As winter road conditions led to two rollover crashes and a two-vehicle collision on the interstate east of Mountain Home on Dec. 18, officials with the Idaho State Police urged motorists to take time to check travel and winter road conditions before driving on state highways and other roadways.

While no travel advisories or restrictions were issued earlier that afternoon, state police officials encouraged drivers to go online to www.511.idaho.gov for updates on road conditions within county and to review winter driving tips posted on their Web site.

Winds reaching speeds of more than 60 miles per hour on Dec. 17 led to a number of power outages across Elmore County.

One outage reported at 9:36 a.m. that morning affected the residents of the Atlanta community in the northern area of Elmore County that also knocked out telephone communications for those living there.

Monday, December 15, 2025

BOISE – A federal grand jury in Boise returned an indictment charging Charles Thomas Abrahamson, 56, of Venice, Florida, with charges of wire fraud and tax fraud, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today.

According to the Indictment, between approximately 2017 and 2024, Abrahamson was employed by a nonprofit veterans’ organization with a department in Idaho, and he served in various capacities, including adjutant and commander. In those capacities, Abrahamson had access to and control of the nonprofit’s financial accounts. The Indictment alleges that beginning in approximately 2018 until approximately April 2024, Abrahamson knowingly devised a scheme to defraud the nonprofit and another individual. As alleged in the Indictment, Abrahamson made transfers to his personal financial accounts, payments to his personal credit cards, unauthorized expenses, and ATM withdrawals from the nonprofit’s financial accounts, all for his own personal use and gain.

Trish Rogers holds her niece, Sophia Rogers, as the youngster gains an up-close look at one of the myriads of the Christmas displays featured at Railroad Park as they took part in the Enchanted Christmas celebration.

Photo by Brian S. Orban

It seemed the holiday spirit helped bring a spirit of warmth to the Mountain Home community. Following days of frigid rain and temperatures falling close to the freezing mark, the temperatures rose into the low 50s last Wednesday as hundreds of people of all ages packed into Railroad Park to take part in the community’s annual Christmas celebration.

Originally scheduled to begin Dec. 5, rain continued to fall across Mountain Home and surrounding communities throughout the day with the streets in the downtown area starting to flood. This prompted organizers to cancel the parade that typically represents the start of this celebration.

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper’s online edition.

City crews continue work to repair the intersection of Airbase Road and South 5th East Street following an underground water line break last week.

Courtesy photo

A water main break at the intersection of Airbase Road and South 5th West Street that led to a road closure lasting a couple of hours on Dec. 8 prompted city officials to alert residents in the local area to remain vigilant due to the possibility of similar problems happening in coming weeks.

Last week’s water line break at the intersection of both streets led to the closure of two traffic lanes with drivers dealing with delays lasting several minutes until they gained a chance to pass through this area.

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper’s online edition.