Boise Apartment Fire

Boise Firefighters battled an overnight fire.
It broke out just before one a.m. on the 13-hundred block of North Tenth Street.
Dispatchers say a woman tried to put out the bedroom fire herself with water before calling 9-11.
Firefighters arrived shortly after the call and put the flames out.
No one was injured.

Downtown Shooting

Boise Police are looking for clues after an overnight shooting in the downtown area.
It happened just after two a-m near The Loft dance club.
Someone fired at least one shot, but police say it didn't hit anybody.
Officers at the scene told us one person in the area looked pretty beat up, but they don't know exactly what happened.
The victim was treated at a Boise hospital, then released.
Boise Police are searching for a red pickup they believe the suspect is driving.

Jackson's Convenience Store Robbery

Boise Police are looking for a suspect who robbed a Jackson's convenience store.
Officers say he walked into the Jackson's on Eighth street after 10:40 last night.
He held up a long gun and demanded money.
Police say he left on foot with the cash, he did drop some while fleeing.
Police are looking for a white male, around the age of 19.
They say he is about 5 feet 4 inches tall with a thin build.
He has acne marks on his face, with long sideburns.
He was wearing a white shirt with long denim shorts.
Police think he might have gotten on a bike at some point.
If you know anything about this robbery, police ask that you call 343-COPS.

Warren Jeffs Captured in Las Vegas

The F-B-I says fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs has been arrested in Las Vegas.
Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamental Latter-Day Saints sect, and is wanted in Utah and Arizona on suspicion of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between under-age girls and older men. Jeffs is on the F-B-I's Ten-Most-Wanted list. The NBC affiliate in Las Vegas is reporting that Jeffs was arrested late Monday night, when a Nevada Highway Patrol officer pulled him over on Interstate 15.

Nampa shooting arrest

Nampa police arrested a 17 year old in connection with a shooting over the weekend that sent two teenagers to the hospital.
The Caldwell teen was taken into custody early this morning. Officers say he is charged with two counts of aggravated battery.
Detectives say they do not believe the August 26th shooting was gang related, but say it appears it is related to a fight between two teenage girls earlier that night.
The suspect is being held in the Canyon County Juvenile Detention Center.

Boise House Fire

The Red Cross is helping a man who lost everything in an overnight house fire near the Boise State University campus.
The fire broke out at about 2 a.m. in the 1000 block of Longmont Avenue, between Broadway Avenue and Belmont Street.
Joe Edwards, the man who rents the home, says he was sleeping when he heard a loud boom. He then noticed flames in the kitchen. Edwards says he ran to the corner store and called the fire department.
Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly enough to contain the fire in the kitchen. But the damage is significant enough that Edwards will likely have to find a new place to live.
Edwards lived in the home for 22 years, and attended Boise State University.
He says he lost a lot of valuable items in the fire. He did not have renter's insurance, but the Red Cross is helping him with food and shelter for at least the next couple of days.

Shots fired overnight in Caldwell

Caldwell Police are investigating a possible drive-by shooting.
It happened around midnight near Ormsby and Emory just off of Homedale road.
Police say the suspects fired multiple shots at a home in the area.
A family was inside the house at the time, but officers say no one was injured.
Witnesses say the suspects fired shots from an older model car as they drove by.
Caldwell police are now searching for that vehicle, but so far no arrests have been made.

How to see today's events

The KTVB News Group has you covered for today. If you are by a TV - tune in to 24/7 (digital channel 7.2, cable channel 28, or UHF channel 49), where we'll bring you all the action.

Also, you can watch our LIVE coverage here on KTVB.COM - all day long, with video -- and our exclusive blog.

Special Session set to start!

Senators, representatives, staffers and media are gathering at the Statehouse this morning for a special session of the Idaho Legislature. Their main (and only) goal is to consider a tax bill that would shift some of the state's fiscal load from property taxes - to sales taxes.

KTVB.COM will be live-blogging the events all day long (that's really just a fancy way to say we'll provide updated coverage). The gavel is set to go down at 8 a.m. - stay with us.

Shots fired in Caldwell

Caldwell Police are investigating an overnight shooting.
It happened on the 16-hundred block of Fillmore.
Dispatchers say they were overwhelmed with calls about the shots fired just after 10:40 last night.
When officers arrived on scene they searched the area.
They eventually found a car that had been hit by bullets.
At this time, police do not have any suspects or leads.

