A new House subcommittee is investigating what they call the weaponization of the federal government and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and other republicans insist on comparing their subcommittee to the "Church Committee," the highly regarded bipartisan inquiry of the 1970s.

Our Morning Edition host George Prentice sat down with Monica Church, the Executive Director of the Frank Church Institute and Dr. Stephanie Martin, the current holder of the Frank and Bethany Church Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University, to talk about the name that many have chosen to call the committee.

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention month and a group of folks have gotten together to offer training on how to spot and prevent this crime from occurring.

However, one of the biggest obstacles officials have is convincing Idahoans that human trafficking happens here, making it harder to get the public’s help to stop it.

Jeannie Strohmeyer, Executive Director of the Nampa Family Justice Center, Paula Barthelmess with Idaho Community Outreach Behavioral Services and Taylor Cook, the Human Trafficking Project Coordinator for the Nampa Family Justice Center and a trauma therapist for Revitalize Counseling joins Idaho Matters to talk about this crime and why it hides beneath the surface for so many.

After nearly five decades of advocacy, four dams are about to be demolished to help salmon, but they’re not the dams we’re usually talking about. These dams are on the Klamath River in Oregon and California.

The restoration project will help re-establish salmon habitat, improve water quality and result in the largest dam removal ever seen, anywhere. Rocky Barker joins Idaho Matters to talk more about this project.

University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is back in court, the Idaho Legislature threatens to cut off money to cities over its abortion ban, a Caldwell School Board Meeting devolves into chaos, lawmakers get set to set state budgets, we get an update in the Daybell murder case, and there isn’t enough farmworker housing in Idaho.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up-to-date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Last year the economy saw a steep decline in consumer sentiment, an increase in inflation and added pressure to the cost of living crisis.

This year economists like Robert Spendlove are visiting with Idaho lawmakers to discuss these trends and provide insight into how they may change or stay the same in the coming months. He'll also be providing economic updates, which will help legislatures decide how to spend or not spend taxpayer money. Spendlove joins Idaho Matters to talk more.

The College of Western Idaho is one step closer to building a permanent campus on the Boise river.

The community college bought the property on Main Street in 2015, which caused some controversy. Then the school failed to get enough votes on a bond in 2016, which further slowed the process to get its own campus.

CWI leases space in different parts of Ada County to hold classes for its students and is eager to build a permanent home on the 10-acre property along the river.

Don Day, the founder and editor of Boisedev.com, joined Idaho Matters to talk about the school's next steps.

A new exhibit coming to the Idaho State Museum will bring the stories from four indigenous communities to life using videos, games and artifacts.

The hope is that visitors will get a better understanding of the issues that face indigenous communities today and to highlight sustainability and practices that go back generations.

The exhibit “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science” includes contributions from the five federally recognized tribes in Idaho. Liz Hobson, administrator of the Idaho State Museum and Johanna Jones, with the Office of Indian Education, join Idaho Matters to tell us more.

Terry Reilly Health Services delivers care for tens of thousands of patients in clinics across the Treasure Valley. Over the last 50 years, it's grown from a neighborhood clinic to over a dozen clinics and much more.

They're adding new clinics in 2023, according to Heidi Hart, chief executive officer of Terry Reilly Health Services, who sat down with our Morning Edition host George Prentice.

What’s going on with the new variant of COVID-19 in the U.S. and in China? Do those rapid tests work on the new strain? And bivalent boosters have been around since August - are they having any impact?

Joining Idaho Matters to answer these questions is Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke’s Health System and a current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force.

The College of Idaho will be hosting an event for a very important initiative, “United Against Hate.”

The initiative is nationwide and strives to connect community members with local government and law enforcement to help build trust and better combat hate crimes. The event is happening on Jan. 16 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Langroise Center for Performing & Fine Arts in Caldwell.

Joining Gemma to talk more about the initiative is the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho, Josh Hurwit.