WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party has been clear since the day he announced he would make another run for the White House 14 months ago. It can be seen in the party’s ideological shift even further to the right on cultural issues and, especially, on immigration policy.

Iowa Republicans were a clear reflection of that on Monday night, delivering the former president an emphatic victory. They channeled his anger, and his view that basically everything President Joe Biden has done has been a “disaster.” About 9 in 10 voters said they want upheaval or substantial change in how the government operates, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 1,500 voters who said they planned to take part in the caucuses.

As clear-cut as his win was, though, Iowa has not historically played the role of kingmaker in the Republican nominating process. New Hampshire’s voters don’t take their cues from Iowa.

Here are some key takeaways:

AN INCUMBENT CAMPAIGN

This was the least suspenseful Iowa caucus in the last 20 years because Trump has essentially been running as an incumbent. He’s convinced many Republicans he didn’t really lose the 2020 election to Biden, and has dominated the race the way someone still in office does.

He traveled sparingly to the state, holding a modest number of rallies. He spurned candidate debates. He chose to appear at court hearings as a defendant in his legal cases in New York and Washington rather than to campaign in Iowa.

The former president, who remains the party’s dominant favorite, clearly wants to move on to the general election as quickly as possible.

TWISTS AND TURNS AHEAD

Inevitable can be a dangerous word, especially in New Hampshire, which holds its primary in eight days.

New Hampshire has famously delivered upsets in both parties. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley quipped that New Hampshire “corrects” Iowa. George W. Bush felt New Hampshire’s sting in 2000 when Senator John McCain defeated him. So did former vice president Walter Mondale when Senator Gary Hart of Colorado scored an upset in the Democratic race in 1984.

With its more moderate, highly educated electorate, New Hampshire presents Trump’s rivals with possibly their best opportunity to slow his march. Haley is hoping for a win there or at least a very strong showing, and after that comes a political lull — with the next major competitive race in South Carolina on Feb. 24.

But plenty can happen during that time. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 8 is scheduled to hear arguments in a case challenging whether a constitutional clause banning those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office applies to Trump. The high court may also weigh in on whether presidential immunity protects Trump from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The criminal trial in that case is scheduled to start on March 5 — Super Tuesday — when 14 states vote in the presidential nominating process. Trump’s strength among Republican voters is beyond dispute, but the road is long and could be bumpy.

IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY

Iowans had something on their minds, but it wasn’t jobs, taxes or business regulations.

About 4 in 10 caucusgoers said immigration was their top issue, compared to 1 in 3 picking the economy, according to VoteCast. Other priorities like foreign policy, energy and abortion ranked even lower.

Indeed, about two-thirds of caucusgoers said they felt their finances were holding steady or improving. But the voters still want major changes — 3 in 10 want a total upheaval of how the federal government runs while another 6 in 10 want substantial changes. As for the criminal charges against Trump, 6 in 10 caucusgoers don’t have confidence in the U.S. legal system.

It adds up to a portrait of a slice of the electorate eager to challenge core democratic institutions in the U.S.

DESANTIS DISMAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Flush with more than $100 million in cash and fresh off a blowout reelection victory, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entered the 2024 Republican presidential contest projecting himself as the heir to a MAGA political brand that a diminished Trump could no longer effectively carry.

Reality soon intruded.

Eight months and tens of millions of dollars later, DeSantis appears to pose little threat to the former president.

Despite more than $55 million in pro-DeSantis advertising spending, the Florida governor was instead locked in a tight race for second place with Haley.

He has been dogged by negative stories about profligate spending, including DeSantis’ preference for flying private planes.

As the trope goes, candidates don’t drop out of political races because they lose — they drop out because they run out of money.

THE EDUCATION DIVIDE

More than half of Haley’s voters had at least a college degree and roughly half of DeSantis’ did, according to VoteCast. But only about 2 in 10 of Trump’s did.

Education has been a major dividing line among white voters during the Trump era. Iowa confirms what polling has indicated during the primary — that the education divide is also splitting the GOP.

That hints at a possible weakness for Trump in November, should he be the nominee. A greater share of the voting public has at least a bachelor’s degree now than in 2016, and that share rises every year as degrees become more popular.

Another indication of vulnerability for Trump came in the suburbs, which tend to have the highest levels of education. Only about 4 in 10 caucusgoers there supported him. The suburbs were pivotal in Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.

