The Gem State Brief

Curated by Locus Lectorum

July 31, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Governor Little meets with RFK Jr., celebrates MAHA agenda

State Capitol | July 23 | Idaho Capital Sun

Signing a proclamation making August 2025 the "Keep Idaho Healthy" month, Gov. Little focused on Idaho's recent moves to prevent SNAP benefits being used for junk food and to limit cell phone usage in classrooms. RFK Jr. praised Idaho's response to COVID in 2020 as an example of the kind of medical freedom the Trump administration espouses.

Family of 3 dies in plane crash shortly after taking off from Nampa airport

Nampa | July 27 | Idaho Press

The initial FAA report on the incident states that the plane crashed into the backyard of a Nampa home shortly after taking off from the airport, having flown less than 2 miles. While no one on the ground was injured, the pilot and his wife were declared dead at the scene, while their 23-month-old toddler died at St Luke's Boise after having been transported there.

Huckleberries illegally harvested from national forest seized

Bonners Ferry | July 28 | Local News 8

A joint law enforcement effort seized over 100 gallons of huckleberries that were suspected of being commercially harvested in Boundary County. Commercially harvesting huckleberries (or damaging or removing huckleberry bushes) is illegal in all Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

Nuclear plant planned for the Magic Valley

Jerome County | July 29 | Idaho Statesman

A new energy company is planning to repurpose part of the Lava Ridge BLM ground for a nuclear power facility.

Attorney General's office asks for dismissal of whistleblower lawsuit

State Capitol | July 29 | Idaho Capital Sun

In a continuation of a saga that started in 2023, Idaho AG Raul Labrador has asked a judge to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit brought against his office by former employee Daphne Huang. Huang was fired in 2023, and Labrador supplied evidence that she was fired for misconduct, not whistleblowing as her lawsuit claims. Huang maintains she was fired because of ethical concerns she raised about Labrador and his policies.

Highlights & Insights

"Army of Drones" - A fascinating—and sobering—look into the Ukrainian army's gamification of drone combat.

🏛️ Apologetics Fact

It has become common in modern churches to teach that Noah's Flood was only local. However, this is clearly contradicted by the Biblical account. Genesis records that the Flood covered all the high mountains by at least 25 feet (Genesis 7:19). Also, God clearly states the purpose of the Flood is to destroy the people and animals of the earth, including birds (Genesis 6:7,13). Furthermore, the Flood also lasted over a year, far longer than any local flood could. For these reasons and many others, it is contradictory to affirm that the Bible is inerrant but also claim the Flood was local.

🗣️ Quote

"What people used to believe only God could give them they now believe that their government should give them, and then when it doesn't, they are disappointed." — Michael Ramsden

🏅 Person: Joshua Chamberlain (1828-1914)

Born in Maine as the oldest of five children, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain studied theology and language before serving as a professor of modern languages at his alma mater. When the Civil War began, his strong belief in the justification of the war caused the college to grant him a leave of absence to cool off studying in Europe. Instead, he enlisted in the Union Army and was appointed to serve as an officer in the 20th Maine Regiment. In command of the regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg, almost completely out of ammunition and guarding the extreme flank of the Union line, Chamberlain personally led the famous bayonet charge down Little Round Top that stopped the Confederate advance, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Wounded six times during the war, he served as the governor of Maine for several terms, finally dying in 1914 of his war wounds, 50 years after receiving them, considered by many to be the final casualty of the Civil War. Confederate General John Gordon, who surrendered to Chamberlain at Appomattox, described him in his memoirs as "the knightliest soldier of the Federal Army".

📕 Book: The Devil's Delusion

Pretentious, sarcastic, and hilarious—while it may not objectively be the best refutation of scientific atheism, seeing the preferred style of the condescending modern atheists employed against them is uniquely enjoyable. On both philosophical and scientific grounds, Berlinski ably shows that far from being logically rigorous, scientific atheism is a “frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt”.