A local school bus driver has been arrested on multiple felony charges involving child sexual exploitation and child endangerment, following an investigation led by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, reported 2 Idaho News.
According to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office via the article, Brian Hendricks was taken into custody on Aug. 7 and now faces seven counts of possession of child sexual exploitation material. The Boise Police Department charged both Hendricks and his partner Rochelle Hendricks with four counts each of felony injury to a child, as well as misdemeanor charges for dog nuisance and general animal nuisance.
According to the news report, Attorney General Raul Labrador praised the collaborative law enforcement effort, stating, “Protecting the people of Idaho is my office’s top priority. I thank the Boise Police Department for their partnership and teamwork in serving this search warrant and helping to remove the children that were in the home,” he continued. “We will continue to diligently work with our law enforcement partners across the state to protect Idaho families as children return to school this fall.”
The arrest reportedly followed a search warrant executed at Hendricks’ residence, where officers discovered several children living in what authorities described as unsafe and uninhabitable conditions. Police reported that the children were in imminent danger and were promptly removed from the home. Multiple animals were also seized due to concerns over neglect and nuisance conditions.
Boise Police Department units, including the Neighborhood Contact Unit, School Resource Officers and patrol officers reportedly assisted the ICAC team in the arrest and investigation. Boise Police Lieutenant Tim Brady emphasized the importance of a unified response.
“The Boise Police Department extends its sincere gratitude to our law enforcement partners and the dedicated professionals who worked on this significant investigation,” he said via the article. “This collective effort was instrumental in ensuring the safety and well-being of all involved in this case. We remain steadfast in our dedication to working together to protect and serve the most vulnerable members of our community.”
It is unclear if Hendricks was immediately fired for his position as a bus driver. At this stage of the investigation, authorities say there is no evidence of any local victims, but they encourage anyone with relevant information to contact local police. The case remains ongoing.
As School Transportation News celebrates garage stars this month in the August issue of the magazine, Idaho named Derek Canode as the state’s Technician of the Year.
The Idaho Department of Education named Canode, the maintenance supervisor for the local Durham School Services operations, as the recipient of the award for his contribution to student transportation. After being nominated, Canode was selected by a review committee.
“Qualities such as leadership abilities, being a positive role model and commitment to safety and student transportation were also noted in consideration while choosing the winner,” a press release by Durham School Services states.
Travis Shaw, region maintenance manager at Durham School Services, and Derek Canode pose after the Idaho Student Transportation Awards Banquet. Shaw presented Canode with the Idaho Technician of the Year award.
The nomination form submitted by Samuel Ray, Durham’s area general manager, read, “By the start of school in August [last year], Derek was able to lead his team to get each of the 235 buses titled and registered, inspect each bus, fix any issues, get the buses to meet Idaho codes, and work with the Idaho Board of Education Transportation Department to inspect them. Since the start of school, Derek was able to meet all expectations on PM compliance and ensure safe and reliable pupil transportation to the families of the West Ada School District.”
Ray added in his nomination that Canode hit the ground running as the maintenance supervisor with the West Ada School District and led his team to success.
“Derek’s work ethic and dedication to safety is beyond admirable,” Ray continued. “He is truly the golden example of a leader who exhibits the company’s values of safety and excellence to the highest degree.”
Canode was presented with the award on July 28 at the Idaho Student Transportation Awards banquet.
The Boise Airport became powered by 100% renewable energy this fall after Boise opted to be the first city to sign on to an optional new renewable energy program through Idaho Power.
The city of Boise is purchasing enough solar energy to power both the Boise Airport and the Lander Street wastewater treatment facility through 100% renewable energy, Steve Hubble, climate action manager for the city of Boise, said in an interview Thursday.
The Boise Airport is likely the first municipally-owned major airport in Idaho to become 100% solar energy powered. Hubble said he isn’t familiar enough with municipalities in North Idaho or eastern Idaho, which work with different utility companies, to know what their energy mix is.
“We’re the first municipality in Idaho to enter one of these Clean Energy Your Way contracts, so that’s pretty exciting in and of itself,” Hubble said. “And then from a quantitative perspective, I’m always going to link that back to what the city’s goals are.”
The move to powering its facilities by renewable energy represents Boise moving forward on climate policies at a time when the Idaho Legislature is actively pushing back against environmental and climate programs. While the Idaho Legislature has not established formal climate goals, the city of Boise has specific goals it bases climate policies around.
