Troy Oppie

Finding ways to keep people safe from COVID-19 while indoors during the cold weather months has caused some to turn to a technology called ionization. The modern version of this centuries-old technology is called needlepoint bipolar ionization, and a Nampa company has been installing it in businesses, healthcare buildings, schools and government buildings to kill airborne coronavirus molecules.

With many of us staying home and ordering items online, there’s more recycling being done in the Treasure Valley this year. And a new report shows the amount of recyclable materials ending up in the Ada County landfill has actually increased this year.

Hops are the primary flavor ingredient in beer, and demand has soared as craft beer has boomed. About 16% of commercial hop fields are on Idaho soil, second-most in the country behind Washington State.

Virtual Santa visits, masks, reservations and wax-sealed letters: There's plenty of changes at Santa's workshop this holiday and some will outlast the pandemic.

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in November, down from 5.5% in October, and 7% below the historic high of 11.8% set in April.

Some Idaho families won’t be waiting much longer for grant money promised as part of Governor Brad Little’s ‘Strong Families, Strong Students’ program.

The Boise-based Treasure Valley Family YMCA received a surprise donation this month from MacKenzie Scott. The author is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and the 21st-richest person in the world. On Tuesday, Scott announced she had given $4.1 billion to 384 different charities.

Sports are a significant part of life for many of us, but the pandemic has significantly altered the sports landscape. Some leagues have been more successful than others, and while there’s a legitimate question of should college football be happening at all during a pandemic, it is.

Today on the weekly Idaho Matters Reporter Roundtable, we’ll catch you up on the news you may have missed, and try to make sense of what it means for the state's fight against COVID-19.  

While many Idaho politicians announced support Thursday for the Texas Attorney General’s lawsuit challenging election processes in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden was not among them.

Thanksgiving Day highway and interstate traffic volumes were down considerably compared to 2019 in southwest, south central and northern Idaho, according to Idaho Transportation Department data.

The pandemic has impacted us all in different ways. But a nearly universal impact has come to our mental health. For students and educators, the importance of tending to mental health needs in order to be able to learn and teach is critical. 

Earlier this week, Boise State University hosted a national summit on mental health, meant to help campus communities identify areas of need and direct people to resources for help. On Tuesday, Dec. 8, the Idaho State Board of Education will host its own digital mental health summit.

Some anti-mask protestors who showed up at multiple downtown businesses this past weekend will get trespassing citations from the Boise Police Department.

In April, Governor Brad Little authorized a 16-member coronavirus financial advisory committee to oversee $1.25 billion in federal pandemic aid provided to Idaho through the CARES Act.

Health professionals have begged people to stay home this Thanksgiving and celebrate only within your household. Recent surveys have shown around 30% of people plan to celebrate just within their family household, twice the number of an average year. Smaller gatherings can mean people are looking for smaller turkeys.

Since millions nationwide lost jobs in the first days of the pandemic, Idaho has had one of the best unemployment recoveries of any state. Thousands of people do remain unemployed in Idaho, but as Boise State Public Radio’s Troy Oppie recently discovered, many of them have not been counted in the state’s weekly unemployment report.