RAMASWAMY PUNCHED HIMSELF OUT

Abrasive, often grating and very online — Vivek Ramaswamy’s quixotic bid for the White House has come across as a millennial distillation of Trump’s MAGA movement.

Ramaswamy rapped along to verses of Eminem, delighted in trolling his rivals and often sought to out-Trump Trump with his rhetoric. That performative aspect helped the wealthy 38-year-old entrepreneur gain considerable attention in the early days of the campaign.

But it also proved to wear thin, perhaps summed up best when former New Jersey governor Chris Christie called him the “most obnoxious blowhard in America” during a debate.

As returns from Iowa’s caucus posted, Ramaswamy trailed not only Trump, but also Haley and DeSantis. He was struggling to reach double digits.

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Houthi rebels fired a missile, striking a U.S.-owned ship Monday just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, less than a day after they launched an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea.

The attack on the Gibraltar Eagle, later claimed by the Houthis, further escalates tensions gripping the Red Sea after American-led strikes on the rebels. The Houthis’ attacks have roiled global shipping, amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting a crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Mideast waters, said Monday’s attack happened some 110 miles (177 kilometers) miles southeast of Aden. It said the ship’s captain reported that the “port side of vessel hit from above by a missile.”

Private security firms Ambrey and Dryad Global told The Associated Press that the vessel was the Eagle Gibraltar, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier. The U.S. military’s Central Command later acknowledged the strike.

“The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” Central Command said.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a recorded television address that aired Monday night.

“The Yemeni armed forces consider all American and British ships and warships participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets,” he said.

The vessel is owned by Eagle Bulk Shipping, a Stamford, Connecticut-based firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In a statement to The Associated Press, the company said the strike caused “limited damage to a cargo hold but (the ship) is stable and is heading out of the area.”

“All seafarers onboard the vessel are confirmed to be uninjured,” the firm said. “The vessel is carrying a cargo of steel products. Eagle Bulk management is in close contact with all relevant authorities concerning this matter.”

Satellite-tracking data analyzed by AP showed the Eagle Gibraltar had been bound for the Suez Canal, but rapidly turned around at the time of the attack.

Central Command said it detected a separate anti-ship ballistic missile launch toward the southern Red Sea on Monday, though it ”failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen.”

The U.S. Maritime Administration, under the Transportation Department, also issued a warning of a continuing “high degree of risk to commercial vessels” traveling near Yemen.

“While the decision to transit remains at the discretion of individual vessels and companies, it is recommended that U.S. flag and U.S.-owned commercial vessels” stay away from Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden “until further notice,” the advisory said.

Sunday’s missile launch toward the American warship also marked the first U.S.-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthi fire in the direction of the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, Central Command said.

The missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the U.S. said.

“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”

The Houthis did not acknowledge that attack.

It wasn’t presently clear whether the U.S. would retaliate for the latest attacks, though President Joe Biden has said he “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

The first day of U.S.-led strikes Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine. Sites hit included weapon depots, radars and command centers, including in remote mountain areas, the U.S. has said.

The Houthis have yet to acknowledge how severe the damage was from the strikes, which they said killed five of their troops and wounded six others.

U.S. forces followed up with a strike Saturday on a Houthi radar site.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade.

Even the leader of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, obliquely referenced the widening Houthi attacks on ships in a speech Sunday, saying that “the sea has become a battlefield of missiles, drones and warships” and blaming the U.S. strikes for escalating maritime tensions.

“The most dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea, (it) will harm the security of all maritime navigation,” Nasrallah said.

Though the Biden administration and its allies have tried to calm tensions in the Middle East for weeks and prevent any wider conflict, the strikes in the Red Sea threaten to ignite one.

It’s also affecting shipping for the Middle East nation of Qatar, one of the world’s top natural gas suppliers. Three liquid natural gas tankers that had recently loaded in Qatar and were bound for the Suez Canal remain idling off Oman, while another coming from Europe to Qatar remains off Saudi Arabia. QatarEnergy and government officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government-in-exile that the Houthis are fighting, sought to distance itself from the attacks on Houthi sites as it tries to maintain a delicate détente with Iran and a cease-fire it has in Yemen. The Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war in Yemen that began in 2015 has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

The American military did not specifically say the fire targeted the Laboon, following a pattern by the U.S. since the Houthi attacks began. However, U.S. sailors have received combat ribbons for their actions in the Red Sea — something handed out only to those who face active hostilities with an enemy force.

