Drones are interrupting fire operations, news on how huckleberry season is faring, Idaho State Police Headquarters has a new patrol captain, and researchers are using AI to find critical minerals.

Free counseling continues today for people affected by the Twin Falls shooting, the Red Cross has a major blood shortage, the latest on schools in the Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences fighting over big money, and lawmakers weigh in on whether people should be betting on wildfires.

A man has been arrested in connection with the Spokane fires, police presence is increasing across the region tonight, a christian nationalist group is suing Boise State University, and BSU’s fall football training camp.

News on multiple wildfires blazing in the Inland Northwest an adjustment to some local trails and a mass shooting in Twin Falls that caught national attention. 

Some outdoor events are canceled or changed, others will continue as-scheduled as wildfire smoke continues to harm air quality in southern Idaho, containment increases on the Big Grass Fire now primarily burning in Owyhee County, three of the Idaho women who sued the state over its abortion ban are among more than a dozen accusing an anti-abortion website of defamation, and Perpetua Resources and Idaho National Laboratory cut the ribbon on a pilot plant for processing antimony mined at stibnite for the U.S. Military.

How does wildfire smoke and poor air quality affect us? Plus, Idaho Governor Brad Little declared a wildfire emergency and deployed the Idaho National Guard to help. Separately, two Idaho Guardsmen face an assault allegation while deployed in Washington, D.C. Idaho could trade nuclear development opportunity for nuclear waste, and how the state's inmates played a role in the North End Zone renovation project at Boise State's Albertsons Stadium.

David Roth drops out of the Idaho senate race, the police department in McCall is struggling to keep summer tourists in line, a Caldwell woman was arrested on first degree murder charges yesterday and political money is flowing in Idaho after an initiative qualified for the November ballot. 

Bryan Kohberger, the man convicted of killing four college students, files to change his guilty plea. New science on how wildfire smoke affects ozone pollution, the smoke outlook for Southern Idaho this week and how smoke affects our pets. 

A special edition of The Connector, as air quality across southwest Idaho is unhealthy, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. Local AQI readings are worse in some areas. Fires burning in eastern Oregon have triggered evacuation orders, the closure of Interstate 84 and other state highways, and the degraded air quality across southern Idaho. Relief may not be on the way, with dry conditions and increasing temperatures in the forecast later this week.

News on how the war in Iran is affecting gas prices for Idahoans, smaller yields for winter crops, an increase on a fee for Idaho landowners, and how the viral video of a grandpa getting tossed by a bison is helping doctors diagnose his injuries.