POCATELLO — Consider staying indoors during the mornings, dressing in layers, and being aware of frostbite. A wind chill warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Pocatello for midnight to 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“Tonight is the coldest night. Just about everybody in eastern Idaho will get below zero. There might be a few spots like around Burley or close to the Utah border that stays around zero or 1 or 2 degrees,” said Andrew McKaughan, a meteorologist with NWS, on Monday.

In areas like Island Park and Dubois, dangerously cold wind chills are expected to be as low as 30 below zero.

“Just be safe out there. If you are going out tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, it’s going to be quite cold. Be sure to bundle up,” McKaughan said.

Mud Lake, St. Anthony, Rexburg, Rigby, Idaho Falls, Ammon, Bancroft, Grace, Soda Springs, Ashton, Driggs, Victor and Swan Valley could see wind chills as low as 25 below zero, according to the warning.

Snow is also in the forecast this week.

“There will be another system that comes through probably during the overnight hours Wednesday morning and into the day Wednesday. That’s our next round,” McKaughan said. “Snowfall amounts are probably 2 to 4 inches across the lower elevations — our valleys — and then 4 to 8 inches maybe across the higher terrains.”

As for the cold temperatures, there is some relief in sight.

“After that Wednesday system, it does look like our temperatures start to warm up in the later part of the week. It should rise above freezing for daytime highs everywhere. Maybe upper 30s, low 40s, so there is some warmer weather on the horizon by the looks of it,” he added.

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ST. ANTHONY — Boise attorney John Prior has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in Chad Daybell’s murder case because he says he isn’t qualified to argue a death penalty case and his client can’t pay him.

Prior has been Daybell’s defense attorney since May 2021 after a grand jury indicted Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, on murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges for the deaths of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan — two of Lori’s kids — and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. Chad is also charged with two counts of insurance fraud in relation to Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policies.

“Mr. Daybell does not have the ability to pay for counsel‘s continued services and Mr. Daybell seeks the appointment of two capital qualified attorneys to represent him in this matter,” Prior wrote in a motion filed Thursday afternoon. “This motion is made with Mr. Daybell’s full consent. Mr. Daybell has requested from me that he be given two capital qualified attorneys for his trial.”

Prior noted the complexity of the case would require him to work “around the clock, more than full-time for more than four months without compensation and without the assistance of any other counsel.”

“I have made a diligent effort to find a lawyer to assist in this matter for a significant amount of time. The attorney who I located and agreed to try to get qualified has not yet been approved by the Public Defense Commission. The time for him to be of any assistance to me in preparing for this trial is long gone,” Prior wrote.

Prosecutors filed their intent to pursue the death penalty in Daybell’s case in August 2021. Prior has solely represented his client since being hired over three years ago.

Jury selection for Daybell’s trial is scheduled to begin less than three months from now on April 1 in Ada County. If District Judge Steven Boyce grants Prior’s request to withdraw from the case, new attorneys would be appointed and there could be significant delays in the trial start date.

“After speaking with Mr. Daybell, I have confirmed that he is unable to pay any additional funds, and he believes it would be a disservice for me to continue to represent him in a capital case and trial without compensation,” Prior wrote.

Kay and Larry Woodcock, JJ Vallow’s grandparents, tell EastIdahoNews.com “nothing this journey surprises us anymore.”

“It is what it is and Chad’s trial will be when it happens,” Kay Woodcock says. “It’s in the Lord’s hands. Who are we to question Him.”

Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole last summer. She is currently in Arizona on charges of conspiracy to commit murder of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, and Brandon Boudreaux, her former nephew-in-law. Once court proceedings are done in Arizona, she will return to Idaho to serve her life sentence.

A hearing on Prior’s motion to withdraw is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m.

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Check out road conditions across the region here.

