Local News 10/17/23

Instead of voting in a presidential primary election, Idaho voters will pick their political party’s nominee for president in a series of presidential nominating caucuses in 2024. In a caucus, the votes will be counted by and they’ll be run by the respective political parties, not by state or county elections officials. There will be at least one caucus site per county. The caucuses are for the purpose of nominating the political parties’ presidential candidate. The caucuses are separate from Idaho’s 2024 primary election, which will take place May 21. All 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature up for election in 2024.

Judge Steven Boyce signed an order releasing JJ Vallow's body to his next of kin. JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were victims in the Lori Vallow Daybell case. Lori was found guilty for 1st-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary. Chad Daybell, Lori's husband, was in court last week.

A local coroner has identified a teenager who died over the weekend in a crash near a high school. Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts said the teen who died was 17 year old Jesus Ortiz from Blackfoot. The incident happened near Snake River High School on Saturday night. Officials say a man was driving a GMC pickup truck. Ortiz was the passenger. The driver allegedly ran a stop sign at the intersection and hit another pickup truck. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

A recent study revealed that Idaho tops the list of states people are moving to from other states due to job opportunities and housing affordability. State-to-state movers totaled 7.9 million in 2021 and 8.2 million in 2022, the study results found. In Idaho, that equated to 25 new residents per 1,000 existing residents in 2021.

In a request for clemency, attorneys for a man on Idaho’s death row say his original sentencing judge now believes he shouldn’t be executed. Thomas Creech has been on death row since 1983. A judge set his execution date for Nov. 8. The petition for clemency goes through the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole, which could choose whether to grant Creech a hearing.