___

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

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The following is a news release and photo from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

IDAHO FALLS – Hunters looking to apply for 2024 spring’s controlled hunts for black bear can apply from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15. Information on the spring 2024 controlled black bear hunt can be found in the 2023 Idaho Big Game Seasons and Rules booklet.

Hunters must have a 2024 hunting license in order to apply for controlled hunts, and there are several ways to apply:

• Online: Hunters can apply here, or on the Fish and Game mobile app. There is a service charge of 3% of the transaction in addition to the nonrefundable controlled hunt application fee.
• Licensed Vendors: At any Fish and Game regional office or license vendor.
• Telephone: Applications can be placed over the phone by calling 1 (800) 554-8685.
  Mail in applications are no longer accepted.

Controlled hunts are hunts with a limited number of tags allocated by a random drawing, unlike a general season hunt, which allows hunters to purchase tags over the counter. Controlled hunts are often desirable because of location and timing, and success rates are usually higher than general season hunts.

Junior hunters must be between the ages of 10 and 17 to participate in any bear controlled hunt, but a 9-year-old may buy a junior license to apply, provided the hunter is 10 years old at the time of the hunt for which they are applying.

Controlled hunt applications for spring 2024 black bear close on Feb. 15. Successful spring black bear applicants will be notified no later than March 10. Any leftover tags for spring bear controlled hunts go on sale April 1.

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(CNN) — A skier was found dead after an avalanche in a backcountry area of Shoshone County, officials said, in a week of snow-related accidents across the West and Northwest.

Corey J. Zalewski was found and extracted from the area Friday afternoon, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Corey’s family as they are remembering the life of this great man,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Facebook.

Three skiers were caught in the avalanche and two were found alive, Capt. Seth Green told CNN.

Rescue workers found the two – Landon E. Crecelius and David R. Sittser – near Steven’s Peak after getting in contact with the individuals via a GPS device that also enabled texting.

“We were able to coordinate with the two individuals, one of which reported having a broken arm,” Green said. “And the third at the time was still in the vicinity of the avalanche.”

Rescuers found the pair amid rough weather conditions, and got them medical care, Green said.

“Once we got them to medical care, we got the information, pretty definitively, leading us to believe that the third individual is deceased up on the hill where the avalanche occurred,” Green said on Thursday. “Due to this information, we are not continuing our effort tonight due to the safety of everyone involved. We plan on doing a recovery mission tomorrow.”

RELATED | Body of skier retrieved from Idaho backcountry after avalanche that forced rescue of 2 other men

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and the US Air Force assisted in the rescue mission.

Shoshone County is located about three hours from Spokane, Washington.

Also on Thursday, the occupants of two vehicles were rescued after being stuck in an avalanche on State Highway 21 in Boise, according to a news release from the Idaho Transportation Department.

“We are relieved to report that all occupants were safely rescued by first responders from Custer County and Boise County,” the Boise County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Earlier this week, a skier was killed and another person was injured in an avalanche at a Lake Tahoe-area ski resort in California, authorities said.

The avalanche occurred on Wednesday morning at Palisades Tahoe, a popular ski resort that draws in scores of visitors each year, and quickly prompted a search and rescue effort by multiple teams for potential victims, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said. More than 100 resort personnel assisted in the search, Palisades Tahoe said in a statement.

The avalanche occurred in an area that had just opened in the morning and that underwent rigorous “avalanche control assessments” for several days from teams who also evaluated weather conditions and safety measures, said Michael Gross, Palisades Tahoe’s vice president of mountain operations, during a news conference on Wednesday.

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BOISE (IdahoEdNews.org) — Librarians told the House State Affairs Committee on Monday that a bill requiring them to relocate “harmful” books would be impractical and expensive to implement.

The committee voted along party lines to advance the legislation during a crammed hearing that needed overflow rooms to hold attendees. Rep. Jaron Crane’s bill is the latest among a string of proposals to restrict material available to underage library patrons.

House Bill 384 requires that libraries implement a process through which patrons can ask for material to be moved to an adults-only section. If library officials don’t relocate the book, they could face a civil lawsuit that includes statutory penalties.