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IDAHO FALLS — The following eastern Idaho schools have announced classes are cancelled on Friday, Jan. 12, due to extreme weather conditions:

School Districts

• Idaho Falls School District 91
• Swan Valley School District 92
• Bonneville Joint School District 93
• Madison School District 321
• Sugar-Salem School District 322
• Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25
• Jefferson School District 251
• Ririe School District 252
• West Jefferson School District 253
• Teton School District 401

Charter/Private Schools

• Grace Lutheran School in Pocatello
• Conner Academy in Pocatello
• Alpine Academy in Pocatello
• Gem Prep Pocatello
• Holy Rosary Catholic School in Idaho Falls
• Taylor’s Crossing Public Charter School in Idaho Falls
• White Pine Charter School in Idaho Falls
• Lighthouse Montessori School in Idaho Falls
• Snake River Montessori School in Ammon
• Vogue Beauty College and Salon in Idaho Falls
• Downtown Barber School in Idaho Falls
• Acton Academy in Idaho Falls
• Austin Kade Academy in IDAHO FALLS

Universities

• Idaho State University
• The College of Eastern Idaho
• Eagle Gate College

The majority of eastern Idaho is under a blizzard warning from Thursday evening until Saturday morning. Significant snowfall and high winds are forecast throughout the region, which will cause poor visibility on eastern Idaho roads.

A number of highways in eastern Idaho were closed Friday morning. Click here for the list.

RELATED | Do you really have to travel? How you can stay safe on the road during the blizzard

For the latest road conditions visit 511 Idaho. You can also view road conditions on the EastIdahoNews.com traffic webcam page.

For the latest weather conditions visit the EastIdahoNews.com weather page.

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IDAHO FALLS – Idaho State Police is making sure you know what to do to stay safe during the potential for an extreme blizzard on Thursday and Friday.

ISP is partnering with local law enforcement agencies and the Idaho Department of Transportation to ensure they are out in “full force” during the storm that could create extremely dangerous road conditions.

“This one has a big word in it, and it’s called blizzard,” says Capt. Chris Weadick with the Idaho State Police. “We usually don’t usually get blizzard warnings, so this one is on our radar.”

Weadick says the most important thing to do is decide if you really need to be driving during the storm or not.

RELATED | Blizzard coming to eastern Idaho Thursday night; drivers asked to not travel

“During this storm, one of the biggest things is travel. Ask yourself if you really need to be traveling out in the weather during this period of time,” says Weadick. “If you don’t, limit your travel, reduce your travel, or just simply stay home. Stay off the roadways.”

If you decide you need to travel, remember the roads are slick, the wind is fast, and there are more people on the road than just you.

“A lot of people have been comfortable for the last month or two having nice dry roads, and they have forgotten winter driving habits,” says Weadick. “Slow down, don’t follow so close, and wear seatbelts. We still see a lot of crashes with drivers that aren’t wearing their seatbelts. A lot of that type of stuff is very preventable.”

According to Weadick, the biggest threat with the blizzard will be the wind as the National Weather Service is estimating that Idaho Falls could see winds gusting as high as 55 mph.

“We’re expecting extremely high winds. If we get a couple of inches of snow with 50 mph winds, you’ve got significant drifting issues,” says Weadick. “We could still have significant snow accumulations, but really, the wind is going to be a very big concern.”

All of local law enforcement and the Idaho Transportation Department will be deploying everyone available to make sure the roads are clear and people are as safe as possible during the storm.

“The Idaho Transportation Department is going to be out in full force, trying to keep the roadways clear,” says Weadick. “It is going to be all hands on deck for the Idaho State Police, here in the Idaho Falls area. We are pretty much going to have every trooper available in our ranks working.”

Weadick says local law enforcement will also be patrolling more remote areas and long stretches of road to ensure drivers are using caution.

“The other law enforcement agencies are out doing the same thing. We’ve got a lot of remote highways, a lot of long stretches of road, everybody is going to be out trying to provide the best travel safe roadways out here,” says Weadick. “We’re committed to being out in full force, and trying to help the motoring public.”

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ASHTON — The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a spree of thefts near Ashton, according to a statement made on the office’s Facebook page.

“An individual or individuals attempted to gain entry into buildings and vehicles that did not belong to them,” deputies said in the statement.

