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Happening in Boise is your weekly breakdown of what’s actually going on around the city—local news, community events, public safety updates, new restaurants, real estate, weather, schools, and everything Boise residents are talking about.
Hosted with humor, honesty, and a very Boise-specific point of view, this isn’t stiff broadcast news—it’s real local info with personality. If you live in Boise or just want to keep a pulse on the Treasure Valley, this is your weekly shortcut.
MARK: Welcome to Happening in Boise, the only podcast that gives you the news without the fake-ass smile you get from the local news anchors. It's Tuesday, March third, 2026, and if you're not currently trapped behind a tractor on Chinden Boulevard, you're already having a better morning than I am.
JOLEEN: Don't lie to them, Mark, you love the rage. I'm Joleen, and I'm coming to you live from a city where the median home price is still higher than my parents' hopes for my career. Today's show is brought to you by the smell of wet sagebrush and the collective anxiety of everyone trying to find a parking spot downtown for First Thursday. We've got a lot of absolute bullshit to cover today, so let's get into it.
MARK: First off, if you like what we're doing here, or even if you just like listening to us bitch about the state of the Treasure Valley, make sure you hit that subscribe button, leave a comment, and tell your friends. Or don't, I'm not your dad. If you have a tip or just want to tell us we're assholes, email us at boise@thehappeningnetwork.com. We might even read your message if it's funny enough or contains a decent bribe.
JOLEEN: Speaking of being an asshole, we have to talk about what happened at the Statehouse yesterday. I wish I was making this up, but apparently, some guy named David Pettinger decided that the best way to testify on an immigration bill was to show up in full brownface, wearing a sombrero and handcuffs, and pretending he didn't speak English. It's 2026, and this is what we're doing in public committee hearings now.
MARK: It was a goddamn circus. Representative Brent Crane actually let the guy continue testifying after a four-minute timeout. Crane said he told the guy to cut the accent, but he let him keep the paint on his face. Pettinger literally told the committee he was looking forward to giving them 'some entertainment'. Imagine being so starved for attention that you think minstrel-show racism is a valid contribution to a debate on E-Verify software.
JOLEEN: The best part is Representative Josh Wheeler's response. He said asking the guy to take off the paint 'didn't even cross his mind'. How does that not cross your mind? If a guy walks into your office covered in blue paint pretending to be a Smurf, you'd probably mention it. But a guy in brownface mocking Latinos? 'Oh, it slipped my mind, let's hear what he has to say about labor laws'. It's embarrassing, even for Idaho's standards.
MARK: And then we've got the gas tax war with Utah. House Speaker Mike Moyle has been calling Utah's proposed refinery tax 'bull manure', which is the most Idaho way possible to say 'that's some fucking shit'. Utah wanted to tax the fuel leaving their refineries, which would've spiked our prices by twenty-five cents a gallon since we import eighty percent of our gas from them. It was a total dick move by our neighbors to the south.
JOLEEN: Utah finally backed off, but only because Moyle threatened to sue them and basically cut off their water. He literally said, 'We're not trading our water for your fuel'. It's like a high-stakes game of Risk, but instead of global domination, they're fighting over the Great Salt Lake and whether or not I have to pay five dollars for a gallon of unleaded. I'm just waiting for the day we build a wall at the border and make Salt Lake City pay for it.
MARK: The tension is real though. Utah's Governor Cox signed a memorandum of understanding about the Bear River system, but Idaho leaders are already saying they didn't agree to give them a single drop more. It's a classic western standoff. 'You want our water? Come and take it. You want to tax our gas? We'll let your lake turn into a toxic dust bowl'. It's poetic, in a really dark, thirsty kind of way.
JOLEEN: Moving from state-level dicks to a literal monster, we've got an update on that horrific case out of Melba. Robert Seviano Howell, the guy from California who allegedly tried to kill his pregnant wife at Celebration Park, was back in court. A judge just added a second attempted murder charge for the unborn child. This guy reportedly strangled his wife in front of their five kids and only stopped when he thought she was dead. He's a special kind of piece of shit.
MARK: The details are gut-wrenching. He told investigators he had no argument with her, he just made a 'deliberate attempt' to end her life. After he thought she was dead, he went and stared at the Snake River for a while, then came back and realized she was still alive. That's when he ran to park employees for help, but let's be real, he's only seeking help because he's a failure at being a murderer. His hearing got pushed to March eleventh, and he's being held on a two-million-dollar bond, which is still too low for a guy like that.
JOLEEN: Let's pivot to something slightly less depressing but still full of drama. The Kuna School District officially hired Marcus Myers as their new superintendent. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he was a big shot at West Ada who got caught up in that 'Everyone is Welcome Here' poster controversy. He's the one who reportedly banned those skin-tone hand posters because they were 'too political'. Now he's running the show in Kuna.
MARK: Kuna's basically the Wild West of education right now. They've got rapid growth, new charter schools like Valor Classical opening in August, and they're trying to figure out how to compete with the new private school tax credits. Myers said his first ninety days will be spent 'listening and building trust', which is corporate-speak for 'I'm going to try not to say anything that gets me sued for the next three months'. Good luck with that, Kuna.
JOLEEN: I'm sure the parents in Kuna are thrilled. Speaking of things that people are 'thrilled' about, I went to The Wylder the other night. You know, the place downtown that acts like their sourdough starter is a religious relic. They claim it's fifty-seven years old. Fifty-seven years! That starter has been alive longer than most of the people working in that kitchen. It's basically a senior citizen that they're forcing to make pizza crust.