RELATED | Idaho Republican wants to allow damage claims for ‘harmful’ materials in libraries

“There’s no book banning, and there’s no book burning,” Crane, R-Nampa, told the committee. “We’re simply codifying a relocation policy that creates a fair process for both parties that are involved.”

State Affairs Chairman and Nampa Rep. Brent Crane, Jaron Crane’s brother, allowed for about an hour and a half of public testimony on the bill. Hundreds of people attended the meeting, which fell on the same day as a teachers union event at the capitol.

Most testimony strongly opposed the proposal. Libraries already have policies for challenging material in circulation, and the Legislature should allow those processes to be controlled locally, several librarians said. And the threat of a lawsuit would compel costly renovations and additional staff to create adults-only sections and guard them, said Idaho Falls Public Library Director Robert Wright.

“We’re one of the largest libraries in eastern Idaho,” he said. “We can’t afford to do this.”

RELATED | Local libraries increase protective measures for kids as parental concerns rise

Others criticized the standards that would determine whether content is “harmful” to minors. Idaho law defines “harmful” as content that’s “obscene,” appeals to the prurient interest of minors” and is “patently offensive to prevailing standards” of what’s suitable for children. Content is also “harmful” if it’s “obscene” and “has the dominant effect of substantially arousing sexual desires” in minors.

“Obscene material,” as defined by Idaho law, is content that includes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement and sado-masochistic abuse. Any act of homosexuality falls under the definition of “sexual conduct.”

“The homophobia in this bill is blatant,” said Isabella Burgess, a college student and associate librarian in Meridian. “It’s absolutely essential that we have books that represent every member of our community that are accessible to every age range.”

The hearing showed diverging opinions over whether libraries should be responsible for supervising content that children access. Mary Ruckh, a Boise grandmother of two elementary schoolers who opposes the bill, urged lawmakers to “trust and allow parents to care for their children.”

Jennifer Holmes of Post Falls had a different view. Holmes said she asked officials from her local library to relocate a DVD that showed two men kissing on the cover. The request was denied and Holmes was told “it’s my responsibility as the parent to monitor my children,” she recalled for the committee.

“Needless to say, I stopped going to that library,” Holmes said.

Others who support House Bill 384 said they’ve struggled to change library policies locally. Children are “frequently being harmed and corrupted” by library content, said Rachelle Ottosen, a public library trustee in Rathdrum. The board has tried since last year to tighten library policies, but has been stymied by threats of lawsuits, Ottosen said.

“It’s mind-boggling that adults demand children have access to sexually explicit materials,” she said.

There was little discussion among committee members before a vote to advance the bill to the full House with a “do-pass” recommendation. Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, moved to delay a vote and allow those who didn’t testify in the allotted time an opportunity to submit written comments to the committee. The motion failed on a party-line vote.

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FARMINGTON, Utah (KSL.com) — Utah theme park Lagoon recently gained national recognition when its new Primordial ride was named 2024’s best new theme park attraction by USA Today’s panel of experts.

In claiming the top spot on a list of 10, Lagoon’s new roller coaster beat out other attractions from theme park giants like SeaWorld and Hersheypark — a distinction that Julie Freed, director of special events at Lagoon amusement park, says is well-earned.

The whimsically themed roller coaster is a uniquely designed “3-D interactive coaster” created exclusively for Lagoon, ensuring it will turn heads again when the new attraction sees its first full season of operation starting this March. The project, eight years in the making, opened in September 2023.

Additionally, on top of being a roller coaster created exclusively for Lagoon amusement park, Freed told KSL that Lagoon built the new coaster largely using local vendors and manufacturers — the fact that approximately 75% of the vendors and manufacturers used in the Primordial’s construction paired with theming around a fantasy forest housed on a massive mountain make the ride feel like a quintessential roller coaster representation of Utah.

“Everything about this ride is state-of-the-art,” said Freed, proudly explaining how all the track elements, screens, game systems and narrative elements have been thoroughly tested to serve the purpose of a massively immersive roller coaster experience for the whole family.

Primordial is not like your parents’ favorite roller coaster — in and around the 80,000 square-foot mountain that serves as the skeleton of the coaster, Primordial houses an array of unique ride elements that set it apart from your average roller coaster, such as a 31-foot-tall vertical drop track element, and is currently the tallest of its kind in the world.