The thefts took place on Sunday night or early Monday morning, according to police, in the area between 3600 East and 3700 East and along Idaho Highway 47. If you live in or near the area, police ask you to check your property for missing items.

Fremont County Chief Deputy Bart Quayle told EastIdahoNews.com the investigation is active and ongoing. He said investigators “feel positive” about how it’s going; however, no further information is available.

If you were in the Ashton area late Sunday night or early Monday morning and saw anything that seemed out of place, or if you are missing items, contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 624-4482 and ask to speak with Deputy Olsen.

“As always, we would like to remind you to make sure your vehicles and property are safely secured,” officials stated.

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POCATELLO — A blizzard is coming to eastern Idaho, bringing significant snowfall and high winds throughout the region starting Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service in Pocatello has issued a blizzard warning starting 5 p.m. Thursday and will last until Friday evening or Saturday morning in certain areas.

NWS Meteorologist Audra Moore said the last blizzard warning that was issued was eight years ago in eastern Idaho during December 2016. She said there have been about seven blizzard warnings issued since 2006.

“We are trying to get people to understand how serious this is,” Moore said. “A blizzard is sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or greater causing blowing snow to reduce visibility to a quarter of a mile or less for 3+ hours. So a blizzard warning is less about the snow falling than it is about the blowing snow impacting travel.”

Blizzard conditions are expected all across eastern Idaho, with total snow accumulations of one to five inches in the Upper Snake River Plain. The snowfall and wind is expected from 5 p.m. Thursday to 5 p.m. Friday. Areas affected include the Mud Lake, Teton Valley, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, St. Anthony, Victor, Ashton, Tetonia and Driggs.

Places like Pocatello, Fort Hall, Shelley and Blackfoot could expect snow accumulations of four to eight inches and winds gusting as high as 60 mph. In these areas, the blizzard warning is in effect from 5 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

Places like Inkom, Lava Hot Springs, Preston, Montpelier, Soda Springs and Swan Valley could have five to nine inches of snow. The blizzard warning in these areas is also in effect from 5 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

Additionally, there is a wind chill watch in effect from Friday through Saturday. Winds gusting as high as 55 mph are possible. Dangerously cold wind chills are possible, with chills as low as 25 below zero.

“Tomorrow (Friday) morning would be a nightmare travel scenario with gusts in that 50 to 60 mph range,” Moore added.

The blizzard warning from NWS says that travel could be very difficult to “impossible.” Blowing and drifting snow will significantly reduce visibility. In a graphic posted by NWS, the blizzard warning advises, “do not travel.”

“It’s way too dangerous. Don’t be out unless it is an emergency. Not only are you putting yourself at risk, but you also put at risk the lives of the emergency responders,” Moore said.

If you have to travel, Moore suggests doing it on Thursday before the blizzard warning is in effect.

“Make sure you’ve got your snow gear in the car with you and make sure you’ve got extra food, extra water, flashlights, and power banks to charge your phone,” she added.

Click here to check out the road conditions. Click here to view the weather in your area.

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ST. ANTHONY — A former high school teacher who was arrested and charged with rape of a teenage boy appeared in a Fremont County courthouse Monday afternoon.

Jessica Lawson, 36, is charged with two counts of felony rape of a victim who is 16 or 17 years of age, felony delivery of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor dispensing alcohol to a minor.

Lawson appeared in court for her preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Aaron Thompson. She previously posted $250,000 bond and was released from jail. During the hearing Monday, Lawson wore a light-colored sweater with black pants and what appeared to be black Converse high-top shoes with an ankle monitor on her right leg. Her hair was down and she carried a black backpack with her.

Lawson sat alongside her attorney, Allen Browning, and waived her preliminary hearing. She will now be bound over to District Court for an arraignment, where she will enter a plea.

That arraignment date has not yet been officially set.

Background

Lawson was a South Fremont High School teacher from 2021 until 2023, according to Fremont County Joint School District #215.

According to court documents, on Nov. 6, an officer with the St. Anthony Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a car for having no visible tail lights. The driver was a teenage boy, and the car was determined to be Lawson’s.

