Crime is a policy choice
Plus reactions to abortion initiative, and Congress wants to make DST permanent
Greenbelt or Green Zone?
Over the course of the past week, there was a murder and an assault on the Greenbelt. The alleged murderer is a homeless man who was just interviewed by local news media about taxpayer-subsidized support services, and the alleged assailant was a transient worker who doesn’t speak English.
I suggest that crimes like this are the result of policy choices by Boise city leadership:
Senate Bill 1141, sponsored in 2025 by Rep. Bruce Skaug and Sen. Codi Galloway, prohibits public camping in large Idaho cities, including Boise. Every Democrat voted against the bill, along with Sen. Jim Guthrie, and someone vandalized a fence in Galloway’s district, accusing her of hating the homeless. After Gov. Brad Little signed S1141 into law, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean denounced the legislation, claiming it would make it harder to address homelessness.
Now a man is dead because Boise refused to enforce state law regarding public camping, and the rhetoric coming from Boise PD treats it as though it were a random act of nature rather than the result of deliberate policy choices.
House Republican leaders are furious about this, and issued a press release calling Boise mayor Lauren McLean to task for not enforcing the law:
“The law doesn’t need to be strengthened or changed — it just needs to be followed,” said Speaker of the House Mike Moyle. “Idahoans who use the Boise greenbelt, float the Boise River or visit a downtown restaurant should not have to fear for their safety because Boise Mayor Lauren McLean won’t follow the law. We are a nation of laws, and Idahoans expect our public officials to follow the law. It is sad and infuriating to see a possibly preventable crime occur because Boise won’t enforce the law.”
Moyle and Skaug have requested and been assured, by the Idaho Attorney General, that potential legal options against the City of Boise are being reviewed.
Abortion on the ballot
Secretary of State Phil McGrane sent out a press release stating that the abortion initiative has qualified for the November ballot, while neither marijuana initiative received enough signatures:
The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced today that the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act initiative has met the statutory requirements to appear on the November 3, 2026, General Election ballot. The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act initiative did not qualify for the November ballot after failing to submit the required number of valid petition signatures, both in total number of signatures and required legislative districts.
The Secretary of State’s Office issued a letter of acceptance to organizers of the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act initiative, certifying that the initiative met the required threshold of valid petition signatures with a total of 75,478 signatures submitted across 20 legislative districts. This satisfies the statutory geographic distribution requirement by obtaining valid signatures equal to at least 6 percent of registered voters in no fewer than 18 legislative districts. Idaho county clerks verified petition signatures before the initiative was submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office for final review and certification.
The Attorney General’s official title and summary of the initiative are as follows:
Short Title:
MEASURE CREATING RIGHT TO ABORTION BEFORE FETUS VIABILITY, AND POST-VIABILITY TO PROTECT HEALTH; RIGHT TO PRIVACY; HEALTHCARE PROVIDER LIABILITY PROTECTIONS.
The Idaho Republican Party issued a statement in response:
“Here is the first thing every Idahoan needs to know,” said Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon. “Proposition 1 has no time limit. Not six weeks. Not fifteen. Not twenty-four. There is no week anywhere in that document.
“An abortion at nine months is legal under Proposition 1, if a provider deems it necessary, even if a healthy baby could otherwise be delivered.
“A provider’s opinion is the whole test. That is it.”
Idaho law today says something Proposition 1 does not. If a baby can survive, the doctor has to try to save him. Proposition 1 removes that entirely. In fact, it has no reference at all to the unborn baby.
Proposition 1 does not even require a doctor. It says an abortion may be performed by “a licensed person or an entity.” That is their language, not ours.
“This initiative not only threatens the unborn baby, it threatens mothers as well,” said Julianne Young, 2nd Vice Chair of the Idaho GOP. “Maternal mortality improved after our Defense of Life Act was passed. This shouldn’t surprise us because abortion—especially unsupervised abortion—endangers women’s lives.”
Roe v. Wade let states require a physician. Idaho did. Proposition 1 does not.
“This is not going back to Roe,” Moon added. “This is far more extreme than Roe.”
I posted on X that it’s time for all conservatives and Republicans to put aside their differences and work together to defeat this evil initiative. Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld posted this morning that your vote on this initiative could literally save lives:
Permanent Daylight Savings Time?
I don’t like the twice-yearly time changes, and it sounds like there are few who do. Is the solution permanent Standard Time, or permanent Daylight Savings? Congress is leaning toward the latter. Congressmen Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson both voted in favor of a bill doing just that, and Simpson issued a statement:
“Every Idahoan I’ve spoken to dreads the seasonal time change,” said Rep. Simpson. “Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that making this change will benefit farmers, outdoor recreationists, employers, and even public safety. The vast majority of Americans support locking the clock, and the Sunshine Protection Act is a common-sense reform.”
Video of the day
Dave Plummer is a retired Microsoft engineer who makes YouTube videos explaining how things work. Yesterday, he explained how Flock cameras work, laying out the logical case in favor of such technology as well as against it. Before arguing the issue either way, take a moment to understand the process:
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