Idaho judge orders release of police employment records to InvestigateWest, Invisible Institute
The state began withholding the records following a 2025 InvestigateWest series about sexual misconduct by prison staff
State of Democracy
Mayoral emails, collision reports, body-cam footage and firefighter thank-you’s: Public records tell a wide range of tales
A few of the other stories we stumbled across while testing the Pacific Northwest’s records’ systems
What Idaho’s Republican Primary Tells Us About America’s Culture Wars
The heavily Republican state booted 15 incumbents across the party’s ideological spectrum. While the election led to net gains for hard-line members of the right, it also underscores how divided Idaho’s party remains.
Secret recording shows how a right-wing Idaho lobbyist tried to keep a legislator in lockstep
Freedom Caucus Network power broker Maria Nate blasted controversial state Rep. Heather Scott for support of “moderate” House speaker
Inflation has turned Washington state’s property tax cap into a county budget-killer
Frustrated county officials say state leaders have shunted the state’s financial burden onto local governments
Republicans Hatched a Secret Assault on the Voting Rights Act in Washington State
After he helped create the state’s voting maps, a redistricting commissioner quietly worked with national Republican figures to bring a lawsuit against his own work.
Proposed constitutional amendment to block ranked choice voting fails in Idaho House
Constitutional amendments require the support of two-thirds of the Idaho House and Idaho Senate
Idaho House puts bill to redefine ‘terrorism’ on ice
Previous InvestigateWest reporting revealed Bundy ranch militant was instrumental in crafting the bill
Bundy Ranch militant Eric Parker says he’s the driving force behind Idaho bill to narrow definition of 'terrorism'
Critics argue the legislation “essentially guts” Idaho’s Terrorist Control Act
How local Idaho prosecutors lost the case against Patriot Front’s white nationalist leader
Caught with a “little army” and plans to provoke confrontation at a gay pride event, the white nationalist had his charges dismissed
The failed promise of independent election mapmaking in WA
In Washington and other states, independent redistricting commissions have fallen prey to partisanship, just like the legislative bodies they were meant to replace.