Author

Kate Talerico

Kate Talerico

Kate Talerico is a freelance reporter. She was previously a reporter at the Idaho Statesman covering growth, development and local politics. She has also reported for BuzzFeed News, the Atlantic and Mansion Global, and she is interested in stories with a focus on urban policy and government accountability.

school piggy bank

Idaho’s ESA movement hit a wall. It’s got a new strategy now: incrementalism.

By: - March 20, 2023

Advocates pushing for alternatives to traditional public schools in Idaho have added plenty of notches to their belt in recent years — they have passed bills expanding charter schools, adding protection for homeschoolers and providing funding for new grants for families to pay for pandemic-related education expenses.  But there’s one bill they desperately want that […]

Downtown Boise seen from the Boise Depot

Here are Idaho’s top greenhouse gas-producing companies

By: - March 14, 2023

As Idaho grows, so do its emissions. At Idaho facilities tracked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, average annual emissions grew 14% from the period 2014-2017 to 2018-2021. Some of Idaho’s biggest industries are also its top emitters. Power companies like Idaho Power and Tyr Energy, with their natural gas power […]

Where did $50 million in pandemic education relief money in Idaho go?

By: - September 6, 2022

In 2020, Idaho found itself with $1.25 billion in federal funding to spend on coronavirus relief.  Of that money, $50 million went to a program providing families with education spending grants. To get the money in those families’ hands, Idaho awarded a lucrative no-bid contract to a company represented by longtime Idaho Republican Tom Luna.  […]