter-protesters who said they were there to protect the F-111 Jet in the park and to defend town property if needed. ...

On the morning of July 16, 1969, the United States of America took a giant leap forward in the ‘space race’ as the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission launched into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins aboard...

Idaho continues its upward spike in Covid-19 cases, both confirmed and probable, over the past week. The Idaho Division of Public Health is reporting triple digit increases daily for the state with Elmore county contributing daily to those numbers. The numbers reported in our last edition were gathered on July 5th. ...

Press Release Sheriff Mike Hollinshead In the early morning of July 14, 2020, Deputies with the Elmore County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of shots fired with injuries at a residence outside of Mountain Home. Elmore County Ambulance responded to the scene and transported the injured to a hospital for further treatment. Detectives and Deputies with the Elmore Sheriff Office were able to detain two persons of interest in the shooting...

Today, July 10th, the Elmore County Commissioners enacted a burn ban on Open Fire as defined in the burn ban ordinance of the county, which will be in effect until October 1st, unless otherwise decided by the Board of Commissioners. This ban does not include Idaho Power Campgrounds or public land belonging to the federal or state governments...

Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little and education leaders rolled out the new Idaho Back to School Framework today, providing guidance to local officials in their decisions about the safe reopening of schools for the 2020-2021 school year. Governor Little emphasized the importance of students returning to school for in-person instruction, and the need for all Idahoans to slow the spread of COVID-19 in order to minimize disruptions in education delivery...

On the Fourth of July local dignitaries gathered in front of the Elmore County Courthouse for the official unveiling of the Veteran’s Memorial Monument. Speakers included Mountain Home native, Charles Abrahamson who emcee’d the event and is a former member of the Marine Corps, former State Commander of the American Legion and currently Idaho’s Department Adjutant of the American Legion; Col. ...

The Asian giant hornet, nicknamed the “murder hornet” by the media and the public, has been on the front page of varying news outlets and Facebook feeds recent weeks. It’s true binomial Latin name to entomologists and biologists is Vespa mandarinia and was discovered and named in the mid 19th century by Frederick Smith. ...

Congratulations to Kiara Rockins and Kinsey Cooney for taking a 7th place finish in the Health Career Display competition at the 2020 Health Occupations Students of America Virtual International Leadership Conference this June. This is the second year in a row that MHHS has placed in the top 10 and we couldn't be prouder that our Mountain Home students are competing and winning at an international level. ...

Students from the Elmore County Extension Office’s Master Gardener Class recently worked with staff members from the university of Idaho Extension Office and Advocates for the Elmore County Domestic Violence Council to build raised garden beds for the Evans Harmony House, which opened in November, 2019, as the first domestic violence safe house in Elmore County, filling a large void in the fight against domestic violence...