North Idaho Newsdesk
Daily briefs for North Idaho
News brief Mon Oct 26, 2026

North Idaho Newsdesk Brief · Monday, October 26, 2026 · ~6:00 AM PT

Updated Mon Oct 26, 5:49 AM PT
15 headlines · tap one to read

LOCAL (North Idaho) #

Immigration: Spirit Lake Signs On With ICE - Coeur d'Alene Activists Want the City to Resist Confirmed
  • Spirit Lake Police Department has entered ICE's 287(g) Task Force program, the second city police department in North Idaho to do so after Post Falls. Post Falls signed in July and announced 15 arrests after joint ICE operations in August. Confirmed (CdA Press, Bonner County Daily Bee).
  • Chief Michael Morlan: "All this is allowing is access to databases and to work in cooperation with ICE." He said any enforcement would stem from "a crime that has been committed already," and cited narcotics that come through "the back way" on routes heading north. The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and Idaho State Police have also joined, per the Press editorial board.
  • On Tuesday, members of Idaho for All asked the Coeur d'Alene City Council to pass a resolution against ICE's "heavy-handed and intimidating" conduct. Chief Greg Yeager says 287(g) is "not one we've had need of," and Mayor Dan Gookin says the department "isn't interested." Councilwoman Christie Wood would back a resolution ("Sometimes, we end up on an island"), but it needs the mayor and a council majority to reach the agenda.
  • Source: CdA Press, Oct 24 · Bonner County Daily Bee, Oct 25 · CdA Press editorial, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: Spirit Lake is doing what the county's biggest city won't. Enforcing the law of the land is not a human rights violation, and a "resistance" resolution in Coeur d'Alene would put the city on the wrong side of its own sheriff, its own state police and most of the people who live here.
Worker Ownership: An Employee-Owned Manufacturer Is Coming to Post Falls - Real Jobs, Not Another Drive-Thru Single-sourced
  • Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), which makes protective relays and control equipment for the power grid, will take an existing 240,000-square-foot building at 150 N. Beck Road in Post Falls, with about 250 jobs. It is expected online in mid-2027. Single-sourced (CdA Press).
  • President Dave Whitehood says about 250 more jobs are planned in Nampa and another 250 in Moscow, where a facility comes online near the end of this year. SEL is "100% employee-owned": "It lets SEL put our customers and employees first," Whitehood said. The company was founded in 1982 by WSU professor Edmund O. Schweitzer III.
  • The same business column lists a Circle K coming to Highway 41 and Poleline.
  • Source: CdA Press, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: This is the model. A company founded by an inventor, owned by the people who do the work, and making things a country actually needs. Every job like this is worth ten at a chain store, because the paycheck and the ownership both stay with families here, not with a fund in New York.
Public Health: Panhandle Health's New Boss Vows to Restore Trust - An Establishment Group Wants Him Investigated Single-sourced
  • On Sept. 3, after Director Erik Ketnar, the district's longtime financial officer and an HR specialist resigned, the Panhandle Health District board named board member Dr. Thomas Fletcher of Bonner County interim director. Confirmed (Spokesman-Review, CdA Press).
  • Fletcher said he wants to restore trust in public health: "You won't find me pleading the Fifth 111 times."
  • In a Press "My Turn" op-ed, the group DART says at least a dozen employees resigned, that the board gave Fletcher pay and benefits equal to the outgoing director's, and that "Dr. Fletcher took part in that vote." DART cites Idaho's conflict-of-interest law, Idaho Code § 74-404, and asks the Kootenai County prosecutor to look at it. No charge or finding has been made. Single-sourced (DART op-ed).
  • Source: Spokesman-Review, Sep 3 · CdA Press, Sep 4 · CdA Press "My Turn" op-ed, Oct 24
  • Why it matters: DART compares the health board to NIC and the library board, which tells you what this is. It's the old guard going after the next institution conservatives have won. The vote question is fair and the board should answer it in public. But the agency that ran North Idaho's COVID mandates owes the public an accounting far more than it owes the old staff a farewell.
Housing: Out-of-State Investors Own Most of Coeur d'Alene's Vacation Rentals - And the City Still Bans Tiny Homes Single-sourced
  • Housing data show out-of-state investors own 60% to 75% of short-term rentals in Coeur d'Alene, and since July 1 state law means residents no longer need a city permit to run one. Single-sourced (CdA Press).
  • Tiny homes are prohibited in city limits unless fixed to a foundation and up to building code. The city has 279 accessory dwelling units. Kalispell just added tiny homes to its code.
  • Councilwoman Kiki Miller: the investor ownership means "None of that helps our local workers find a place to live." Mayor Gookin is wary of tiny home developments: "What's to prevent a speculator from buying them all up and turning them into rentals?" He would "prefer to focus on high paying jobs."
  • Source: CdA Press, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: When most of the vacation rentals belong to people who don't live here, the town is being turned into a portfolio. Gookin is right to fear speculators, but the answer is ownership: rules that put small, cheap homes in the hands of local families, with limits on absentee buyers.
Trades Gap: Idaho's Building Boom Needs Carpenters - North Idaho's Old Hands Are Retiring Single-sourced
  • Idaho is projected to have the second-fastest growth in skilled trades jobs, and North Idaho builders warn the retiring workforce isn't being replaced fast enough. Single-sourced (CdA Press).
  • Ryan DeMarre described "extreme difficulty finding and maintaining good carpenters." North Idaho College's Workforce Training Center reports a 90.2% apprenticeship completion rate, with trades pay averaging $58,000 to $64,000.
  • Source: CdA Press, Oct 26
  • Why it matters: A young man with a trade and no student debt can own a home and raise a family. That's a better deal than most four-year degrees, and it's how North Idaho gets built by its own sons instead of imported crews.

