This week, Ruth Brown is joined by Idaho Press reporter Betsy Russell to discuss a recent allocation of funding by the Constitutional Defense Council.

The council met Monday and approved the payment of nearly $152,000 for Reclaim Idaho’s legal fees after the state lost a lawsuit over a 2021 ballot initiative bill. The Idaho Supreme Court shot down the legislation, but also ordered the state to pay the legal bills of the plaintiffs.

Read Ruth Brown's coverage: https://blog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org/2021/10/25/legal-fees-over-ballot-initiative-bill-will-cost-taxpayers-150000/

Listen to our past conversation with Betsy Russell about the case: https://soundcloud.com/idaho-reports/episode-supreme-court-overturns-initiative-law

The statewide test positivity rate, or percentage of tests that come back positive, has dropped to about 12 percent, down from this surge’s high of 17 percent. That’s still higher than what public health officials would like to see, but this is the fifth week in a row those numbers have dropped.

Hospitalizations have also dropped from a late September peak, though the number of patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 is still much higher than it was during last December’s surge. Some hospitals across the state continue to operate under crisis standards of care, and fully staffed adult ICU beds are still limited, with 15 or fewer available daily over the last week.

North Idaho has the highest concentration of COVID cases right now, with public health district one reporting a test positivity rate of 20 percent. Currently, Boundary, Lewis, Power, Shoshone and Kootenai counties are reporting the highest seven-day rolling average case rates.

This week, Idaho Reports spoke to a Nampa mother about her toddler’s fight against a nearly fatal COVID-19 infection. Visit the Idaho Reports blog at idahoptv.org/idahoreports to read her story.

As Idaho sits on a nearly billion-dollar budget surplus, Melissa Davlin sits down with Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun and Ruth Brown of Idaho Reports to break down what happened — and what didn't happen — at the first day of the annual Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee interim budget meeting.

Read Ruth's coverage: https://blog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org/2021/10/19/idaho-state-budgeting-committee-meets-surplus-nears-1-billion/

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is asking Idahoans to answer an anonymous survey about how the pandemic has impacted their life and mental health. The survey is open through Oct. 31 and can be found online at coronavirus.idaho.gov/behavioral-health.

Some hospitals in Idaho continue to use crisis standards of care, as unvaccinated COVID-19 patients flood hospital beds. Statewide, on Thursday, there were only 15 open ICU beds for new patients.

There have been no pediatric deaths due to COVID-19, as of Thursday, but there have been pediatric hospitalizations and serious illness due to the virus.

Case positivity rates have dropped modestly, down to 13.2 percent, but that’s still well above the goal of keeping the rate below 5 percent.

State health officials continue to stress that the best way to prevent hospitalization due to COVID-19 is to be vaccinated. Vaccinated people are 4 times less likely than unvaccinated people to contract the virus and if they do, they are 5 times less likely to need hospitalization, according to Central District Health on Thursday.

Visit the Idaho Reports blog at idahoptv.org/idahoreports to see our latest updates on COVID-19.

This week, producer Ruth Brown is joined by Audrey Dutton of the Idaho Capital Sun to discuss a complaint about the newest member of Central District Health’s board of health, Dr. Ryan Cole.

Read Audrey's article here: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2021/10/11/it-should-be-stopped-idaho-medical-group-files-complaint-against-dr-ryan-cole/

The month of September marked a grim milestone with more coronavirus deaths in one month than any other month in the pandemic.

The state of Idaho has now reported more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths statewide.

In north-central Idaho, hospitals are reaching a breaking point. In Moscow, Gritman Medical Center’s COVID-19 patient care unit is at capacity, with the largest number of people with COVID-19 being admitted for inpatient treatment, the hospital announced Thursday.

On Wednesday, Kootenai Health was reporting 150 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with 43 in critical care and 2 pediatric COVID patients.

No Idaho child has died of causes related to COVID-19 as of Thursday, but there have

been children with serious illness due to the virus.

Case positivity rates have dropped modestly, down to 14.6 percent, but that’s still well above the goal of keeping the rate below 5 percent.

State health officials continue to stress that the best way to prevent hospitalization due to COVID is to be vaccinated.

Visit the Idaho Reports blog at idahoptv.org/idahoreports to see our latest update on the costs of transfers to other states for medical care amid a hospital bed shortage.

This week, our producer Ruth Brown sat down Tuesday morning with reporter Ryan Suppe of the Idaho Press to discuss labor shortages across Idaho and how the pandemic has impacted those in the workforce. Then, Ruth and Logan Finney looked at workforce issues in specific sectors of state government.

But first, on Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin wasted no time exercising her temporary gubernatorial authority, issuing an executive order banning state agencies from requiring COVID testing and vaccines. She also contacted the Idaho National Guard to ask about deploying them to the US Mexico border -- a query that Major General Michael Garshak turned down, as no request for National Guard assistance had been submitted.

McGeachin is acting governor while Gov. Brad Little is visiting the US Mexico border. Little said Tuesday he would immediately rescind all actions taken by McGeachin upon his return. For more, visit the Idaho Reports blog. Visit idahoptv.org/idahoreports to find the link.

COVID-related hospitalizations in Idaho continue to hit abnormal highs with hospitals operating under crisis care standards.

On Thursday, 53 people were reported dead in one day due to COVID, setting a new single-day record, and the statewide death toll is now at more than 2,900 people.

State officials continue to stress that the number of child infections is increasing. Weekly case counts are now increasing more rapidly in kids than case counts in adults, according to the Department of Health and Welfare.

Nearly 1,700 cases were reported last week in children, most school districts in Idaho do not have mask mandates, and there has been an increase in pediatric hospitalizations due to the virus.

No Idaho child has died of causes related to COVID-19 as of Thursday, but there have been children with serious illness due to the virus.

Case positivity rates have dropped modestly, down to 15.4 percent, but that’s still well above the goal of keeping it below 5 percent.

See our full coverage online and watch the latest episode at www.idahoptv.org/idahoreports.

This week, School Safety and Security Program Manager Mike Munger joins producer Ruth Brown to discuss a post-incident review report on the May 6 shooting at Rigby Middle School, which covers lessons learned from the incident and safety recommendations for all Idaho schools.

The 11-page report can be found here: https://schoolsafety.dbs.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2021/09/Rigby-MS-Lessons-Learned-Final-Release-Copy.pdf

In this half-hour special on the ripple effects of crisis standards of care, hear how the surge in COVID patients is affecting the regional trauma center and emergency department at Saint Alphonsus, and get a glimpse behind-the-scenes on the coordination it takes to transport and find beds for rural patients across Idaho.