Commentary

Three U.S. senators play baseball, including JFK as catcher

John F. Kennedy, Montana’s Mike Mansfield and what real political leadership looked like

BY: - November 28, 2023

Nov. 22 was the 60th anniversary of the assassination of the 35th American president, John F. Kennedy, a “cruel and shocking act of violence,” as the Warren Commission called it, “directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind.”  Montana Sen. Mike Mansfield, a close friend of the murdered president – they […]

Close-up of a chair on a student's desk inside a classroom in a secondary school

Since 2015, Teach For America has reached 30,000 Idaho students. Deep cuts could hurt recruitment.

BY: - November 27, 2023

Teach for America Idaho faces a potentially devastating blow to our programs should the U.S. Congress enact the deep cuts to the AmeriCorps program that are currently under consideration. An important piece of Teach For America Idaho’s work focuses on improving the futures of Idaho youth, particularly those in rural communities. In a number of […]

Illustration of Insulin bottle and needle on top of a pile of one hundred dollar bills with a USA outline in red.

We don’t need false promises from Pharma during Diabetes Awareness Month. We need reform.

BY: and - November 23, 2023

Only eight days of National Diabetes Awareness Month had passed this November when pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced it would be pulling Levemir, a long-acting insulin that millions of insulin-dependent diabetic patients depend on, from the U.S. market.  In March, Novo Nordisk had announced it would be lowering the price of Levemir by 65%. This, […]

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park in 2017

The federal government must proceed with grizzly bear recovery in Bitterroot Mountains Wilderness

BY: - November 22, 2023

Recovery of endangered grizzly bears in the lower 48 states hinges on critical genetic connectivity between the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental grizzlies provided by the Bitterroot Mountains. Located on the western border between Montana and Idaho, the region contains one of the largest wilderness areas in the contiguous states and was historically home to […]

young dancer participates in the Julyamsh Powwow in Coeur d'Alene

November’s Native American Heritage Month is a complex issue for many Indigenous people

BY: - November 21, 2023

November is Native American Heritage Month, an interesting if not complex time to celebrate Indigenous people. Many Indigenous people complain about November being selected for the celebration. After all, the month holds Thanksgiving. To many Native people, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the attempted genocide of many tribes by the settlers they helped, not to […]

Jon Lee Wray and several of his regular visitors in home hospice

Think you’re prepared to care for an aging parent? Think again.

BY: - November 17, 2023

My father-in-law was the happiest person I’ve ever known. Jon Lee Wray was a simple man — a farmer and cowboy — who spent his whole life within eight miles of his Weiser home.  After a heart attack in 2001, my husband and I began supporting his care and had tough conversations about end-of-life planning. […]

World War II veterans

As we celebrate Veterans Day, here’s what individual Idahoans can do to honor America’s vets

BY: - November 11, 2023

Americans can commemorate Veterans Day twice this year. The official observance is Nov. 11. It dates back to the armistice ending World War I, which went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It was originally called Armistice Day, but it was renamed Veterans Day in […]

Close-up of voting ballot with political parties listed

At Veterans for Idaho Voters, we believe in better government with better elections

BY: - November 10, 2023

Elections are the foundation of American representative government. Bad elections result in bad government. Unfortunately, Idaho’s political parties have gained too much control over our elections, deciding who is on the ballot and who can vote. As a result, Idaho’s taxpayer-funded elections are among America’s least competitive. Fifty out of 105 state legislative seats were […]

Idaho Capitol Building

Idaho lawmakers should provide at least three-day notice of bills scheduled for public hearing

BY: - November 9, 2023

We’re still a few months away from the start of Idaho’s 2024 legislative session in January, but there is one rule change that we’d like to see lawmakers make to improve public participation in the legislative process. To help maximize public involvement in their governance, lawmakers should amend their rules to require at least three-day […]

a package of NARCAN (Naloxone) nasal spray sits on the counter at a Walgreens pharmacy

Empowering communities: Naloxone’s role in tackling opioid overdoses in Idaho

BY: - November 8, 2023

Idaho, like many other states across the United States, is grappling with the devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic. This public health crisis has led to an alarming increase in opioid-related overdoses and emergency room visits, impacting individuals across their life span. Idaho data from 2022 indicates there were 381 deaths related to drug overdose, […]

120,000 Idahoans have been diagnosed with diabetes. But there are state programs that can help.

BY: - November 7, 2023

Don’t feel badly if you do not realize that Nov. 14 is World Diabetes Day, or that November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. There are no fireworks, parades or party hats to mark the “celebration.” It’s more of a somber time to draw awareness about the crisis of diabetes – an epidemic long before COVID-19 […]

The "Earthquake camp" of the Hayden expedition in 1871

The complicated history of Ferdinand Hayden and the founding of Yellowstone National Park

BY: and - November 1, 2023

The area now known as Yellowstone National Park — or the “land of the burning ground” — has been known to Indigenous people for at least 11,000 years. In fact, in 1805 the governor of the Louisiana Territory described a map drawn on a bison hide by an Indigenous American showing a “volcano” on the Yellowstone […]