Wildfire near Ontario grows to 5,000 acres

Firefighters battled a very active wildfire overnight.
Lightning sparked the Morse Hollow fire near Ontario, Oregon around 11 last night.
This morning, the fire has already grown to five thousand acres.
Bureau of Land Management officials say the blaze is headed towards the Ontario prison, but at this time no structures are threatened.

Shots fired in a Boise home overnight

A man who police say fired several gunshots in a Boise neighborhood overnight has been referred to the state for mental help.
At about 2 this morning, police responded to the 39-hundred block of Stratford Drive, that's near Pembrook Drive.
They say an upset man fired several shots inside a house with a handgun.
Several people were inside the home at the time, but no one was injured.
Police arrived and the man surrendered.
Officers have released the man to the state, so he can seek mental help.

Possible haz-mat situation on I-84

Idaho State Police says a semi-truck drove off Interstate 84 west of Caldwell.

Just before 11 a.m., the trailer careened off the freeway at milepost 18, near Payette. The truck traveled nearly 500 feet, over brush and several ditches - before slamming in to a grove of trees and coming to rest.

The truck appears to have split in half around a tree.

Two people are in the hospital at this hour - the female driver, and her male co-driver. Both were coherent when they left the accident scene - though the full extent of their injuries is not known.

They were driving a truck marked "Werner Enterprises."

A regional response team is on scene, because some of the truck's contents may be hazardous. Witnesses on the scene tell NewsChannel 7 they detected a "chemical smell," at the time of the crash.

Officials say the truck was carrying materials used in the processing of photographs.

One lane of the Interstate is blocked in the westbound lanes, while crews sort out the scene.

Stay with KTVB.COM & Idaho's NewsChannel 7 for updates.

Boise Garage Fire

Boise firefighters are on the scene of a garage fire at 1619 Eldorado. That's just off of Fairview and Cole roads.
Dispatchers tell us when firefighters arrived, the garage was fully involved.
Fire crews say they were able to knock down those flames before they threatened nearby homes.
Neighbors called in that fire.

Man arrested for aggravated assault

Overnight, Nampa Police responded to a home in the 200 block of 1st Street North after learning that an aggravated assault involving a firearm had occurred at that location. Police found that a female victim of a domestic battery was being held in the house by the same male that had committed the aggravated assault.
Officers attempted to contact the suspect but he would not respond. Officers forced entry into the residence and secured the suspect. After interviewing victims, officers placed 46-year-old John Hughes of Nampa into custody. Hughes was charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of domestic battery, and for violation of a no contact order.
Hughes was booked into the Canyon County Detention Center.

Gas line break downtown

7:30 a.m. -- Boise Police are asking motorists to avoid some downtown streets while crews work to repair a broken gas line.
Right now, Idaho and Bannock Streets are closed between 9th and 11th because of the broken gas line. The Boise Fire Department now tells us work crews are tearing up the alley that connects 10th and 11th streets between Main and Idaho streets in order to repair the line. That is expected to take about two hours. In the meantime, you are urged to find alternate routes into downtown this morning while the crews repair the lines.

Power outages across the Treasure Valley

This morning some 3,500 homes are without power.
Last night's storm ripped down a number of power lines and poles.
Idaho power says the majority of this morning's outages range from Meridian to Boise.
Last night just under 14,000 thousand people from Caldwell to Mountain Home suffered outages.
Idaho power says crews will be out early today working to restore power to those homes still out.
Stay tuned on KTVB.COM for the latest updates.

Storm brings fires to Valley

Weather Alert
A fast-moving storm moved through Canyon County in the 7pm hour, sparking several fires.

Crews were able to knock down all the blazes quickly, and the storm disapated as it entered Ada County.

Storms knocked out power to about 4,000 customers, across the western part of the Valley, centered on the Caldwell area.

Man Escapes Work Center

An inmate has apparently escaped from the South Idaho Correctional Institute.
The Department of Correction tells us an officer at the community work center reported Michael Albert Johnson missing just before two this morning.
Johnson was serving time for burglary and grand theft by possession.
Idaho State Police say he may be driving a white, 15-passenger Ford E-350 van.
Johnson was responsible for driving other offenders to work sites.
A count shows he is the only one missing.

