Remember these? Here are Idaho’s top 10 most-read local stories of 2018
In a year of booming growth and change in the Treasure Valley, a number of controversies and tragedies left their mark in 2018.
As 2018 draws to a close, the Idaho Statesman has rounded up the top 10 most-read local stories from the newsroom. Issues of discrimination, morality and sportsmanship captured the attention of Idaho residents, while other stories include the tragic stabbing death of a 3-year-old girl to plutonium stolen from a rented Ford Expedition on its way to Idaho.
1. Middleton school district to investigate staff dressed as border wall, Mexicans
Staff members at Middleton Heights Elementary School found themselves in hot water in early November after a picture of them dressed as stereotyped Mexicans and a border wall that read “Make America Great Again” circulated around the internet. The picture led to Superintendent Josh Middleton releasing an apology on the district’s Facebook page, where the post originated.
2. INL specialists left plutonium in their car. In the morning, it was gone
Plutonium and cesium, the former of which is “one of the most valuable and dangerous substances on earth,” was stolen from the rental car of Idaho National Laboratory experts en route to Idaho from San Antonio, Texas. The incident happened in March 2017; the plutonium and cesium have yet to be found.
3. Fish and Game commissioner hunts ‘family of baboons’ in Africa, faces calls to resign
Blake Fischer, who was serving as one of Idaho’s Fish and Game commissioners, resigned in October after photos of him and his wife on an African hunting trip went viral. The pictures featured Fischer posing with a dead leopard, a dead giraffe and a what he called a “family” of dead baboons.
4. Boise priest who lived in ‘world of Satanism and pornography’ sentenced to 25 years
The Rev. William Thomas Faucher, a well-known and respected Catholic priest in Boise, was arrested in February and pleaded guilty to five felonies, including possession and distribution of child pornography. Faucher, 73, was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole following a graphic and disturbing sentencing hearing on Dec. 20.
5. 100s of child porn images, LSD, ecstasy found in Boise priest’s home, prosecutor says
Faucher was arrested in February following a raid of his home. At a subsequent hearing earlier this year, a prosecutor disclosed that child pornography as well as marijuana, LSD and ecstasy were discovered in Faucher’s home.
6. Search our salary database of Idaho state workers
How much does the governor make? How about your district’s state representative? A database of more than 25,000 state employees’ wages is public record. The Statesman put it all on one searchable web page.
7. Middleton Heights staff placed on administrative leave over controversial Halloween costumes
After facing backlash for a Facebook post that featured staff dressed as stereotyped Mexicans and a MAGA border wall, Middleton Heights Elementary School staffers were put on administrative leave in October. The staff was reinstated the next week.
8. 9 hurt, 4 critically, as man stabs refugee families at Boise low-income apartments
Boise was shocked to its core after Timmy Earl Kinner Jr. stabbed nine people at an apartment complex the night of June 30, killing 3-year-old Ruya Kadir at her own birthday party. The stabbing victims included refugees from Ethiopia, Iraq and Syria.
9. First human case of plague in Idaho since 1992 confirmed in Elmore County child
A child in Elmore County was confirmed to be infected with the plague in June, according to the Central District Health Department, marking the first human diagnosis in Idaho since 1992.
10. Racist letter warns Idaho youth soccer coach to ‘be careful.’ Instead, he’s fighting back
Idaho Juniors Futbol Club coach Jeremy Tarkon said he found a letter on the windshield of his Jeep in January containing racial slurs toward minorities on his soccer team.
“Fighting hate with hate isn’t going to work. It just won’t. So we need to figure out a way to make this happen,” Tarkon said at the time.
This story was originally published December 28, 2018 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Remember these? Here are Idaho’s top 10 most-read local stories of 2018."
