Since the pandemic the number of people struggling with anxiety and depression has increased dramatically across America, resulting in what the white house is calling a mental health crisis.

It's not just adults struggling with mental health issues though, it's kids too.

Here in Idaho the number of children experiencing depression and anxiety has climbed ten percent since 2016. That number comes from the new Kids Count report released just this month.

Christine Tiddens, the Director of Idaho Voices for Children, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the health needs of children in Idaho.

A majority of people in Idaho are concerned about climate change, but most people think that's not true.

A new study says that kind of misperception can have a real impact when it comes to making climate policy. Dr. Gregg Sparkman is an assistant professor at Boston College and one of the authors of the research and sat down to speak with our Morning Edition host George Prentice about the study.

Monday morning, Federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill heard oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Biden administration challenging Idaho’s near-total abortion ban.

In the case of the United States of America v. The State of Idaho, the Department of Justice is challenging Idaho’s 2020 abortion trigger law, which is set to take effect on Thursday.

Monday's hearing was about whether Judge Winmill will block the law from going into effect this week, while the case itself moves through the legal system.

Boise State Public Radio reporter James Dawson covered Monday’s hearing and joined Idaho Matters for an update.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade many states, including Idaho, have put severe limits on who can get an abortion.

However, in Colorado abortion providers are seeing a sharp rise in demand from out-of-state patients, including some in desperate situations.

KUNC’s Robyn Vincent reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Women approaching menopause don't always know just how much the transition will affect their lives.

The ups and downs, brought on by the amount of estrogen in the body, can cause depression, anxiety, weight gain, hot flashes, sleep issues ... and that's just a few of the side effects.

Idaho State University has a 12-week program designed to help women going through these changes. It's called Menopause Matters and the next class starts soon.

Andrea Jeffrey, the coordinator at the ISU-Meridian Nutrition Clinic joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this innovative program.

One week from today NASA will launch the Orion spacecraft into space to orbit the moon.

The Artemis-1 mission is the first step to putting American astronauts back onto the surface of the moon. And you can watch that launch live in a kind of virtual visual surround sound, in a first-of-its-kind experience at the Faulkner Planetarium in Twin Falls.

It’s a new way to watch space missions and Rick Greenawald, the Faulkner Planetarium Manager at the Herrett Center for Arts and Sciences at the College of Southern Idaho joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

The Four Corners wildfire, west of Lake Cascade, is sparking evacuations in central Idaho. Here's what we know as of 12 p.m. on Aug. 19.

There is an update on the murder case against Lori Vallow Daybell, the latest on Idaho's abortion bans, and a possible special legislative session. We also look at the risks posed by MacKay Dam, the impact of population growth on Idaho's water supply, and a heated library board meeting over books.

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:

Travel with us to the Salmon River north of Ketchum. Ducks are swimming, beavers are building dams and a pair of sandhill cranes observe a waterfall in the early morning light.

The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is home to more than 700,000 acres of mountain peaks, 700 miles of trails and more than 300 alpine lakes … all in central Idaho. This month marks 50 years since the SNRA was formed by the U.S. Congress.

Rachel Cohen went to the Sawtooths to look at the past, present and future of this natural area. She joined Idaho Matters to talk about her experience in this wild and beautiful landscape. She asked many questions in her multi-part series, including:

August is not the best month to see a good film as movie studios often dump films they expect to underperform in late summer.

So our resident movie critic, George Prentice, put together a list of some of his best tv and streaming shows, for all of you who want to turn up the air conditioning and settle down for an end-of-summer couch cuddle!

As of last week, over one million people in the United States have died from COVID-19 and 500 people each day are dying from the virus.

Despite those numbers, many say the pandemic is over and Thursday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed many of its recommendations around COVID-19.

The Wall Street Journal reports that according to the CDC, schools and workplaces don’t have to screen healthy people and students, the six-foot distancing rule has been dropped and unvaccinated people don’t have to quarantine after exposure to COVID.

This comes as kids are heading back to school in Idaho.

So is the COVID-19 pandemic over? Has the virus or the science changed? Dr. David Pate, Former CEO of St Luke's Health System and a current member of Idaho's Coronavirus Task Force joined Idaho Matters to break this down.