IDAHO STATE #

Ghostwritten Government: Detectors Say Little's Nuclear Op-Ed Was Written by AI - His Office Says No Single-sourced
  • Idaho Education News ran op-eds from state officials through two commercial AI detectors, Pangram and GPTZero. Pangram scored a Gov. Brad Little op-ed on nuclear energy as 100% AI-written, one on "fiscal discipline" as 88% and one on teacher pay as 67%. Single-sourced (Idaho EdNews, republished by Idaho Capital Sun).
  • Three op-eds from Attorney General Raúl Labrador's office were also flagged, including a Meta settlement piece scored as entirely AI. Labrador spokesman Daniel Estes says staff use ChatGPT and Claude but "I disagree, vehemently, that these are AI-written." Superintendent Debbie Critchfield's spokeswoman denied using AI. Writing from Rep. Mike Simpson, Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Rep. Josh Tanner and Sen. Brian Lenney also triggered the detectors.
  • Little's communications director, Emily Callihan: "AI detectors are frequently wrong... AI did not write the three op-eds you noted," but "the governor's office uses AI to assist with some writing."
  • Source: Idaho Capital Sun / Idaho EdNews, Oct 26
  • Why it matters: A man who asks for your vote should at least write his own words. Detectors can be wrong, but Little's office admits using AI, and the piece flagged hardest was the one selling his biggest project, nuclear, to the public.
Nuclear Waste Watch: Little Calls Idaho the "Alpha and Omega" of Nuclear - The Campus He Wants Could Store Spent Fuel Single-sourced
  • At a Capital for a Day event in Arco, Little pitched Idaho's bid for a federal Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus. Per DOE, it could bring 25,000 jobs, up to $50 billion in capital investment and $10 billion to $20 billion in state and local revenue. Little: "we're the alpha and the omega of the entire nuclear industry." Single-sourced (KIFI).
  • The campus would cover the whole fuel cycle, "including fuel development, nuclear reactors, reprocessing fuel, interim storage, and potentially long-term fuel storage." Idaho is competing with six other states, and DOE is expected to name three finalists by year's end.
  • Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke said the 1995 settlement agreement is still in force "although it could be modified," and that a permanent repository won't go "adjacent to or through or over our aquifer – period," though "Butte County has some places that would qualify."
  • Source: KIFI Local News 8, Oct 22
  • Why it matters: Nuclear power is a real asset. But "interim storage" has a way of becoming permanent, and the 1995 agreement was won by Idahoans who didn't trust Washington's promises. Before Little trades it for DOE money, voters deserve a straight answer on what would come here and for how long.
Money in Politics: The State Says the Discount Prop 1 Ad Is Legal - The Station Paperwork Tells Another Story Single-sourced
  • Idahoans United for Women and Families gave the Idaho Democratic Party $620,500, and the party ran a Prop 1 ad "authorized by" Terri Pickens' campaign, which gets cheaper candidate ad rates. A Secretary of State's office spokesperson said Friday no campaign finance laws were broken. Confirmed (Boise State Public Radio).
