Teachers say bring on Barack • Cowboys want to ride from Idaho to Arizona • Ordinance to protect Idaho rivers angers some landowners • What $150,000 will buy you in Idaho City • Lucky 13th DUI lands woman in jail • Post Falls' most wanted

Teachers say bring on Barack

Idaho educators are waiting to see when education policy changes are made, and what the final impact will be on south-central Idaho schools of a Barack Obama presidency.

Obama has pledged to reform the federal No Child Left Behind Act, improve student assessments, and provide support for schools needing improvement.

Wiley Dobbs, superintendent of Twin Falls School District, told the Times-News there’s a need to move to a NCLB testing model that's more focused on measuring each individual student's growth instead of one benchmark that applies to all students.

Mark Browning, spokesman for the Idaho State Board of Education, said the new Congress, not just a new president, also will play a role in education reform efforts.

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Cowboys want to ride from Idaho to Arizona

Two north Idaho men recently set off from Blanchard (near Coeur d'Alene) with the goal of riding horses all the way to Apache Junction, Arizona.

"We own nothin' but what it takes to be a cowboy. There’s nothing modern (with us) on this trip," Gary Ferguson said.

Ferguson and Mike Caldwell left with six horses; one each to ride, two to pack, and two "naked" one.

The two plan to work along the way and have no goal about when they'll actually reach their destination.

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Ordinance to protect Idaho rivers angers some landowners

The Upper Valley Standard Journal says Madison County landowners who own property near rivers fear that the government would gain increased control over their land under the county's new land-use plan.

Residents expressed their concerns at a public hearing on Monday.

The plan requires a 200-foot buffer zone be placed next to Idaho rivers. Development and removal of vegetation is prohibited within this area.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Brent McFadden said the purpose of the ordinance isn't to take away property owners' rights, but rather to protect rivers and areas that may flood from developers who may abuse the land.

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What $150,000 will buy you in Idaho City

A New York Times article about what $150,000 will buy you in real estate markets around the country features a bed and breakfast in Idaho City.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom house is on the market for $147,000.

"Idaho City's draw is its proximity to unspoiled wilderness — specifically, the 2.6-million-acre Boise National Forest and its 1,300 acres of trails and ski areas. Idaho's capital, Boise, is an hour’s drive away."

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Lucky 13th DUI lands woman in jail

The other shoe has finally dropped on a Pocatello woman who received her 13th DUI arrest on Monday.

Julie Marie Patrick has been sentenced to spend at least the next six years in prison.

Patrick ran a red light and broadsided a car earlier this year in Pocatello, severely injuring a passenger.

Her blood alcohol content at the time was .391. The legal limit is .08.

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Post Falls' most wanted

Police in Post Falls haven't had much luck catching two women who are wanted in connection with the murder of one of the women's mothers, so they're turning to America's Most Wanted.

Post Falls Detective Lt. Greg McLean will appear on the Fox Network's "America's Most Wanted" to try and find clues as to where Tina Loesch and her partner, Skye Hanson, may be.

A $5 million warrant has been issued for both women.

Loesch's mother was found dead in a hot tub in her backyard in 1998 with a plugged-in TV in the tub.

Police believe the daughter and her partner staged a murder to make it look like an accident.