Air Quality Alert

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has issued a red air quality alert for today.
That means the air quality is poor and expected to worsen, which can impact the health of sensitive populations like children, the elderly, and people with lung and heart conditions.
Sensitive populations should avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
DEQ requests that residents in all areas of the Valley stop all burning during this air quality alert.
Don't top off your tank & refuel before 7 PM to reduce the ozone forming chemicals that escape into the air while filling your tank.
Mow your grass in the evenings to reduce ozone forming chemicals put in the air by your gasoline-powered lawn mower.
Postpone or combine errands and avoid unnecessary driving.

Officials Evacuate Apartment Building

The Boise Fire Department is investigating an apartment fire on the 57-hundred block of Marvin Lane, near Curtis and Overland.
The blaze sparked around 4:30 this morning.
Dispatchers say fire officials evacuated the building.
Fire Chief Dave Hanneman says that it was a "substantial fire" and 16 apartments were involved.
We also know that they have closed Overland road between Orchard Street and Curtis. Stay tuned on the news at Noon and KTVB.COM for the latest updates on this story.

Rollover Accident

Nampa Police say an early morning rollover on Interstate 84 seriously injured the driver.
ISP shut down I-84 Eastbound from exit 35 to exit 36 for a couple hours.
Those lanes have been re-opened and traffic is again moving through the area.
Police tell us the male driver was headed Eastbound just after 4:30 a.m. in excess of 100 miles per hour.
They say he side-swiped the back end of a semi-trailer.
The driver then lost control of the vehicle and flipped it over a guardrail.
The driver was ejected out the back window.
He has been taken to Saint Alphonsus hospital.
Stay tuned on KTVB.COM and the news at Noon for the latest information.

In the mideast...six Hezbollah fighters have been killed in three clashes this morning.
All these attacks happened just hours after the UN imposed cease-fire took effect.
Stay tuned to ktvb.com and the News at Noon for more on this developing story.

SUSPECTED BOISE BANK ROBBER ARRESTED

This morning, a suspect sought in multiple Treasure Valley bank robberies was taken into custody by law enforcment officials in Wasco County, Oregon.
Boise police say they do not have the details of the arrest.
Police believe 48-year-old Faron Hawkins is the same man that robbed a Washington Mutual Bank on Federal Way on the 6th of June.
Hawkins is also suspected in the armed robbery of a Key Bank on Overland in December of 2005.
Hawkins is also a person of interest in the May 22nd, 2006 robbery of the US Bank in Nampa.
In 1978, Hawkins was convicted of robbing a Horeshoe Bend bank.

Breaking News updates

A major storm front is moving across the Valley at this hour.

Here's what we know
- A fatal accident in Nampa near the Karcher Exit has forced the closure of Interstate 84 both directions. Police are letting people off the freeway at Karcher Road. Zero visibility is making driving dangerous.
- A fire is burning in Middleton, and crews tell us it is "getting away from them." It started in a hay stack and moved in to a garage. Viewers tell us it has consumed "several acres."
- A fire is burning in the Boise foothills above Hammer Flat - according to a NewsChannel 7 crew in the area.
- Dozens of trees have fallen down across roads, and debris is a problem in Boise and elswehere. Wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour were reported in Boise around 8 p.m.
- A viewer reports a fire in Columbia Village at Yamhill and E. Lake Forest.
- Ada County Dispatch has limited all traffic to emergency only.
- Viewers report a large fire near New Hope Road in Star.
- High winds have caused numerous power outages across the Valley
- There is word of a fire burning behind the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. No other details were available.
-There is also report of a fire at Sandy Point.
-A viewer from Nampa said several trees were toppled along Sylvia Lane and she also lost part of her roof during the storm.

Picture of Interstate closure:

Smoky skies near Columbia Village:

Dark skies near Cole Rd. in Boise:

Fires near Middleton:

Fire near Hammer Flat outside Harris Ranch:

Major storms move through Valley

A major storm front is moving across the Valley at this hour.