Other unique features including interactive gaming elements, multiple narrative and track endings and its fantasy theme set Primordial apart from any other theme park attraction in Lagoon’s repertoire, Freed said.

“Every time it’s different, every single time it’s thrilling; you never know what you’re going to get. And you compete against the other riders in your vehicle so it’s always a competition,” Freed said, reflecting on her own positive experience riding on Primordial. She added that she particularly enjoyed the gaming element of the ride and perfecting her skills to try and get a better score than she did the time before.

Primordial, with a minimum height requirement of 36 inches and a top speed of 40 mph, is trying to equally appeal to young roller coaster fans and thrill-seekers alike, with a focus on being a thrilling ride that parents can go on with their kids.

The coaster is designed to be a narrative experience that tells a story of “saving the good guy,” according to Freed, who explained that so much interactive media involves shooting bad guys and that Lagoon wanted this new experience to be approachable and enjoyable for the whole family. Compared to Cannibal’s 2½-minute run time, Primordial features a notably longer run time of five minutes meant to facilitate the gameplay and narrative elements key to the experience.

Bolstering its interactive claims, Primordial boasts over 5,000 square feet of screens that riders use to play games by pointing built-in custom-made laser pointers. Furthermore, the coaster also offers riders a sense of adventure by building in multiple possible endings, distinct from one another, through switching tracks and a variety of narrative elements.

“It blew everyone’s expectations out of the water,” said Derek Perry, the director of communications for the American Coaster Enthusiasts club, which rode the attraction multiple times during the club’s fall conference held in Lagoon last October.

Perry told KSL it appeared that Primordial appealed to the roller coaster enthusiasts visiting Lagoon that day, adding that some of the people he was with rode the coaster as many as 10 times to experience as much of what the ride has to offer as possible.

“It was action-packed, unexpected, and was really well done,” Perry said, praising the coaster’s detailed theming and interactive elements. “It’s an attraction that’s perfect for everybody — whether you’re a thrill seeker or a kid who’s just starting to get into roller coasters.”

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Appa is a happy, wiggly boy with a heart of gold. He is getting a little depressed at the shelter and really wishes his fur-ever family would come along.

This two-year-old boxer mix still has lots of puppy energy, so a home with older kids who won’t be overwhelmed by his playfulness would be best.

Sweet and easily trained, handsome Appa would be a paw-some addition to an active family who can commit to continuing his training so he can be the best boy.

Appa and lots of other animals are available for adoption at 3000 Lindsay Boulevard in Idaho Falls. You can see pictures and learn about the shelter on SRAS’s Facebook page

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Idaho, one of the least populous states in the country, is gaining traction in the national population rankings as out-of-state migration numbers push the state to nearly 2 million residents despite a slowdown from the highs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED | Idaho again among fast-growing states in population, but the growth is slowing down

Many are coming from the coastal states of Washington, Oregon and California, but others such as Utah and Nevada are also contributing heavily to parts of the state.

With many pandemic-era travel and immigration restrictions lifted, international immigration also played a part in the state’s growth over the last year.

Here are three key findings in the latest data.

1. Idaho’s population may top 2 million in 2024

Recent numbers provided by the Idaho Department of Labor show the state’s population grew by nearly 26,000 people between July 2022 and July 2023 to nearly 1,965,000 people. This puts it fourth nationally in percentage growth, according to a Friday press release.

Idaho is the 38th most populous state in the country, nearly 200,000 residents ahead of West Virginia and roughly 14,000 residents behind Nebraska, according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers. But Idaho could soon pass Nebraska with a growth rate two-and-a-half times higher than its Midwestern counterpart. Nebraska had 1.96 million people in the 2020 census, Idaho 1.84 million.

The state should hit the 2 million mark within the next two years, according to Jan Roeser, southwestern regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor.

“To me, it almost feels like we’ll nudge up against it (this year),” Roeser said by phone.

The state’s population stood at just over 717,000 total residents in 1970 and could pass the 2 million mark in 2024 or 2025. Ada County, in blue, has the largest population followed by Canyon County, in pink, Kootenai County, in peach, and Bonneville County, in light purple. | Idaho Statesman

Matthew Hurt, economist at the Idaho Division of Financial Management, said during a Jan. 4 meeting of the Legislature’s Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee that his office predicts the state will hit that mark this winter.

