Jessica Robinson

One of the country's leading suppliers of french fries is asking the federal government to approve genetically modified potatoes. The USDA announced the move Friday by the J.R. Simplot Company of Idaho. It would be the only genetically engineered potato on the market.

Simplot has branded them Innate potatoes. The company figured out how to use existing potato DNA to design a spud that’s less prone to dark spots. It also produces less acrylamide when cooked. Acrylamide is a neurotoxin found in many foods. Studies on animals have indicated it may also cause cancer.

The decreasing price of gold has gotten a lot of attention among investors in recent weeks. The price of silver has received fewer headlines, but it's also dropped. That price has real economic impact in north Idaho, which has one of the richest silver deposits in the country.

There's not much wiggle room when silver drops down to $22 an ounce. That's only a little more than it costs the Galena Mine near Kellogg, Idaho, to get the silver out of the ground. Owner U.S. Silver has placed a hiring freeze on the mine and plans to cut costs by $1 million this year.

There are fewer wolves overall in the West, but Oregon and Washington's wolf populations continue to grow. That's according to the federal government's annual gray wolf tally, released Friday. As Jessica Robinson reports, the count has also revealed the initial effect of a controversial wolf hunting season in Idaho.

In the 2011-12 season, Idaho hunters and trappers killed nearly 400 wolves. Yet the population count decreased by just 63 animals, or 11 percent.

The family of a silver miner killed in north Idaho has filed a lawsuit against the Hecla Mining Company. The suit claims the mine managers’ attempt to extract more silver caused the cave-in that killed Larry Marek exactly two years ago Monday.

A supermarket in north Idaho has banned a transgendered woman from the store after she used the women's restroom. Police issued Ally Robledo a trespass notice that will make it a misdemeanor for her to enter the store for one year.

A city in the heart of Idaho's Mormon country held a four-hour public hearing last night on whether to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. A growing number of cities in Idaho are adopting local rules that protect sexual orientation and gender identity.

A small school district in north Idaho is trying to figure out who's behind 10 bomb threats made since the beginning of the school year. The series of hoaxes has rattled the community, and caused huge disruptions in school.

Most of the threats were made on bathroom stalls. Boundary County schools superintendent Richard Conley says the last four threats alone came in March.

“I've been in education for 41 years and I've never seen this,” he says.

Police believe multiple students are responsible. None of the threats, however, turned up an actual bomb.

The parents of Idaho soldier Bowe Bergdahl are hoping a message they recorded for his 27th birthday will reach him in captivity. Bergdahl remains America's only POW from the war in Afghanistan.

Bob and Jani Bergdahl recorded a message on KECH, a radio station in Idaho's Wood River Valley.

“Happy birthday, Bowe Bergdahl!” they said together.

“You're 27 years old today, if you forgot," Bob continued. "And you've been in Afghanistan for over four years now.”