Briefs March 20, 2010

Racist fliers distributed in southern Idaho

IDAHO FALLS (AP) - A North Idaho man says about 3,000 white supremacist fliers have been distributed in southern Idaho as part of an Aryan Nations campaign that started March 6.

"It's our constitutional right to distribute literature, and we will continue to do it," Paul Mullet of Athol told the Post Register in a phone interview Thursday. "There will be a lot more."

Mullet said he is the leader of the group. He has also distributed fliers in North Idaho.

Barbara Holm, a lifelong resident of Idaho Falls, recently received one of the fliers that said "join the fight to keep America white." It was stuffed with two peppermint candies.

"I just could not believe that something like that had come to my driveway," Holm said. "I was flabbergasted."

She said it was the first time she had encountered white supremacist material in her hometown, and was relieved she wasn't specifically targeted with the fliers.

"I'm also horrified that they can do this," Holm said. "I think it's a sad day for America."

Idaho Falls Police Department Sgt. Phil Grimes said the flier Holm received likely didn't violate any laws, but the fliers can be turned in to police for possible investigation.

"We'd like to see them just to see if there is a possible crime that's taking place," Grimes said.

Mullet last month revealed plans to move the group's headquarters to Oregon's Grant County, a sparsely populated area far from cities - 198 miles from Portland and 147 miles from Boise.

Sali: Shoot down effort to boost immunizing

BOISE (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Bill Sali made a cameo appearance before a state House committee Friday to object to a bill meant to improve Idaho's childhood immunization rates that are among the lowest in the nation.

The current system allows parents to "opt in" to an immunization registry where their doctors reminds them when their child is due for a shot.

If the new measure becomes law, children would be automatically enrolled and parents would have to "opt out" of the system if they do not want to participate.

A vote on the bill in the Health and Welfare Committee was delayed until at least Monday.

This bill, which has already passed the Idaho Senate, has struck a nerve with conservatives like Sali who object to immunizations on religious, medical or other grounds.

Sali, a one-term Republican congressman who lost his 2008 re-election bid, arrived at the hearing with proposed amendments that among other things sought to add language telling parents immunizations can be refused because they "would endanger the life or health of their child."

Shots can be declined for any reason in Idaho, but Sali and his supporters suggest the "opt out" system could confuse parents about whether they have to join if the bill becomes law.

He said he has received calls from people whose kids have been told they can't attend day care or public schools because they weren't part of the registry.

"The thing that they may not know is what are their rights under Idaho law?" Sali said.

Sali had to be warned to mind his manners when Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise questioned his contention that moving to an "opt out" registry would turn a voluntary system into a mandatory one.

Idaho's immunization rate for kids 19 to 35 months old is 66 percent, while the national average is 77 percent. State health districts have raised concern that rate could lead to disease outbreaks.

Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, has said he was embarrassed because Idaho trails Botswana and Sri Lanka in polio immunization rates.