The state first crossed the 1 million mark in 1990, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, and swelled during the pandemic at a “breakneck pace,” Roeser said. That migration has cooled off, with domestic migration dropping from 51,000 in 2021 to just over 15,000 in 2023.

“This is happening to a lot of places that really were hit during the pandemic,” Roeser said. “People have gradually started going back to the big cities.”

But the state’s population growth rate in 2023 was still over double the national average of 0.5%, according to the department.

The Idaho Department of Labor attributed 78% of the state’s population growth to primarily domestic migration and 22% to natural change, meaning births minus deaths. Natural change accounted for 10% of the state’s population growth in 2022.

RELATED | What kind of political beliefs are newcomers bringing to Idaho? Survey says…

1. Moves within Idaho fall, but migration between states rises

Ninety percent of the state’s population growth has come from migration since the 2020 census, Hurt said. But overall migration is changing as county to county migration continues to fall and cross-state migration amps up.

“That’s important for the country to understand, but I think it’s particularly important for Idaho to understand, as we project the state will continue to grow through migration,” Hurt said.

He noted that there was a substantial increase in migration toward the end of the 2010s, which could be similar to how the state grows in the next decade.

“It’s easy to be blindsided by the pandemic,” Hurt said. “The state grew very substantially during that period, and oftentimes the migration that began really picking up speed post-2015 gets lost in that discussion.”

RELATED | People are moving to Idaho in droves. But who’s moving out?

Idaho Division of Financial Management models showed that two-thirds of Idaho’s predicted revenue growth through the 2028 fiscal year would be added through migration, according to Hurt.

Southwest Idaho sees the biggest migration from California, with 33% of those migrating to the region coming from California. Of those leaving Southwest Idaho, 19% are heading to Oregon, Hurt said.

Indeed, California is the No. 1 source of migrants to Idaho. For every Idaho family that moves to California, Idaho gets three back, he said.

“California totally dominates the net migration story, and it really is because Californians come to Idaho,” he said. “Idahoans don’t really go to California.”

But other states contribute. In northern Idaho, the biggest source of migrants is Washington. Migration from Utah dominates the east and southeast of the state.

”It’s so easy to get caught up in the story of the pipeline of Los Angeles to Ada and Canyon County … but migration is, and it always has been, a regional phenomenon,” he said. “Idaho has distinct regions and distinct migration experiences worth keeping in mind whenever we’re talking about migration.”

2. Immigration from Ukraine rises

International migration also swelled from 5% of Idaho’s growth in 2022 to 18% in 2023, with an additional 4,664 residents.

Holly Beech, communications manager for the Idaho Office for Refugees, said part of the reason for the jump was that COVID-19 policies restricted international migration and resettlement programs.

International migration to Idaho climbed again after the fall of Kabul as the Taliban captured control of Afghanistan when the U.S. military pulled out in 2021, and with the war in Ukraine, she said.

“A bunch of states stepped up to help,” Beech said by phone.

The state welcomed over 1,200 refugees between October 2022 and October 2023, according to the Idaho Office for Refugees. The office expects to welcome just over 1,000 in fiscal year 2024.

The largest group of refugees came from the Congo at 558, followed by Ukraine with 292 and Afghanistan with 132.

Roeser said military personnel at Mountain Home Air Force Base who may be returning from international assignments could also have contributed to the increase, as they are counted as international migrants.

Hurts said domestic migration still dwarfs international migration.

3. Which county grew faster: Ada or Canyon?

The Boise metropolitan statistical area, which includes Ada, Canyon, Owyhee, Boise and Gem counties, continues to have a commanding lead in the state population.

The higher a county’s population, the darker its shading on this map. Ada and Canyon counties, lower left, have the largest populations, followed by Kootenai County near the top and Bonneville County on the right. | Idaho Department of Labor; US Census Bureau

Nearly 45% of all Idahoans reside within the Boise metropolitan area, according to the department.

But Hurt said Ada County was not the fastest-growing county between April 2020 and July 2022.

“Canyon County grew much faster,” Hurt said. “You have Boundary and Bonner County up north, as well, growing (with) some of the fastest rates.”

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New York (CNN) — The trip to the grocery store is getting easier on the wallet.

Food at home prices rose a modest 1.3% for the year ended in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index report, released Thursday.

That’s the lowest annual increase registered since June 2021 and a far cry from the 11.8% increase registered in December 2022.

