The Gem State Brief

Curated by Locus Lectorum

April 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Idaho's 2025 legislative session concludes

State Capitol | April 4 | KTVB

Idaho's Legislature had its last official day in session on Friday. Unless a special session is called, the legislature will not reconvene until 2026.

Meridian Tesla dealership vandalized

Tesla Dealership | April 2 | Idaho News

The word "NAZI" was spraypainted on the building, causing over 100k in damages. The FBI is investigating.

Kuna Approves rezoning for new data center

Kuna | April 3 | KTVB

Some Kuna residents have expressed frustration after the Kuna City Council has approved the rezoning of 620 acres at Barker and Locust Grove from agricultural to light industrial, allowing for construction to begin on another data center.

Ammon Bundy loses Idaho Supreme Court appeal over constitutionality of Idaho trespass law

Idaho Supreme Court | April 1 | Idaho Statesmen

4 years after his initial conviction for trespassing on Idaho Capitol grounds, Ammon Bundy has lost his appeal before the Idaho Supreme Court, which held that the Idaho trespass statute does apply to public property and was not unconstitutionally vague.

Idaho Secretary of State testifies before US House committee regarding Idaho's election practices

US Capital | April 8 | Idaho News

Phil McGrane spoke positively of Idaho's efforts to ensure election accuracy, as well as Idaho's efforts to ensure that only American citizens can vote in Idaho elections.

Public input open for Meridian road widening proposal

Meridian Road | April 7 | ITD

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.

Idaho Child Tax Credit will expire at the end of 2025

State Capitol | April 4 | Idaho Capital Sun

Since 2018, the Idaho Child Tax Credit has provided a $205 tax credit for each taxpayer's child under the age of 17. The Legislature did not renew the credit, meaning 2025 will be the last year Idaho taxpayers receive this tax credit.

Politics and Compromise

State Capitol | April 7 | Gem State Chronicle

Reflecting on the 2025 Idaho Legislative session, Brian Almon looks back to the May 2024 primary and the decisions that led to many victories - and a few failures - for the ascendent conservative wing of the Legislature.

No new flag

Boise City Hall | April 8 | Boise Dev

Boise will keep its legacy flag after a tidal wave of negative reactions to the proposed replacements swept through Mayor McLean's office.

Highlights & Insights

✍️ Articles by Locus Lectorum Members

📖 Long-Form Content

"The Dangerous Hedge Fund Basis Trade" - A fairly technical but very insightful look at the impact that Treasury and Treasury future prices have on hedge funds and the market as a whole.
Read More →

🏛️ Apologetics Fact

Carbon-14 dating -- Carbon-14 is an unstable radioactive element that very rapidly decays to nitrogen (in 10s of thousands of years at most, an eye blink at evolutionary time scales), yet it is found in rocks and fossils purported to be millions of years old. This incongruity calls into serious question the theory of an old earth.

🗣️ Quote

"There is no morality in poverty, it's only that wealth gives the immoral greater opportunity for abuse."– Hadrian Marlowe (Howling Dark, Christopher Roucchio)

🏅 Person: John Boyd

Born in Scotland and raised in Rhodesia, John had dreams of being a pilot. His eyesight kept him from the RhAF, but nonetheless he fought in the Rhodesian Bush War as part of the BSAP's anti-terrorist unit and domestically served as a police officer and homicide detective. After the war he found success in the fashion industry before returning to his dream of becoming a pilot. He served with Mission Aviation Fellowship starting in 1993 as a missionary pilot and eventually served as their CEO from 2008-2018.

📕 Book: The Warrior Poet Way

A refreshing and practical take on the need for masculinity in a deeply effeminate culture. Author John Lovell gives real-world advice, drawn largely from personal experience, for how men can be strong and dangerous without being brutes.