Logan Ramsey
Editor-in-Chief
Local: Two teens accused of murdering an elderly woman will face trial in Pocatello
Dustin G. Alfaro, 18, and a 17-year-old male juvenile, accused of murdering an 87-year-old Pocatello woman last month, have been transported here from a detention facility in California to face charges. Alfaro, who is currently being held at the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello, was set to be arraigned at the Bannock County Courthouse on Monday or Tuesday. Few details have been released about the juvenile, who’s being held at a juvenile detention facility in Pocatello. Herzog said authorities haven’t yet determined if they will charge him as an adult.
Regional: Extreme weather forecasted for East Idaho
Snow, rain, thunderstorms and flooding are all in the forecast this week for East Idaho. The precipitation started falling Sunday and could continue all week. Even lower elevation areas such as Pocatello, Preston, Blackfoot, American Falls, Idaho Falls and Rexburg could see snow. Thunderstorms could also hit East Idaho this week. The weather service said the rain and snow Monday night through Tuesday night could cause some East Idaho waterways to overflow their banks and flood nearby areas.
Statewide: The state is in a legal battle over whether or not to provide a gender reassignment surgery in prison
Adree Edmo, a transgender woman who was sentenced to prison in 2012, could become the the first incarcerated person in Idaho to undergo gender reassignment surgery while in custody. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in December that the state must provide Edmo with the surgery within six months, but a federal appeals panel in late March granted Idaho’s request to postpone the surgery. What happens next will be decided in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. According to the lawsuit, Edmo has undergone some hormone therapy treatment and attempted to castrate herself twice.
National: House Democrats will attempt to end the months-long disaster relief stalemate
In response to a months-long stalemate in the Senate over disaster relief funds, Democrats are prepared to push their own package that includes $2.5 billion dollars in aid for the rain-swollen Midwest. The new version is unlikely to advance in the Senate because it includes disaster aid to Puerto Rico, which is the Republican’s main criticism of the bill. “If Senate Republicans fail to advance legislation this week, we are prepared to introduce a new bill that builds on our already passed legislation and broadens assistance to the people of the Midwest,” said Evan Hollander, spokesman for House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).
International: President Trump designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a “foreign terrorist organization”
The Trump administration designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a “foreign terrorist organization,” which is the first designation by any American administration of an entire foreign government entity. The designation comes with sanctions, including freezes on assets the Guard may have in U.S. jurisdictions and a ban on Americans doing business with it or providing material support for its activities. The designation could significantly complicate U.S. military and diplomatic work with many Shiite militias and Iraqi political parties who have close ties to the Guard.
