The Gem State Brief

Curated by members of Locus Lectorum

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Locus Lectorum
November 06, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Idaho has the highest debt-to-income ratio in the nation

State Capitol | November 4 | Idaho News

New data collected by the Federal Reserve shows that Idaho residents have the highest debt to income ratio in the nation, at 2.06, meaning that on average an Idaho household has a little more than two dollars in debt for every one dollar of annual income, not counting student loan debt. Likely contributing factors include high housing prices, stagnant wage growth, and a large population of younger residents who have recently moved to Idaho.

Idaho Real Estate Commission denies license to homeschool graduate

State Capitol | October 30 | Representative Heather Scott

The Idaho Real Estate Commission is being sued by Heather Jones, a resident of Idaho, for discriminating against her by refusing to recognize her homeschool diploma, thereby denying her a real estate license.

Anti-ICE rally in Boise draws counter-protesters

Boise City Hall | November 2 | Idaho News 6

A few hundred people gathered outside Boise City Hall to protest the recent ICE operation in Wilder, organized by Idaho 50501. A couple dozen counter-protestors were present in support of ICE's actions, but Boise police managed to keep the interactions between the two groups non-violent.

This story is the latest in a series, view the full thread here → 🧵

Signature collections begin for medical marijuana ballot initiative

State Capitol | October 31 | Idaho News 6

The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho is now collecting signatures to put a ballot initiative in the 2026 election to legalize medical marijuana use in the state of Idaho. They have until April 30th to collect at least 70,000 signatures from registered Idaho voters.

Governor Little signs executive order creating task force focused on rural healthcare

State Capitol | October 30 | Gem State Chronicle

The "Making Rural Idaho Healthy Again Act" will create a task force to advise on Idaho's application for $200 million a year from Donald Trump's Rural Health Transformation Program. Idaho expects to find out how much the state will receive in grant money under the program by the end of the year.

Idaho AG Whistleblower lawsuit continues to Idaho Supreme Court

State Capitol | October 31 | Idaho Capital Sun

After an Idaho judge dismissed the suit filed by Daphne Huang, a former attorney in the Idaho Attorney General's office, saying that no rational juror could find that she had proved her claims, Huang has filed an appeal to bring the case before the Idaho Supreme Court.

This story is the latest in a series, view the full thread here → 🧵

Highlights & Insights

"The Morning After" — A comprehensive conservative perspective on national and local election results this week, and their implications for the future.

🏛️ Apologetics Fact

The evolutionary take on the whale is that it evolved from a terrestrial ancestor, which over millions of years slowly adapted from land, to semi-aquatic, to fully aquatic, losing their hind limbs and developing flippers in the process. Evolutionists will cite evidences such as a series of ancestors in the fossil record, showing the gradual evolution from land to sea; whale embryos having rear limbs that disappear before birth; and vestigial leg bones, primarily the pelvis, that indicate a previous life on land. Let's see how "whale" these arguments hold up when put under a little scrutiny. This week, we will briefly take a look at whale embryos and the supposedly vestigial leg bones. In regards the the embryos, the "legs" that are briefly seen during development seem to rather be the early stages of development for bones used to support reproductive organs. We can see a similar example of this in the whale's pharyngeal arches. During embryo development, these appear to be gills, but then are formed into various other parts of the head. It's not a stretch to believe that the same thing is happening with these supposed "legs", given the presence of leg like bones in a whale's reproductive system. Furthermore, in 2014, it was discovered that the male whale pelvis is actually used to anchor reproductive organs, demonstrating that it has a clear purpose and is not a left over from a previous stage of evolution.

🗣️ Quote

"The real danger of democracy is, that the classes which have the power under it will assume all the rights and reject all the duties-that is, that they will use the political power to plunder those-who-have."– William Graham Sumner, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other

🏅 Person: John Hunyadi (1405-1456)

Born around 1405 to a Hungarian nobleman, John Hunyadi was noted for his significant victories against the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Commanding various Hungarian armies, Hunyadi was so successful that he earned the nickname "Turk-Buster". While serving as the Regent for the King of Hungary, Hunyadi ruled the nation while repulsing multiple invasion attempts, culminating with his relief of the siege of Belgrade, defeating the Sultan who had previously conquered Constantinople. Killed by a plague shortly after this victory, Pope Pius II named him "Christ's Champion", as his victories prevented Hungary from falling to the Ottomans for over 60 years.

📕 Book: The Perfect Police State

Journalist Geoffrey Cain explores the terrifying pervasiveness of the Chinese surveillance state created to surveil the Uyghur minority in western China. From the beginnings of the social credit system, to the in home surveillance cameras and reeducation camps, this book provides a clear look at what is perhaps the most all-encompassing example of total government control in history up to this point.

Non-AI Generation Disclaimer: All elements of the Gem State Brief (headlines, summaries, highlights, insights, original articles/videos, etc.) are produced exclusively by members of the Locus Lectorum book club (learn about each member here), not AI. This is news by humans for humans.