Mom’s defense in murder case, medical records snafu — what you may have missed

The Idaho Statesman’s top stories for Thursday and Friday spanned criminal defense, patient privacy, development and executions. Here’s a quick digest of what readers are following across the Treasure Valley and beyond.

• A Boise attorney representing Andrea Renee Shaw says the Payette mother did nothing to harm her 18-month-old fraternal twins and that the children died from reactions to Hepatitis A, DTaP and influenza vaccines, not suffocation by their mother as prosecutors allege. Shaw was arraigned July 2 on two counts of first-degree murder with bond set at $2 million.
• Patient documents containing billing, medical and personal information from Gem State Dermatology were found in a dumpster near 11th Street in downtown Boise, roughly 3 miles from the clinic’s Parkcenter Boulevard office. The clinic is self-reporting a HIPAA violation and working with an attorney to determine how it happened.
• A four-story, nearly 100,000-square-foot office building called the Sentinel is rising at the Ten Mile Crossing development in Meridian, with completion expected in early 2027. A Swig soda shop recently opened at the site, and a Habit Burger & Grill and CapEd Credit Union branch are anticipated to open in fall 2026.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Boise $5.6 million Thursday to plan an east-west extension of Lake Hazel Road between Eisenman Road and Orchard Street. City officials say the extension is critical for connecting southwest Boiseans to future jobs and supporting industrial growth near Micron, with the project required to be implementation-ready by Sept. 30, 2030.
• California-based Habit Burger & Grill is opening a new Eagle location at a former KeyBank building at 3314 E. Chinden Blvd., adding another Golden State chain to the city dubbed Idaho’s “Little Orange County.” The Irvine-headquartered chain operates nearly 400 restaurants across 15 states, with existing spots in Meridian and Nampa and at least two more planned in the area.
• Death row prisoners Thomas Creech and Gerald Pizzuto sued Idaho Department of Correction Director Bree Derrick this week, alleging she approved new firing squad execution protocols without explaining her decisions. Idaho became the only U.S. state to make a firing squad its primary execution method when a new law took effect July 1.

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.