RELATED | Former high school teacher arrested and charged with rape of teenage boy

The teenager told the officer that Lawson had allowed him to drive her car “due to her being too drunk to drive,” according to police reports. Court documents say the minor admitted to having marijuana and was driven home by the officer.

Later that morning, the officer got a phone call from the minor’s parents, who said the boy had told them more information.

According to the parents, their son had been picked up by Lawson around 11 p.m. the night before and taken to her house in St. Anthony. The boy told his parents Lawson got drunk and he got high before the two had sex.

During an interview later with police, the boy said Lawson had given him marijuana while at her house and then the two had sex.

According to court documents, Lawson later called the teenager’s mother and admitted to picking him up from his house, taking him to her house and providing him with alcohol. She admitted to having marijuana in her house but said she did not give it to the boy.

She reportedly denied that “anything else had occurred.”

Though Lawson has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean she committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

The post Former teacher charged with rape of teenage boy appears in court appeared first on East Idaho News.

BOISE — A pair of Republicans unveiled a new proposal Friday designed to help Idahoans fund private school: a $5,000 tax credit. 

Surrounded by “school choice” advocates in the Statehouse, Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, announced the $50 million “parental choice tax credit” program. 

It’s the latest Idaho proposal that seeks to open up public funds for private education. Den Hartog and Horman, who have been leading proponents of the “school choice” movement in Idaho, plan to introduce the bill during the upcoming legislative session, which starts Monday. 

“In a time of high inflation and economic uncertainty, the increased concern over the alignment of family values and education, this proposal is designed to support Idaho parents as they make decisions about their child’s education,” Den Hartog said.

The proposal has two parts. First, private school families of any income could claim $5,000 tax credits for expenses “related to the nonpublic academic instruction,” Den Hartog said. That includes tuition, fees, transportation, tutoring, test-taking and exam preparation, among other things.

Qualifying students would be school-aged and enrolled in a non-public school, which could include religious schools and home schools. The tax credits would be first come, first served with a $40 million cap. 

A second bucket of state funds — $10 million — would be set aside for a “kickstart” program benefitting low-income students. Rather than claiming private school expenses on their taxes, families who qualify for the federal earned income tax credit could collect up to $5,000 in grants for one year. After a year, those families would be rolled into the tax credit program. 

In recent years, similar legislation has failed in the face of widespread anxiety about expending public funds on private schools. Opponents of similar mechanisms — often called “vouchers” — worry about a lack of accountability for private school expenses and fear that limited public school funds would be siphoned. 

Public school leaders have bitterly fought proposals to fund private education at the state level. Quinn Perry, policy and government affairs director for the Idaho School Boards Association, told Idaho Education News this week that private school voucher programs in other states have been “budget busters.”

Arizona’s expanding school voucher program is expected to cost taxpayers $900 million this school year. Initial estimates in the Grand Canyon State pegged the cost at $65 million.

The Arizona Mirror reported last week that the state faces a $400 million deficit, because of the rising cost of private school vouchers and decreasing state revenue due to a new flat income tax — which Idaho also enacted, in 2022.

Den Hartog and Horman brushed aside those concerns Friday. They touted the proposed spending caps and the fact that the State Tax Commission would oversee the tax credits and grants, creating an “accountability measure” backed by the threat of perjury for lying on one’s taxes. 

Horman, a former public school board trustee who co-chairs the Legislature’s powerful budget committee, said the program would be “complementary” to Idaho’s public school system. She said she wouldn’t support a policy that harms public education. 

“I am not a fan of budget-busting bills,” Horman said. 

Den Hartog and Horman also acknowledged that those caps could increase in future years, if demand calls for it. 

House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea slammed the proposal in a conversation with reporters Friday. The Boise Democrat said funneling the money through the Tax Commission is likely a strategy to sidestep the House Education Committee, which blocked similar legislation last year. 

“Whether it’s the state Tax Commission cutting the check or another agency, the result is the same: dollars are being siphoned out of the fund that we use for public schools and will go towards private, religious and, potentially, for-profit institutions with zero accountability,” Necochea said.