Here's what we know
-Power is out across the Treasure Valley - from Ontario to Boise to Mountain Home. Idaho Power says about 52,000 customers are without electricity. Most of the outages were caused by downed power lines and trees into power lines. It may be several days before all the power is restored.
- A fatal accident in Nampa near the Karcher Exit has forced the closure of Interstate 84 both directions. Police are letting people off the freeway at Karcher Road. Zero visibility is making driving dangerous.
- A fire is burning in Middleton, and crews tell us it is "getting away from them." It started in a hay stack and moved in to a garage. Viewers tell us it has consumed "several acres."
- Highway 21 is closed near the diversion dam. A fire is burning in the Boise foothills above Hammer Flat.
-A large is burning near Tipanuk. Elmore County Sheriff's deputies are going door-to-door to evacuate residents. Structures are threatened.
- Dozens of trees have fallen down across roads, and debris is a problem in Boise and elswehere. Wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour were reported in Boise around 8 p.m.
- A fire was burning a barn in Columbia Village at Yamhill and E. Lake Forest.
- Ada County Dispatch has limited all traffic to emergency only.
- Viewers report a large fire near New Hope Road in Star.
- High winds have caused numerous power outages across the Valley
- There is word of a fire burning behind the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. No other details were available.
-There is also report of a fire at Sandy Point.
-A viewer from Nampa said several trees were toppled along Sylvia Lane and she also lost part of her roof during the storm.
- The road between Sweet and Ola is closed because of a fire in the area.

British authorities in London say they disrupted a major terrorist plot to blow up an airplane.
Police say the plan was to blow up a plane in mid-flight between Britain and the United States.
Several people were arrested overnight in London in a covert counter-terrorist operation.
The Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level to severe for the aviation sector.
The severe or red level is the highest level on the terror threat warning system.
That warning applies to flights originating in Britain and bound for the United States.
Commercial flights operating in or destined for the US are now under an orange or high level threat.
Stay tuned for Today's Morning News and KTVB.COM to find out more about this story.

Four arrested in kidnapping of Jill Carroll

U.S. Marines have arrested four men in the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq. Major General William Caldwell announced today that the suspects were captured in the Anbar province of Western Iraq. Carroll is the 28-year-old reporter who was abducted in Baghdad in January, and held for 82 days before being freed on March 30. Watch the Midday News at Noon and stay with KTVB.COM for more on this story.

Park Attack

The Ada County Sheriff's office is investigating an overnight attack.
Dispatchers say a white male in his 20's slashed a 52-year old man with a broken beer bottle. The attack was all part of an alleged attempt to steal the man's wallet.
It happened around 3 this morning at Kathryn-Albertson park.
The victim was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
Stay tuned on KTVB.COM and the news at noon for more details surrounding this story.

Boise House Fire

Boise firefighters mopped up a house fire near the intersection of 29th and Davis, just off State street.
Firefighters say someone who was walking down State street saw large flames and called dispatchers at about 4 this morning.
Firefighters kept the fire away from a nearby apartment complex.
The house was vacant and no one was hurt.
But the house involved in the fire is considered a total loss, and investigators are looking into the possibility of arson.
Stay tuned on KTVB.COM and the news at Noon for updates on this story.

Plane crashes in to Ontario golf course

A plane has crashed in to the Ontario Golf Club near the airport in the Oregon town.

It is unknown what kind of plane has crashed, but witnesses tell us that a large plume of smoke can be seen from the 18th hole, and a large contingent of emergency vehicles is responding.

NewsChannel 7 has a crew on the way. Stay with KTVB.COM for updates.

Meridian House fire

An overnight house fire gutted a Meridian home.

The fire broke out just after 1a.m. on the 26 hundred block of Rebecca Way.

Disptachers tell us the family inside the home did get out safely.

The cause is under investigation.

For more on this breaking news story watch Today's Morning News and stay tuned to ktvb.com.

I-84 Haz-Mat situation

Crews are responding to a hazardous materials situation on Interstate 84 at the port of entry east of Boise.

Several Idaho State Police troopers were working on a vehicle, when they opened up the back and were exposed to paint thinner.

Several of the troopers complained of light-headedness and headaches. Paramedics responded, and all the people involved are doing OK at this hour, according to ISP spokesperson Rick Ohnsman.

Idaho State Police crews are responding to the area, along with a Boise Fire Haz-Mat unit. NewsChannel 7 has a crew on the way to the scene.

Boise Garage Fire

Boise firefighters are investigating what sparked an overnight garage fire at 2574 S. Beverly St.
Dispatatchers tell us that fire destroyed the garage after 3 a.m. and scorched the roof of a nearby home.