On this week's show, we visit the South Idaho Correctional Institution with lawmakers preparing next year's budgets, and the Our Care Can't Wait coalition rallies support to address the direct care workforce shortage and its impact on the disabled community. Plus, a roundup of the week's elections.

Idaho Reports airs Friday at 8 p.m. on Idaho Public Television.

For some disabled Idahoans, ‘my entire independence relies’ on direct care workers

An estimated 33,000 Idahoans rely on direct care workers for daily assistance on tasks like bathing, transportation and household chores. Those workers help older adults and people with disabilities live independently and play a critical role in keeping more Idahoans out of assisted living facilities. But there’s an acute shortage of people in those jobs.

READ MORE HERE

See more in this week's episode of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television.

Divided Medicaid Managed Care Task Force nears finalizing recommendations

The Medicaid Managed Care Task Force has been meeting since July, after the Legislature established the group to address the state's growing Medicaid budget. After lengthy debate Tuesday and compromised amendments, the task force is circulating a draft of its final recommendations and draft legislation.

READ MORE HERE

Chronic wasting disease detected in New Meadows mule deer

This is the first positive CWD sample from the 2023 hunting season, while more samples are at the lab and more results are expected throughout the end of the year.

Idaho Fish and Game officials ask that all hunters participating in deer or elk hunts in Units 32A, 22, 23, 24, and 32 have their harvested animal tested for the disease.

READ MORE HERE

chronic-wasting-disease-monitoring-in-idaho image

Follow online for updates throughout the week:

gavel-on-court-desk-2021-12-09-09-42-59-utc image

Gov. Little names new Idaho Supreme Court justice

Gov. Brad Little announced his selection to replace retiring justice John Stegner on the Idaho Supreme Court: First Judicial District Judge Cynthia Meyer.

"I have loved every day that I have served the people of northern Idaho as a district judge of the First Judicial District. I will miss my colleagues and court staff tremendously," Meyer said. " I am committed to upholding the principles that make our judicial system so strong: the rule of law, justice, and fairness; and I will serve with integrity, with respect and dignity, and with humility.”

READ MORE HERE

Podcast: How Counties Manage Overcrowded Jails

artworks-4F8kc2yD7qruzQP7-8aU8Sg-t500x500 image

Ada County voters narrowly missed the two-thirds majority needed to pass a jail expansion bond in Tuesday's local election - but it's a familiar story for many counties. Associate producer Logan Finney talks with jail administrator Capt. Doug Hughes from the Twin Falls Sheriff's Department about what a failed jail bond means for an Idaho community.

WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS

Help support our journalism:

The generous support of viewers like you makes it possible for us at Idaho Public Television to tell Idaho’s stories.

SUPPORT IDAHOPTV

Idaho Reports

1455 N Orchard St

Boise ID 83706-2239

(208) 373-7220

Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.