MARK: Look, I'll defend the 'Honey Badger' pizza until I die. Italian sausage, ricotta, caramelized onions, and spicy honey. It's a masterpiece. But the atmosphere? It's like a contest to see who can look the most 'casually expensive'. I saw a guy there wearing a three-hundred-dollar beanie while it was sixty degrees outside. That's the vibe. The food is great, but you have to ignore the fact that the person at the next table is definitely talking about their 'startup'.
JOLEEN: The wait is what gets me. No reservations, so you're just standing on Broad Street like a prick for forty-five minutes. And don't get me started on the 'Honey Badger' being a cult classic. It's good, but the sourdough crust is sometimes a bit too 'charred' for my taste. That's just a fancy word for burnt, Mark. I don't care if the starter is from the Eisenhower administration, if the bottom of my pizza tastes like a campfire, we've got a problem.
MARK: You're just bitter because you can't cook toast without a fire extinguisher. Let's talk sports. Athletic Club Boise, our new pro soccer team, just signed their second 'hometown' player, Keegan Oyler from Meridian. He's a wingback who played at Oregon State and Utah Valley. Their season opener is this Saturday, March seventh. It's actually kind of cool to see Boise getting a real soccer scene that isn't just kids' teams at Simplot Sports Complex.
JOLEEN: I'm just here for the beer, honestly. They launched a 'Striker' beer with Sockeye Brewing. If I'm going to watch grown men run around in shorts for ninety minutes, I need at least three of those. But hey, they've already got sixty-five hundred season ticket deposits. That's a lot of people who are ready to pretend they understand the offside rule. Their home debut is at Expo Idaho on April fourth, but this Saturday's opener is the real test.
MARK: It's a big week for events too. This Thursday is First Thursday, which is basically the one night a month when people who live in the suburbs venture downtown to get a free two-ounce pour of wine and look at art they won't buy. JUMP is doing a panel for Women's History Month, and Treefort Music Hall is hosting a 'Vintage Vibes Market'. If you need more flannel or a cassette tape of a band no one's heard of, that's your spot.
JOLEEN: And Treefort is right around the corner. They just updated their app with a feature called 'Roster'. It's literally Tinder for bands. You swipe right or left on the artists in the lineup to find new music. I tried it this morning. I swiped left on a three-piece experimental flute ensemble from Portland so fast I almost cracked my screen. It's a clever way to sift through five hundred bands, but it also highlights how many of them sound like a dishwasher full of marbles.
MARK: It beats reading a spreadsheet. Also, if you're planning on going anywhere this weekend, watch out for the construction. Edgewood Lane construction started yesterday, and ACHD is busy putting 'bulb-outs' on Hill Road at the Castle Drive intersection. They say it's for 'pedestrian safety', but let's be honest, it's just another way to make the road narrower so my truck feels even more like a tank in a car wash.
JOLEEN: Oh, god, the Hill Road improvements. They're widening the bike lanes and adding seven feet of sidewalk. Because nothing says 'Eagle' like making it harder for people to drive so three people can walk their golden retrievers more safely. It's part of that massive two-hundred-fifty-million-dollar budget they approved. They're spending millions on roundabouts and pathways while I'm still hitting potholes on State Street that could swallow a Vespa.
MARK: It's all about that 'connectivity'. That's the buzzword this year. We're connecting everything except for people's bank accounts to the cost of living. Which brings us to real estate. The market is supposed to be 'stabilizing', but Eagle's median price is still flirting with a million dollars. We're seeing more people stay put because their interest rates are so low that moving would be financial suicide, which means the only stuff for sale is overpriced new construction in Kuna.
JOLEEN: It's a total bitch for first-time buyers. They're basically being told to move to Nyssa if they want an actual yard. We've got this luxury market that keeps going up while the 'missing middle' is just completely gone. It's either a five-hundred-square-foot condo downtown for half a million or a mansion in the foothills. There's no in-between anymore. It's making the city feel like a gated community with a really nice Greenbelt.
MARK: And the weather isn't helping the mood. Today is sunny and relatively mild with a high of forty-six, but don't get your hopes up. This is that classic Boise 'False Spring' bullshit. Tomorrow, Wednesday, we're looking at rain and snow showers and the temperature is going to drop. It's going to be gray, wet, and miserable, right in time for everyone to try and walk around for First Thursday.
JOLEEN: The forecast says 'chilly' through the weekend. And don't forget, Sunday is the day we all lose an hour of sleep because of Daylight Saving Time. So on Monday, everyone is going to be even more irritable and incompetent on the roads than usual. It's the perfect storm of Boise problems. Rain, construction, and sleep-deprived drivers. I'm staying inside and eating an entire sourdough loaf from The Wylder by myself.
MARK: That sounds like a solid plan. Seriously though, if you're out there this weekend, check out the Idaho Sportsman Show at Expo Idaho. It's running Thursday through Sunday. You can look at boats you can't afford and gear you don't need, which is the true Idaho pastime. Just make sure you bring a rain jacket because the transition from sun to sleet will happen in about thirty seconds.
JOLEEN: That's it for us today. We've complained about the legislature, the weather, and the pizza. My work here is done. If you want to keep up with more of this madness, make sure to follow us on all the socials. We're everywhere you don't want us to be. And remember, keep your head down and your property taxes... well, you're screwed there, so just try to enjoy the views.
MARK: Thanks for listening to Happening in Boise. Reach out to us at boise@thehappeningnetwork.com. We'll be back later this week to talk about whatever other absolute shit-show this valley throws at us. Until then, don't get stuck in a bulb-out and try not to show up to any public hearings in a costume. It's not that hard, people.
JOLEEN: See ya, assholes. Go support the soccer team so they don't leave us for a bigger city in two years. Peace out.