Idaho Briefs

• Inmate with Kootenai County history escapes

The Idaho Department of Correction is searching for an inmate with history in Kootenai County, who escaped from the Adams County Jail in Council in Central Idaho.

Robert Michael Williston, 37, apparently scaled the jail's fence Saturday night.

Williston is an Asian-American with black hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. He is 6-foot-1 and weighs 195 pounds. At the time of his escape, Williston had a shaved head.

Williston's criminal record includes convictions for grand theft and first-degree burglary in Madison County, grand larceny and fraudulent use of a financial transaction card in Ada County, and burglary and attempted strangulation in Kootenai County.

Williston was eligible to be considered for parole on Aug. 30, 2021. His term would have been completed on Aug. 29, 2025.

Anyone with information about Williston's whereabouts should contact their local law enforcement agency.

• Missing 4-year-old found safe with mom

POST FALLS - A 4-year-old Post Falls girl was missing for about an hour and a half before she was found safe with her mom on Tuesday afternoon.

"Her brother, who was supposed to be watching her, took a nap and, when he woke up, she was missing so he called 911," Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller said. "He didn't know his mom was taking his sister to work with her."

Miller said the boy didn't immediately know his mother's phone number, so that delayed finding the girl.

Miller said about 15 deputies searched the area of Echo Drive on the west side of Post Falls where the child lives. Post Falls Police assisted and a search and rescue team had assembled at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on McGuire.

Miller said Spokane County's search rescue helicopter was also about to launch when the girl was found.

• Idaho officials delay plan to poison ravens

TWIN FALLS (AP) - A plan by state wildlife biologists to kill 4,000 ravens in three Idaho areas by feeding them poisoned chicken eggs was postponed due to federal environmental permitting delays.

Idaho Fish and Game officials won't start the two-year program aimed at boosting sage grouse numbers, the Times-News reported Tuesday.

State officials said the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Wildlife Services is the only entity in the state with permission to administer the poison that experts say kills only birds in the corvid family, which includes crows, ravens and magpies.

The federal agency didn't get a supplemental environmental assessment completed on time to put out the poison, called DRC-1339, this spring, said Jeff Gould of Fish and Game.

He said putting out poison during the summer isn't as effective because ravens aren't gathered in large numbers. But he said poisoning will begin next spring.

The agency wants to target ravens in eastern Idaho near Idaho National Laboratory as well as Curlew National Grasslands. Another spot is in Washington County near the Oregon border. Officials say ravens harm sage grouse populations by eating sage grouse eggs.

Idaho lawmakers approved spending $100,000 on the project.

Sage grouse are chicken-sized birds that have been in decline across large portions of 11 western states. A final decision by federal officials on whether to protect sage grouse is due next year and could result in wide-ranging restrictions on oil and gas development, agriculture and other economic activity. Possible grazing restrictions could also be put in place.

A draft environmental impact statement and six management alternatives by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service list the top three threats to sage grouse in Idaho as invasive plants, infrastructure and fire. Predation ranks tenth.

Fish and Game wanted to kill thousands of ravens this year but only shot 10 adults feeding on road-killed animals. Another 15 nests were smashed.

A number of groups joined in opposition to the poisoning plan. Advocates for the American Bird Conservancy, Idaho Conservation League, Prairie Falcon Audubon Society, Golden Eagle Audubon Society, Western Watersheds Project and National Audubon Society sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.