National groups that advocate for “school choice” in recent years have spent heavily lobbying Idaho lawmakers to pass a private school voucher policy. But Friday’s news conference demonstrated homegrown support, as well. Dozens of children and parents held signs reading “support the parental choice tax credit program.”

Robbe Hart, a single father from Emmett, said he commutes more than 60 miles, round-trip, for his sons to attend Greenleaf Friends Academy. The travel is “extremely expensive,” Hart said, but his sons have “thrived” at the Christian school.

“If this bill passed, it would help thousands of other people that are going through the same thing that I go through,” he said.

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POCATELLO — County officials prepare for a wide variety of emergencies, all the way from fires that threaten population centers down to inclement weather.

In order to respond to disasters, they require cooperation between departments in the counties and cities in order to mount an effective response. Many counties have emergency managers who work to coordinate resources between all of the involved entities.

“It’s imperative that between the Sheriff’s Office and Road and Bridge and the Commissioners, that we’re all hand-in-hand working on these issues together,” said Scott Reese, emergency manager for Bingham County.

Robert Kohler, the emergency manager for Madison County, explained each agency has a specific skill set and training that doesn’t cross over into other areas. Small incidents don’t require coordination, but when an emergency is large enough it becomes Kohler’s job to support responding agencies.

“We’ve found great success because all of our agencies have serving the public at their heart and in the forefront of their mind,” Kohler said.

When an emergency grows to a level that requires a coordinated relief effort, first responders will go out into the community and meet immediate needs while emergency managers go into their office to initiate an emergency operation center. Kohler clarified this isn’t the emergency manager operating as an incident commander, but rather a support role that accesses what the community and responding agencies need and getting it to them.

“We are the support that comes and says we can help you with this. We can take this load off you,” Kohler said.

Kohler said in the spring and summer last year, flooding required Madison County to activate an emergency operation center. Kohler’s role in fighting the flooding was to distribute sandbags throughout the community to protect businesses, infrastructure and residences.

Wes Jones, the Bannock County Emergency Manager, said the response required for different emergencies are judged based on what class of incident they are, going from five to one.

A class five incident is something simple, like a police officer issuing a speeding citation. An emergency operation center can’t be activated until it’s a class three emergency, either partially or in full based on the needs of the incident commander. An example of a class three incident would be a multi-vehicular wreck, a structure fire or a wildfire.

At a class two incident, some state and federal resources are required to combat the emergency. Normally an emergency operation center will be activated to coordinate relief efforts. A well-known class two incident was the Charlotte Fire in 2012, which destroyed dozens of homes and 1,100 acres.

The most severe incident is a class one, which lasts for an extended period of time and requires federal support. The only example of a class one incident in recent memory Jones could think of was the federal response to COVID-19.

Many of the counties hold classes to help prepare department and elected officials for what’s required of them in the case of an emergency. Jones said that in these classes, they cover everything from how to respond to flooding to a fire on the same scale of the one in Hawaii that broke out in August.

“If you can’t respond to a small scale incident. You’re not gonna be able to perform very well at the large scale incidents,” Jones said.

Brad Clements, the Bonneville County emergency manager, said the best way for people to stay calm in an emergency is by assessing the risk factors for their area, and preparing for them. His office encourages everyone to have a 72-hour-kit for each individual in their home, as well as a personal emergency plan.

“Paying attention to official sources or vetted sources when it comes to getting information in a disaster and being prepared ahead of time is probably the best thing that you can do,” Clements said.

Many Idaho counties have mutual aid agreements with each other, where they will provide aid to surrounding counties as needed to effectively deal with the emergency together.

Reese said in 2017, Bingham County was experiencing flooding that required an emergency response. Clements and Jones both reached out to him and provided needed assistance for the county and helped them through the incident.

And Reese said Bingham County has also been able to provide assistance to other smaller counties throughout the years when they’ve experienced flooding by providing sandbags.

“They don’t expect anything in return because we’re all in it together. We have such a limited amount of resources, whether it’s law enforcement, EMS or fire, we need to pull our resources,” Reese said.

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