  • Christian Welp of Too Extreme for Idaho, who is also the Catholic Diocese of Idaho's lobbyist, urged TV stations to stop airing the ad and charge the full issue-ad rate.
  • The Gem State Chronicle says KIFI's files show the party-authorized version was bought at half the price of Idahoans United's identical ad. The party's paperwork with KIFI lists it as a Pickens candidate ad, while its Sunshine report classifies the payment as an independent expenditure for Prop 1. The Chronicle argues both can't be true: coordinated spending would be capped at $10,000, and independent spending shouldn't get candidate rates. Single-sourced (Gem State Chronicle).
  • Source: Boise State Public Radio, Oct 23 · Gem State Chronicle, Oct 23
  • Why it matters: The side with the money got a clean bill from the Secretary of State within days of the complaint. The question of which filing is true hasn't been answered, and the Bishop's own lobbyist is the one asking it.
Local Control: A Constitutional Amendment Would Take Drug Laws Off the Ballot - Critics Call It a Power Grab Confirmed
  • House Joint Resolution 4, on the Nov. 3 ballot, would give the Legislature sole authority to legalize marijuana and "other psychoactive substances," ending the citizen initiative route on those questions. Confirmed (Spokesman-Review).
  • Sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, says drug money and "outside influences" exploit initiatives: "Only you, the Legislature, can vote to make illegal drugs legal." Reclaim Idaho's Luke Mayville: "If HJR 4 passes, Idahoans will have less power than they had before," calling "psychoactive substances" "a very vague term."
  • Of the 31 citizen initiatives on Idaho ballots, 15 have passed, including Medicaid expansion in 2018.
  • Source: Spokesman-Review, Oct 24
  • Why it matters: Keeping pot shops out of Idaho is right, and Oregon and Washington show what happens when out-of-state money buys legalization. But the cure for a bad initiative is beating it at the ballot box, not handing Boise a permanent veto over the people with a term nobody has defined.
Family vs the State: A North Idaho Lawmaker Asks Why Grandparents Lose Out on Foster Kids - The Clock Is Now Shorter Single-sourced
  • Rep. Heather Scott writes that Idaho has shortened the federal "15 of 22" rule: the Department of Health and Welfare now generally must file to terminate parental rights once a child has spent 12 of the last 22 months in its custody, unless an exception applies. Single-sourced (Heather Scott op-ed, Gem State Patriot).
  • Scott notes the Legislature passed kinship laws (HB 245 in 2025 and SB 1266 in 2026), yet she keeps hearing from grandparents, aunts and uncles who were turned away. Some constituents claim caseworker reports were fabricated, which she calls "serious allegations, not findings."
  • Source: Gem State Patriot, Oct 24 · Idaho Code § 16-2002
  • Why it matters: The family comes before the state, and a grandmother comes before a stranger with a license. If the state can run the clock faster on parents, it owes relatives the same speed, and families need a way to correct the record before the clock runs out.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL #

