REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) – Rexburg is remembering the Collapse of the Teton Dam that happened 50 years ago next week.
The week of commemorating the flood began tonight with the crowning of the Teton Dam royalty.
Verla Archibald lived through the flood and was crowned the teton dam flood queen 2026.
The event featured a song about what it was like to clean up the mud left in the flood’s wake. She remembers some of the most unique things she found after the flood.
“My husband kept finding a left boot, cowboy boots, and he came and he had a great big pile of them, and he said, surely there’s got to be a right foot somewhere,” Archibald said. “But we found out they were from the army store, and the other boot was on the shelf. “
There will be events happening all next week, including A 70s fashion show, a car show, even a float trip down the Teton River from the dam site.
REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) – The Idaho Centennial Carousel has officially opened for the 2026 summer season. The carousel was opened with the annual summer kickoff event hosted by the Recreation Department.
The carousel will be open starting today and run until Labor Day this year. The attraction is open from Monday to Saturday from noon to 7pm.
Admission for the carousel will be $2 per ride, per person. Non-riders, an adult holding the child on a horse, receive free admission.
You can also reserve the carousel for exclusive and non-exclusive use. You can find more information about the carousel on the City of Rexburg’s official website here.
The Idaho Centennial Carousel was originally built in 1926 in New York. It would be brought to the City of Rexburg and will celebrate its 100th birthday this year.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Lainey Moore, of William Thomas Middle School in American Falls, won the battle of the minds at the first-ever National Civics Bee competition held in Idaho.
“It feels good,” Moore said. “I’m happy that I’m able to represent Idaho and just be able to do this for my state.”
Twenty talented students took the stage Friday at the National Civics Bee Friday at Melaleuca’s headquarters in Idaho Falls.
The finalists hail from sixth- through eighth-grade classrooms across Idaho and prepared vigorously for the competition.
“It takes determination, and you have to be brave and have grit,” said Idaho Falls competitor Carolyn Xia.
Each of the finalists previously submitted an essay selecting a problem or concern in the community and developing a solution.
“I wrote my essay about parent and guardian awareness of young children’s mental health,” Moore said. “At my school, there is a group called ‘Sources of Strength’ that helps with teen mental health. … I thought that it was odd that they didn’t have anything like that for younger kids.”
Lainey Moore, McKenna Vaughan, Ali Donahoo, Teagan Eilenfield, and Esmae Hazelton took the Top 5 places at Idaho’s National Civics Bee.
Students advanced through two rounds of 10 difficult questions on government and the U.S. Constitution – with difficult questions ranging from Constitutional amendments to immigration law.
“There’s questions on a computer, and we click which one is right,” Xia said. “Then the third round is the final round, where … the judges will ask us questions and answers.”
All Idaho middle school students participating in public education, private school or homeschooling were eligible to participate in the competition.
Moore earned a $1,000 award, $5,000 for her middle school, a trip to Washington, D.C., and the chance to compete for a $100,000 education savings plan.
Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber Foundation, Melaleuca, and the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber, the event encourages students to study the mechanisms of government, learning how they can contribute to their hometowns and nation.
All 20 finalists at Idaho’s 2026 National Civics Bee.
Nine days after the election, we’re still processing how much noise we all got dragged into—dark money, viral single-issue drama, and the constant firehose of information that can make us worse at decisions instead of better. We talked about how distrust has become the default setting: people reflexively argue, pick teams, and assume bad intent, even when the facts (like how legislators actually vote in Boise) are sitting right in front of us. That same skepticism spilled into our UAP/UFO chatter too—between AI, government credibility issues, and the possibility we’re being “slow-walked” into disclosure, we’re basically at “call us when the mothership parks downtown” levels of belief.
From there, the show shifted into a bigger political frustration: alleged NGO/grant money laundering and how hard some systems seem to work to avoid scrutiny—highlighted by Trump’s claims about massive last-minute grant dumps and a viral clip about California’s proposed “Stop Nick Shirley” bill. Then we pivoted local and practical with a flash poll that lit up the text line: should we rebuild the Teton Dam (safely, and likely not in the exact same way or place) for water storage, power, and recreation? The response was overwhelmingly “yes,” but with real pushback too—geology, ecology, trauma from the 1976 disaster, and concerns about long-term feasibility. Bottom line: everyone wants a stable water future in East Idaho; nobody agrees on a single magic fix, and we’re going to have to stack solutions.
### Highlights – Post-election clarity: we obsessed over distractions and forgot to focus on how lawmakers actually behave in Boise – Trust is collapsing: “reflexive disagreement” is replacing thoughtful debate – NGO/grant fraud concerns: claims of taxpayer money being funneled through nonprofits and efforts to shield them from scrutiny – Flash poll: strong support for rebuilding the Teton Dam—tempered by geology, wildlife, and flood-trauma concerns – Water solutions aren’t one-and-done: raising Jackson Lake, adjusting American Falls, recharge credit, and structural reforms all came up
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