Power city government by 100% renewable energy by 2030.
City government operations become carbon neutral by 2035.
Power the entire community by 100% clean electricity by 2035.
The community becomes carbon neutral by 2050.
Making the Boise Airport and Lander Street wastewater treatment plant 100% renewable-powered brings the city to 25% of its 2030 renewable energy goal for city government.
Starting in the fall of 2024, the city of Boise is buying enough solar energy to power the Lander Street Wastewater Treatment plant and the Boise Airport. (Courtesy of City of Boise)
“So in other words, if you look at all the city’s electricity usage right now, about a quarter of it is being powered by renewable electricity, because the airport and Lander Street are two of our three biggest electricity-using facilities,” Hubble said.
How did Boise make its airport and a water treatment plant renewable energy powered?
Boise had been powering the airport and Lander Street facility with the standard energy it received from Idaho Power, which includes an energy portfolio of renewable energy like hydro as well as nonrenewable energy sources, like coal. To go 100% renewable, the city bought enough renewable solar energy to cover 100% of the energy those two facilities use.
The project is part of Idaho Power’s Clean Energy Your Way program, which is optional and does not change the energy mix that regular Idaho Power customers receive or the rates they pay, Idaho Power Director of Economic Development and Innovation Megan Ronk said in an interview.
Idaho Power’s largest source of energy today is renewable hydro power, Ronk said. For 2022, 24% of Idaho Powers energy generation capacity was coal, Idaho Power reported. Idaho Power has a goal to have 100% clean energy by 2045.
For customers who want to go renewable sooner, Idaho Power created Clean Energy Your Way, Ronk said.
“Clean Energy Your Way is really intended to provide a menu of options to meet customers where they are at in meeting their respective renewable and clean energy goals,” Ronk said in a phone interview.
The Boise City Council approved participating in the Clean Energy Your Way program in October 2023.
“This is possible because Boiseans have been so clear that they expect our city to lead in protecting our environment for the future,” Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said in a written statement after the Boise City Council vote. “It is important that we are resilient and because we want our kids, and their kids, to be healthy and to have a place where they can live and thrive into the future.”
After the Boise City Council approved participating in the program, Idaho Power and the city applied for approval from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utility companies in Idaho.
Under the application for the project, Boise sought approval to buy up to 10 megawatts of power from Black Mesa Energy solar project in Elmore County. In addition to the normal Schedule 19 rate Boise pays for energy not from the solar project, Boise will pay a fixed cost charge for each kilowatt hour of energy received from the Black Mesa Energy solar project. Excess energy generated but not used will be credited to the city.
The city of Boise buys enough energy from the Black Mesa Energy solar project in Elmore County to power the Boise Airport and Lander Street Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Courtesy of Idaho Power)
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the application in August, which allowed the city to begin purchasing the solar energy Sept. 1.
The city’s contract is for 20 years. Hubble told the Sun he expects the city to pay slightly more for energy during the first 18 months of the project. Then, for the duration of the first 10 years, Hubble expects the city to either realize a savings or be paying no more than it would have regularly, without going renewable.
“We’re pretty excited about that savings opportunity, because basically this contract allows us to kind of lock in the rate for a portion of our power cost, and power costs do change, so that’s something we’re really excited about,” Hubble said. “It’s kind of cool, not only the renewable attribute of this, but that economic attribute of this is pretty exciting.”
Boise has a 25% share of the solar energy from the Black Mesa Energy project, while the remaining 75% is being used by Micron for renewable energy projects, Hubble said.
Other cities, residents and businesses can participate
Idaho Power offers different types of Clean Energy Your Way programs for residential customers, businesses and large municipal customers like the city of Boise. The largest energy-using customers, like the city of Boise, are able to participate in the Clean Energy Your Way Construction agreement that powered the Boise Airport and Lander Street facility. Hubble thinks Boise’s project could set an example for other large Idaho Power municipal or industrial customers who want to go with renewable energy.
But there are other options for other types of Idaho Power customers too. Residential customers can cover all or part of their energy use with renewable wind and solar energy at a cost of 1 additional cent per kilowatt hour, with the ability to cancel any time. Business customers can purchase renewable energy certificates, with options to buy on a month-to-month basis or for a three-year commitment.
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