Israel Lobby: Trump Tells Israelis to Re-Elect Netanyahu - "We Have to Finish the Job" Single-sourced
  • Israelis vote Tuesday, Oct. 27. Trump endorsed Netanyahu on Oct. 18 as "a Great Warrior Prime Minister," then again Sunday: "Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister, we have to finish the job that we started!" Confirmed (AP, Axios).
  • Axios, citing a U.S. source, reports Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice in three days and suggested wording for further statements. The source called it a "sign of desperation." A Likud spokesperson denied that Netanyahu asked. Single-sourced (Axios).
  • Three major Israeli networks' final polls projected 50 seats for Netanyahu's bloc in the 120-seat Knesset, with Likud at 20. Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc was projected at 52 to 56.
  • Source: AP, Oct 18 · Jerusalem Post · Axios, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: An American president is campaigning in a foreign election to "finish the job" in a war against Iran that Congress never declared. Idaho farmers are paying for that war in diesel. America First means America's interests come first, not one foreign politician's re-election.
The Church: New York's Archdiocese Agrees to Pay Abuse Survivors - Headquarters Already Sold to Cover It Confirmed
  • The Archdiocese of New York and about 1,300 survivors of clergy abuse agreed to an $800 million settlement, the second-largest by a U.S. archdiocese after Los Angeles. Signing is scheduled for the week of Nov. 6. Confirmed (AP, NPR, PBS).
  • Archbishop Ronald Hicks: "We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing..." The archdiocese cut its operating budget 10% and sold properties, including its First Avenue headquarters, to pay.
  • Survivors can take a $250,000 quick-pay option or have claims evaluated individually, and the archdiocese must keep and update a public list of credibly accused clergy and lay leaders.
  • Source: AP, Oct 24 · NPR, Oct 24 · PBS, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: The faithful in the pews are paying for crimes committed and covered up by men who should have been defrocked. Justice for the victims is right. A public list is the least the hierarchy owes, and real reform means bishops answer for what they hid.
Brazil: Lula Comes Back to Win a Fourth Term - After a Justice Kept the Polls Open Late Confirmed
  • Lula beat Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro 51.79% to 48.21% in Sunday's runoff, a margin of about 4.4 million votes, after losing the first round 47.03% to 45.16%. Turnout was 80.8%. Confirmed (TSE results, Agência Senado, BBC, AP).
  • Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting by two hours, to 7 p.m. Agência Senado says Lula's campaign asked, citing voter transport failures; the BBC and G1 report both campaigns made requests. Polls that had already closed did not reopen.
  • Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede and called for the result to be annulled. Supreme Court President Kassio Nunes Marques, appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, said the extension caused no problems with the count. Lula takes office Jan. 5, 2027.
  • Source: Agência Senado, Oct 25 · BBC, Oct 26 · AP
  • Why it matters: Changing the closing time by court order in the middle of Election Day is not how you build trust in an election. Alex Soros cheered the win as a defeat for "authoritarianism." Watch who celebrates.
Peace Talks: Ukraine and Russia Agree to a Ceasefire in One Occupied City - Brokered by the First Lady Confirmed
  • A localized ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky, in the Kherson region, takes effect Oct. 27 at 3 a.m. Kyiv time so aid can get in and civilians can get out. Confirmed (AP, Kyiv Post, Ukrinform).
  • First Lady Melania Trump initiated the talks. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Russian ombudswoman Yana Lantratova agreed the timing: 3 a.m. Kyiv, 4 a.m. Moscow. Aid deliveries and civilian evacuation are to follow in phases.
  • Source: AP, Oct 24 · Kyiv Post, Oct 25 · Ukrinform, Oct 25
  • Why it matters: One town is small, but it's a real agreement to stop shooting. Blessed are the peacemakers. If a humanitarian corridor can hold in Oleshky, Washington has no excuse not to push for one along the whole front.
Trade War: Washington Lifts Tariffs on Canadian Plywood - Right After a Vulnerable Senator Asked Confirmed
  • From Oct. 30, the U.S. will ease its 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods, including "plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment," while adding tariffs on items such as carpets and "waste products." Confirmed (White House, BBC).
  • Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who faces Democrat Troy Jackson, announced the exemptions first and said she had lobbied for them. The U.S. put the 50% levy on $20 billion of Canadian goods after talks collapsed in August.
  • Source: White House fact sheet, Oct 23 · BBC, Oct 23
  • Why it matters: A tariff should protect American producers on principle, not get switched on and off for whichever senator is in trouble. Idaho shares a border with British Columbia, and our mills, farmers and ranchers need a policy they can plan a season around.

US and worldwide lists from the X API around 5:45 AM PT. Snapshot only.

