Samantha Wright

Thursday morning, 72 children and adults will jump in a pool in Eagle to try and help break the Guinness record for the world’s largest swimming lesson.  The old record, set last year, was 20-thousand swimmers. 

The state of Idaho today executed convicted murderer Richard Leavitt.  His death comes just seven months after the execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades. 

Idaho Department of Correction director Brent Reinke says the agency was "battle tested" in carrying out this procedure. “I think the prepare time was a little bit less because November wasn’t that long ago, so I think that helped us from a preparation standpoint with staff.”

A puppy, picked up by campers in Ketchum last month, is a wild wolf.  The Idaho Department of Fish and Game confirmed that Tuesday after a DNA test came back positive. 

Out of town campers picked up what they thought was a lost puppy and took it to a vet.  The pup ended up at Zoo Boise, who has been caring for it.  He is gaining weight and his health is improving. 

Fish and Game searched for a wolf pack near where the pup was found, but couldn’t find one.  They speculate the pack was moving the puppy and may have been disturbed by traffic on the road. 

Two grass fires that burned south of Kuna Sunday were sparked by gunfire.  Both fires were contained by Sunday night and both burned on public land. 

Mallory Eils is a fire information officer for the Boise District Bureau of Land Management.  She says the Kave Fire and the Poen Fire were the result of gunshots.  “Someone was probably out doing some target practice and shooting something that resulted in a spark or maybe an exploding target is a common thing that people shoot at and because of the dry fuel conditions out there a wildfire resulted.” 

An Idaho Army National Guard soldier was shot this week in Afghanistan.  Sergeant Albert Vieth of Star was hit by enemy fire while flying in a Black Hawk helicopter.   

Vieth was hit twice in the arm.  He was treated while on the helicopter, then sent to a hospital in Germany.  He was later sent to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington for further treatment. 

Monday night’s storm blew down trees and power lines, knocking out electricity around southern Idaho.  What was inconvenient for some, turned critical for Twin Falls. The city lost power to the four pumps that supply most of the area’s water and overnight, Twin Falls declared a state of emergency.

Monday afternoon, the power came back on, and the pumps are now working.  Josh Palmer is a public information officer for Twin Falls. He says those pumps pull water from the Blue Lakes Reservoir and that water is low.

A U.S. District Judge says he won't change how journalists view the upcoming execution of a death row inmate next week. News media outlets including the Associated Press filed a lawsuit to allow witnesses to see the entire execution from start to finish.  That's not currently allowed. State officials say they want to protect the identity of the people who prepare inmates for execution.  

Idaho's new prison contraband law has yielded its first arrest.  Inmate Joshua Combs was charged with having of a cell phone and chewing tobacco at the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood. 

The new law was approved this year during the legislative session.  It makes it a felony if a prisoner is caught bringing tobacco or phones into a jail. The law also means a prisoner could get an additional five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.  Before this year, the crime was a misdemeanor.

What’s thought to be a wolf puppy, picked up by campers in Ketchum, is resting in Zoo Boise’s animal hospital.  The campers who found the pup took it to a local vet who contacted Idaho Fish and Game. 

The kestrels have hatched!  In a story we told you last month, the Peregrine Fund is asking citizen scientists to put up nest boxes and monitor American Kestrel populations across the U.S.  The American Kestrel Partnership has a box with a webcam posted at the

Idahoans will know this week if the state’s primary elections did in fact set a new record low turnout.   

One day after the May 15th primary, Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said 23% of registered voters cast ballots.  Ysursa will be among those who’ll certify election results tomorrow. If that 23% figure holds, it would be the lowest turnout ever recorded for an Idaho primary.     

If you bought some bratwurst for a Memorial Day cook-out, check the label.  The USDA says Zenner’s Quality Meat Products of Portland is recalling more than 3,500 pounds of bratwurst sold in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and California.  The recall was issued because the label doesn’t say the product includes soy protein, which some people are allergic to.  Zenner’s Smoked Brotwurst was sold at Winco stores and has a sell-by date of July 17th.

Race horse Rousing Sermon may, or may not, run in the Belmont Stakes in June.  The horse was raised at the Tree Top Ranch in Parma.  He became a favorite of Idaho fans when he ran in the Kentucky Derby, where he came in 8th.  He skipped the Preakness, and now his trainers are trying to decide if he’ll give Belmont a go.

NEW UPDATE:  The Boise Police Department says all the stolen Exergy bikes have now been recovered.  After the first six were found at Boise State University, police began searching the rest of the campus.  The remaining seven bikes were found, at two other locations on campus.  The bikes appear to be undamaged.  Officers are processing the bikes for evidence as fast as possible, to try to get them back to TIPCO riders who are set to ride in the Exergy Tour tomorrow.

A new report out today says one in every eleven children will spend a portion of their lives without their parents, living instead with a relative.  That number is growing both in the U-S and in Idaho.  These kids often don’t get all the services that are available to them.  The study hopes to change that.

Drivers who use a busy intersection in Meridian will soon see some changes.  The Idaho Transportation Department is eliminating free-running right turns at the intersection of Eagle and Fairview roads.  Instead, all turns will be controlled by a traffic light.  Spokesman Reed Hollinshead says the change will effect a lot of people. “Well this is the busiest intersection in the county, it has been for several years.  If you’re one of the 6,300 cars that head through there on average in rush hour, this will be big news to you.”

Boise is revamping its commercial recycling program in an effort to get more businesses to sign up.  Right now, there are 4,000 commercial trash customers, but only 1,000 of them participate in the recycling program.  That means a lot more trash goes into the landfill.  Catherine Chertudi is the solid waste programs manager for Boise Public Works.   “Businesses do dispose of seven time more trash then a residence," she explains. "So there’s a huge opportunity to divert those materials to recycling.”