Boise tackles e-motos, lawn water. Plus, 10 new state laws. What you may have missed

Boise leaders moved this week to regulate powerful electric motorcycles and give the mayor authority to restrict lawn watering during droughts. Meanwhile, 10 new Idaho laws took effect July 1. Here’s a look at some of our top recent stories:

• The Boise City Council approved an emergency ordinance restricting “e-motos” — two- or three-wheeled electric vehicles whose motor or top speeds exceed 750 watts or 28 mph — to public roads only, plus requiring titles, insurance, registration and a driver’s license with motorcycle endorsement. Council member Jimmy Hallyburton said the “unregulated e-motos are marketed toward kids and teens despite being more powerful than many mopeds and small motorcycles that require licensing.”
• Boise’s city council voted to give the city the authority to declare drought emergencies and impose restrictions on users of the public drinking water system under an ordinance unanimously approved by the City Council. Any restrictions implemented by the mayor would still require council approval. Boiseans use an estimated 65 million gallons of Veolia water per day to irrigate lawns during summer, and roughly 97% of Idaho is in some level of drought after the second-warmest winter on record.
• Joshua Colberg, 35, of Star, was identified as the man who died in a single-vehicle crash at Idaho 44 and Eagle Road after his SUV collided with a light pole around 11:57 p.m. Monday.
• Many of Idaho’s new laws took effect July 1. Here’s a look at 10 important ones you should know.
• Sushi Sushi, a popular Nampa restaurant, opened a second location at Eagle Island Marketplace in mid-June, earning a 5.0-star rating on Google across 28 reviews in its first weeks.
• Boise State will unveil an 11-foot-tall bronze statue of Kellen Moore outside Albertsons Stadium later this year — the university’s first statue of a former athlete — honoring the quarterback who went 50-3 as a starter from 2008 to 2011.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.