(Hefty / ReNew Program)

Every other week in Boise trucks pick up those blue recycling containers filled with cardboard and other materials. And inside many of those blue carts are bright orange Hefty bags filled with those hard to recycle products like plastic wrappers.

The Orange Bag Program, now called the Hefty ReNew Program has been around for more than five years and we wanted to check in and see how the program is doing. So we invited Lynnette Hinch, the Team Lead and Catherine Chertudi, who consults for the program, to join Idaho Matters.

(Valley Regional Transit)

Valley Regional Transit is changing up the way it does business. Starting Monday, June 3, the bus system for the Treasure Valley will look a lot different with new routes, more targeted bus service and a big expansion of their LYFT Pass.

Here to tell Idaho Matters about "Change Day" are Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit and Jason Rose, VRT Communications Director.

(Chelsea Larsen / KYMfest)

Every year the community comes out for a very special festival in Nampa. It’s called KMYfest and it was started by the family of Kymberlee Larsen who died tragically in a domestic assault six years ago.

Chelsea Larsen, Kym’s sister, survived the home invasion that took her sister’s life but struggled with finding and navigating the resources that are out there to help. She founded KYMfest to help bring together those resources and the people who need them and to help connect and heal her community.

This year’s KYMfest is set for Saturday, June 1 and Chelsea joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

(James Dawson / Boise State Public Radio)

Tuesday's Idaho primary election saw a major shakeup in the legislature as the struggle between hardliners and moderates in the GOP led to at least 15 incumbents losing to challengers around the state.

So who won? And who lost? And what does it mean for school choice, Idaho Launch and other hot button issues at the Statehouse? Plus, more than 40 school bonds and levies were up for grabs last night.

Here to break it down for us is our reporter panel - Kevin Richert, senior reporter and blogger with Idaho Ed News, Clark Corbin with the  Idaho Capital Sun, and our own legislative reporter James Dawson with Boise State Public Radio News.

Then we breakdown what these results mean for Idaho with Professor McKay Cunningham, Director of On-Campus Experiential Learning at the College of Idaho.

FILE - In this June 14, 2007, file photo, Abraham Lincoln's iconic stovepipe hat of questioned authenticity is photographed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Now that there is no concrete evidence that the felted beaver-fur hat ever sat atop Lincoln's 6-foot-4 frame, the foundation that bought the hat as part of a 1,500-piece, $23 million deal with California collector Louise Taper is not considering asking for a refund. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman File)(Seth Perlman/AP / AP)

Since the infancy of the United States, America’s leaders from James Madison to Abraham Lincoln have warned that threats to our democracy would not come from abroad but from Americans themselves.

Dr. David Adler, President of the Alturas Institute will be holding another Constitutional Conversation at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 23 at the Yanke Center in Boise titled "A president and the nation’s ideals on trial: how did we drift into calamity - wisdom from Abraham Lincoln" and he joined Idaho Matters for a preview.

(J. Stephen Conn / Flickr )

What do you think of when you think of Idaho? Do you think of bank robberies, bandits, sunken silver ore and stashed loot in the Owyhee mountains?

Well, that all happened in Idaho back in the 1860s, from Butch Cassidy's heist in Montpelier to a stagecoach robbery in Bannock County.

These and other tales from the past are all told on "Idaho's Lost Treasures", a new show on Idaho Public Television. Producer Eric Westrom joined Idaho Matters to tell us some tales of Idaho’s past.

(Paint the Town / NeighborWorks Boise)

Next month, homes across the Treasure Valley will be getting a makeover as Neighborworks Boise kicks off their 42nd annual Paint the Town event, giving back to those in need of a little help.

Inga Hadder, Director of Communications and Community Engagement with Neighborworks Boise, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the event.

( Wyatt Myskow / Inside Climate News)

The Owyhee Canyonlands is a large chunk of high desert land in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada that covers more than seven million acres.

It’s home to plants and animals, some of which can’t be found anywhere else, and it’s a playground for many who recreate along the rocks and sagebrush and for some Native Americans it’s sacred land.

Attempts to help preserve some or all of the area have failed and those who love the land are worried about threats from wildfires, invasive species, and development.

There has been a growing call for President Joe Biden to protect part of the Canyonlands under the Antiquities Act. Reporter Wyatt Myskow is the Mountain West Correspondent with Inside Climate News and he wrote about how we got to this point.

A Boise firefighter walks by all that remains of the poorly prepared home at a recent demonstration fire.(Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio )

Wildfires and other climate-fueled disasters are straining insurance markets.

Recently, officials met in Boise to compare notes on how to avoid what some call the "uninsurable future." The Mountain West News Bureau's Murphy Woodhouse was there.

(Ada County Elections )

How will I know if the ballot I fill out in the election booth gets counted? How can I check how a candidate did in my precinct? In my district?

These are questions that some voters started asking especially after the 2020 election and many worried about election integrity have flooded election offices around the country with requests for information, often overwhelming officials with the time it takes to provide the info for every public information request.

A new tool, called the Ada County Ballot Verifier, will save time, provide greater transparency and demonstrate integrity in the system. Itsfirst real-time test comes Tuesday during Idaho's primary election.

Here to tell Idaho Matters more about the system are Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple, Ada County Elections Director Saul Seyler and Civera CEO Adam Friedman.