Overall food prices were up 0.2% on a monthly basis, matching the rate of increase seen in November, CPI data shows. For the year, food prices are up 2.7%, remaining below the overall inflation rate of 3.4%.

Driving that increase is the food away from home category (meals and snacks at restaurants, vending machines and other venues), which is up 5.2% annually.

“Food away from home’s increase is down from March’s multidecade peak of 8.8%, but still faster than any time between 1983 and 2020,” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, wrote Thursday. “Wages for lower-paid occupations like restaurant jobs are growing faster than the US average, creating price pressures that restaurants are passing on in higher prices.”

He added: “But the big picture is that the economic dislocations caused by the pandemic are fading, economic growth is settling into a more normal pace, and labor shortages are much less of an issue, helping bring inflation back to normal.”

Where prices went higher

If the lure of a fox, a box, a mouse and a house were not enough to encourage Sam-I-Am to chow down on some green eggs and ham, Thursday’s inflation data surely won’t help matters either.

Eggs and ham prices went up the most in December as compared to other food categories tracked in the CPI.

Prices of eggs (the standard, non-green-yolked variety) shot up 8.9% from November, marking the highest monthly increase since January of last year as bird flu has once again struck the industry. For now, economists believe this latest avian flu won’t be as severe as the one in 2022 that devastated flocks and sent egg prices sky-high (at one point rising 70% year over year).

For the 12 months that ended in December, egg prices are down 23.8%.

Also in December, those Christmas hams saw some inflation as well. Ham prices rose 2.6% for the month (2.9% excluding canned ham), BLS data showed.

Fats, oils and peanut butter products saw a similar increase of 2.6% in December, while raw beef steak prices picked up 2.4%.

On an annual basis, the highest price hikes continue to be in the categories of frozen noncarbonated juice and raw beef steaks, which are up 19.1% and 11.2%, respectively.

The tubes of frosty juice have shot up in price because of bad weather (hurricanes, in particular) and a devastating citrus disease. And recent bouts of extreme drought in the United States have resulted in a reduction of cattle herds, constricting beef supply.

Crackers (+7.7%), baby food (+7.3%) and sugar (+6.9%) also are seeing some of the highest gains from a year ago.

“I think people are particularly annoyed when they do things like go to the grocery store and see high prices,” Wendy Edelberg, direct of The Hamilton Project and senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings, told CNN. “But so many of these prices that we see day in and day out, these prices have the potential to just outright fall.”

Where prices are falling

Some products are getting easier on the wallet and at a good time for those fresh New Year’s resolutions: Notably, lettuce, which was down 4% from November and 16.7% from the year before.

Potatoes are getting cheaper as well, dropping 2.8% from November and declining annually at the same rate.

Aside from eggs and lettuce, the categories seeing the largest annual price declines as of December are tomatoes (-7.2%), apples (-5.9%), and fresh vegetables overall (-4.8%).

Other annual declines were seen across the dairy aisle, including cheese, butter and milk, which were down 3.3%, 2.9% and 1.8%, respectively.

The post What’s getting more expensive — and cheaper — at the grocery store appeared first on East Idaho News.

The following is a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Idaho.

BOISE – Peter Timothy Eromenok, 34, of Idaho Falls, was sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced.

According to court records, Eromenok was interviewed by investigators on May 9, 2022, about suspected fentanyl left behind at an Airbnb. During his interview, he admitted to possessing between 10,000 and 15,000 fentanyl pills in his room at a relative’s house in New Plymouth. Investigators searched this residence and found 1,419 grams of fentanyl in pill form (approximately 14,000 fentanyl pills) and more than a half-pound of cocaine.

On May 24, 2022, investigators again encountered Eromenok and found 71.1 grams of fentanyl in pill form (approximately 710 fentanyl pills) and 35.2 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing significant amounts of fentanyl on our streets and, in this case, left dangerously behind in an Airbnb,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “But we are also seeing law enforcement rise to the challenge and seize larger and larger amounts of fentanyl. And we stand ready to bring to justice anyone who would distribute this poisonous drug in Idaho.”

On Jan. 9, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Eromenok to 140 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the investigations by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nampa Police Department, and the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, which led to the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Morse prosecuted the case.

The post Idaho Falls man who left thousands of fentanyl pills at an Airbnb sentenced to federal prison appeared first on East Idaho News.