Idaho

With four gray wolves having been killed in Idaho since Sept. 1, a federal judge has cleared the way for legal hunting of the once-endangered predators to proceed. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy in Montana found that there would be no irreparable harm if the limited hunt in that state and Idaho were allowed to go forward. But the judge also wrote that the Fish and Wildlife Service, in continuing to list Wyoming wolves under the Endangered Species Act while delisting them in the two neighboring states, "has distinguished a natural population of wolves based on a political line, not the best available science."

Walt Minnick, the new Democratic congressman from Idaho, doesn't think much of President Obama's economic recovery plan. "I think it's a horrible idea to try to appropriate large sums of taxpayer dollars to programs that have never been debated or authorized," Minnick wrote recently. Obama staked his presidency on the sprawling legislative package, and the administration fought hard for its passage. But if anyone at the White House was unhappy with Minnick for his opposition, they never let on.

An Idaho Republican gubernatorial hopeful said he was only joking when he said he would buy a license to hunt President Obama. Rex Rammell, a long-shot candidate slated to run against incumbent C.L. "Butch" Otter in the May GOP primary, made the comment at a Republican rally Tuesday in Twin Falls, where talk turned to the state's planned wolf hunt, for which hunters must purchase an $11.50 wolf tag. When an audience member shouted a question...

A federal judge Monday restored protections for grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park, overturning a George W. Bush administration finding that the animals had made an "amazing" and sustainable recovery. In a strongly worded order, U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy said that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's conclusion that the bears would find adequate food and protected habitat in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho was not supported by the government's own science, and that protections put into place for the grizzlies were not enforceable.

North Plains blizzard: The headline on an article in Wednesday's Section A stated that tornadoes had touched down west of a winter storm in Nebraska and Idaho. The tornadoes were east of the storm, in Nebraska and Iowa.

Cressman obituary: The obituary of meteorologist George P. Cressman in Tuesday's California section said that he worked in several remote outposts, including Mount Home, Idaho. The correct name is Mountain Home, Idaho.

A noisy fight over user fees has erupted on Idaho's scenic lakes and world-famous river rapids. It pits white-water river rafters, kayakers and canoeists against powerboaters. At issue is who pays for services such as docks, launching pads, parking lots, restrooms and search-and-rescue efforts. Motorboaters pay registration fees and gas taxes; others don't. Powerboaters complained to state officials that others were not paying their fair share of user fees.

Idaho's governor said he would support public hunts to kill all but 100 of the state's gray wolves after the U.S. government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said he wanted hunters to kill about 550 gray wolves. The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be considered endangered. "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself," Otter said during a rally of about 300 hunters.

A man accused of kidnapping and molesting two Idaho children after killing their family has confessed to the slayings of three other children in Washington state and California, federal prosecutors said in Boise. In court documents, the prosecutors cite the confessions to the earlier killings as they argue to seek the death penalty against Joseph Edward Duncan III, who was indicted last week on charges of kidnapping two northern Idaho children and killing one of them.