Logan Ramsey
Editor-in-Chief
Local: A recall group is gathering signatures to oust the assessor and the county commissioners
Claudia Ortega, the leader of the Pocatello/Bannock County Homeowners’ Alliance, started a recall petition to oust the assessor and the county commissioners. They’ve been gathering signatures from bannock county residents at Revive @ 5 concerts in Old Town Pocatello with a banner that says ‘Recall them all’. Ortega has around 5,000 signatures to recall each of the following Bannock County officials: Assessor Sheri Davies and county commissioners Terrel “Ned” Tovey, Steve Brown and Ernie Moser. After a countywide reassessment, many county residents felt increased property assessments rose to far greater than their actual market value.
Regional: The Innocence Project is looking at a Bonneville County man’s conviction
The Idaho Innocence Project fought for the exoneration of Christopher Tapp, and now they’re looking at Bonneville County resident Michael Whiteley, who was convicted in 1991 for the kidnapping and rape of his ex-wife, Sylvia Canido. Whiteley was convicted in a jury trial that primarily looked at Canido’s testimony. He was sentenced to life in prison and has now been incarcerated for 27 years. At the moment, the Idaho Innocence Project doesn’t have any public statements because they’ve only just begun looking at the case.
Statewide: McDonald’s spent nearly $136 million on Idaho commodities in 2018
A McDonald’s corporate report recently revealed that the company spent nearly $136 million on Idaho agricultural commodities to supply its fast food restaurants during 2018. Over the course of the year, they purchased 271.285 million pounds of Idaho potatoes. McDonald’s also bought 58.3 million pounds of cheese, 14.9 million pounds of beef, 6.4 million pounds of sugar and 2.3 million pounds of onions from Idaho producers. After a gentleman’s agreement in the 1960s between Ray Kroc and J.R. Simplot, the company is still the major supplier of McDonald’s fries and a central player in the Idaho agricultural economy. Simplot officials estimate about a third of their global potato production goes to supply McDonald’s.
National: The Democratic presidential candidates on stage for the third primary debate has been decided
A number of Democratic presidential candidates didn’t make the cut to join the debate stage for the third primary presidential debate. Candidates need four polls showing them at 2 percent or higher and 130,000 unique donors to qualify for the debate. The only hope for candidates who didn’t make the cut is that another poll will come out by August 28 that meets the qualifications. Tom Steyer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard and author Marianne Williamson are the candidates who are almost to the threshold. The poll also showed a massive 32 percent drop for Biden and it leaves him in a three-way tie between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
International: China’s leaders are divided over the trade war with the U.S.
Beijing is beginning to question if a prolonged trade dispute with the United States is a wise course of action. China’s leadership has been confronted by government factions offering contradictory approaches to resolving the ongoing trade war with the U.S. Some argue for cutting a deal as quickly as possible to save China’s economy. There is a growing group of hawks who believe China should push back against the United States and avoid an agreement at all costs. No side is clear what the other expects to get out of this dispute as they head into their 13th round of trade talks in September.
