Wildfires, Horse Racing, Sage Grouse, Idaho’s Top Stories in 2015

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — At times it seemed Idaho's wildfire season just wouldn't end in 2015. When it finally did it had lasted two months longer than normal, scorched six times the number of acres compared to the 20-year average, and put Idaho taxpayers on the hook for $60 million in firefighting costs.

Along the way some 50 homes burned in northern Idaho, hundreds more had to be evacuated, and a giant rangeland fire in southwest Idaho torched grazing areas and important sage grouse habitat. The devastation was just one of the top stories that shaped the Gem State over the past year.

They also included the legal battle over lucrative instant horse racing betting machines, a triple killing in Boise that authorities described as among the most violent they'd seen and the state's response to the federal government decision not list the greater sage grouse as an endangered species.