The Gem State Brief

Curated by Locus Lectorum

April 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Boise City Hall continues flying Pride flag despite law passed by legislature

Boise City Hall | April 11 | Boise Dev

The city of Boise has continued to fly the Pride flag since HB 96 was signed into law on April 4th. HB 96 prescribes which flags Idaho governments can display, and does not include the Pride flag. The city of Boise stated it "will continue to fly existing flags on city property.”

Bernie Sanders and AOC speak to large crowd at the Idaho Center

Idaho Center | April 14 | Idaho Statesmen

Bernie Sanders' "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stopped in Idaho on Monday, drawing a crowd of over 12,000. Sanders' focused his talking points on the wealth of Trump's prominent supporters such as Elon Musk.

Oh SNAP, Little signs candy ban

State Capitol | April 15 | Idaho Capital Sun

Governor Little signed HB109, a bill that directs the Department of Health and Welfare to seek federal approval to exclude candy and soda from the SNAP program.

Autistic teen dies after being shot 9 times by Pocatello police officers

Portneuf Medical Center | April 12 | Idaho Statesmen

A Pocatello teen was shot by police officers in what has become a controversial shooting last week. He died in the hospital on Saturday, sparking further outrage after videos of the shooting surfaced.

LDS Church Announces Plans for New Temple in Caldwell

Caldwell | April 7 | Boise Dev

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to build a new temple in Caldwell, Idaho, as one of 15 new temples worldwide, revealed during the April 2025 general conference.

Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Unveil Plans for New Resort and Casino Near Boise

Mountain Home | April 15 | KTVB

For the next two weeks, the Idaho Transportation Department is gathering public input on a proposal to expand Meridian road to seven lanes between Overland and Kuna, and five lanes between Kuna and Orchard.

Highlights & Insights

✍️ Articles by Locus Lectorum Members

📖 Long-Form Content

"The Wicker Revolution: Revolutionizing the DoD Acquisition Process" - Streamlining government spending has been a priority for the Trump administration, causing a renewed focus on the USA's defense spending processes. This article discusses the proposed changes to the DoD's acquisition process long championed by Senator Roger Wicker, and gives the layman a glimpse into the confusing world of military acquisitions, important not only for bringing government spending under control, but also for effectively equipping our military for the fight to come.

🏛️ Apologetics Fact

Irreducible complexity -- A term coined by Dr. Michael Behe, it describes how many cellular machines require all of their components to function. These machines pose a serious challenge to evolutionary theory, since partially complete versions created by a gradual process would be useless and therefore be unlikely to be passed on to future generations.

🗣️ Quote

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.."– Thomas Paine (Common Sense)

🏅 Person: Henry Harmon Spalding (1803–1874)

A Presbyterian missionary, profoundly impacted northern Idaho’s Nez Perce tribe. With his wife, Eliza, he established the Lapwai Mission in 1836, near modern Lewiston. Spalding translated the Bible into Nez Perce, introduced farming, and printed the region’s first book. His work, part of early 19th-century missionary efforts, left a lasting legacy, commemorated in the Nez Perce National Historical Park.

📕 The Fourth Man: The Hunt for a KGB Spy at the Top of the CIA and the Rise of Putin's Russia

There were three famed KGB moles in the American intelligence apparatus during the Cold War. For many years there were rumors of losses and leaks that must have been the work of a mysterious "fourth man" on the KGB's payroll. Former CIA officer Robert Baer creates a compelling case identifying this mole, while also tying the effects of Cold War spy games to the rise of Vladimir Putin and the modern Russian security apparatus.