  • US: Good Monday, Brazil, Lula, Victory Monday, #BladeRunnerYieldToRacist, Eric Bauza, Nicki Minaj, Mr. Ed, 60 Minutes, Mahomes, Looney Tunes, Mel Blanc, Bugs Bunny, Ghana, Bill Maher, Alex Soros, Serbia.
  • Worldwide: #LulaMaiorDoMundo, #VitoriaDaDemocracia and #DeViradaEMaisGostoso from Brazil, then mostly K-pop, Thai and Japanese fan tags; we did not look into those.
  • Behind "Brazil," "Lula" and the Brazilian hashtags: Lula's runoff win above. Confirmed (TSE, BBC, AP).
  • Behind "Alex Soros": His post "Lula Lula Lula! Congrats to Brazil for standing up against authoritarianism once again!" drew about 2.9 million views. Confirmed (the post, listed below).
  • Behind "Serbia": President Aleksandar Vučić conceded after a student-led list won Sunday's snap parliamentary election; Serbia's election commission has the Student List at 52.54% to 39.29% for his United Serbia. Confirmed (AP, Tanjug). AP · Tanjug
  • Behind "Eric Bauza," "Looney Tunes," "Bugs Bunny" and "Mel Blanc": Looney Tunes voice actor Eric Bauza has died at 46. KTVB
  • We did not look into #BladeRunnerYieldToRacist, 60 Minutes, Bill Maher, Ghana or the sports tags.

LEADING IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA #

  • AP / BBC / Agência Senado: Lula's comeback win and Flávio Bolsonaro's call to annul it.
  • AP / Axios / Jerusalem Post: Trump's second Netanyahu endorsement on the eve of Israel's vote, and Axios's report that Netanyahu lobbied for it.
  • AP / NPR / PBS: New York archdiocese's $800 million abuse settlement.
  • AP / Al Jazeera: Vučić concedes in Serbia. Al Jazeera
  • AP / Kyiv Post: The Oleshky ceasefire Melania Trump brokered.
  • BBC / White House: Canadian tariff exemptions after Collins lobbied.
  • Idaho EdNews / Idaho Capital Sun / Spokesman-Review / Boise State Public Radio: AI-written op-eds, HJR 4, and the state clearing the Prop 1 ad.
  • CdA Press / Daily Bee: ICE partnerships, SEL's Post Falls plant, vacation rentals and tiny homes, the trades shortage, and the Panhandle Health District fight.

POSTS WORTH SEEING #

Real posts from the last three days found through X search. Links go to the posts.

  1. @AlexanderSoros — "Lula Lula Lula! Congrats to Brazil for standing up against authoritarianism once again!"
  2. @LulaOficial — "Obrigado, povo brasileiro!" Lula's victory photo, over a million views.
  3. @netanyahu — Netanyahu reposts Trump's endorsement to Israeli voters in Hebrew, the day before the vote.
  4. @yairlapid — Lapid (in Hebrew): "two more Netanyahu associates lost elections tonight," crediting high turnout and voters unwilling to take orders from outside.
  5. @lubinetzs — Ukraine's lead negotiator confirms the Oleshky ceasefire starts Oct. 27 at 3 a.m. Kyiv time.
  6. @HerndonforIdaho — Sen. Scott Herndon: 66 of Idaho's 105 legislators have now signed on against Prop 1.
  7. @IdahoFamilyPC — IFPC on Friday's hearing in its lawsuit over the Boise State OB-GYN study: "the numbers just aren't adding up."

TOP 3 PICKS FOR MONDAY'S BACKLASH (Oct 26, 3 PM PT) #

  1. Whose war, whose election? Trump tells Israelis to re-elect Netanyahu to "finish the job" against Iran the day before they vote, and Axios reports Netanyahu lobbied him for it, while Soros cheers Lula's late-hours win in Brazil. Foreign elections, foreign wars, and who pays for them.
  2. Ghostwritten governor, nuclear campus: A detector scores Little's nuclear op-ed as 100% AI, and the campus he's selling could bring reprocessing and "potentially long-term" fuel storage to Idaho. Who's actually speaking for the governor, and what's on the table for the 1995 agreement?
  3. Spirit Lake vs Coeur d'Alene on ICE: A small-town police chief signs on with the feds while activists want Coeur d'Alene to pass a resistance resolution. Local control, the rule of law, and which side the city council picks.

Bench: SEL's employee-owned plant in Post Falls. Out-of-state investors and Coeur d'Alene vacation rentals. Panhandle Health's interim director and DART. The trades shortage. The Prop 1 ad ruling. HJR 4. Heather Scott on foster care and kin. New York's $800 million settlement. The Oleshky ceasefire. Canadian tariff exemptions. Vučić's fall in Serbia.